A little note that just came in from the mother of the bride from last week's wedding :)

Shannon and Nicole,

It is difficult to find words that express the relief I felt the day of Alexandra's rehearsal and wedding day, thanks to you and your AMAZING work.

I was so impressed by your professionalism, attention to detail and the utmost care that you gave Alexandra, Jon and the wedding party. I truly was able to enjoy my daughters wedding, thanks to you.

I would highly recommend you and your staff to any and all who ask me about a wedding planner.

As you saw, the wedding was PERFECT! It truly was a "Fairy Tale Wedding". I hope that you enjoyed yourselves as well. I had more guests say to me that it was the best wedding they had ever been to. That made me feel great! Ali and Jon so enjoyed themselves, and that was my goal. We will be talking about this special day for a long time to come. I have a large family as you saw, and it will be extremely difficult to top this wedding!!

Thank you so much Shannon. Best of luck to you in planning your future weddings. I trust that they will be all organized just like Ali and Jon's.

You are the BEST!!

Destination Wedding Spotlight - Lake Placid

The Adirondack Park is an amazing national and natural treasure situated in the northern section of New York State. The Park itself is the largest national park in the country and is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, nature lovers, and those just looking to get away somewhere quiet for a little while. Within the Adirondack Park is a tiny gem in the town of Lake Placid. Perhaps best known for being the site of not one but two Olympic winter games, this town is the perfect blend of cute and sweet and quiet and beautiful. What better place to host your destination wedding than in a place like this?

There are several amazing venues in Lake Placid so there are several options for the style and size wedding you are looking to host. The mountains and the view of Mirror Lake are the true draw for this area so outdoor ceremonies are an obviously perfect choice for more couples. And with so many activities to offer it is a great place to make a whole wedding weekend for you and your guests. From athletic activities like hiking, biking, and kayaking, to more relaxed adventures like touring the Olympic facilities or checking out one of the local breweries, the Lake Placid region truly has something special for everyone in your group. And it is a true year-round destination - the spring brings hikers back to the trails, the summer has people out in town and on the water, the fall is breath taking with the foliage and crisp air, and in the winter you can enjoy world class skiing at Whiteface Mountain. There is not a bad time to get here and bring your friends and family along with you.

Here are some photos I've taken during several trips to the area. Please tell me these aren't the most amazing views and picturesque towns you've ever seen!

Makes you want to head up there and say I Do??

Erosion wood top bag

large Eve (blacks) and small Eve wallet (reds)

EMILY & TIM GET MARRIED!!

As much as we love it when our couples are all about extravagant details and decor, sometimes keeping it simple is what best represents them and I must admit I’m just as head over heels about these weddings as I am about the extravagant ones.

Probably the most laid back easy going couple out there, Emily & Tim had their wedding ceremony and reception at The Wakefield Mill back in June and Viva was absolutely thrilled to help them with the planning and execution of their intimate day.

Just a few of Viva’s favourite details of their wedding:

~ Emily & Tim were married on the MacLaren House lawn. Two rows of chairs were set up for immediate family and the remaining guests gathered around creating a very warm, intimate ceremony.
~ Emily had nine flower girls. Yes, nine! It was important for her to include all of these lovely girls in the ceremony so they lined up creating an aisle for Emily to walk down and as she did, she was handed flowers from each of them which created her bouquet.
~ Instead of flowers, the girls in the wedding party all carried handmade pinwheels and the guys wore pinwheel boutonnieres.
~ While the ceremony took place, Emily & Tim’s rings were passed around so that each guest could hold and bless them with their best wishes for the soon to be newlyweds.
~ Representing the librarian in Emily, Emily & Tim’s guests signed their congratulations to the bride & groom on library cards which were held in card catalogue drawers.
~ After a fabulous cocktail hour full of wine and tasty hors d’oeuvres, guests visited several food stations (offering pasta and seafood crepes to name but two) and could help themselves to the most amazing cheese platter in honour of the groom’s love affair with cheese.

These wonderful images below are all courtesy of Ottawa Wedding Photographer Blair Gable. Viva’s always excited when we get the chance to work with Blair! Simply put, he's awesome!! After photojournalism school, Blair Gable worked his way through seven newspapers before leaving a staff position to freelance for some of Canada’s largest media outlets. Blair also shoots a limited number of weddings each year with the same style and intensity as his newspaper assignments – A blend of contemporary storytelling, real moments and dramatic portraits captured naturally.

