Christmas Sparkle!

Today is our Christmas party!

With some of the Reviva Chicks heading off in the next few weeks to other climates, the season of glitter and fairy lights has started early :)

Secret Santa is ready and we have a few little treats in store for our fab guests!

Officially now we have to sparkle and I thought I would share some sparkly inspirations with you to get into the festive spirit, all these gorgeous photos are from pinterest.

Free Wedding Websites

In a world of modern technology is setting up a wedding website important?

Well the answer is Yes.

It is an ideal way to communicate with your guests, provide details of the wedding, related activities and up to date news. It also serves as a brilliant planning tool, allowing you to keep on top of your wedding preparations, updating information without having to notify all your guests individually and allows close friends, who perhaps cannot attend your wedding, to be kept in the fold of events.

Our recommendations for the sort of information you should supply on your website are basic info, names, the date and where your wedding is being held with details of the ceremony and reception.

Directions, maps, hotel information and if you are planning a destination wedding, useful things to know, restaurants, what to do, information about the area and perhaps telephone numbers in an emergency.

You can suggest suitable attire, as everyone will want to know what to wear from black tie and sparkle to perhaps laid back, casual beach. It is always nice to include wedding party info, who are your bridesmaids and groomsmen and why.

A convenient link to your wedding registry, gift wish list is useful for your guests to take a look at and of course your story, how you met, engagement, hearing about your romance will give guests an insight and envoke excitement for your big day. Don´t post up 786 photos of your last holiday though!

There are some fantastic free wedding websites out there and with little internet skills you can create your fabulous wedding website in a very short time.

Google offer a whole host of wedding tools, including websites, online planners and useful google docs. Another brilliant website is My Wedding.

Definitely worth heading over to these two websites to start creating your personal wedding website online. After my recent blog posts many of our brides have emailed me with their websites and My Wedding certainly seems to be one of the most popular.

I hope by sharing this advice we have just eliminated one more little stress!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Family + Food.

And using your wedding china for the first time.

Cheers to you and yours! Thank you @Lynlyw for tweeting! 

"Tora revised"

Blacks

19" x 7" x 4"

 "Tora revised"

 Cognac and Crestwood Tobacco browns

"Tora revised"

Opal umber

"For the Ladies..." Rehearsal Twitter Shout Out to @bradlocke

@bradlocke Wedding rehearsal. I suggested we groomsmen do a Michael Jackson spin when we get to the alter. Ladies would love that I bet.

Who doesn't love some fun loving groomsmen?

Enjoy some more rehearsal twitter that gave a giggle!

Wedding Auction Package

This is too good to miss. I've teamed up with Darcy Miller, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta and more to offer a wedding package for auction, benefiting the Martha Stewart Center for Living, a service which promotes and facilitates health care resources for older adults. It's worth $12,000 and includes a $1,500 White by Vera Wang gift certificate, bridal shoes, engagement photos, a meeting with Darcy and planning services from me! I just checked the bidding and right now it's a bargain -- check it out yourself. If you're getting married, this sounds like the best deal in town!

Bidding ends on November 30, so don't wait!

LOVE AND POUTINE

There are two reasons Viva is completely head over heels about one of Ottawa wedding photographer Blair Gable’s recent engagement sessions. 1) Viva loves Elgin Street Diner poutine. 2) Viva loves when an engagement session really represents the couple and in some way tells you something fun about who they are.

Viva’s favourite weddings aren’t always the most glamorous or the most expensive. A wedding full of special touches that represent the couple are. And while the latest trends can be tempting, your wedding day should really include details that exemplify you as a couple - trend or not. Viva believes the same goes for your engagement pictures and this fabulous engagement session shot by Blair demonstrates just that.

After chatting with bride and groom-to-be Kaitlin & Keith, Blair discovered that they ended many dates with a late night poutine at none other than the Elgin Street Diner of course. And so the photo shoot begins. The video below by James Park is a sneak peek at the behind the scenes. Be sure to head on over to Blair’s blog to view some of the very cool images taken of these soon to be newlyweds.

Poutine Engagement Shoot - Behind the Scenes from Blair Gable on Vimeo.

#owt Recap

Miss any of the #owt - overheard wedding twitter? 

Here's a slide show of some more favorites! 

Sharing the love every weekend and Wednesday.

  Paula  

(11" x 5")

11.11.11. Take a Moment.

#PhotoFriday..

Thank you for serving. Thank you, @AlexKilbee for tweeting.

@AlexKilbee While photographing a wedding today (11/11/11) at The Angel Hotel, this gentleman walked past. Take a moment...fb.me/IUwo3DyZ

Mindy

The Time is Now.

Our +Wedding Twitter Page is up on Google+!

*tosses rice in the air*

Overheard Wedding Twitter Wednesday - The Slide Show

We love the overheard Wedding Twitter. You can follow us on Twitter or Facebook every Wednesday and every weekend to follow along.

Since Twitter's memory hits capacity at about two weeks, we clip our very favorites. Using Picasa's slide show feature we're able to keep sharing the love from our albums. Enjoy!

~Mindy

WEDDING DRESS WEDNESDAY

McCaffrey Haute Couture’s annual sample sale is almost here! Don't miss it!!

