Fashion Shows, Cake, and Wine!

As promised in my last post, I'm here to tell you all about the bridal show in Halifax last weekend! The wedding showcase was a lot of fun. I think it is a great idea to put everything a bride needs to plan a wedding all in the same place! It's a great place to get ideas and network with vendors.

 

The great thing about this years bridal showcase was that they added Bridal Bucks! Bridal Bucks are great because you can use them to get discounts at participating vendors. Some vendors take anywhere from $10 - $50 off your total cost! And as every bride knows, all discounts save you $ that you can use for your honeymoon ;)

 

 

I think that the bridal bucks are a great addition because I love discounts and now I am saving money on my DJ services as well as a few other things! They even have discounts on honeymoon trips!

 

The bridal show also included two fashion shows. The first one was hosted by Winchester's but I was too wrapped up in cake tasting, wine tasting, and photobooths to check out that show! I did check out the second fashion show though which was put on by Always and Forever Bridal Store. It was great to see all the different dresses and tux styles available.

 

 

I got in touch with so many different vendors that the day was a great success no matter what! Here are the buisness cards of the vendors that I am actually interested in. I got a whole bunch of cards from other booths that I threw out, lol! Just by attending some vendors give you other discounts you can use anytime! Moore's Clothing for Men gave me a coupon for $40 off each tux rental and I don't even have to use my bridal bucks!

 

Just spending the day with my Mom and my MOH made the entire day totally worth it but making connections was great as well :)! Can't wait for the next one.

 

Thanks for following blog readers!

 

xoxo

 

Khrysty

 

Planning, Planning, Planning!

As promised, here is the follow up to the rest of my busy wedding planning weekend :)! Saturday morning we were supposed to have our engagement photos done but the rain ruined all my plans
:(

Luckily the photographer had time to schedule us in for Sunday. So Saturday morning was much more low-key than expected! I helped my mother-in-law to be decorate the house for the party and got all the food ready! Then everyone showed up! It was a really fun time and after the family party we decided to go out with the bridal party (at least those that could be present) for some more fun!

 

Here are some awesome pictures from that night:

 

 

My awesome MOH and her boyfriend

 

Blog buddies :)

 

The boys (groomsmen) watching the band play!

 

My adorable fiancé and I :)

 

Another one of us :D

 

Thankfully my MOH is not the photographer ;)

 

Leanne and her fiancé

 

As the night wore on our dancing got better...and by better we all know I mean the opposite...

 

 

...and better, lol.

 

This night was the most fun I have had in awhile! We went to the Pogue and the band was really good... or I had a few too many drinks and thought the band was really good, lol.

 

Sunday was another busy day since we pushed our appointment with the photographer back a day! I was obsessively checking the weather network and praying it would not rain. At 8am when I woke up I had a message from the photographer asking if we still wanted to do the photos even though everything was so wet - I was like yes! I believe in the sun, it will come out haha!

 

And luckily for us it did :). I felt like that was an omen that our engagement is meant to be. The entire drive to the city was a coat of fog and I was starting to get super nervous that we would have to reschedule AGAIN, but as we drove into the city (15 minutes late, oops!) the sun broke through the sky and the fog lifted. It was perfect!

 

Here is a sneak peek of our engagement shoot! I promise to post more pictures as soon as we get them back.

 

 

This one is my favorite so far <3

 

Shooting with our photographer was a lot of fun! She kept making us laugh so the pictures would be more normal looking! I think that they turned out really great, although my fiancé thinks he looks "horrible" lol.

 

After the engagement photo shoot I had a bridal show to attend! Read my next post to find out about all the excitement there!

 

Thanks for following blog readers, xoxo

 

Khrysty

 

 

Have your cake and eat it too?

Today was an excellent day on the wedding planning front. It is really difficult to plan a wedding from a different province but I make the most of my weekends to Halifax! :) I feel like we got a lot accomplished today in particular!

