She Said Spectacular!

Winter Wonderland, Part 1

2011-12-31T16:44:00.018-05:00

Well, winter has finally come to Southern Ontario, so I thought it only fitting to have the last post of 2011 be a look back at a gorgeous 3-day winter wedding weekend we planned last April at the Chateau Lake Louise in the middle of Banff National Park. However, this post isn't about the wedding itself at all, but about the skating party we threw on the Friday afternoon -- a quintessentially Canadian event, if ever there was one...

Every guest received a Wedding Scarf that we asked them to wear throughout the weekend. We thought this was a good idea to a) keep people warm and b) to help them identify themselves to one another in a very large hotel... And it worked! Strangers met strangers and new friendships were formed, just because of the reversible houndstooth/plaid scarves! I was thrilled to see everyone turn up to skate on the frozen lake, proudly sporting their new wedding attire...

When planning for this skating party, one of the things I really struggled with was what kind of music to play, mostly because of the magnitude and majesty of the setting. Whatever we played had to have some kind of presence and drama. So I decided that it could only be opera... however, not snobby, elitist opera, but easily recognizable arias. Not being any kind of expert, I snooped around on iTunes and found "The 66 Most Beautiful Opera Arias." It couldn't have been easier -- the selection was perfection. Yes, with the click of one button, iTunes made me look like a GENIUS (not to mention a true aficionado).

We set up 4 massive speakers, turned them towards the lake and pressed 'play' on the trusty iPod...

Holy Crap.

I tell you, I have seen a lot of cool things over the course of my career, but listening to that big, bold, beautiful music booming out of those speakers while watching the little specks (relative to the size of the mountains, of course) glide around on the ice was one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed. And so simple, really. Dramatic Music + Stunning Setting = Overwhelmingly Profound Experience.

I love this photo, taken by the man who so expertly captured the mood out there, Michael Greenberg of Phototerra Studio. This guest, wearing a vintage Toronto Maple Leafs sweater (and wedding scarf, of course!), lost in the music and the moment...

We served lots of yummy things out there, including hot cocoa, coffee and tea. We stuck custom labels on the cups with the tag line "To Warm Your Tummy." (FYI, in case you're wondering, the sticker on the bag with the scarves for each guest read: "To Keep You Warm and Cosy.")

We had our own little wedding crasher! He was everywhere! Michael even managed to catch him mid-flight, overseeing the guests twirling around the lake below him; take a look at the next shot and the dire warning on the signpost:

Winter Wonderland, Part 2

2011-12-31T16:23:00.009-05:00

Another classic Michael Greenberg shot: this is Ian, our bartender, essentially wedged into a snow drift with some snowmen to keep him company. And to think I was worried there might not be any snow left at the beginning of April. Ha!

But back to this photo. At first, our guests only were drinking the hot stuff, shown in the post above, but once the skating ended, Ian got a whole lot busier and a whole new party started at the base of the Victoria Glacier...

A cutthroat game of hockey took place a little ways away from the recreational skaters. Oh yeah, baby: Canada vs. USA.

Am proud to report the trophy did not go to the visiting team...

My bride and groom... showing everyone how it's done.

And what would a party in the Canadian Rockies be without a little homegrown brew? Molson Canadian and a local beers Big Rock from Calgary and Kokanee from B.C. were on offer.

Finally, this last photo is one of my favourites from the whole weekend. We had everyone drop their skates outside the Poppy Brasserie before going inside for a yummy dinner of fondues, sauerkraut, strudel and any other stereotypical alpine/mountain-y dish we could think of! And, in case you're wondering, the soundtrack for the first 45 minutes of the dinner was none other than... Swiss yodeling! Yodel-leh-hee-hoo.

Just a Little Flower Arrangement...

2011-12-16T10:06:00.006-05:00

Now that the latest WedLuxe magazine has finally hit the stands, we are thrilled to share some tid bits from Shelby and Graeme's gorgeous wedding at the Royal Ontario Museum last June.