“When hockey season ends and the politicians head home for the summer I shoot weddings. The pressure situations and tight deadlines I work in prepare me for the chaos and emotion of a wedding day”

WEDDING DRESS WEDNESDAY

Viva just can't get enough of RIVINI so once again on this Wedding Dress Wednesday we're spreading the word about Ashton Station Bridal in Carleton Place and their upcoming RIVINI trunk show taking place July 22-24!

And it gets better...

RIVINI representative James Brown will be at Ashton Station Bridal hot off an engagement at Kleinfeld Bridal in New York City. He'll have the latest in wedding fashion trends and best of all - the latest in gossip from TLC Say Yes to the Dress' Randy Fenoli.

Space is limited so what are you waiting for? Book your appointment by calling 613-240-7616 or emailing info@ashtonstationbridal.ca

Wedding Planners in Action!

Beth and Lawson were married at The Sagamore in July of 2009 and if you are a WPP blog stalker then you know this couple well. Their wedding was incredible - 38 guests, one long dining table, and more flowers, chandeliers and fabric swags than I have ever seen before. This wedding was featured in the Fall 2010 issue of WellWed Magazine for good reason. It was seriously impressive.

I have to admit this is a bit of a supersized Wedding Planners in Action post but it's only because the photographer is amazing (the one and only Tracey Buyce) and loves to snap pics of all kinds of moments throughout the wedding and because the florist (David Michael Schmidt of Renaissance Floral Design) came armed with his own camera and caught a lot of the behind the scenes footage. But hey, pictures are fun, so here are a bunch to share with you!

Photos 1-6: Tracey Buyce Photography
Photos 7-9: David Michael Schmidt

Invitation Sale!

We are so excited about our new Save the Date album that we decided to celebrate with an invitation sale! Choose from any of the selections from our Save the Date album or any of our other invitation albums and receive 10% off your order. Consultations are free so make your appointment today!

Offer good on new invitations orders. Purchase needs to be made by September 1, 2011. Discount taken up to $100 off. Call to schedule your consultation.

Recap on Groomsmen Attire

While the girls have the whole spectrum of colors to choose from, guys are typically limited to a few colors of formal wear - black, tan, chocolate brown, navy blue, and light and dark shades of grey. In 2010 I saw a pretty consistent run of traditional black tuxes, although a few guys mixed it up a bit by choosing a tan tux or a dark suit.

What's more interesting to look through than the color of their tux is the color of their "accessories" - the vests, ties, and boutonnieres that each set is wearing. You can see a popular choice is for the groom to wear white or ivory under their jacket and for their groomsmen to wear black, but some couples mix it up by adding in some colored vests and some even go with a printed tie. For the flowers the guys almost always get a matching flower that is featured in the bridesmaids' bouquets, and the groom gets one that matches a flower that the bride is carrying. If you can match the wedding photos in this post to the ones in the last post (about my 2010 bridesmaids dresses) you can see how the colors of the flowers and the rest of the guys' attire have been selected to be perfectly color coordinated with the girls.

To give you a rundown of the groomsmen attire from my 2010 events here are a few of my favorite photos to share.

Title Photo - Belathee Photography
Photo 1 - Elario Photography
Photo 2 - Jennifer Mardus Photography
Photo 3 - Gallery 9 North
Photo 4 - John Seakwood Photography
Photo 5 - Out of the Ordinary Photography
Photo 6 - Jessica Patch Photography
Photo 7 - Gallery 9 North
Photo 8 - Niki Rossi Photography
Photo 9 - Dan Cooper
Photo 10 - Tracey Buyce
Photo 11 - Bailly Photography

Recap on Bridesmaids Dresses

As I'm working through my 2011 weddings I see an immediate contrast in bridesmaids dresses from this year to last. 2010 was the year of pink for my weddings, as the vast majority of brides selected either a soft or a bold shade of pink for their girls to wear. Sure I had long dresses and short, matching and non, and a few shades of blues and greens, but if I can sum up my bridesmaids in 2010 the word pink is the only way I could describe them. :)

Here are some of my favorite bridesmaids dresses from my 2010 weddings.

Title photo - Belathee Photography
Photo 2 - Jennifer Mardus Photography
Photo 3 - Gallery 9 North
Photo 4 - Tracey Buyce
Photo 5 - John Seakwood
Photo 6 - Bailly Photography
Photo 7 - Gallery 9 North
Photo 8 - Elario Photography
Photo 9 - Out of the Ordinary Photography
Photo 10 - Jessica Patch Photography
Photo 11 - Niki Rossi Photography
Photo 12 - Dan Cooper
Photo 13 - McGarry Photography