Good morning,

For those of you who are wanting a Princess/Cinderella Wedding, here are a few ideas. All pictures were taken of the Pinterest website.

Good morning,

As part of Wedding Week, I will be teaching 4 seminars starting on Monday March the 12th to Thursday March 15th from 7pm to 9pm at the Wed Studio, 1611 14th Street S.W.. The advertisements follow:

Monday, March 12, 2012           Creating Your Wedding Day Timeline

In this session of Wedding Planning 101 you will learn the fundamentals of planning a well timed and organized wedding day schedule.

Creating a wedding day timeline will be one of the most crucial aspects of your wedding planning journey. A well thought out and planned timeline will be the most important document you create for your special day.

Alexandra Slawek, Principal Planner, Always Alexandra’s Weddings will walk you through the process of developing a realistic, well thought out timeline. She will share her years of knowledge and experience building timelines for clients. You will learn which vendors, wedding team members and information you will have to incorporate into your plan; she will also cover how to start building the timeline and discuss the management of this vital document the day of your wedding.

Join us for an evening filled with valuable information and engaging conversation.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012           Vendors, Contracts & More

Overwhelmed by the daunting task of finding the right vendor? Unsure what questions to ask to ensure you are selecting a reputable, experienced vendor? Vendor contracts causing you to lose sleep?

This is definitely a session you do not want to miss. Alexandra Slawek, Principal Planner, Always Alexandra’s Weddings will help you navigate through this very important and sometimes complex stage of wedding planning.

You will learn:

• ·         What makes a vendor a good fit for you and your wedding needs.
• ·         What questions to ask vendors to weed out the not so stellar individuals from the star vendors.
• ·         What to look for in contracts and what questions to ask about the contracts.
• ·         And more.

Come out and enjoy an evening of insightful and entertaining conversation.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012    Wedding Etiquette

This valuable seminar will touch on the sensitive subject of Wedding Dos and Don'ts. Alexandra Slawek, Principal Planner, Always Alexandra’s Weddings will share her years of wedding planning etiquette knowledge.

Join us for a relaxed evening to discuss the various issues you may encounter and how to handle them ie. uncomfortable family situations, guest list selection, bridal party selection and much more.

Thursday, March 15, 2012         Wedding Plan Tune Up

Got the wedding planning blues? Get a kick start and tune up your wedding planning with this relaxed and engaging evening of discussion with Alexandra Slawek, Principal Planner, Always Alexandra’s Weddings.

This is an open format discussion evening covering issues and road blocks you are encountering as you plan your wedding.

ng your questions and enjoy and open evening of discussion.

I look forward to meeting you!!!!

Good morning,

I have recently gotten into creating inspiration boards which I have on display above my table at Wed Studio. I recently created a "Romantic wedding" inspiration with the help of Pinterest, the photographers are unknown; I want to share these  beautiful pictures and inspire you.

 This picture is Preston Bailey's portfolio.

Good morning,

A photographer is one of the most important vendors you will need to hire for your wedding day. Why? because photographers capture the memory of your wedding day...after all is said and done, at the end of the day, all you have is memories and photographs. So you need to choose one that is good at capturing you, as a couple and individually, and your guests. You could probably find an inexpensive photographer on Kijiji but remember, you get what you pay for. Hiring a professional experienced photographer may cost a little more but, you will have peace of mind that the pictures will turn out the way you envisioned them, if not better.

When interviewing photographers you need to pay attention to how comfortable you feel around him or her; does he/she have a sense of humour, are he/she fun to be around and are he/she listening to what you envision. Here is also a list of questions you should be asking when interviewing your photographer.

1/ does their package include engagement pictures and a wedding album...discuss package

2/ does he/she have a second shooter on the day of the wedding

3/ how does he/she dress for the wedding

4/ what happens if he/she are sick the day of the wedding

5/ the difference in price for he/she to put in an 8 hour day as opposed to a 5 hour day

6/ discuss location of family and couples photos

7/ how much for the deposit

8/ are taxes and gratuities included

9/ cost for extra prints

10/ does he/she have insurance and what is he/she's liability

11/ how does he/she feel about bringing props to enhance photos(fancy cars, fire engines, hats etc)

12/ ask if you can contact references

13/ does he/she belong to any photography associations

You will probably have other questions that will come to mind during your meeting and please don't hesitate to ask them. You want to be assured that you will be happy with the memories he/she will capture.

All the best to you!

             Paul LeClerc (taken from Pinterest)                                                             

Good afternoon,

As I can see many of you are following my wedding planning tips that I have been blogging over the last couple of months. Starting on Monday, January 30th at 7pm, I will be teaching Wedding Planning 101 at Wed Studio, 1611 14th Street S.W.. It will be a four evening seminar giving you tips and helping you plan your special day. On the fourth evening you will meet with all sorts of vendors that are at the Wed Studio, including photographers, wedding planners, makeup artists etc. This is a great way to learn how to do your own planning with help of a professional. For those of you who choose to participate, I will give you one free hour tune up after you have started you planning to make sure you are on the right path. So, call Wed Studio to register for this informative seminar...(403)229-9300.

I look forward to meeting you!!

