12 December 2010
Season's Greetings Everyone!

Here we are upon another season, and just two weeks till Christmas. I know we are all looking forward to some relaxation with family and friends!

Thank you to everyone for making it such a special year for A Stylish Affair. To all my bridal couples I offer Congratulations, to all the myriad of suppliers I work with, I offer thanks for the continued tremendous job you do under the pressure of wedding season, and to my fellow colleague Wedding Planners, I wish you all the best that the holidays and the upcoming year have to offer!

To quote a fellow wedding planner and my mentor, Lynn at Weddings Unveiled, in Ottawa -

"Eat lots, laugh lots and love lots!"

Happy holidays!!!!

Agatha

All right those of you who might have wanted to follow along on Michele and Wil's wedding planning must have thought I'd left the country or something. My apologies. Not that there wasn't any planning going on, quite the contrary we have accomplished so much to date but with extensive components to the celebration, finalizing plans is taking a while. We've also had to contend with switches and changes along the way (so what's new right!). None the less they have been troopers about it all especially as their summer was so crazy busy with visiting guests and travel.

The couple is headed this way for their Engagement shoot in May along with their family (2 pet pooches - Kindle and Cayenne) whom they insisted upon being in the photos with them. Then in early June they are back to finalize other plans, menu tastings, cake tastings, marriage license etc. Meanwhile I believe there is a weekend in Las Vegas planned for bachelor and bachelorette parties. What a fun location to select. So a busy 3 months ahead and still more planning to do.

So here's an update to where we stand at the moment:

Colour Palette: pewter grey, ivory and fresh green accents

This was a no brainer for Michele. She selected the colors she loves so much and they just happen to be the colors in her home. Richly neutral, elegant and modern. The chartreuse green accents will be brought in with her florals.

Cake: We found our baker, Victoria Stanton from "Infinity Cakes". Veronica is so professional about her work and easy to work with. She is going to do an incredible job on Michele's cake. Very modern elements to it, multi tiered stacked and covered in ivory fondant. We still have lots of decisions to make here, especially about flavorings which they'll do at a tasting in the Spring. Alongside the cake Michele requested that each guest get a small 4 bite replica of the larger cake for their consumption. We still have to decide on the gum paste flowers to adorn the tops of the mini cakes. My suggestion was hydrangea petals as it's a flower she loves. We'll see! Cake tastings and final decisions on flavors, are left till the couples visit in June.

Michele's inspiration idea for her cake!

MUSIC UPDATE: In addition to the 6 piece band at the evening's food and wine celebration, the couple selected another musician to round out the evening. Due to the fact that this winery, like most, are in city limits and a residential area, music cutoffs are subject to local bylaws in order to provide noise buffers for the local residents. So the cut off for music at this venue is 10pm. Since we are in a tent location, with walls on, it was agreed that having one, non amplified musician after 10pm would work. Michele and Wil selected "Cvetozar Vutev", a very talented solo violinist and concertmaster of the Kamloops Symphony for a performance. He is very accomplished as a solo violinist with a masterful repertoire from memory. This will round out the soiree with romance and European "joie de vivre". So perfect for a wedding celebration.

STATIONARY: Invites have been finalized with PinkPolka Wedding Design in Edmonton. Letterpressed words in gray, flowers/designs letterpressed, with no color. They chose a Travel, and Tea Invite for inserts and the elegance of a metallic envelope liner to add that certain "je ne sais qua" to this formal yet modernly chic stationary.

Evening VENUE: For their haute cuisine "Food and Wine Pairing" celebration the couple is coming in June to do tastings on their menu and suggested wine pairings to go with each of their 5 courses and hors d'oeuvres. This is one of the bonuses of being a wedding planner, getting to tag along for such fabulous appointments. Being a foodie at heart, I shall thoroughly enjoy this and hopefully I can add my recommendations for their selections. Michele and Wil are fervently working on selections for this menu.

Stay Tuned for the final details of this fabulous wedding.

Agatha