 

Our first appointment of the day was with a cake decorator and all I have to say is who knew cakes were so complicated. First you choose a cake flavor: red velvet, lemon, white almond, or the classics - chocolate and vanilla. Not to mention you can mix and match: one tier chocolate, one tier vanilla, one tier white almond anyone?? ;) Then there is the buttercream flavors: lemon, strawberry, nutella (WHAT?), vanilla, oreo, baileys (YUM!), coconut, and duke de leche (HUH?). Some of these I've never even heard of! The best part of this meeting - taste testing :)! You also need to choose the number of tiers you want and the design of the cake of course! Here's what our cake is going to look like but with a little variation:

I like this cake with purple flowers! The cake decorator said it would be great with a purple ombre so that's what we are thinking. What do you all think?

 

Our next meeting was at the church. We hadn't been inside the church yet, we had only seen photos on the Internet but it didn't disappoint! The church is BEAUTIFUL! Here is the outside of the church:

 

This is the only part of the Church we had seen until today!

 

 

This is where we will be standing to get married :). I get goosebumps just thinking about it!

 

This picture does not do the inside justice! It was absolutely beautiful!!!

 



This is the organ! My fiancé is in love with the organ and is super excited that the church has an accomplished organist!

 

Meeting with the Reverend was definitely on my to do list and I am so glad we got that done this trip to Halifax! And believe it or not we have more wedding related events this weekend so stay tuned for Engagement photos and Bridal Show! YAY wedding planning!

 

 

Happy Friday blog readers!

 

xoxo

 

Khrysty

Budget, Budget, Budget!

The first step to planning your wedding is setting a budget! There are many factors that can affect your budget including guest count, location, and venue. Obviously if you are getting married in a big city like Vancouver or Toronto the cost will be a little bit more than a small town. Also, the biggest factor in planning a wedding is the guest count. A wedding with 200 guests is going to cost more than a wedding with a 100 person guest count.

 

Before determining our budget for our fairy tale wedding I did some research and discovered that the average Canadian wedding costs $25,000. And yes, people can plan a wedding for much less, and some people much more, but this number made sense. My fiancé and I decided that with our guest count - 230 people - and our location being in a semi-big city - Halifax - that our budget would be $25,000. Of course, we are always hoping to come under budget :).

 

As a general guideline, 50% (yes half) of your budget should go to the reception and rehearsal dinner (if you choose to do one), 10% to bridal attire (this includes the dress, shoes, jewelry, and undergarments), 10% to music (dj, band - it's your choice), 10% to photography, 10% to flowers, and 10% to everything else (this would be bridal party gifts, invitations and response cards, wedding license, transportation, favors, guest book, etc). Of course these figures can be adjusted accordingly. If you decide one aspect of the wedding is more important than others you can change your percentages.

 

I found the easiest way to keep track of my budget was to create one in Microsoft Word, I am sure there are easier ways to do this but this way worked best for me.

 

Here is what my budget sheet looked like :)

 

 

I think one of the best ways to stay with in budget is to shop around. Although, sometimes I find that all I do is shop around for the best deal and this can be stressful. But in the end it will totally be worth it! I also found that a good way to stay in budget is to budget in all the things you know other people (like your parents - if they are helping out) are paying for because if you budget in that cost and then don't actually have to pay for it you have the money left in the budget and you will come in under budget, yay!

 

I'll let you know how my budget turns out!

 

Happy Sunday blog readers,

 

xoxo

 

Khrysty

Bride or Bridezilla?

While bridesmaid dress shopping I had my first (and hopefully last) bridezilla moment... I'm sure every bride has at least one of these moments but thinking back it is so embarrassing!

I had envisioned exactly what I wanted my bridesmaids to look like and once I found the dress I was pretty dead set. The only problem was my sister (who is one of my bridesmaids) and I didn't exactly agree on the style. She a wanted a long dress to cover her legs like the one featured below:


                                                   

She tried this dress on and totally loved it, and as cute as it is, it just wasn't the look I wanted. I wanted something a little more fitted - and with a little bit of sass:

In my opinion this dress has it all. It's cute and sassy! And in purple, totally perfect for a summer wedding. Eventually my sister caved and said she would wear whatever I asked her to wear (it is my wedding, right? lol) but at first I really thought it was going to be bride wars between us :).

Thanks for reading!

Khrysty

xoxo

Leanne's Wedding Dress Ideas/Inspiration

A month ago I went shopping with Khrysty to help her find her wedding dress. She did an amazing blog post on her experience so if you haven’t read it...go now!