Hi everyone,

 I will not be participating in any of the big wedding fairs this year; instead I am helping Julie Williams of Wed Studio organize Chic on the weekend of March 10th!!! What is Chic you ask? Well, it is a participatory wedding gallery that will be held in the newest building at Canada Olympic Park,  where brides can come and be inspired by the wonderful wedding tables we are creating, play with them and, with the help of many of the Wed Studio vendors, create their own wedding designs. There will also be makeup artist teaching brides how to apply their makeup, cake decorators helping brides create the wedding cake of their dreams, short seminars related to wedding topics and many other wedding related points of interest including travel information for the perfect destination wedding and/or honeymoon. Basically, it will be a cornucopia of wedding stuff that you can have fun with and not feel pressured to buy. I have always heard brides tell me that they feel very intimidated by all the vendors at the wedding shows and they only go to have fun and get ideas for their own wedding; well, we at Wed Studio, have heard you and we are creating a space where you can come and get wonderful ideas and have fun in the process.

Stay tuned to more details as they unfold.   http://www.chiccalgary.com/

Good morning,

So now that you have your dress it is time to figure out accessories to enhance your dress. Of course, the most important one, other than your bouquet, is your head piece which you should choose to fit the style of dress. For instance, in my opinion,  a Mermaid dress would look far more elegant with a Fascinators or a Bird Cage head piece rather than a veil. A traditional "A" line dress looks absolutely stunning with a Cathedral veil. I guess it comes down to taste.

Veils come in differnt lengths and styles and you would have to try them on to see if they fit your style.

These days many brides are choosing to wear Fascinators, Bird Cage head pieces and Tiaras. Again, it is a matter of taste and the kind of dress you are wearing.

                                                                        beautifulweddings.tumblr.com

                                                                     unknown photographer

                                                                      unknown photographer

                                                                       unknown photographer

                                                                       photographer unknown

Good morning,

One of the most exciting moments in wedding planning for the bride is choosing her wedding dress. So many brides think they know exactly what they want but when they try the dress on, it doesn't look anything like they imagined. I always tell my brides to choose dresses according to their body types. There is nothing worse than seeing a buxom young lady in a mermaid gown.

The Classic "A" line dress has a fitted bust line and panes of the gown that extend into an "A" fromation making the lower part of the dress very flowey: there is no defined waist. This dress is a perfect fit for broad shoulders, short waists and large hips.

 This dress is available from www.fishinthesky.com                          

The ball gown style is for a more formal weddings; a classic princess look with a fitted corset ending at the waist or just below ,finishing with a large full skirt. This dress looks great on most brides including full-figured and hour glass shaped women.

This dress is available at Novia Mia in Calgary.                                

The Sheath is a style that creates a slim and sexy silhouette to the body; it uses light fabrics and hugs the body to enhance the figure. This dress should be worn by petite and well proportioned women.

This dress is available at www.casablancabridal.com  

The Mermaid dress is a tight fitter look and looks best on tall, slim and curvy women. The gown is fitted to the knee and then flares down to the hemline resembling a mermaids tail.

This dress is available at Novia Mia in Calgary.

       These dresses are the basic ones but you will find that many of the designs these days are also combinations of these dresses. My best advice to you is try on different types even though you think you won't like them; once you put it on it may look totally different and very flattering.

Make sure to make an appointment with the bridal stores so that you can get the best service and bring along your mother, your sisters and/or your bridesmaids. Enjoy your once in a life time shopping experience!!!     

Good morning and Happy New Year!

Congratulations to all the newly engaged couples...if you take a look at my earlier blogs you will see how you should start with your planning.

Today I will talk about finding someone to perform your wedding ceremony. 

You need to decide whether you would like a religious or non-religious ceremony. If it is a religious one you want, you will probably know a pastor or a priest who can perform the ceremony and, since they would be trained "religious professionals", you will have to follow and respect their ways. Religious ceremonies can be personalized to a certain degree but you always end up with many traditional prayers and vows.

A non-religious ceremony is performed by a marriage commissionaire who are licensed by the government of the province you reside in. Many commissionaires choose this field as a second career so that there is always an influence of their previous career in their style.  I have learned that there are two types of commissionaires: those who appear to be on stage and are performing, so, basically the ceremony is all about them. They can be very entertaining and add lots of humour to the ceremony, but they forget why they were hired. Then there are commissionaires who really care about the engaged couple and sit down with them and help them create a meaningful and romantic ceremony. These commissionaires add the couples personality to the ceremony making it very personal and memorable. I always tell my couples that they should interview at least 3 commissionaires before hiring one; you need to see if you like the person and if you feel comfortable around them. It is important to have a good fit if you want create meaning in your ceremony.

 If you ask a "religious professional" to marry you, there is an expectation of a cash donation to the church they preside in; the amount is usually at your discretion. A marriage commissionaire's fees range from $200.00 to $500.00 depending on how popular they are; they often charge extra if you want them to attend your rehearsal, which I think, is a very good idea because everyone gets a better idea of what to do and expect on the wedding day.

Stay tuned in the next few days on help choosing your wedding dress.

Photography by Lanny Church.