So it’s no surprise that my next post is going to be about taking care of yourself. Most of the couples I meet are headed up the corporate ladder, busy planning a wedding and some even through in another major life event such as purchasing or building a home together. Can we say stress? It’s hard enough trying to find time to manage work and person life (do you even see that person you’re engaged to?), but to throw in wedding to the mix just exasperates most people.

So today we’re going to talk about finding time to take care of yourself. Now I’m not talking about finding 2+ hours a day to hit the gym, I’m going to give you some easy ideas on how you can take a little bit better care of yourself that hopefully won’t take you much time. Of course if you can carve an hour out of your day to workout – please do it!!

1. Drink more water! I know what it’s like working in the corporate world (or any world for that matter) – Coffee seems to be at an abundance. Do yourself a favour and find a fun 1Litre water bottle and carry it around with you. Start off by trying to drink 2-3 litres a day. It’s easy if you keep it with you and refill it instead of your coffee mug.

2. Meal Plan! Spend a few hours on Sunday preparing some healthy options for lunches and dinners. It’ll make it easier during your hectic week to grab a healthy meal instead of running to the nearest fast food option in the food court at work. Make a big salad with spinach, peppers, tomatoes, peppers, even a few dried cranberries and store it in the fridge. Then all you have to do is grab a smaller container, fill it with your pre-made salad, throw in half a chicken breast (BBQ a bunch of those up and keep around too) and voila! A quick easy lunch! Throw in an apple, an orange, a few almonds, some pre-cut carrots and other veggies and you have a bag full of great options during the day!

3. Get out for half hour at lunch. Take a breather! Get outside for a quick walk and away from behind your desk. You’ll be more productive if you get out, stretch your legs and clear your mind.

4. Take some time out with your fiancé to do something other than plan the wedding. Dedicate one night where you can’t talk about the wedding. Watch a movie, go for a walk, hit the gym together, or heck COOK a healthy meal together. Remember why you got engaged in the first place!

5. Sleep! Make sure you get ample sleep to keep you going. Don’t rely on the caffeine to keep you going. Make sure you’re getting 6-8 hours of sleep a night.

Next we’ll be giving tips on things to do the week of your wedding and the day of your wedding to keep you feeling your best!

Happy Wedding Planning!

Three steps is all we asked guests to do when they entered Jennifer and Dave’s wedding reception. Three steps that left them with a fun filled memory book of all their friends and family that celebrated their wedding day!

Jennifer and Dave were married in September at the fabulous Bonterra restaurant. We had so much fun with these two planning their cocktail reception. The food stations that Bonterra set up for us were delectable and guests treated to the chef’s creations all evening long.

We set up a guestbook station at the main entrance and captured each guest as they arrived for the wedding reception. Guests then wrote messages to Jennifer and Dave in a scrapbook. Now the couple has a great memory of all their guests at the wedding along with some great messages. We used a Polaroid camera with mini photos and guests loved them. We made sure to get a few extras so that if guests wanted to take a photo home they could. The couple also assigned the groom’s daughter to take photos during the night with it and we placed those in the back of the album.

Just a small added touch that guests loved and talked about – make your guestbook interactive and involve your guests!

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Here’s our inspiration photo:

We ended up with three different centrepieces on each table – each being tied with ivory ribbon so they could easily be grabbed on the way out. We went with roses, mini roses and hydrangeas. They looked stunning against the ivory pallet we went with on the tables.

We love how they turned out!

We decided early on during a floral consult we would be using roses quite a bit for the wedding, so we wanted that to transfer over to a few details, especially the cake. So we asked Crave to decorate the cutting cake with rosettes and bring that into the mini cupcakes as well. We think it turned out lovely! We then added a bed of hydrangas to the bottom of the stand to hide the legs of the stand. And yes, they were as delicious as they look! Hmm… time for a cupcake run?

First we found some great ideas on Pintrest, and paired it with the one thing you can’t go to Banff and not buy – FUDGE!

We started by purchasing mugs and had the amazing Kristine at Spoonful of Sugar design the graphic to go on the mugs. Next we purchased mason jars and filled them half with hot chocolate mix and half with mini marshmallows. We then tied mini bottles of Baily’s to them. YUM! Hot Chocolate and Baily’s? Yes please!!
Next we found some delicious fudge and threw it in along with a card thanking guests for traveling to the wedding. We used an amazing image of the couple taken by the very talented Paul from PMG Images during their engagement session. Then we put it all in a box and had them delivered to each guest’s room at all the hotels they were at. They were a hit with the guests!

Here are some of our favorite ideas:

The mimosa bar – Offer your guests different fruit juices with their champagne. They’ll have a blast trying some new flavors

Pancake/ Waffle Bar  - Let your guests go wild and top their pancakes with a wide variety of toppings and syrup

Or take your pancakes or french toast and put them on sticks!

Or how about a cereal bar?

And of course don’t forget the wedding “cake” – a tower full of yummy donuts!

These ideas would also be great for the next day brunch as well!

Happy Wedding Planning!!

Here are some things you can include:

Maps of the area you’re in, including dining guides, activity guides, a list of your favorite spots for shopping, going for coffee, etc. You can ask local publishers of the brochures for the area for large quantities and it’s usually free.

