Our Wedding in Paradise - Part IV (Trash The Dress!!)

Today is the last of my wedding photos posts. This is the Trash The Dress series we did with Jared Rey the day after the wedding. The concept of a Trash The Dress session kept coming up during my perusal of internet wedding blogs and forums, particularly those pertaining to destination weddings. It's basically a fun, creative, and sexy photo shoot after the wedding day. With the idea that you only wear your wedding dress once, you might as well trash it while getting some great shots in.

As you can see, this is not the dress I wore to my actual wedding. Why? Well, this was originally THE dress but being the prude I am, it seemed a little too sexy for the ceremony. I was still debating that when my friends and I came across my very princess-like ceremony dress with its gazillion layers of white flounce and fell in love. I wasn't going to wear that into the water because really, who wants to drown the day after their wedding? But this sleek and sexy Notte by Marchese number was perfectly up to the task.

We went low budget with Cam's oufit. The linen shirt and pants are both from Old Navy and cost about $50 in total. It looked just as nice as a similar $200 outfit from Banana Republic would have, in my opinion.

Our Wedding in Paradise - Part I

Our photographer was Jared Rey of Forney, Texas. I would recommend him in a heartbeat! I'll leave my detailed review for a later post but hopefully his work speaks for itself already. Check out his website!

We received hundreds of photos on two disks and it's really hard to choose just a handful but we'll start off with a few photos of the resort and details of my ceremony and reception attire.

As I mentioned in the previous post, my photographer began his trip a couple days earlier. It was a pleasant surprise to see that he had gone around the resort and taken shots of the beautiful architecture and lush greenery across the resort. Especially since we were too busy having fun all week to take many photos ourselves.













My wedding dress is by Manuel Mota for Pronovias. It was brand new but from a few seasons ago so I got a great deal. My wedding colors were turquoise and chocolate brown and fortunately, I found Converse to match! I haven't seen this exact version anywhere offline or online so I'm really glad I bought them when I did. Cam and his best man also wore Converse but beige high-top versions. The birdcage veil was my own creation and made around 10PM the night before the wedding. If that's not last minute, I don't know what is!











Oh, and did I mention that the Mrs. Docherty personalized hanger was a gift from Jared? See, told you he was great!

Choosing Our Wedding Photographer

via www.theartofcomplexambition.blogspot.com

We received our wedding photos!! Last week to be precise. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to really sift through them but from what my husband and I can see, we definitely made the right choice.

Our wedding budget was quite small in comparison to the average cost these days. Actually, less than half. But I knew that photography was the one thing I did not want to skimp on. I didn't need a retail priced Vera Wang gown or a $300 headpiece but I did need photos that I would be proud to show when I'm old and wrinkly.

So how did I go about finding a photographer I loved without breaking the budget?

I began my research like I always do; on the internet. I wrote down the names of photographers whose work I liked - mostly found through wedding blogs like Style Me Pretty, 100 Layer Cake, and Green Wedding Shoes but also online wedding forums and bridal magazines. I went to the photographer's websites to take a further look through their portfolio. Published work can be misleading as sometimes it's the only photos from that photographer that were any good. Once I was satisfied with their work, I looked at prices. That immediately knocked out more than half of those on my wishlist but I knew that already. I wouldn't have expected someone who is regularly published in Martha Stewart Weddings and The Knot to be the same price as an indie photographer! What it did was give me a good idea of the price range for the quality I wanted.

I then emailed photographers remaining on my list for their prices, taking into account the fact that it would be in the Dominican Republic. I contacted photographers from Toronto, all over the US, and in the Caribbean. I discovered that photographers based in the Dominican Republic or nearby were just as expensive as photographers flying.

Finally, I narrowed my list down to two photographers whose prices were essentially the same. One was based in Toronto and the other in Texas. Both were interested in building their destination wedding portfolio and both had styles I admired. In the end, I was swayed by the photos from the destination wedding the Texas photographer had covered earlier in the year. The Toronto photographer does beautiful family and baby portraits so I would love to hire her a few years from now.

If I can give any advice after my own experience, it's to take everyone's advice with a grain of salt. It's not that they don't want to help you, but every situation is different. Two warnings I did not heed? 1) Use someone with experience in destination weddings! and 2) Beware of photographers who incorporate their own vacation into their working trip.

