Vintage decorating is about embracing the things of the past and enjoying them as they are. Whether your taste runs Shabby Chic, Country, Modern Vintage, Retro, French Chateau, Rococo or Vintage Cottage, finding the antique elements to infuse into your wedding decor is not easy and mostly time consuming.

Kelowna has recently been inspired by photographer, Yuriko Larson, a gal who's heart and passion is in everything Vintage. Her new business "Vintage Origami" (love the name) benefits everyone in the Okanagan as she provides Vintage decor RENTALS. She saves you the legwork and time, with one stop rentals for mid century vintage items that she has amassed from years of flea market and estate sales shopping. As a local Wedding Planner/Co-ordinator I am always looking for new vendors to hook up with my brides. Yuriko has found her niche here with her passion and new business. Check out her website at www.vintageorigami.com

"Vintage Origami" provides wedding, event and photographers prop rentals in several ways. Either through a Wedding Decor Rental Package of 150 items, or through her single item inventory rentals.

Some of VINTAGE ORIGAMI's rental inventory!

So anytime you wish to incorporate vintage aesthetics into your wedding decor, check out Yuriko's extensive inventory of fabulous finds such as typewriters, tin watering cans, blue and clear mason glassware, wire dress forms, suitcases, old crates, weigh scales, cool chairs and so much more.

BELOW: Vintage design boards to INSPIRE you!

FRENCH COUNTRY

SHABBY CHIC

ORCHARD

RUSTIC COUNTRY

So don't miss your stop at Vintage Origama to pickup up some exceptional finds, pull out your inherited collections from your current belongings, and add some thrifted items to further infuse this fashionable trend into your wedding style. Let your imagination soar!

Agatha

Artists painting of the two historic 1912 buildings in Kalden, now home of the 1912 Restaurant, Lakefront venue!

Kaleden you say? Where's that. Well I found that Kaleden, a small lakeside community just 15 minutes from Penticton, 1hr-20 min from Kelowna, has two fabulous venues for Okanagan weddings. I'll devote this blog to the 1912 Restaurant, on Skaha Lake.

Kaleden has 2 Historic buildings. One was the original General Store, and now houses this 1912 Restaurant. Across the street the concrete shell remains from the old Hotel Kaleden. But more about that later in the blog.

The 1912 Restaurant is a stunning lakeside venue. A 3000 sq. foot heritage building, with beautiful landscaped gardens, atrium, outdoor patios and separate guest house. Hosting wedding and other events with a maximum of 100 guests indoors and ample area outdoors for small tents and a beautiful lakefront Wedding Ceremony location amongst the colorful gardens. The interior ambiance is both rustic and richly warm in heritage, with a black and gold decor, Tiffany lamps and wood plank floor. A breathtaking historic location with lakefront views, exceptional cuisine and honeymoon guest house steps away.

Executive Chef Jordan, operates Flambe Catering, the in-house caterer for this establishment. His culinary team focuses on fresh seasonal ingredients with a modern flare, for his mouth watering menu. He gave me a tour of the Guest Cabin waterside, which is often rented by bride and groom for their honeymoon night. It sleeps 2 and rents at $150/night when the venue is booked for a wedding event. For bookings call him at 250-486-8939 or email him at Bookings@FlambeCatering.com

Perfect Guest House for the Honeymoon couple!

The location is stunningly fabulous with an old world ambiance taking you back to the small community lifestyle of the early 1900's. What more intimate and picturesque a place could you dream of for your wedding reception, birthday or anniversary celebrations or family get reunions. Book early and tell Jordon you read about his venue on my blog.

1912 Wedding couple on steps of the old Kaleden Hotel!- My have times changed.....

Hotel as it stands today!

Ceremony on lawn of the old Hotel site, reception at the 1912 Restaurant!

The shell of the old 1910 Kaleden Hotel, which came upon financial difficulties around First World War, stands across the street from the 1912 Restaurant. This led to the closing of the hotel and subsequent salvage of all re-usable material. Today the concrete shell structure is a creative backdrop for wedding photography shoots.

It has a magnificently flat lawn area which can also be rented for ceremonies and perfect for tented larger weddings. Then just walk steps across the road to your reception at the 1912 Restaurant. To book this space contact John Haygarth at Kaleden Recreation. It rents for a very nominal fee for such a gorgeous outdoor space.