Since I am miles behind Khrysty on the wedding planning, it won’t come as a surprise that I haven’t been dress shopping, and to be honest I don’t plan on going anytime soon. However, I have been looking online and in magazines at what I would like in a dress. I thought it would be fun to share what I like and then when I finally pick my dress we can look back and see if it was anything like I thought I wanted. So here goes… 

1.       Silhouette – In my opinion, the silhouette of the dress is the most important part. I don’t have the perfect body and I’m not the most confident so I want something to flatter what I enjoy and hide what I don’t! Because of this I can rule out that I don’t want anything form fitting, specifically a mermaid or drop waist dress. Not that I find them ugly, I just think they will look ugly on me.

Right now I would say I am most attracted to ball gowns. There is something about feeling like a princess on my wedding day that draws me in. Also, it doesn’t hurt that they are very flattering around the tummy!

 

 

 

 

The other silhouette option I like is an A-line dress. I want to feel beautiful and relaxed on my wedding day and if I can look great and avoid looking like a giant cupcake then it is a win-win!

 

 

2.       Sleeves – All of the above pictures I posted were of strapless dresses. I am immediately drawn to strapless dresses but through online shopping I have found quite a few dresses with straps that I wouldn’t mind trying on. Here is one I absolutely adore, but unfortunately I don’t have her height or body!

 

3.     Neckline –As a member of the itty bitty titty committee I don’t want to look out of balance and lost in my dress because I am lacking some curve! My favourite neckline is definitely sweetheart but I am not going to rule out other options. I want the dress to flatter me in all areas so this is one area where I find myself not being too picky. 

 

4.      Detail – Now this is probably the most exciting part of the dress to me…the lace, the sparkle, the flowers oh my! The more sparkle the better I say, so bring on the detail! If you have ever watched “Say Yes to the Dress” then I am sure you have seen Pnina Tornai dresses. Every time I see them my jaw drops, they are honestly so amazing; if it was in my budget I would be buying one of her designs.

 

So there we have what I am looking for in my wedding dress. My bets are on a mermaid gown with full sleeves and no detail whatsoever ;). I hope I have a great experience dress shopping, stay within budget and pick something my fiance is going to love!

Stay tuned to see what I pick or leave a comment/link with what you think I should get.

Xoxo

Leanne

Finding THE dress

Ever tried shopping for a wedding dress? It can be the greatest yet most stressful day of your life. You need to be super careful about who you decide to take with you because the people you choose are going to help you make one of the biggest decisions surrounding your wedding day. When I went shopping for my dress I decided to take my MOH, my sister (also a bridesmaid), my best friend who is co-writing this blog (bridesmaid) and my Mom. This was a pretty good group because it was enough different opinions but not too many. I thought that it would be difficult for everyone to agree on a dress but it turned out it wasn't.

Before I went dress shopping I thought I knew exactly what I wanted! I had found a picture of a dress on the Internet that I was OBSESSED with. And I thought this dress was the be all end all of dresses. I called dress stores across the maritimes but nobody had it in stock.

The "original" dress:

 

Because I could not find the dress in any local stores I came to the conclusion that I should try on other dresses and see what happened. I convinced myself the dress I was looking for was a sweetheart neckline with pickups on the skirt so at first I just tried on dresses that were similar to that. Here is the first one :)

This dress was gorgeous and everyone loved it but I didn't have THAT moment. The moment where you just know the dress is perfect. I decided to keep on trying more. The sales lady picked out another dress after this one but it didn't have enough sparkle for me :)!

As it turns out the dress kind of chose me ;). There was this dress I REALLY wanted to try on but it was a little too small. I wanted to try it on so badly that I squeezed into it! When I tried it on I think I knew right away, I felt like a princess. I went out to show my entourage and when I looked in the full-length mirror I started crying. Even though the dress was nothing like what I "thought" I wanted, it was perfect. I can't post a picture because I know my fiancé is going to spy on the blog but I will post one after the wedding!

Here is a picture of me ringing the bell that signifies that I found my wedding dress :). Definitely one of the most exciting adventures I have been on!

More to come!

xoxo

Khrysty

Ringing the bell!

Leanne's Engagement Story!

