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She and He introduce a weekly cutting edge style combo for him and her.
“I can’t trash my dress! My daughter might wear it in 20 or 30 years.” Common’ ladies, as much as we would like to think so, this rarely happens. So why not have a “trash the dress” photo shoot? The photos are absolutely stunning and are far from ordinary wedding photos. They are sure to get your friends and family talking about your wedding long afterwards. I mean, how many of your friends’ photos have you seen where the bride is standing in the warm, teal, Caribbean ocean in her once worn wedding dress?
She says: My favorite trash the dress shoots are in the ocean at destination weddings. The ocean view is just too beautiful to go to waste.
Another reason to have a “trash the dress” photo shoot is because in many cases the dress can be salvaged and you won’t actually “trash” your dress. Dry cleaning these days is pretty good and they are capable of getting rid of most stains. If you’re still skeptical about it, purchase another white wedding dress that isn’t as expensive as your one and only precious gem hanging in the closet. Or, if you’re a bride who has two wedding gowns (one for the reception and one for the ceremony) you can “trash” one and keep the other.
He says: These photo shoots are out of the ordinary and crazy and that’s exactly why we love them. You have to be a brave bride to pull it off!
To check out a trash the dress photography expert go to http://staceywightblog.ca/category/trashthedress/ to see some amazing beach shots of brides and grooms trashing their wedding attire. Whether or not you’re going on a destination wedding, we posted five photos below to inspire you to trash your dress!
W A T E R
www.weddingbee.com
P A I N T
www.damsel.typepad.com
F I R E
www.littlewillow.com
MUD
www.markeric.net/www.jamierphotography.blogspot.com
G R A S S
www.2duce2.com
Let’s be serious. Nobody hearts Mondays. So every Monday we are here to lighten the mood and talk about things we do heart: Extraordinary Escort Cards
I can’t think of anything more boring than a blank piece of paper with a name on it. Escort cards shouldn’t be dull or overlooked. There are so many ways to create escort cards that not only add a personal touch to your wedding but also impress guests with your creativity and thoughtfulness.
She Says: This is another one of those great little ways to make the wedding all about you as a unique couple.
Guests love little details like this. They will take photos of the cards, talk about them and in some cases cherish them! For example, the little candles below serve as escort cards and wedding favors.
So what’s the difference between escort cards and place cards?
Escort cards tell guests at what table they should sit at.
Place cards are at the table and tell guests in what seat they should sit.
Some important tips for creating escort cards:
1. With a large amount of guests, avoid tying the cards to trees like the photo on the bottom left. It will take forever before guests find their card.
2. Try organizing the escort cards in alphabetical order rather than table numbers to make the process quicker. If the cards are tied to items, line up the items so guests don’t have to search.
3. Don’t have loose leaf escort cards at outdoor weddings (even on a sunny calm day). The wind could sweep them off in a second. Hold them in place with faux diamonds, river rocks or ribbon.
4. Keep them consistent. If you write Mr./Mrs. on one card, continue to do this on all of the others.
5. Depending on what your escort card is, decide whether you want to give one out per person or per couple or per family.
Photos Left to Right, Top to Bottom: www.theknot.com, www.josevillaphoto.com, www.theknot.com, www.elizabethannedesigns.com, www.diyweddingprojects.com, www.LIWeddings.com, www.lisalefkowitz.com, www.papertastebuds.com, www.countryliving.com
My name’s Kendra Scott, I’m the Wedding’s Division Manager at Firefly Occasions and as of December 19th, I now have my own wedding to plan! Every Friday I write a feature article where I document my personal wedding planning journey each step of the way.
This weeks post was a fun one for me because it meant spending some time looking at fabulous shoes! I have my heart set on a specific pair of shoes that I can see in my mind. The problem being that I don’t think they necessarily exist in real life. So the search for a great pair of shoes has been on for some time now. Shoes are something that I always admire on other people but generally can’t justify spending an outrageous amount of money on – as much as I’d love too.
Here are some of the options that I’ve found which are super cute AND affordable. I have to say that I am so in love with the Badgley Mischka options that I’ve been seeing all year. I know the trend has been to have a pop of colour with your shoes, however for me, I think ivory. Which may sound boring and traditional but I genuinely love the smooth, creamy, warm appearance of Ivory as a colour. And after all, your choices should be made to best represent you right. So I’ve gone somewhat traditional in colour but I definitely want something that is fashion forward. Here are some of the options I’ve come across so far. Please feel free to give me any input!