Next blog about Ponderosa Point, also in Kaleden.

Agatha

Photo I took, of Ashley and Nikki at their Engagement shoot!

This year I have had several last minute, so to speak, requests for wedding planning assistance. All the wedding planning information available to brides notes at least a year for the wedding planning process. Usually that's the case, but this year there seem to be lots of last minute inquiries. Ashley called me recently asking how I felt about same sex marriages. My response was that I am a true romantic at heart, and it would be my pleasure to assist them in planning their very special celebration. After all I'm modern minded enough to realize that love comes in many forms and we can count ourselves blessed if we can find that very special connection with another person.

There is no question, having spent some time with these two girls, that they care very deeply for one another and have a natural sync together.

Just 2 weeks ago Ashley and Nikki came to Kelowna for a whirlwind 3 day venue search/planning weekend. I was thrilled to meet them both and we spent hours pouring over their wish list, plans and especially visiting venue locations and appointments with vendors and suppliers. Both these girls are from Grand Prairie, Alberta but work in Fort MacMurray. Anyone who has heard of the construction projects at the Tar Sands, realizes that these ladies work very hard at their jobs, long hours and have little other time to spend on thoughts of wedding planning.

The girls are avid Dirt Bikers - this of course will be a crucial part of their theme and personalizations at the wedding!

No worries. With just 3 months till their June 3rd wedding day, we are well on our way with many aspects of their fast tracked planning. Prior to their arrival we chatted by phone, so I could get a feel of their wedding style and wish list. I armed them with a 3 day pre-booked itinerary of appointments, with just enough free time mixed in for them to see a few of the local sights.

On first meeting, I told them they brought our spring weather, because it was such a great show of 9 degree sunny temps. when they arrived from deep winter conditions. After a short meet and greet, the girls had hair cuts at the Eveline Charles Salon and confirmed that this was the place they would like to get their hair and makeup done on the wedding day. Chalk off one vendor

Next the engagement shoot. Yes, I meant it when I said they were filling every minute of their time in the Okanagan. Chris and Elisha from Abby Photography have a wonderful way of making their couples feel very comfortable. With the backdrop of the old barn wood walls at the Father Pandosy Mission, the girls soon felt at ease in the capable hands of these two creative photographers.

Color palette - navy and kiwi green

Wedding Wish List:

Guest List: 120

Colors: Navy/kiwi green

Officiant: Humorous/easy going/woman

Venues: showing off the lake and Okanagan outdoor feel/if possible with guest accommodations

Style: Outdoor/relaxed/ fun/winery related

Ceremony: outdoors with the lake as a backdrop, spiritual content

Interests/Hobbies: Dirt biking

CEREMONY: Sight unseen, the girls booked Cedar Creek Winery for their afternoon ceremony. They couldn't have picked a more perfect winery location. Exquisitely pristine grounds, rose gardens, and lake backdrop. The wooden doors of the winery are perfect for pictures. This spot even has built in contingency for bad weather, with a covered Pavilion. All together a much sought after and exceptional venue. They were lucky to get this location, since they have a Friday wedding date, otherwise this venue books up for Saturday weddings, 2 years in advance. So when they visited Kelowna, it was almost the first thing they wanted to do, was to see Cedar Creek Winery first hand. They fell in love with it all over again.

RECEPTION VENUE: Keeping in mind that they were looking for lake and or winery location, I sent them pictures and information on Manteo Waterfront Resort, Summerhill Winery and another waterfront location, Hotel Eldorado. The latter was their choice. This heritage boutique hotel is charming, small and well situated with boardwalk dining and lake level banquet space. We were most fortunate to be the second party to book their new "Great Room" 2nd floor banquet space. A beautiful open room, surrounded with floor to ceiling windows looking out directly over the lake. A front facing, covered patio holds the bar. The open air feel to this room sold them right away. Still in construction phase as we toured, it was still very obvious that this hotel location fulfilled all the aspects of interest for the girls reception.

The rooms too in the new Arms wing of the hotel, have a Hamptons Beach feel and rates are reasonable. We took in Sunday Brunch as well, so they could get a taste of the food quality as well. It passed with flying colors.

Hotel Eldorado, lakefront setting!

