Bi-Coastal Bride: Songbook - Processional

The last stop while in Toronto was to meet our DJ.  The Rosehill has an in-house DJ so this was not a vendor that we needed to seek out.  Our guest list will come close to filling up the venue, so having a live band for the event was out of the option, too.  When we met with him, he asked to provide music for the processional, recessional, and all that fun stuff.

Since returning to Los Angeles, J and I have been listening to Pandora, selections on playlist.com, and all that fun stuff to figure out our "important songs."  We've made progress, and I'll be happy to share with you some of our selections over time.

One of the first songs we agreed on was the processional.  We didn't want to do Pachelbel's "Canon in D", we knew that.  J and I had taken a compulsory Music Humanities course together when we were in university, and our professor noted (not jokingly, either) that he had the desire to leave many of his friends' wedding ceremonies for the sole reason that they played that song.  Now, I have no problem at all with Canon in D (though the guy below does), but the song did not speak to us in the slightest.



So what could we walk down the aisle to?  Some songs that I liked J vetoed.  They sounded too sad, in his opinion.  We both love Obadiah Parker's cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya" but the lyrics are about breaking up (i.e the lyrics "why are we so in denial if we are not happy here").  And in Scrubs, the Janitor's wife walked down the aisle to this version (as Ted crooned).  Oh, Zach Braff - why must you always rip off our taste in music?



J kept mentioning the musician Jack Johnson as playing low-key "chill" music, but never bothered listening to him.  One day I'm sitting at work, listening to the Pandora station that I've been listening to and refining for over a year, and Jack Johnson kept popping up.  And this song just clicked.  I quickly texted J and he agreed - this is what we'll be walking down the aisle to:

Song Book: Early Morning Rain - Peter Paul & Mary

Song: Early Morning Rain
Artist: Peter Paul & Mary
Duration: 2:58m

The Great Hall's Great Reveal

The Great Hall,  a fabulous Toronto venue has completed what they call a "major transformation into your perfect event venue" and will be hosting the grand reveal celebration Friday, February 12th - Monday, February, 15th.

The Main Hall, has undergone a major renovation – installed quality sound and lighting equipment and a refined stage area. I can confidently say that there are no other venues in Toronto that blend the size and style of The Main Hall, the intimacy and sophistication of The Conversation Room, the presentation quality of The Theatre Centre, and the open space and lighting of Cream Tangerine Gallery. It's a unique venue space long overdue! (Source incl. image via: Lina Beaudin, The Great Hall )

There are no pictures floating the web to show you the new look, so I guess that means you will have to take a trip to this gorgeous venue to check it out for your self.

Opening Weekend Showcase of events runs from Friday, February 12th - Monday, February, 15th. You can call Lina directly at 647 746 5426 for information regarding capacity, pricing, technical specification, et al, or drop by the venue at 1087 Queen St W for a walk-through.

7 ways to prevent referrals from this party planner

I have been amazingly lucky to work with some of the most fabulous event vendors over the past couple of years. I have also had the opportunity to work with some vendors who will never get a referral from me. Following are 7 ways to prevent referrals from this party planner:

1. Do not snap your fingers or clap your hands at me to get my attention.
2. Do not assume I was hired by the client to be your assistant. If you were not diligent to hire enough staff to execute the job you were hired for, you can ask if I will help, but do not assume I will.
3. Do not come running over to me every 30 minutes and ask me how you are performing. I am not your client or your mother who's approval you want.
4. Do not set up a display about how great you are. More so, do not take over a table that holds the guest book and pictures the couple spent HOURS choosing, placing your inappropriately large sign front and centre.
5. Unless you had a discussion with the client who advised your video was the priority over the photographers shots, do not shove the photographers out of the way to capture the "key shots". Assume your video is complimentary to the photos.
6. Do not bitch to me about the florists arriving at your venue later than the originally stated time. To add to that, do not bitch to the florists and bully them into rushing, possibly impacting the quality of their work. You do not know of possible last-minute arrangements the florists may have made with the couple, so instead of bitching to them (and to me), remind them what time the doors open and ask them if you can help.
7. NEVER go to the couple looking for what you believe you never got from them 5 minutes before you need it.  Better yet, don't even ask them for it! 99% of the time I will have what you need and you avoid looking like an idiot and pissing off your client.

So there you have it, if you follow these 7 suggestions, chances are I will refer you to future clients. That is unless you provide me with an 8 and 9 to add to this growing list.

Bi-Coastal Bride: Toronto Recap - Flowers

Can't think of anything witty to title this post, but hint: it's all about flowers.  I've never been much of a flower person - blame it on my childhood allergies - so I never thought that flowers would be such a big decision to make.  But now I think that it may have been a tougher decision since I don't exactly know what I want.

Luckily, my co-worker's wife (and the flower girls' mom) is a flower buff, and sat with me as we perused through galleries on The Knot for inspiration.  And she graciously offered to make the centerpieces for us.  Before Christmas I ordered the vases from a wholesale source out in Los Angeles (which wound up being quite the bargain) and J and I stuffed our suitcases with said vases.  12 have made it to Canada thus far - just a few more to go.  We knew we wanted a simple and relatively inexpensive centerpiece, and this is what we came up with:

The glass beads were available at Michael's, but while bulk flower sources are readily available for shipment throughout the US, it was a little more difficult to find them in Canada.  Additionally, we wanted to have a chuppah for the ceremony but most Judaica stores in the GTA have the structure but no decorations.  So when looking for a florist, we were hoping to find one that was frugal, had a chuppah (or appropriate decorations for one), and could supply the orchids for our centerpieces.  Enter Fran Sackler.

Not only did Fran come across as knowledgeable about the different types of flowers I was considering, but she also has a chuppah on hand for rent AND was able to get us a good deal on loose dendrobium stems.  We braved the cold on New Year's Eve to travel to her home office and meet in person, with the promise of some mock-ups to see.  And did we.

Mock-up one was a calla lily bouquet:

  

Elegant, yes, though not my cup of tea.

Next up was a bouquet of gerbera daisies.  I've always been a fan of gerbera's, but I was afraid that I needed a little more color, since I'll be in ivory and the ladies will be in black.

Finally, there was a green bouquet, which could add some more pop.

This was definitely more what I was thinking of.  The orchids here tie in with the orchids in the centerpiece.  Now that I've gotten border-line obsessed with wedding design blogs, though, I'm thinking of adding even more green to make the bouquets really pop and be monochromatic.  Little problem: the major "green" flower is the hydrangea, and those large heads remind J of cauliflower, his least favorite veggie.  I've seen kermit mums at the Farmer's Market, and love the look of those, but they can be fragile.

So right now we're marked down for the bouquet above, but I'd love to add more green.  I've given up on everything being very match-y so a full green bouquet seems really cool to me.  But the flower-illiterate me has no idea what to do to make things pop.  Any thoughts?

Song Book: Your Arms Around Me - Jens Lekman

Saw Whip It this weekend and thought this song was pretty damn cool

Song: Your Arms Around Me
Artist: Jens Lekman
Duration: 3:24m

Super AWESOME boudoir with Lisa Mark

I was browsing through flickr when I came across this am-a-zing maternity photo. It reminded of this spectacular boudoir photo series shot Lisa Mark posted about months ago. It then occured to me that I never shared these beauties! 

Follow this link for more pictures from this sassy boudoir shot and make sure to contact Lisa Mark today to book your own boudoir amazing experience.