Father of the Bride

We've had posts about the Maid/Matron of Honour, The Best Man, Bridesmaids and the Mother of the Bride, but have yet to cover the Father of the Bride.

The Father of the Bride is usually the most important man in a Bride's life, next to her future husband. He is the man that will walk her down the aisle and 'give her away' to the Groom. He typically offers a toast at the reception and can give a speech if he so desires.

What should The Father of the Bride say to his daughter, future son-in-law and guests?

Here are some topics to touch on:

Welcome - The Father of the Bride usually speaks first, or is the second to speak after the MC or the Best Man speech. He should welcome guests to the wedding and thank out of town guests for joining in the celebration. He should thank people that made the day possible and participating in the planning process and the overall upbringing of the Bride.

Ceremony - He should mention the union that took place at the ceremony and the love his daughter and the groom share for one another. A nice quote, bible verse or song lyric can help with expressing any emotions he may wish to share.

The Bride - The Father of the Bride should talk about the Bride, how proud he is of her and provide a few fun facts about her. Keep this brief as not many people care to hear long winded stories of her childhood like losing her first tooth, her awkward teenage years or the troubles she got into during College. Talk about some of her talents, skills and accomplishments, but keep it short and sweet.

Their Relationship - Mention the relationship between the Bride and Groom. How they met, how he felt when he knew his little girl was in love and his hopes for them for their future together.

The Groom - Welcome him to your family and provide him with a few tips and advice like family traditions, etc. You can poke a little fun at him if you have a good relationship with him, but keep it classy.  You don't want to embarrass him or your daughter. Be sure to make him feel special and accepted.

Wise Words/Toast - End your speech with a few relationship lessons and wise words. Offer an example from  your relationship with her mother if it's a healthy one. Tell them about your hopes, dreams and wishes for them and your excitement of what lies ahead for them as a family.

The Father of the Bride is an important role in a wedding, so be sure to take it seriously, but have fun with it as well. Weddings are an emotional day, so be sure to cherish every moment.

*Photo by Angela Devries Photography from the wedding of Natalie & Jason

Wedding Videos

The word 'video' makes me think of a VHS - an old school way to capture memories. These days technology is so high end that you can end up with a wedding video that looks like a mini-movie.

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with the team from Captivate Bridal for the wedding of Natalie and Jason this past June. Now, I've gushed quite a bit about their wedding here, and here and have bragged about ther 2 page spread they got in the Hamilton Halton Weddings Magazine - and once you see this video you'll know why this wedding is one of my all time favourites. Not only are Natalie and Jason adorable, oh-so-good-looking and in love, but their wedding was full of beautiful details, precious moments and many smiles.

Click here to watch the film.

I love how it starts out with the boys kickin' back and having a game of road hockey. What a great way to let off some steam that accompanies the nerves of a wedding day.

And then at 1:44 you get a look at how Natalie spent her morning getting ready with her best girlfriends.

If you're a Daddy's girl, you'll get choked up at around 3:10 when her Dad enters and you can hear parts of his speech to his daughter and her new husband. Sigh.

Also, take note of how many times Jason looks at Natalie so adoringly. I found myself smiling along with him and even getting a little misty eyed.

Kudos to Captivate Bridal for capturing their wedding in such a beautiful and memorable way.

Do you want your big day captured on film? Then check out Captivate Bridal so you too can have such a fabulous keepsake.

*Photos by Angela Devries Photography

Love in Print x 2!

If you want inspiration for your wedding you can look to weddings you've attended, search through blogs, or hunt of ideas on Pinterest. There are lot's of ways to get ideas for your big day, but nothing compares to flipping through the pages of a Wedding Magazine.

Grab the 2013 edition of Hamilton Halton Wedding Magazine, make yourself a tea and cozy up on the couch for a good read filled with local vendors, ideas, inspriational shoots and real weddings.

We are over the moon excited to have 2 of our Day of Coordination weddings featured in the magazine!

On the cover you'll see Morgan & Adam, their wedding was in August and the photo was captured by the lovely and talented Beth Kay. Big thanks to Morgan for the shout out to us in the blurb about their beautiful day! xo

Mosey on in a little further and you'll find a two-page spread of Natalie & Jason's June wedding. This wedding was full of romance, pink, fine details and of course, cupcakes! Thank you so much to Nat & Jason for inviting us to be a part of your special day and for the kinds words. Here's what Natalie tweeted about working with us; "Our vision for our wedding day would not have been brought to life without you!" For more about their wedding check out the feature in the mag, or our re-cap here.

DISCOUNT Alert! Book with us before May 1st, 2013 and tell us that you saw these Real Weddings in the Hamilton Halton Weddings Magazine and save 10% on Day of Coordination Services!

Me like Cookies

Cookies were served as a late night sweet treat in June 2012

It looks like Cookie Monster is helping set a trend for the 2013 wedding season. Cookies are set to be cropping up at weddings next year for favours and desserts.

Entering the wedding circuit in 2011, cookies made an impact, but weren't as popular as cupcakes, cake pops, candy buffets and even pies. But if you or your hubs-to-be is a cookie monster, then you'll be happy to know the cookie is here for 2013!

Sugar cookies can be decorated any way you like, and can also be packaged in a variety of different sizes and shapes - making for a unique and personalized favour or treat.