DECOR: next appointment, now that we had the reception venue confirmed was to seek out a Decor design team that could bring their colors and styling into the reception space. They felt very comfortable with Melanie from TTM Events and their design expertise. With over 1200 weddings under their belt, this design group works with you to provide the event you dream of. Luckily I had sent them several pictures of floral styles, centerpieces etc. and quickly they came back to me with their likes. I got a feel for their taste which was modern, clean cut and stylish which worked very well with the banquet room. With very few walls in the reception room, there was no need for a head table backdrop, as the HT will be placed with the lakeview as a backdrop. Bringing in their colors, they chose a vibrant navy blue pintuck floor length linen. The chairs in the space are oversized, neutral fabric and quite beautiful, so no need for any chair covers. Always good to save a little where ever you can. For table top decor they selected three varying sizes of cylinder vases, with clear gem stones in the bottom. Topped with a lime green cymbidium orchid floated on lily grass swirled in the vases, and finished off with a floating candle. Submersible LED lights will add an inner glow to the orchids. Our goal was to bring in a pop of the vivid green tone in their palette, onto the table tops. This we will do with the orchids and greens in the vases. Of course lots of beautiful votive candles to enhance the glow on the glassware.

Inspiration for their colors, guest and head table florals!

HEAD TABLE: One thing that allows brides to save a little money here is to use the bridal bouquets on this table. So with a line of bouquets and candles intermixed, we still needed some oompf to add highlight to this table scape. Keeping with the modern feel of the space and their styling, they selected a grouping of 5 tall to short cylinder vases, each with different white or green florals inserted inside the vase, again topped with floating candles. Under vase LED bases and an inner glow of light that bounces off each vase and the grouping has a wonderful glow. Since there won't be a backdrop (lakeview instead) I suggested a collection of varying sized green and white lanterns to mimic the head table shape, hung directly above it. We will also add the lanterns to the ceiling of the bar, to follow through with the summery, casual feel that the lanterns provide. Nothing stuffy here, rather a casual elegance.

So stay tuned for more to come! See their beautiful choice of bridesmaids gowns, their bouquet choices, music selection, spiritual aspects of their ceremony, transport and personalization ideas to follow. Oh yes, wait till you see their incredible cake topper. I'll update you again soon on more of this fabulous wedding. I'd better get back to planning!

Agatha

I have to thank one of my Okanagan Destination brides (Michele) for connecting me with this newest alternative for your Wedding Guest Book. Bella Puzzles, as seen on Etsy.

Michele and I are in the midst of planning her 2011 destination wedding in Kelowna, Okanagan. She found this very cute and original idea for a guest book made up of puzzle pieces. Owner Lara of Etsy store Bella Puzzles Too creates custom puzzles made of your favorite engagement picture, your monogram, a saying, or a collage of travel photos etc. She can create any kind of puzzle, with mementos that you and your fiance have collected. It can be a rectangular puzzle, one shaped like a tree or the province you are from, or the shape of a heart - anything you wish. You could even use them as place cards.

Your guests can then sign a piece of the puzzle with their message to you or advice on your wedding day. This definitely makes for a very memorable keep sake. Above all this is an easy item to transport to your destination wedding.

Wedding puzzles make a unique guest book idea, a wedding activity and an heirloom all in one customized package. As a keepsake idea, Michele is going to have it framed in between 2 panes of glass, so it can be seen as the finished picture on one side and all her guests comments on the other and hung in a prominent location for viewing.

There's a nice symbolism here -- we assemble our weddings, our marriages, and our lives from our families and friends, and so it's not just a picture of you, it's your community coming together and every piece is critical. Sweet!

Cheers and Happy Monday everyone

Agatha

Michele loves these crystal trees!

DECOR:

This has been a time consuming but fun undertaking, sourcing the "Wish List" for the exact look that Michele and Wil are after. We were first looking for a Vancouver based Design team to create the decor, but after speaking with Sandy at "Art of the Party" and "Upright Decor" and reviewing their rentals, we finally decided to go with a Kelowna based decor expert "Designs by Colleen". Truly the reason we were sourcing from out of town, is that Kelowna's rentals are still somewhat small town feel. When most of my brides are looking through international wedding magazines, and superb Real Life Weddings from say "Wed-Luxe" or "real weddings", their tastes and style go beyond the trappings that Kelowna has to offer, presently.

This is Michele's inspiration look!