While my photographer only had one destination wedding under his belt, I could see that his style and techniques were consistent. His forte is natural light and sunlight, which would be the exact lighting at our wedding. Secondly, I actually wanted a photographer who would make a vacation out of his assignment. I truly believe this adds a personal touch to their work. Our photographer arrived a couple days earlier with his wife and found some great scenes while they were exploring the resort. I didn't want a photographer who would take the usual shots and either didn't want to or didn't have time to discover unique photo opportunities.

I'll be sharing a review of our photographer and photos from our wedding ceremony, reception, and trash the dress in the following posts. Stay tuned!

Wedding Frenzy!

WARNING!If you are not a fan of wedding talk, please do not read on. For the rest of you....

We are now less than two weeks away from departure! The weather was beautiful this Easter long weekend but definitely not hot enough. It's still in the mid-teens (about 50's Fahrenheit) and makes me long for the beach and balmy weather.

On Saturday, my maid-of-honor and I spent about 7 hours at Yorkdale Mall. Yes, craziness. We both bought a swimsuit at Victoria Secret (I'm now up to 5 for the week-long trip!). I was looking for a plain black set and the one below was perfect. No, unfortunately that's not me in the photo...



Our day included makeup application appointments at Bobbi Brown (in Holt Renfrew) as we'll be doing our own makeup for the big day. It was interesting to see the vastly different techniques the two beauty advisers who worked with us. I loved the colors my adviser used but not the application. I have yet to find a makeup artist who is not Asian do a natural eye on me. Still, I somehow ended up spending over $200 there. I plea guilty to a moment of insanity.

I ordered my bridesmaid dress on Etsy from The Jersey Maid who makes convertible dresses. Here's a photo from her website of the extract dress I bought. It fit perfectly. We couldn't be happier with the result! And now she can wear the same dress in two different ways for the ceremony and the reception to follow. Plus, she'll be able to wear it again and again after the wedding, too.

Here's a photo from her Etsy shop:



Just a word of warning. The next couple weeks will most likely involve a lot of wedding-related ramblings so for those of you who don't care of it, my apologies!

Countdown is on!

Today is exactly 10 weeks away from our wedding on the beach in Punta Cana. Cross your fingers it doesn't rain!

Have you ever been in one of those situations where you're really looking forward to something but really NOT looking forward to what needs to happen BEFORE that something? That's me right now. I can't wait for the wedding, I can't wait to wear that bling-bling that's sitting in a dark little box right now, I can't to marry my best friend. But at the same time, the sheer amount of details I need to take care of just boggles my mind. Wedding program, the centerpieces, the seating plan, the music, the attire, yadda yadda. It's CRAZINESS!

These images of our resort does calm me down a little though...

Bhldn's Valentine's Day Launch

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope everyone had a wonderful day regardless if you have big plans or not.

Cam and I will be laying low. We had a busy (and expensive!!) weekend that included creating our bridal registry, ordering our wedding bands, and eating two nice dinners out. So, we will most likely be drinking wine, eating junk food, and plowing through more of our X-Files DVDs.

Today is also a special day in "wedding planning land". The much anticipated Anthropologie Bhldn wedding line officially launched. The website carries through with the whimsy and romantic esthetics of Anthropologie although the styling is also reminiscent of some of J.Crew's pieces (particularly jewelry-wise). If you thought the prices at Anthropologie were a little high, Bhldn is even more so. Granted, it is in line with a lot of mid-end bridal-exclusive labels.




images courtesy of bhldn.com

Having seen Bhldn's goods, I appreciate that it is very much in line with Anthropologie's designs. I'm finding myself to be somewhat more traditional and some of the pieces are a little too hippie and whimsical for me. I have no difficulty imaging any of the Anthro pieces in a Style Me Pretty photo shoot, though.

Here are some gorgeous offerings more to my taste. I think there is really something here for everyone. If not in the clothes, then at least in the accessories.

