WeddingDaze

After a year of writing as WeddingDaze, the time has come for me to take my little blog to the next level! What started off as a "fun little blog" for me to chronicle my wedding has grown into something bigger and more important to me. The timing was right to re-fresh and re-design the blog. So {minor drum roll please}, I'm thrilled to announce that I will now be writing as:

The Bespoke Bride
{www.thebespokebride.blogspot.com}

The site will have many of the same elements but will have a distinct focus on providing brides with ideas and inspirations to create their own custom wedding. A logo is in the works but I didn't want to delay it any further as I work on the design, so it is now live! WeddingDaze will be kept up but I will no longer be posting on Twitter under the name. You can now follow me here now: http://twitter.com/thebespokebride

As always, I would love to hear from you so please email me with any questions or feedback at: bespokebride@gmail.com

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Kell

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Labels: News + Events

Lots of testing and tweaking with the site - thanks for your patience!


-- Posted on the go via iTouch

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Happy Easter Weekend! I’m squealing with delight {bad pun as you’ll find out}.

Easter is Spring.  Spring is bunnies and lambs. Lambs are cute. Cute is baby piglets.

Without further explanation, here is a link to the cutest little things. Ever. Baby teacup piglets.  Are you not aching to pick one of these little guys up?

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Okay…a cheeky title I know but it’s a psuedo-Friday today with tomorrow being the start of the Easter weekend so I’m giddy.  But what’s making me really giddy is that I have just crossed  a "wedding to do” from my list: “Purchase wedding shoes”.   I picked them up yesterday. The purple 4 inch baddies below are my wedding shoes.

Now, these aren’t everyone’s taste in a wedding a shoe for two obvious reasons:

{Obvious Reason #1}:  They are stilettos.  Four full inches of fabulousity.  Shoes can never be high enough in my books and short of taking a shower, there is nothing I won’t do in a stiletto.  In theory, I have no business being in heels - I am a klutz.  Klutziness and stilettos do not pair well. Yet somehow, I manage to defy the odds and remarkably  am able to stay continually upright.    I like to think of this as a talent and I tell the BF as much. I think it’s important he appreciates the skill involved walking in heels while wearing a big white dress with everyone staring at you.  I digress. What I really want to share with you about these shoes is the hidden platform.  If you aren’t willing to sacrifice heel height on your wedding day, then I suggest a platform shoe as it alleviates some of the pressure on the balls of your feet. The platform in my shoes is 2 inches, so really, it actually brings the walking height down: 4 heel inches – 2 platform inches = 2 walking inches. Think of it as stiletto math. 

{Obvious Reason #2}: They are purple. Not white but a deep, rich purple. {The more I write the more I realize how much a love these shoes}.  One of the guiding principles in choosing my  wedding shoes was that I must be able to wear them post-wedding. Not going to happen with white. I get why brides wear white shoes, there is a lot of logic in it, but for me, I wanted something different. {Side note: My mom had a fabulous pair of blue shoes {and matching purse!} on her wedding day, and I have always loved how stylish she looked}.  I was initially hesitant of the purple colour because it didn’t match any of our wedding elements {black, white and green} but then I thought, why should that matter?  It’s not like people will really see the shoes and when they do the shot of purple will be like a little unexpected surprise.  Which is really what weddings should be full of.

{images via Marciano}

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Labels: Fashion, Jewellery + Accessories

Today’s post is going to be short and sweet and all about one of my favourite blogs – Vintage Glam Weddings.  An incredible site for all things creative and DIY it also includes a plethora of fabulous freebies, from ceremony program templates to vintage labels.  Serving dual purpose as a teaser to the VGW site and as eye candy for today’s post, here is a recent DIY on how to create toggle pearl necklaces {this could be a fun shower idea, no?} Click here to view this post on the VGW website.

{This post was submitted to Vintage Glam Weddings by Melissa}

What you’ll need:

• I used 8mm glass pearl beads which you can pretty much get from any craft store. You use 50 per necklace
• Bead stringing wire
• Crimp beads
• 10mm jump rings
• A pair of needle-nose pliers to crimp the crimp beads
• Scissors
• 5 yards of 3/8″ ribbon (color of your choice). You are actually going to use a little over 4 yards but get 5 to be safe

Instructions:

Step 1: Cut the bead stringing wire about 20″ in length. the necklaces are about 18″ when finished but you need some to work with to close your ends.
Step 2: Take a crimp bead and a 10mm jump ring and thread it through a loop of the beading wire. Pull taught and crimp (squeeze it with the pliers) the crimp bead to close the end. Cut the excess beading wire on the end for a flawless finish.

