Shell Design Weddings

The newest & hottest venue in town!  My husband and I had the pleasure of being invited to a site tour of the newly renovated Cambridge Mill.  We were treated to a cocktail hour as well as a 5-course meal!  We were blown away and the experience far exceeded our expectations.  Not a detail has been missed from the fine dining experience with exquisite food, customized chairs to match the room decor, bridal suite and private patio for each room rental, top-of-the-line sound and multimedia systems - the list goes on and on!

I’m so looking  forward to planning a wedding in this amazing location!  These pictures speak a thousand words.   Stunning!

Some industry colleagues - Kate from Little White Dress & Kim from The Creative Bride!

Centerpieces courtesy of Para Ti

Photos Courtesy of Greg Williams Photography

Last year was a hectic one with planning our own wedding in 8 weeks and moving my husband & ‘bonus’ daughter from the U.S. to Canada.  But, amongst all of the excitement I managed to take part in the Day-of Planning of Trish & Paul’s awesome wedding!  It was a simple, elegant wedding and SO much fun. And, it was at one of my favey-fav venues; Hauser Hall.   Enjoy a few shots from Kurt Brown of Two Tone Studios.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve featured Ida from Sweet Sweets!  She is my ‘go-to girl’ in the world of wedding cakes and I was lucky enough to have her design our wedding cake last summer.  Our guests are still raving about it!  And, she is an all around lovely person and friend.  She is giving us the low-down on the 2011 trends in wedding cake!  Here’s what Sweet Sweets is saying:

It’s YOUR day and YOUR wedding cake. I always tell clients that there are NO rules when creating art.  So, break away from the traditional ideas and styles of cakes. Remember,  you are going to be serving the most important dessert in your lifetime so make it something unique and memorable!   In saying that,  the trends for 2011 are very much about uniqueness and having fun.  It’s such an exciting time to be a cake designer!

1.  Vintage is STILL going strong and I’m still getting a lot of requests for it. In the first photo,  I’ve used a vintage rose bouquet as my inspiration.  The second photo is the final design with pearls, vintage inspired fabric, feathers and soft colours.

2. Personalization & Uniqueness.  Couples are opting to add unique elements to their cakes instead of being inspired by a generic cake from a magazine.  When commissioning an art piece it’s important to me that the piece is unique, customized and one-of-a kind.  I ask clients alot of questions that may have nothing to do with the cake,  but to learn more about them!   This will assist  in creating a piece that is unique to them.  This cake is Shelley’s - I had to feature it on her blog!   The writing on the cake is a poem that Shelley’s husband wrote for her.  Awww!

3.  Artwork. Many of my clients book with Sweet Sweets because they want something different! And many are asking that I create something that “doesn’t look like a wedding cake”.  I offer a unique and artistic way of showcasing the art pieces on stands surrounded by up-lighting.  The effect is stunning and adds to the art gallery feel.  This cake was inspired by Canadian floral designer Hitomi Gilliam.

4. Thinking outside the “Wedding” box! Surprisingly, I do my best work when I’m thinking beyond the wedding box kit - the invites, colour schemes or themes.  I love being inspired by non-traditional wedding ideas.  A lamp shade, vintage china, artwork and nature.   This cake was inspired by this birch wood arrangement.

5.  Cube-cakes! I’m so excited to introduce the original cube cupcake.   I’d like to think that it’s the first of it’s kind in Canada, but I don’t know for sure!  These are truly a cubed cupcake, with crisp squared corners and a paper wrapper that you get to unwrap. Not a round cupcake wrapper in a square muffin tin and not a cake cut into squares.  The cub-cakes are customizable by the square wrapper made for each individual cake.  Fun!

It is important that you, the client, likes the styles of the cake designer. It’s even more important that the designer listens to what you have to say, takes the ideas and creates your vision.  Be sure to have the designer sketch out the cake as well, so you both know you’re on the right track.   A tasting is important and a must during the process.   Yummy!  Most of all, have fun and enjoy the process!

For more information, contact Ida at:  www.sweetsweets.ca or sweetsweets@rogers.com

It’s been such a great experience to work with so many amazing vendors in the wedding business. I have met so many great people along the way, some who have become friends.   I met Sonia Ryan in my Wedding Planning class when she was speaking about wedding day make-up and we’ve been working together ever since.  One of the great things about planning my own wedding is that I was able to work with all the great people that I’ve been referring clients to over the last four years. Sonia is one of them.

I loved, loved, loved my wedding day make-up! What else can I really say?  Sonia is a true professional and puts her heart and soul into her work as a make-up artist.  She is talented beyond words and I’m positive that I’m going to see her somewhere huge and be proud to say “she was my make-up artist at my wedding!” And a great friend too.  Here are a few photos from the wedding.  Sonia beautified my Mom, my sister Melanie and ME!  We had a blast.   Enjoy!

My sister Melanie - stunning!

My beautiful Mom & handsome Dad

All photos courtesy of A Simple Photograph

Hair styling courtesy of Cowboys & Angels Salon

If you haven’t heard about Etsy you’re missing out! It’s a website that is everything homemade and trust me, you can get lost on there.  I’ve had to peel myself away from the computer while on the site because hours can go by without even realizing!  The website has become very popular in the wedding world, so much that Martha Stewart Weddings Summer 2010 edition had a whole page dedicated to Etsy finds!