We initially started our search for the tent decor, keeping in mind Michele's optimum look of long sleek banquet tables, with masses of low flowers in long rows up and down the tables, punctuated with Crystal Trees. The options started with sourcing Manzanita trees. Of course natural Manzanita are expensive as well as hard to import into Canada. Here the focus is on the natural branching of the tree, with a floral emphasis at the bottom. Michele decided that the look of the massive wrought iron crystal trees from "Art of the Party" was the look she wanted. 6ft tall and 4-1/2 feet upper spread, weighted with crystal strands, cone shaped votive holders and masses of white dendrobium orchids throughout the branching...well need I say more. Gorgeous!

Full tent ceiling drape- adds a warm romantic feel to the space!

So now knowing what type of tree she has chosen, we can move onto the accouterments that will compliment this look. Full ceiling drape in the tent. We were torn for a long time about the tent walls. Being in the Okanagan we really wanted to provide an open tent for guests to have that alfresco dining experience. However there are so many issues, such as inclement weather, wind etc. to consider, so ultimately Michele decided to compromise and have large picture window walls along the front to take in the view. So full wall draping in a solid fabric, then a separate voile sheer over the top, draped all around the tent, and along the front, a "picture window" treatment style. Each sash tieback will have an orchid attached to it. Draping produces such a romantic, fairy tale effect to a tent. 3 long rows 24 foot long, of 48" square tables. Lots of room on the tables, for masses of glasses, flowers, candles etc. TABLE LINENS: pewter grey pintuck. CHAIRS: Clear, lucite "Ice" chiavari with pewter grey taffeta sashes and rhinestone buckles.

Beautiful pewter grey floor length, pintuck linens!

Since Michele's tastes run from ultra modern to ornately Marie Antoinette, she found these more baroque elements to add into the decor, with old world crystal chandeliers and 2 crystal candelabras adorning the head table. The tent will be a mass of crystals and glass, twinkling in the candlelight.

French crystal chandeliers and "ICE" chiavari chairs!

The crystal candelabras are being shipped in from Edmonton!

HEAD TABLE BACKDROP: At first Michele didn't really want the traditional swoosh of draping behind her head table, but we felt there had to be some highlighting done. She came up with the idea of a double curtain drape like a picture window effect (without the window) and in the center, garlands dangling. Strings of Swarovski crystals between garlands of cymbidium orchids strung intermittently on filament line. Of course uplighting effects to add a warm glow to the crystals. I am so excited as next week we are doing a Mock up of her backdrop. We've been in the design stage so long, it will be great to see it come to life.

TENT ENTRANCE & Band stage: The guests will enter through a 20ft opening in the tent, passing through sheer tie backed sheets of voile fabric, soft and dreamy. Entering the space, shall stand 2 white pedestals with tall vases filled with cream and green hydrangea balls.

Table Numbers: Again working with the baroque theme, we are using ornate pewter table top easles for their table number designations. Since they are world travelers, instead of numbers they will use names of places they have visited that hold significance for them.

GUEST BOOK: Here Michele wanted to do something different. After much research she came across a Puzzle that is customized and made from wood. On the front face you can imprint any significant photo of your choice. On the reverse the guest signs the block with a notation to the couple. This customized wedding puzzle is a guest book, a wedding activity and an heirloom. When the blocks are all placed together they become a memento photo. Michele will after the wedding have this displayed in double sided glass frame and hung appropriately to be seen from both sides, so it will forever remind them of their wedding day. You can find these puzzles at Bellapuzzles.com

SEATING CHART: Since Michele and Wil are both world travelers I think a seating chart like this could work great for them. She is having her stationary printer make one up for her. Let's wait and see what her final decision is for this.

FLORALS: This is still in the design stage, but Michele has chosen the flowers for her perfect look. Green and white hydrangea, white Vendalla roses, green Cymbidium orchids and white Dendrobium orchids. Sumptuously tasteful and elegant. As Michele says, she is looking for that POP of limey green color in all her bouquets, so we are still sourcing the perfect flower to give us that look, keeping in mind the elegance of her choices so far. The tent will be a sea of flowers, a visual landscape for all the senses, with fresh floral fragrances wafting through the air. The florist is still researching vases appropriate for our needs and we will do a mock up of the table vases next week. Can't wait.

Stay tuned as I update you on the Cake Reception at Elysium Gardens, Transportation and much more as we are now 4 months from their wedding date.

Happy planning!

Agatha