I don't think the photo needs a whole lot of explanation, but I did have Sarah and Gabi go and stand next to the arrangement, just so we could demonstrate the full effect of it's massiveness! Now, before you go wondering if they're both vertically-challenged, the answer is a resounding no! They are each 5'8" and they're in slight heels... See what I mean?

This was the first thing guests saw when they arrived. For the evening program, we flipped things around a little; cocktail hour was first (here in the Rotunda with this arrangement towering over everyone's heads), followed by the ceremony and then straight into dinner and dancing.

To read more about this wedding, you can pick up an issue while it's hot off the press at newsstands now or click here to read the online version.

The View from Grand Cru

2011-12-10T14:45:00.006-05:00

Written by Gabi Slaninova

In October, we helped coordinate an event for the Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival. The concept for Grand Cru is a fantastic one: to unite esteemed chefs with sought-after wine producers, philanthropists, business leaders and scientists for an unforgettable evening of fine wines and glorious cuisine... all to raise money for the University Health Network. This year, there were 27 separate dinner parties going on on the same night around Toronto, all held and hosted in private homes. We were lucky enough to be a part of the party that showcased the talent of Chef Michael White (of Marea in New York City fame) and the wines from the 600-year old Antinori family vineyards. This particular post is about those amazing wines that night...

As we were setting up for the event, the bartender brought me a crate of wine and asked if I had a crowbar to open it. He wasn't kidding! There were 7 separate wines that night and each one came with its own challenging packaging. Check out the layers of protection on this bottle of Pian delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino 2004:

First, the outer cardboard packaging, with layers of branded Antinori tape. Once you cut through that, you got to 2 wooden boxes, each with a lovely gold latch.

Once you got that open, you were finally presented with the wine. However, we weren't home free yet, as there was a collar- like device that slid into the grooves of the box to prevent any movement whatsoever.

Once we got through all the bottles of Brunello, we got to the pièce-de résistance -- the 2004 Tignanello. We looked around for the handy golden latch, but no luck. Each box was fully nailed down and this time, we really did need that crowbar!

At a loss, I went to the kitchen to ask to borrow a sharp knife, but Chef White's right-hand-man, Chef PJ Calapa, showed me a whole new trick: he came out and slowly pried the box open with a kitchen spoon! Who knew??? But, thanks to PJ, the guests were able to enjoy the Tignanello that was expertly paired later that night with Chef White's scrumptious bolognese. And I'll know to add a kitchen spoon to my Emergency Kit for all future Grand Cru parties!

Thank you to Kelly Fischstein for the first and last photos. What an amazing evening to have met and worked with you for the first time!

Grand Cru, Too

2011-12-10T14:10:00.004-05:00

Here are some decor shots from the same Grand Cru party, courtesy of photographer Kelly Fischstein. Event designer Bill Fulghum created a sexy, sophisticated environment worthy of the world-class food and wine that would be served to the 32 lucky guests.

Advanced Tent provided a sleek black tent, which Bill softened with shimmery taupe drape at both ends and specially-focused lighting. The 3 chandeliers from Contemporary Furniture Rentals were especially significant -- the wooden arms are held together with metal ribs, re-purposed from antique wine barrels.

Lastly, a better view of the lovely flowers in seasonal colours, provided by Emblem. Roses, peonies, dahlias and cymbiduim orchids all worked together to provide the pop needed in an all-black tent.

My favourite comment of the night came from our host, who exclaimed (about 10 times): "I can't believe this used to be my backyard!" Talk about a transformation...

The Veuve From Here

2011-12-09T19:32:00.004-05:00

Take a look at what I stumbled upon on my annual trip to Art Basel Miami last week: a Clicq' Up Lounge! At first we thought it was a mirage, after a full day of wandering through art exhibits and installations... but no. It was real. There, in a parking lot in Miami's sensational Design District stood a makeshift Veuve Clicquot lounge. Can you imagine our squeals of delight?