I’m not much of a DIY bride at all.  In fact, I’m not really DIY-anything! But I so appreciate anything handmade and just wish I had even  a tiny bit of that talent.   As a kid growing up, I was blessed that my Mom could knit, sew, cook and everything else domestic.  I on the other hand did not inherit much of the talent but I atleast give it a try!  So Esty is a perfect place for someone like me!

My first find was vintage lace and embroidered handkerchiefs to give all of the women at our wedding.  LaModage is a shop that seeks out “eclectic, handmade accessories and fun nostalgic finds to decorate your life.”  I was so happy with what they found.  The handkerchiefs came washed and pressed.  And from there, I went Etsy-crazy!   It has all the bonuses of handmade without the DIY part!  I really do heart Etsy.  Here is what I found for my wedding.

This is a customized facinator by RadoKri.  She makes custom wedding and event accessories.  Electric blue is our colour, so the subtle blue feathers will look fabulous!

Our niece and flowergirl Jayla will be wearing this dress from Fairy Wonderful and shoes from Small Beans ‘Baby’.  So cute!

We will have these luminaries by Paper Acorn in ‘Shelley & Greg’ on our sign-in table.    They were featured in Martha Stewart Weddings this summer!

These bags by My Personalized T-Shirt will be personalized and filled with goodies for the children at our wedding.

And one of my favourite finds: vintage map cuff links from DLK Designs.  This is a wedding gift to Greg which represents the long distance and how far we’ve come.  One cuff link is a map of Kitchener-Waterloo and the other is of Indianapolis.  Such a neat keepsake!

I’m so excited to share our engagement photos!  We had such a great time with Erin Samuell of A Simple Photograph.  If you’ve been reading my blog over the years you will have seen Erin’s work quite often!  We couldn’t imagine anyone else photographing our upcoming wedding.  She basically determined our wedding date with her availability!  She has photographed many of my friends and families life events over the years and is not just a colleague but a friend.  She is an amazing talent and I can hardly wait to see our wedding photos!   It’s hard to believe that during all the events leading up to the wedding we even had time to fit this in.  I’m so glad we did.  It was a blast!  Enjoy.

Short engagement + Small Wedding  = Flexibility in venue choice!  This is advice I’m always giving my clients, along with “do what YOU want, it’s your wedding day!”  The first way to cut costs and to have flexibility in just about everything related to their wedding is to have a small guest list.  I know this is not always possible especially with large families and cultural obligations.   In fact, I have a small family but a large social circle and my fianceé Greg has a larger family and has been a police officer for the Indianapolis Metro Police Department for 13 years, so therefore has a large professional and social circle as well.  I wasn’t sure a small guest list was possible for us. So, we sat down, talked it out and we did it!  A guest list of 70 people!  Okay, to some, that doesn’t = small wedding, but for us, it’s perfect!

I just recently read a Facebook status update by an industry colleague, Crystal Adair-Benning of Distinct Occasions.   She said:  “It’s not the quantity of people you have at your wedding, it’s the quality that counts.”  I love that!   It wasn’t an easy decision to not invite family members such as my first cousins or people that have been a influence in my life and great friends over the years.  But, the reality is,  life can change and paths go in different directions.  So, for us, it was about having the people who have been constants in our lives, who are here with us now through our journey and next big step.   It surely doesn’t mean that the others aren’t important to us.  We have a vision for our wedding - a small intimate affair, close family and friends, a celebration of us!

So, with that decision being made, we had alot more venue options.  We went back and forth between many great venues that Kitchener-Waterloo has to offer for under 75 guests and settled on The Tannery.  The Tannery District is an up and coming area,  a commercial space that will give the same vibe to downtown Kitchener that The Distillery District gives to downtown Toronto.  We are having the ceremony, dinner and reception in The Showroom. It’s an urban space with concrete floors, exposed brick walls, lounge area, and paraphernalia showing the history of The Tannery building.  It’s chic and cool!  We couldn’t be happier!

So, my advice to clients will remain the same.   To stay true to what they want as a couple!  And if it’s possible to have a small guest list - go for it!

This is a drawing of what the area will look like upon completion.

Lounge area - view back to front

Shell Design Weddings had the pleasure to be a guest blogger on the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada (WPIC) blog!    A new category called Real Weddings by WPIC Alumni featured the African Lion Safari Wedding of Tereza & Gerrit.  This wedding was such an amazing experience and one that will be remembered for years to come!

Thank-you to WPIC for the opportunity to keep talking about it!   Enjoy.

Photo courtesy of Heather Fritz Photography

Catrina & Todd had an amazing ‘vintage glam’ themed wedding.   Here are a few more shots courtesy of d&g Photography.   Better late than never - the first post was in September!   The photos were worth the wait!  Thanks Naghmeh.

Todd & Catrina’s children (so sweet!)

Sand ceremony - representing the joining of two families

Grey Silos Golf Course - décor by Hollywood Weddings

vintage microphone

Wishing Tree