Two of my clients last year had cookies for their guest takeaway. Giving an edible favour is a great idea because everyone always likes something to eat. Most times the edible favours will be eaten or taken home so you know you've spend your money well, unlike some of the other offerings like candles, soap or picture frames.

Angie & Serge had Cupcake Diner make them themed cookies
for their May wedding.

Natalie & Jason gave a simple sugar cookie for their
June 2012 wedding.

If you want to have cookies at your wedding, just remember that you don't have to go with the decorated sugar cookie. You can pick your favourite from your childhood, or choose one because you like the name (i.e: snickerdoodle) or ask a Grandma or Aunt to bake their signature cookie for you.
There are so many options! Also, think outside the box on how to serve your cookie(s) if you're not having them as a favour, but as a sweet treat. Will you serve it with milk? Hot chocolate?

Photo from Postcards & Pretties

What do you think about this 2013 wedding trend? Do you like cookies?

That's a wrap!

Our 2012 wedding season has come to an end, and we are very pleased with how this year rolled out.

We executed a total of 9 weddings, with 3 being Full Wedding Planning services - so for this part-time business, we're giving ourselves a little pat on the back for a job well done.

All of the weddings we executed were memorable in their own way, and there were aspects and details from each that were very note-worthy. To share just a few, we'll start with Natalie, our June Bride who had a sign displayed for her guests that detailed the meanings behind her flower choices. We thought that this was very unique and gave purpose to her flowers rather then them just being simply decor.

Another neat thing I saw this year was the use of Scrabble letters to form the table names for Porsha & Will's big day. Or the fact that Mary-Anne, our August Bride had not just one cake, but three! She got on the trend wagon and had a cake trio for the day she married her hubby Anthony.

This year was our busiest to date, and we couldn't have been as successful without the help of my fabulous Assistants. Big hugs and thank you to Brittany, Melissa and Teresa. You guys rock!

Also thanks to some of the fabulous vendors we had the chance to meet and work with for the first time, and to those that we've worked with before and some more than once just this year. You guys help in making my job so enjoyable - thank you!

Stay tuned for blog posts in the next few weeks and months that will show Porsha's, Mary-Anne's, Margarita's and Brooke's wedding day in a recap with details and photos.

Cakes by This Chick Makes Cakes

Now, we're in planning mode for next year by meeting with Brides. If you're getting hitched, or know someone that is, feel free to give us a call. Even in the off season, we're still eager to keep talking about and executing weddings!!

A Saaweet Wedding!

Natalie got married to the love of her life, Jason on June 16^th and we were there to coordinate their special day.

It was a beautiful, yet hot summer day when these two love birds said “I do.”  Both the ceremony and the reception was at Liberty Grand in Toronto (on the Exhibition grounds). Natalie is all about the fine details, she had a complete vision in her mind of how she wanted her day to look and feel, I think we did a pretty good job bringing it all together for her and her hubs.

From the rose petal aisle, to the lemonade stand for guests after the ceremony – to the homemade cookie favours, cupcake tree (or rather tower) and small personal touches like a picture frame stand with little pictures of loved ones passed, to a note card detailing their flower choices, this wedding was simply beautiful!

On top of all the beauty that was in the details and décor, there’s Jason, Natalie and their wedding party too! A great looking group of people that were such a pleasure to work with. Not one person complained, or didn’t offer to help out in some way. This couple was truly blessed to have been surrounded by such great family & friends on their wedding day.

With Natalie owning Cupcake Diner, it was expected that there’d be some sweet treats available! The late night buffet consisted of homemade goodies like cupcakes (chocolate mint, lemon, red velvet just to name a few) and cookies. In conjunction to the sweet table, there was a buffet of French fries – a perfect snack for party!

The new Mr. & Mrs will be featured in an up-coming edition of the Hamilton & Halton Weddings Magazine, so be on the lookout for that! In the meantime, check out some pictures here of the happy couple on their special day. It was a pleasure and an honour to have been a part of Natalie & Jason’s day. We hope that they had a fantastic time with memories to last a lifetime.

Congratulations!

To see more pictures, like us on Facebook, or you can also go here.

Venue: Liberty Grand 

Florist/Décor: Sue Gallo Designs 

Cupcakes & Cookies: Cupcake Diner

Photographs: Angela Devries Photography  

Give your flowers meaning

Most Brides will pick flowers for their wedding based on the colour, size, seasonality (availability) and cost. Flowers can be expensive, especially if you're ordering ones that aren't in season during your special day.

To add more meaning to your flowers, and to give your guests something to talk about, why not post a list of your chosen flowers and their meaning like what my recent Bride, Natalie did?

Placed on her gift table, I thought this was a great way for her to showcase her love of flowers and why she chose what she did for the day she said "I do" to Jason.

Online you can find all kinds of meanings and symbols for flowers. Check out Flowers for Canada or The Language of Flowers.

Remember that if you're not all that into flowers, you can always incorporate plants, nuts and seeds. Or, if you're totally against using real flowers, why not go with a broach or button bouquet?


What kind of flowers are you planning on displaying at your wedding and in your bouquet?

No matter what you choose, be sure that the flowers you pick have some sort of meaning to you. Maybe you decide to pick flowers that were the kind he first gave you when you started dating. Maybe you chose your mother's favourite flower to honour her, or maybe you simply pick what you think are pretty. Whether you display the meaning of your flowers or not, you'll know that they were chosen with your special meaning in mind.