Also, don't forget to check out the lingerie section! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful pieces. My only criticism is that I wish the line was more extensive. Can't wait to see more additions to that category.





images courtesy of bhldn.com

From top, left to right:

1)Eyelet Medley Sheath - $1000
2)Gin Fizz Shift - $450
3)Galore Earrings - $180
4)Helicona Earrings - $220
5)Bow-Topped Bolero - $120
6)Gilded Trillium Kiss-Lock Clutch - $320
7)Bow-Topped Slingbacks - $310
8)Bow-Topped Slingbacks - $310

Mustache May

image courtesy of aruna b. photography


image courtesy of carl zoch photography


image courtesy of red photo co.


image courtesy of silva stills & cinema

No, the mustache-on-a-stick is nothing new but I still think it's a cute idea. Plus, often what is the latest craze in the blogosphere is not quite as popular offline so I get to try it without fear that it's been done a hundred times over already.

The carved wood ones are beyond my skills and fetch anywhere from $50-100 on the internet. They look great but are out of my budget.

I found a 20-pack of thin wooden dowels at the dollar store and will be on the lookout for some black and brown fun-fur to make the mustaches. Perhaps even some red or orange for that "ginger" look?

Project Invitation is Complete

I'm DONE!




I delivered invites to work friends today and made another 18 invitations to mail out. I ended up with 3 types of brown ribbon because I kept running out. Those little rolls of ribbons from Michael's and Dollarama are very deceiving in length. I think they all turned out okay, though especially since people won't exactly be comparing invites.

I'm addicted to the wax seal and if someone doesn't stop me, I'm going to start wax sealing everything in sight. Wax-sealed mail-in rebates and household bills, anyone?

In-Town Weekend

I can't remember the last time Cam and I didn't have an "out-of-town" weekend. We live in the heart of downtown Toronto but in the past year or so, we've gotten into the habit of either going up to my mom's in the suburbs or somewhere other than right here.

This weekend we're actually staying home. It's 11:30AM and we're lying in bed on our laptops! Funny, it almost feels like a mini weekend get-away to actually stay here.

What are you doing this weekend? I'll be finishing my wedding invites using this wax seal I bought yesterday. I hope to have the invites done this weekend and mailed out early next week.



Also on my to-do list this weekend is finding places for these items I picked up during a Goodwill Friday Fever (50% off entire store). The Umbra candlesticks were $1.50 each, the glass lantern $2.50, and the metal basket $3.

It's dangerous working a few minutes away from Goodwill! Fortunately, my current job keeps me busy enough that I'm not going every lunch break.

Wedding Factory

PANIC TIME!! Our wedding is 3 months and 1 week away. To give you an idea of my procrastination, all of our guests last May/June and I am only now finishing up the invites.

The invites are pretty much done, customized return address stamp and all! I just need to find something to seal the pocket folds with. Perhaps a wax seal or a sand dollar charm.



I'm also very slowly putting together the contents of the OOT (Out-Of-Town) bags for each guest. Each one is waterproof from the inside and perfect for toting things like magazines and dry clothes to the resort beach/pool. The pashminas will be great for the outdoor reception. I'll be putting together a "hangover kit" and some other goodies for this bag.



It was wasn't obvious already, our colors are brown and turquoise. I'm undecided between orange, coral, and yellow as the accent/flower colors.

THE Dress

I might have mentioned in a previous post that I am having a destination wedding in the Dominican Republic this May. The ceremony will be on the beach and the reception will be outdoors with a lighted pool on one side and gardens on the other.

I bought two wedding dresses during a state-side weekend trip with my mother a couple months back. One is a sexy floor length white halter and the other a ethereal strapless Grecian gown. Both perfect for the tropical setting.

Last Friday I went to a wedding show with two girlfriends. We were at the tail end of the booths, ready to leave, when I spotted some wedding gowns. They were all big with long trails but I decided to try on a few 'just to see'. My girlfriends and I totally fell in love with one gown and I found myself saying those three little words. "I TAKE IT!"

I was not expecting a gown like this. It's fitted at the top and layers and layers of ruffles at the bottom with a long train. I was not expecting to fall in love with something like this but you can't help falling in love at first sight!

I can't post my actual dress in case Cam sees this blog but here are few other dresses form the line - Manuel Mota for Pronovias, an incredible Spanish design house.