LAUREN & GREG GET MARRIED!!

Lauren & Greg were married in what was a beautiful ceremony at Blessed Sacrament Parish in the Glebe followed by a fabulous cocktail hour and dinner reception at the Museum of Nature. Lauren was absolutely stunning in her custom Janine Adamyk gown and her bridesmaids all wore Two Birds dresses - The dress you can wear over 15 different ways available at With Love Bridal Boutique!

So many outstanding vendors played a part in making this wedding all that it was. Tulips & Maple made everyone’s mouth water not only during the cocktail hour and dinner but again late night when they brought out the gnocchi poutine. Art-Is-In created the eye catching macaron cake. Delish! Tivoli was responsible for all the floral including the striking centerpieces found on each guest table. Mikaza added to the decor with a stylish lounge area. Of course we can’t forget the music. Virtuosi set the mood at the ceremony, cocktail hour, and during dinner while Prestige Entertainment kept the guests on their feet throughout the reception. And what would an outstanding wedding be without an outstanding photographer? Big thanks to the truly brilliant Miv Fournier for the images below.

LAUREN & GREG - SNEAK PEEK!!

Latest Review :: Laura & George 10.8.11

Here's what Laura & George had to say about our services: 

"Thank you so much for making our day go so smoothly! It was so nice knowing that everything was taken care of…after the wedding I started thinking about the little details and how I didn’t even have to think about them (like getting my bag in the getaway car or getting guests on the buses or setting up place cards, menus...I could go on and on). It was so nice to be able to just enjoy the day!! And the week of, knowing that Sumer was contacting all the vendors and making sure everything was taken care of was a HUGE help! I was able to just focus on getting married!! And the schedule Sumer developed for the day of was perfect…it was so great for our families and bridal party to have…everyone knew when and where they needed to be..and everyone was on time!! (which is very rare for our families). Every email/question I sent was answered w/in 24hrs (well most of the time w/in the hour!) Being an anxious bride it made me really feel at ease w/ everything! The schedule Sumer developed was a HUGE help and the day went so smoothly b/c of it…several ppl asked if there was anything that went wrong the day of, and I honestly cannot think of a single thing. Your services were excellent and I could not be happier with how everything went." 

We'll be sharing more photos from their gorgeous fall wedding in the coming weeks. Stay tuned! 

Photo courtesy of Milla C. Photography.

Favorite Overheard Wedding Twitter of the Day goes to.... @katieupsidedown

Thanks so much for tweeting @katieupsidedown!

Enjoy the overheard wedding twitter #owt all day every weekend and Wednesday!

 

@katieupsidedown Really? the soap and water wedding? twitpic.com/78uygc 

 

Enjoy!

~Mindy

Latest Review :: Laura & Zack 10.1.11

Laura & Zack hired us for Wedding Day Coordination, here's what they had to say about our services:

"Zack and I loved having you as our day-of coordinator. We had an excellent experience from beginning to end. Zack and I will definitely recommend you in the future to any bride/groom. Thank you for a carefree wedding day!"

Photo courtesy of Craig Photography.

Real Weddings 2011 :: Jamie & Jon 9.10.11 {Part 1}

I am nearly jumping out of my seat with excitement to share one of our recent fall weddings with you today! Meet, Jamie & Jon. Jamie & Jon currently reside in Baltimore, but since Jamie is from the Pittsburgh area, they decided to exchange vows at her family's second home on Conneaut Lake. Because there are just too many great photos to share with you all in one post, their wedding will be posted as a two-part series. First up: getting ready + ceremony! 

Jamie & Jon's wedding day started off as quite a rainy day. While Jamie and her bridesmaids (9 total!) got ready inside the lake house (and Jon and his groomsmen got ready a few miles away at a nearby lake cottage), the vendors immediately went to work prepping the tent for an outdoor cocktail  hour & reception later that evening. Despite the rain, Jamie was still beaming from ear to ear when I went upstairs to greet the ladies who were being pampered with hair, makeup, and massages (lucky ladies!). As if you couldn't tell from these photos, Jamie has one of the most infectious smiles I've seen :)

By late morning, the rain was still falling, and by now, we had decided to implement our back-up weather plans and rearrange some of the decor that was originally going to be placed outdoors. A few hours later after we finished with our set-up we departed for the ceremony.

Their ceremony took place at Our Lady Queen of the Americas, a Catholic church just a few miles away. Given the rain, I kept a close eye on the radar during the hour long Catholic mass just PRAYING for a miracle that the rain clouds would roll away, and to my surprise, I saw that the radar showed the rain moving away from us in the opposite direction. Hallelujah! As soon as the ceremony ended, I showed the radar to Jamie & Jon who decided to re-implement our original plan, which included outdoor photos and a boat ride for the bridal party. Much to our surprise, the rain acttally held off the entire rest of the evening. The newlyweds, along with their bridal party were able to enjoy an outdoor photo session along with a boat ride around the lake. 

Be on the look out for part 2 of Jamie & Jon's wedding later this week as I share photos of the reception and the absolutely gorgeous floral + detail shots! 

Photos courtesy of MichaelWill Photography.