Okay, onto the other project at hand. Jessi and I promised last week that as we go through this “Bridal Bootcamp” we would post weekly measurements at the end of every Friday’s post. So, here we go, the starting point!! If you’re hitting the gym for the big day as well, please update us with your progress in the comments. We can encourage each other 
Kendra:
Upper Arm: 10″
Bust: 35.5″
Natural Waist: 28.5″
Hips: 39″
Upper Thigh: 22″
Jessi:
Upper Arm: 9″
Bust: 37″
Waist: 26″
Hips: 34.5″
Upper Thigh:20.5″
www.myglassslipper.com
www.myglassslipper.com
www.myglassslipper.com
www.myglassslipper.com
www.myglassslipper.com
JessiFirefly posts your weekly dose of pop culture.
After Chelsea Clinton and Alicia Keys’ weddings we couldn’t help but notice the increasing trend of wearing Grecian-inspired wedding dresses. Clinton wore a Vera Wang, Grecian-inspired gown with a black ribbon belt and a criss-cross back for the wedding reception. (This brings up another trend! -Having two wedding dresses for your wedding day.) Clinton’s wedding attire represented classic American royalty and beauty.
On the same weekend Alicia Keys married record producer Swizz Beatz. The two of them had a Mediterranean themed wedding. The sultry singer also wore a Vera Wang grecian-inspired dress but represented a completely different style than Clinton. She rocked the gown and looked like a true and elegant Greek Goddess. She had jeweled details on her back shoulder with crystal-encrusted flat sandals, matched with a sophisticated headband.
www.people.com
It seems as if Vera Wang might be the catalyst for the Grecian-inspired
wedding dress trends! Check out the website for more dress ideas: www.verawang.com
Nobody said it better than Kate Hudson in Bride Wars. “You don’t alter Vera Wang to fit you. You alter yourself to fit Vera!!”
-xo JessiFirefly
My name’s Kendra Scott, I’m the Wedding’s Division Manager at Firefly Occasions and as of December 19th, I now have my own wedding to plan! Every Friday I write a feature article where I document my personal wedding planning journey each step of the way.
Well with only 6 months left until the wedding, it was time to start thinking about the décor plans. So this week, you get a little sneak peek into part of our planning process with our décor clients. Normally, after our décor consultation with the client, we create renderings of the décor ideas and when possible try to incorporate these renderings into their actual venue. We find it very helpful to be able to see what these ideas will actually look like in the venue. However, since this is for my own wedding and not a client, I haven’t put quite that much effort in haha. So you won’t see what this looks like in our venue but I think you’ll get the idea. Of course, my sketches had notes written all over them, so I’ve tried to crop those out as much as possible. I had decided already on the pink, champagne and ivory colours with lots of lace, pearls, antique picture frames and tea cups. I think we’ll have our flower girls dressed as little ballerina’s as well . Recently, I saw a blog post on stylemepretty.com where they used hanging glass bubble vases filled with flower heads and I just had to incorporate that into the ceremony décor as well. My vision, is to have the below wrought iron Chuppah covered in vines and flowers with flower heads and bubble vases hanging through-out the center at varying heights.
At our chosen venue, we are using the same room for our ceremony and reception which means we need to allow enough time in between to have the room flipped. We are expecting roughly 65 guests and have chosen a venue that accommodates up to only 90. Due to the size of our venue, the head table is normally placed on the dance floor and is removed following dinner. This allows me to use the Chuppah as my focal point through-out the whole evening. During the ceremony we will be married under it. When the room is flipped, this Chuppah will have our head table (a round of 8 ) placed under it. After dinner, when that table is removed, the first dance will then take place under it.
She and He introduce a weekly cutting edge style combo for him and her.
Photo Credits: (Left to right, top to bottom) www.blondetulip.com, www.perezblog.net www.autumnburke.com www.photosbycarla.blogspot.com , www.docuvitae.com, www.angela-blog.com, Twin Lens www.stylmepretty.com
She Wears: Chunky Necklaces
When it comes to necklaces on bridesmaids, we think the bigger and brighter the better. Have your bridesmaids wear chunky necklaces that add style and color. The necklaces will be a great way to thank your bridesmaids for being there for you on your wedding day. The necklaces can be kept as a momentum or be worn at other special occasions long after your wedding. Many jewelery stores will let you engrave initials or a short message on the back of the necklace.
Having big necklaces is another way to embrace your wedding theme. We suggest lockets for vintage weddings, shells for beach weddings, bright colors for summer outdoor weddings and pearls for elegant indoor weddings.
Chunky or big necklaces worn on the bride are also gorgeous. A colorful neckline adds personal flare and really contrasts with a white or ivory wedding dress. A big necklace can also be your something blue or borrowed.