First, I just wanted to say how excited I am to be doing this with my best friend! And I wanted to add how much I loved reading her engagement story; it gets more romantic each time I hear it :) 

My engagement story began in March of this year. The following months after Christmas were a little blah for my Fiancé and I. Fortunately, at the beginning of March things were starting to look up.  I had just started a new job, we both had birthdays coming up and best of all we were planning my dream vacation to California in June! With everything that had been going on we decided to book a getaway weekend to a resort about an hour outside of the city for the end of April, it was going to be our joint birthday present to each other!

The excitement for our trip to California was killing us so it was nice to have something to look forward to that didn’t seem like a year away (I`m dramatic haha). We booked an ocean view room, made dinner reservations and ordered flowers, chocolate and wine for the room. For approximately 3 weeks we were extremely excited about this trip, it was pretty much all we talked about…heck I even had my outfits planned out for each day!  BUT being the ridiculous, anal, budget freak I am I analysed our finances and was getting doubts about spending so much money when we were about to go on a huge trip in 2 months!

During the next week I mentioned my concerns to my Fiancé insisting we should save our money. But being the loving, sweet guy he is he would tell me how much we deserve it and would remind me of the amazing time we were about to have, so I pushed my thoughts aside.  Unfortunately, this feeling never went away. It was now the beginning of April, Easter Monday to be exact, and I was off to have lunch with my previous co-workers. After a great weekend and then a great lunch I was driving home and just felt like I had to cancel this trip, it was weighing on my mind too heavily and I didn’t want to be stressed and later regret not having the money for California.

When I got home, I sat down with my Fiancé and told him how I felt and that I was going to cancel. He gave in but was devastated, more than I had expected him to be. I went off to the bedroom to read "The Hunger Games" and he stayed in the living room clearly upset (it still breaks my heart)! About half an hour later he came into the bedroom, he went in the closet and came back out. He got down on one knee and said some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard and then finished it with "Will you marry me?" I was stunned, my jaw dropped and between the tears all I could get out was: Are you joking? Is this really happening? Do you mean it? I said yes, we snuggled and then he explained how he was going to propose on our weekend away. He didn`t know when his next opportunity would be and he just couldn`t wait any longer for another moment. I felt terrible for cancelling our trip but if I was expecting the proposal I would have assumed it would be in California!

It was extremely spur of the moment, very us and will be one of the most memorable days of our lives :)

Xoxo

Leanne

Khrysty's Engagement Story!

The beginning to all wedding adventure stories would be the engagement, so here is my engagement story!

My fiancé was pretty funny when he was planning out his proposal, I got really suspicious because he kept asking all sorts of questions like "When will we be going to Halifax" and "What are we doing this weekend" and normally he is a go with the flow kind of guy. But when THE weekend actually came, I did not see it coming at first. We were on our way to Halifax from Moncton and we were approaching Bedford on the highway.

I asked if we could go to my Mom's house first but he said we should go to my parent's house after supper. I got a bit upset because I just wanted to stop in quickly but he stood his ground.

There is this neighborhood on the side of the highway that we never really figured out the location to (it's pretty obscure). My fiancé suggests that since we have a little bit of time that we should go see if we can determine where it is. I agree, so he takes the exit off the highway. I am looking at my iPhone and think I know where the neighborhood is so I tell him to take the next turn but he keeps driving! At this point I am getting pretty annoyed and frustrated so I ask him "why won't you ever do what I ask?". In retrospect I feel pretty bad about that comment but I can't take it back now!

He tells me he is going to turn around so he keeps driving down the road, then he turns down the road that leads to the park where we went on our first date. He pulls into a parking lot and asks if I want to go for a walk. At this point I start to get super suspicious and I give him a weird look but agree.

We get out of the car and walk along the waterfront. As we are looking out at the water he says "I love you some lot" in that Newfie way only he can so I look over to say I love you too and he's down on one knee with a ring in his hand. I instantly burst into tears and cry Yes!

Thanks for reading,

xoxo

Khrysty

The adventure of a Lifetime...

The only thing that is more exciting and fun than planning your own wedding is planning your wedding at the same time as your best friend. This blog will follow the adventures of two best friends planning their weddings together.

Stay tuned for more fun!