Yes, that's a refurbished Airstream trailer, serving crisp, cold and thirst-quenching glasses of The Veuve. Needless to say, it only took one glass of the magic elixer to re-energize and send us back on our merry way. And people wonder why I love Miami??? Champagne Parking Lots!

The View From Here

2011-11-23T23:34:00.003-05:00

How much fun is this? Event Designer (and all around Man of Style) Bill Fulghum saved all his Vanity Fair magazine covers for years until he had enough of them to wallpaper an entire wall in his powder room...

A slightly better perspective on how many covers there are (I couldn't physically get further away to show the full view -- a result of my limited lens on the trusty iPhone and the fact that it is, ahem, a tight powder room). The wall is a good 8 feet high and 10 feet wide!

And finally, a close up of his BF, Anderson Cooper. Oh wait... Anderson hasn't come out yet? Anyhoodles, it can't be a coincidence that Anderson's cover is completely front and centre... BTW, Angelina Jolie seems to be winning the Cover Count: she has 4 on his wall, with Madonna in hot pursuit with 3!

Pretty in Pink: Part 1

2011-11-01T15:26:00.012-04:00

Our client who was throwing a Bat Mitzvah for her daughter at The Royal Conservatory of Music had a vision for a really cool, really pink Sweet Table... but the first quote we got to execute her vision was $17,600...

Have I given you long enough to digest that? Probably not.

Alas, the lovely Laura Long from Daniel et Daniel hooked us up with the supercrazytalented Lisa Phillips from 'Hi Sweetheart' and we set upon creating our very own epic table. And epic it was... so epic, in fact, that this has turned into my first ever 3-part blog post.

Lisa created these adorable Mini Cupcakes with our guest-of-honour's initials in delectable little shortbread cookies.

Laura and her chefs learned how to twist Cotton Candy onto teeny sticks; and I think they learned that trying to make them 'mini' made for a mountain of work... You should've seen them all in the kitchen, with the candy spinners -- it's clearly not as easy as you might think.

Another creation from the genius mind of Lisa Phillips: Mini S'mores Cups!

This photo shows the Pièce-de-Résistance: The 6-layer, Pink Rice Krispies Squares-Cake! Lisa had made a small version for the mock up and the client and I both went bananas when we saw it... we squealed, "Make it bigger! No, BIGGER! It needs to be the centerpiece of the entire table!" We had servers on hand, plating it, just as you would a real cake.
Thank you to Jackson for the downright delectable photos.

Pretty in Pink: Part 2

2011-11-01T15:04:00.010-04:00

Here's a photo of the whole table -- it was so long it was almost impossible to get the whole thing in a single frame! You can get a sense of the length of it if I tell you the Pink Rice Krispies Square-Cake (which you can see at the top of the shot) was only half-way down...

A close up of the hand-made marshmallow kisses. They were ooey, gooey, soft and chewy (and had the most delicious, peppermint-y taste). The kids went nuts for these.

Pink Kettle Corn in gorgeous white lacquer trays that Exclusive Affair Rentals bought just for the occasion...

Little Mini Donuts were made in the Daniel et Daniel kitchen and tasted even better than they looked...

I can still barely look at this photo! It was taken literally 30 seconds after the Sweet Table opened. All those hours of work and planning were destroyed in a nanosecond after the kids descended on it. Instant chaos + destruction = heartbreak! The worst part? I don't even think the kids noticed how freaking awesome it was -- they were too busy grabbing as much as they could!!! Le sigh...

Pretty in Pink: Behind-the Scenes

2011-10-31T17:23:00.009-04:00

Being a planner means I can't leave anything to chance... and to that end, the night before the event, Lisa Phillips and I carted all the loot to the RCM to do a dry run. Here are some of those photos:

We started playing with what should go where on the ugly, linen-less tables. Dubble Bubble, Pop Rocks and White & Pink Gumballs are at the forefront of this one.