To find some chunky necklaces for yourself or your bridesmaids go to:
www.etsy.com to find homemade gems
www.shopstyle.com to browse different designer brands
www.funkychunkyjewlry.com to check out a local designer in Calgary AB.
Photos found at www.stylemepretty.com
This Saturday Firefly Occasions decided to come up with a little inspiration for anyone out there planning an upcoming wedding. We chose to do an inspiration board centered around a “touch of pink.” Whether you choose to wear pink shoes, decorate with pink flowers or even have pink backdrop lighting, we think it’s a very romantic yet stylish color theme! WARNING: Pink is one of those colors that is easily over done. –Note we said “touch” of pink. Our favorite shades are salmon and hot pink!
Inspiration boards are an elegant way to jumble all of your wedding ideas together to see how they look as a whole. It’s also a trendy way to showcase your wedding ideas to your friends and family and even inspire other brides! Are you interested in making an inspiration board too? Go to www.bridalcanvas.com.
We challenge you to inspire us! Send us your best inspiration board at info@fireflyoccasions.com and we will credit you with a feature on our blog! For more examples of inspiration boards go to www.stylemepretty.com or scroll down and check out Kendra’s blog on “A Wedding Planners Wedding!”
Happy Saturday! – Firefly Occasions
My name’s Kendra Scott, I’m the Wedding’s Division Manager at Firefly Occasions and as of December 19th, I now have my own wedding to plan! Every Friday I write a feature article where I document my personal wedding planning journey each step of the way.
Cupcakes, Candy Bar, Wedding Cake, Sundae Bar, there are sooooo many options! Probably my current favourite is the Sundae Bar we posted earlier this week on the blog:). However, I can’t have it all and my unhealthy obsession with Crave Cupcakes has taken over. The majority of my guests are travelling from Ontario and though they have their own cupcake shoppes there, I know many are looking forward to tasting these little mouth-fulls of joy that I won’t stop talking about . We’ve decided to go with a sweet table of mini cupcakes, macaroons and a 6” cake. This week I came across so many cute options for cake toppers and I’m really excited for the topper we’ve selected. I didn’t want a traditional Husband and Wife cake topper and I wasn’t sure what I did want. Luckily, Etsy.com never fails and I found an abundance of great ideas! I really liked the “Love” topper and custom colours were an option which is wonderful. However, I really fell in love with this sugar rose. I can’t believe the talent some people have. Can you believe this is made from sugar!? I’m curious to see how it’s shipped? Hopefully it’s not in little pieces when it arrives. They do say though that they won’t ship to Canada….minor detail haha that’s not stopping me.
Now that we’re within our six month mark to the wedding we can finally arrange a meeting for our cupcakes and cake… one of the only aspects my fiance has any interest in.
My name’s Kendra Scott, I’m the Wedding’s Division Manager at Firefly Occasions and as of December 19th, I now have my own wedding to plan! Every Friday I write a feature article where I document my personal wedding planning journey each step of the way.
We’ve all seen the movie 27 Dresses and heard of horror stories about awful bridesmaid dresses. I think that most Brides are actually quite concerned about finding bridesmaid dresses that are stylish and flattering. Most brides want their bridesmaids to look good.
I thought that I was being super easy going when it comes to bridesmaid dresses. I have stylish bridesmaids and I trust their judgements. I wasn’t concerned about them being in the same dress or even the same colour. I just sent them a bunch of approved colours and told them to find a dress, any dress, they liked. Well, that went out the window.
It turns out that this causes more concern then it needs to. My bridesmaids are also super easy to deal with so we’ve ended up with a bunch of conversations with me saying “Just find a dress you like” followed with them saying “Oh we’ll wear whatever you want.” Seriously, someone just needs to be a little selfish here; this has gone on for six months haha. So the lesson for me was that its way easier for everyone if I just pick the dresses. Besides, they don’t seem to mind!
And so the search begins. My bridesmaids and I each live in a different province, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. So I needed to make sure that I picked dresses that could be ordered from or picked up in their locations. I still wanted to offer different styles and I wanted them to have the final choice. We are all our own worst critics and they will feel more comfortable if they’ve picked what they like best.
So here they are….. the three choices. I went with floor length, Grecian style, pale pink chiffon dresses. Luckily I’ve seen them both in strapless shirts before so a strapless style wasn’t a concern. I’ve heard back from my maid of honour already with her selection. The dresses will be ordered before the end of the month and then one more thing can be crossed off of my list!