Local goodies – we all know when we head out to Banff, we stop in to get some fudge or some candy at Welch’s – so why not include a little treat too.

Your favorite things – do you and your groom have a favorite drink? Maybe include a little bottle of your favorite adult beverage with the recipe for it. Or how about a bag of your favorite chips or candy bar?

A thank you note – be sure to include a thank you note for your guests! We’ve had couples include  a “newspaper” for the weekend – a list of things to do including an itinerary of the wedding events.

Personalized water bottle – something easy to do, yet will be used by your guests! Why not throw in some advil for those who have a little too much fun at the wedding?

We’re working on some boxes for C+C’s upcoming wedding, stay tuned as we’ll detail out all the goodies we have in store for their guests!

But everyone loves to see those cute baby photos and the photos of the couple falling in love. So how do you still have that displayed and be a little more unique then all the other weddings?

Digital Frames are a great way to have photos scrolling through – these can be placed around the room and the bar is a great spot for them as most of your guests will eventually end up there.

In October of 2012, Kim and Ken decided to display these photos in an even more unique way. We decorated each pew at the church with photos of Kim growing up down one side of the aisle, and photos of Ken growing up down the other. At the very front pew were photos of them together. We also had a memory table at the entrance of the church, where we displayed photos of loved ones that were no longer with them to celebrate, a tribute to them and how much they meant to Kim and Ken.

We moved all those photos to the reception and displayed them in groups around the restaurant. Some were by the bar, some were on cocktail tables and we had others on the entry way table along with the guest book. While guests had cocktails they were able to take a closer look at the photos and mingled about checking them all out.

So get creative! Visit the dollar store, IKEA and even thrift stores. Pick up frames and spray paint them in your colors and have fun going through your photo albums (and computers) for photos you think your guests would love to see.

Happy Planning!

 #1 – Announce it – And I don’t mean on Facebook or Twitter just yet. Before you change your status to “engaged” make sure you tell your close family and friends the news in person. If you can’t make it to everyone, be sure to at least call them and tell them personally before the news hits the internet! There is nothing worse than finding out good news like this on Facebook! You want your close friends to hear it from you personally.

#2 – Take your time deciding on your bridal party – So while you’re busy announcing your engagement to all your close family and friends, make sure you don’t invite all 10 of your college best buds to be in your bridal party. You’ll want to chat about this with your fiancé and see who he/she has from their side they’d like to invite. They may only have 2 really close friends they want on their side of the bridal party, so be sure to discuss it first . Then invite those you want to be part of your bridal party over for dinner and invite them in person.  (Note: don’t be afraid of uneven bridal parties if you and your honey don’t agree on the number – it looks great in photos!)

Tip #3 – Full time job getting in the way of planning your dream wedding?  Or are you still a student? Decide if you have the time to commit to planning all aspects of your wedding. Think about hiring a great wedding planner to assist you with some of the things you need to do. You can usually hire them by the hour for consultations, or have them help plan the whole wedding. Don’t worry – it’s still your wedding and you have final say on everything!  But wedding planners have worked with a lot of photographers, DJs, bakers and florists – so they know who is out there and who is dependable. It’s tough to figure out from a website who you can depend on! Let a professional wedding planner handle some of those details for you.

#4 – Decide what kind of wedding you want – Is it formal, casual, themed? Do you have a place in mind already for the reception? Do you want a cocktail only reception? Do you want an intimate affair? Do you want to invite everyone you know? Figure out what kind of wedding you’d like before you start making appointments and putting down deposits on venues or other wedding vendors.

#5 – Decide you budget – this might have to be discussed with your families. Are you and your fiancé going to cover the entire bill? Are you families contributing? Have a sit down with all parties involved and decide what is going to happen. Remember, if your families are contributing they may want to invite some of their friends or have a say in what kind of wedding you’re going to have.

#6 – The Guest List – Start compiling a list of names from all sides and see where you end up with the guest list. This list will determine a number of factors such as do you have the budget to cover inviting everyone on your list? Does your dream wedding venue hold that many guests? Is this the kind of wedding you want (large or small)?

#7 – Determine a venue – Some couples pick their venue first – and then decide on their guest list based on what kind of capacity the venue can hold. Others decide the guest list first, and then find a venue that can accommodate the amount of guests. It depends on what is most important to you as a couple (and family!)

#8 – Decide on your colors and theme for your wedding – I suggest to all my couples to hold off on picking colors and a theme until they’ve nailed down their wedding venue.  Sometimes the venue can determine your color pallet or theme based on what it looks like. For instance a hotel ballroom may sway you more towards a more formal sit down dinner affair, while a swanky art gallery may lead to a cocktail club style evening.

#9 – Book your vendors – Once you’ve found the perfect venue and have your date, start booking those important vendors. Great Photographers, Videographers, Bands or DJs, and other providers get booked up FAST in this city. So do your research and start hiring those people that provide services that are most important to you first. If photography is high on your priority list, tackle that first and then continue on the list.

#10 – Have Fun! – Planning your wedding can be stressful, but remember to have fun with it too. Infuse your personality into your wedding day. Whether it be fun jewelled shoes peaking from under your dress, or a lively jazz band at your cocktail reception, let your personality shine through! It’ll leave your guest talking about your wedding for years to come!!