Step 3: String 50 8mm glass pearls and repeat crimping for the other end.
Step 4: Cut ribbon into 30″ pieces and loop through both jump rings and tie in a bow. Voila! You’re done!

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Labels: Blogs, DIY, Jewellery + Accessories

Over the weekend I saw a pair of shoes in a window that appear to be exactly what I’m looking for in a wedding shoe.  I will have to explore these on the weekend.  In the meantime, the shoes have got me thinking about accessories – in particular what do I put on my head?  Not a traditional veil type gal I was doing some serious In doing some research and  I came across the fabulous Brides Head Revisited  {based out of NYC} who make beautiful custom accessories {with a focus on veils and headpieces}. I spent a good deal of time going through each piece on their site. They loads of stunning pieces- here are just a few of my favourites {I’m so leaning towards the gorgeous fascinators. Love.}:

{French Veil}

{Fascinators}

{Barrettes & Combs}

{Brooch}

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Labels: Fashion, Jewellery + Accessories

Over the weekend I stumbled across a very cool wedding website.  Project Wedding is an online community and resource site for brides that includes {among other things} vendor reviews {in major US and Canadian cities}; a forum where you can  ask and answer questions & talk shop with other brides-to-be; real weddings {I love looking at RWs}; and photos & ideas for inspiration. But what really caught my eye was the free wedding website with interactive map feature they offer. Did I say free? Many sites offer this service, of course, but what’s cool here, is that Project Wedding has coupled with some fabulous stationary designers to create the website designs {KenzieKate, Elum Designs, Papeterie to name a few}. The website set up is super easy and allows for customization.  As well, they have a cool interactive map that highlights venues, events related to your wedding.

A few of the designs that caught my eye:

{Victorian Scroll – Black by Papeterie}

{Fields by Elum Designs}

{Aberdeen by KenzieKate}

{Belle Epoque by Hello!Lucky}

{ Interactive Map in Hanalei Blush by KenzieKate}

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Labels: Gadgets + Cool Stuff, Planning + Tools, Resources

Weddings are expensive. Even for budget savvy couples, it’s frighteningly easy to see the costs increase - if you’ve been shopping for your gown, you know what I’m talking about. One of the potentially costly items can be stationary, depending on how many pieces you want in your suite, what type (i.e. letterpress), what amount, etc.,  I’ve written about some gorgeous stationary options in the past and will continue to do so but not everyone can afford {or wants to} pay thousands of dollars for stationary but still want custom  so I want to bring your attention to a  cost effective digital printing company, Vista Print.  They recently launched a wedding themed line that allows you to fully customize your content {you can even add photos} to create almost any piece you need:  save the dates, wedding invites, shower invites, ceremony programs, menus, thank you cards…to name a few.  

Most pieces comes with white white envelopes or for an extra fee you can purchase matching designs envelopes {with your return address printed on the back}.  Worth noting, is that these are digitally printed which is a much different look than letterpress, engraving or thermography, so it may not be right option for everyone.

Vista Print ships to Canada and the US and is offering WeddingDaze readers a 25% discount on their order.  Visit this link to receive the discount: http://www.vistaprint.com/MyWeddingDaze

To get a sense for ease of use and cost, I played around with their tool to create a Save the Date. For the piece below : 100 Save the Dates with matching design envelopes came to:  $152.96 – 25% = $144.72 CDN {note: does not include taxes or delivery charges}.

Prices vary based on what options you want, for example if you didn’t want matching envelopes and chose white only {note: you can’t print you address on these}, then the cost would drop to: $47.81 CDN {before taxes and delivery}.  So it all depends on what you want and what is in your budget!

{invite - front}

{invite back – with custom message}

{matching envelope}

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Labels: Giveaways, Paper, Stationery

If you are like me, you are acutely aware of the decreasing gap between the present day and your impending wedding date. Not just for the plethora of logistics you still need to take care of {note to self: book honeymoon flights} but largely due to the fact I haven’t done one.single.thing that can be considered “getting in shape”.  I have toyed with joining a gym but not an expense I really  need right now {and seriously? like I'm ever going to go after the wedding}, so my workouts need to be home based.  Enter today’s post:

I am so excited to introduce WeddingDaze’s first guest writer and health & fitness expert: Dr. Stephanie:

Dr. Stephanie is a big-hearted, energetic, and passionate healer. With a background in neuroscience and psychology, she understands how physical injury can, if left untreated, fully integrate into the body. Dr. Stephanie specializes in whole body wellness, including chiropractic, cosmetic and traditional acupuncture, orthotic therapy and fitness.

She is a fitness champion, having placed 3rd in the New York Regional Division of the prestigious National Physique Committee in April 2008.