She and He introduce a weekly cutting edge style combo for him and her. We introduce to you, the latest styles from down under. In Australia every season is wedding season considering the temperature is rarely in the negatives, never mind all you poor Calgarian brides who put up with four feet of snow…. in May! This week we are featuring Australian couple, Emily and Josh. Their looks are simple, natural and beautiful. Need we say more?
Photos from www.blumenthalphotography.com.au
To get Emily’s natural beauty look, accessorize with a hand made hair flower for your locks. We discovered a great example on www.etsy.com.
Let’s be serious. Nobody hearts Mondays. So every Monday we are here to lighten the mood and talk about things we do heart:
She and He heart the Flip Video Camcorder that was introduced to Canada last year. Basically it’s a device as big as your camera that can record anything from funny moments at work to special moments at weddings! We’ve been recording testimonals from brides and grooms as well as daily activities that happen here at Firefly Occasions Inc. Stay tuned for some video updates to be posted on Thursday.
For his and hers, choose from a variety of different colors.
Finding the right wedding dress can be tricky for a number of reasons. For one, you have probably never gone through the process of buying a wedding dress before. And two, although you will only wear it once, your dress needs to make a life-long impression on everyone- but most importantly, on you.
So how do you find the dress of your dreams? Well, like most things in life, preparation is the key.
Start shopping early. In order to ensure enough time to have your dress delivered and tailored, you should aim to have it purchased at least 6 months before your big day. With that in mind, make sure to give yourself plenty of time to shop around and make your decision.
Before you start shopping, however, you need to have an idea of what you’re looking for. Educate yourself a little bit. The internet is a great resouce to use because it allows you to quickly browse through tons of different styles of dresses. Also, brush up on your bridal gown vocab, so when you go to the bridal salon and they ask you what you are looking for, you can tell them! Envision your perfect dress, but remember- you want your dress to fit your own personal style AND your wedding venue.
You should also have in your mind an idea of how much you want to spend on your dress. This will help you decide where you want to shop. Most wedding dresses range between $300 and $4000. The average one costs around $800.
Happy shopping!!
Some people may think that one of the drawbacks of a winter wedding is that the strapless wedding gowns that have dominated the marital market for so many years can be a little drafty! What they don’t realize is that there are many classy options one can choose from to keep that winter chill off their shoulders.
The Jacket- The wedding jacket can be made out of satin, lace, faux fur or anything that would best compliment the wedding dress. It can really accentuate the look you are trying to achieve with your dress.
The Bolero- A bolero is a short jacket that basically covers the shoulder area. Like a jacket, it can help give your dress that touch of style that will make your look uniquely you.
The Shawl- Some people may think that a shawl will not keep you warm. But in fact, a shawl can keep you very warm! And, it can also add an element of grace and style to your wedding gown.
The Faux Fur-Trimmed Cape- These capes are not only very glamorous- fake fur is a lot less expensive than real fur. And, for those with a soft heart, it’s more ethical!
The Pashmina- Pashminas originated in Europe. They can be worn many ways- as a shawl, a scarf, a sarong or a tube top! Most brides who choose to wear one on their wedding day, however, simply drape it over their shoulders.
The Silk Tulle Veil Wrap- If you are not wearing a veil, you could choose to wrap yourself in tulle to keep warm. You would probably only want to wear a silk tulle veil wrap, however, if you are wearing a tulle gown, as it can easily drown out a more delicate satin gown.
A great place to find bridal jackets, boleros, shawls and capes is http://www.wed-shopping.com.
To find pashminas or silk tulle veil wraps you might have to do a little more digging. Sunrise Pashmina has a nice selection of pashminas. Etsy has all kinds of bridal cover-ups, including silk tulle veil wraps. Many of the designers on Etsy will also custom-make bridal cover-ups on request.
A wedding symoblizes the joining of a couple in holy matrimony… AND it symbolizes a union between two families. For such occasions, many families have an heirloom that has been passed down through the generations whenever a son or daughter has gotten married.
If you belong to one of those families, you may be wondering how you are going to wear your great-great-grandmother’s very antique necklace without ruining your modern-day style!
Well, the answer lies in the accessories. You can mix your old family heirloom with a new element- swarovski crystals, for example- to incorporate an antique piece while keeping your look chic and fresh! With their semi-antique appeal and their contemporary, elegant style, swarovski crystals are an awesome liasion between antique and modern.
A great place to shop for your swarovski jewelry is at Jeweliette Accessories out of Vancouver. “Inspired by fashion, yet true to timeless elegance,” they have been pioneering the fashion jewelry industry for 20 years. They have tons of swarovski jewelry for you to choose from, but if you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for in their collection, one of their talented desigers will work with you to make custom pieces exactly the way you want them!