Dr. Stephanie has a long standing love for cooking and languages and is currently working towards her proficiency in Greek, French, and Italia

Cleary she is the perfect person to be providing our readers with relevant health and fitness related information, including customized at home workouts for the bride to be. And as a recent bride, she gets what it means to feel incredible on your day of.  We are thrilled to have her and can’t wait for her first post next week – so stay tuned …or should I say, stay toned.

{the lovely Dr. Stephanie…check out the tone arm!}

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Labels: Dr. Stephanie, Health + Fitness

The post is up! As I had mentioned on Friday I have joined the editorial team at The Wedding Co.  and will be contributing as a guest post regularly; today is the kick off post!  You can check it  it by visiting their Daily News blog {where there are loads of fantastic wedding tidbits, BTW}.  I always appreciate feedback {positive or otherwise} so you are welcome to email me with any comments, suggestions or just your two cents!

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Labels: Blogs, Bride-in-Residence Posts, The Wedding. Co.

Many Canadian readers will already be familiar with Sweetspot.ca -  “ Canada's first online trend spotting lifestyle guide of its kind, keeping subscribers and visitors in-the-know and up-to-date on all things fun, fashionable and just plain fabulous in their city and across the country.” , and may already subscribe to their “Sweet Nothings” daily newsletters {not unlike Daily Candy in the US},  as I do.   This morning I was all set to post about something entirely different today until I received my Sweet Nothing.

Today's newsletter is all about their Wedding Guide – an online shopping guide that provides options in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal {bare in mind that many vendors provide products and services nationally}. They have also organized the details into three main categories: “Wow” , “Relaxed” or “Green”. So a little something for everyone. Also worth noting is that peppered throughout the site is loads of other useful information on wedding planning / resources in Canada {tip: type “wedding” into the search tool}.

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Labels: Planning + Tools, Resources

Well unfortunately my remote blogging didn’t work while I was in South Beach on the weekend due to some serious connectivity issues at the resort, so yesterday was a postless day but I will rectify that today with TWO posts {well three if you include this one}!

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Labels: Updates

Alright – I’m off to South Beach for the weekend and will be testing the mobile blogging app I downloaded on my iTouch while I’m down there so kindly bare with me if the posts look odd or don’t appear at all! Fingers crossed!

If this doesn’t work, I shall be updating via Twitter and will post when I’m back…maybe with some honeymoon inspiration or at the very least a few inspired fruity cocktail recipes.

Have a fabulous weekend!

{a little weekend inspiration for you}

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Labels: Updates

I have some exciting news {as I’m sure you caught from my clever title} – starting next week, I will be joining the editorial team at The Wedding Co. as their first “bride-in-residence” (cute name, no?!).  It was  announced on the TWC’s Daily News blog on Wednesday:

I am thrilled to announce a new addition to our editorial team. Our first ‘bride-in-residence,’ Kellie Smith, will be posting her thoughts, experiences and personal advice in the lead up to (and hopefully after) her summer wedding at the Distillery. This woman has a lot to share! We met earlier this week for a quick coffee and introduction and two hours just flew by. She has also thrown herself into her wedding plans to the point where she started her own fantastic blog, Wedding Daze.

Stay tuned early next week for Kellie’s first instalment - and expect regular posts approximately every other week after that from this intrepid girl on the go.”

I am so excited! I have long admired The Wedding Co. (see earlier posts here and here) and am so looking forward to contributing to such a fabulous team!  Please be sure to visit TWC early next week to read my first post!

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Labels: Bride-in-Residence Posts, News + Events, The Wedding. Co.

In previous posts, I’ve noted my love for the amazing wedding / design / stationary blogs that exists. Truly inspiring, they showcase the incredible things that can be done to make a wedding truly unique and personal. They are so inspiring, in fact, that I’m motivated to create some of my own wedding bits (menus, labels, signs, and dare I try…my ceremony programs?). So, next week I’m going to visit a couple of my local stationary stores to figure out just what I can do. For Toronto brides, if you are also feeling DIY, then you may want to visit one of these fab fab stores. Each has it’s own thing going on and offers different products and services, but all are worth checking out. {Note: for American readers these stores would be similar to Paper Source}

{Paper Things} – This has been a staple store in Yorkville for almost 30 years

{The Papery} – They have a locations on Yonge Street and another in Yorkville

{Essence du Papier} – Various locations in Canada, carry beautiful products

{The Paper Place) – Located in Queen West area, they host lots of great workshops

If you are a Canadian bride and are aware of any other stores, please let me know!

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Labels: DIY, Paper, Resources, Stationary