We couldn't figure out how to use the tall Pixy Stix; they just weren't working anywhere on the table, till I came up with the solution: using them as dividers between the platters!

What a charming Candy Striper! This is Kristin Campbell, Facilities Rental Manager at the RCM, wheeling all the candy to her office to lock away until it was needed for the event the next day.

Lastly, here is the 'map' of the Sweet Table that I went home and drew out for the next day, just in case I was called away and couldn't supervise the set up...

Steam(whistle)ing from a Hot Oven

2011-10-06T18:48:00.027-04:00

Written by Gabi Slaninova

We recently did a wedding at Steam Whistle Brewery. A new venue for us, it inspired us to think outside the box a little. Throughout the planning process, our focus was to create an organic and natural feeling in the space using real linen, ferns, large white dahlia, herbs, moss and anything that reminded us of a beautiful walk in the forested country side of British Columbia where our bride grew up.

I have always been a big believer in the fact that food at a party should be part and parcel of the overall feeling you're trying to evoke. Deirdre Anderson of L'Eat Catering came up with the most amazing idea to complement the vision for this wedding. I have never seen this done before and I almost died when I first tasted her idea come to life at the menu tasting: mini home made pies. Lattice-topped, perfectly sweet and totally scrumptious! Really, it’s so obvious when you think about it. What feels more like ‘home’ than a fresh, homemade pie? A cart carrying warm blueberry, peach and apple pies emerged from the kitchen shortly after the dancing began and a smell reminiscent of grandma’s house wafted behind it. It soon drew a crowd and it was all we could do to photograph it in time before the pies began disappearing.

Presentation is everything in our business. L-Eat literally set out to transform the pie cart into a work of art! Deirdre used the charming antique cart (belonging to Steam Whistle), brought matching wood to create levels, put the signs for the pies under covered glass cake plates, added amber candlelight and even brought bushels of freshly picked apples to complete the look!

Miss Missoni

2011-10-05T18:15:00.009-04:00

Talk about a timely party! When we came up with a "Missoni Theme" for a birthday luncheon my client was throwing, it was long before we heard that the famous Italian fashion house had teamed up with Target to do a line of housewares and fashion! But. We are nothing if not festive girls (client included) and five days before the party, my client asked her daughter-in-law to head to Buffalo to pick up some things for our shin-dig... and you might say she got a little carried away! And thank goodness for that, because it TOTALLY added to the overall experience for the guests...

We did custom (digitally printed) place mats for each of the invitées, all based on famous Missoni fabrics. We had fun mixing it up with 5 different patterns and then contrasting menus. The daughter-in-law also picked up platters, mugs, tiered cake trays and even cosmetic bags & scarves, which we used for favours.

We went all out with the Italian fashionista theme, serving prosecco in colourful champagne flutes from Chair-man Mills while shmaltzy Italian music played in the background. Think 'O Solo Mio,' 'Volare,' 'That's Amore' and the like...

The dessert was probably my favourite thing that day: Tina Nyguen over at Noble Culinary made me a Missoni Bombe to serve to all the ladies (who don't eat much to begin with)... Veritable Missoni stripes of Mango, Blueberry, Blackcurrant, Lemon and Strawberry sorbet! Each layer had to be made and then left to sit and freeze in the mold before the next layer could be added. Bellissima!

Finally a shot of the whole table, complete with the customized place mats and flower arrangements in the mugs from Target! There were three different patterns on the mugs, so Lidia Tacconelli of FIORI did three colour versions to complement them. The original plan was to give the mugs away but then my client decided she liked them so much that she couldn't bear to part with them!

Love Letter Cookies

2011-09-04T19:10:00.011-04:00

When I stumbled across Rosie Alyea's drool-worthy Sweetapolita blog awhile ago, I knew I had found the perfect favour for our literary bride and groom. Amongst the delectable confections, handy recipes and mouthwatering photos were her one-of-a-kind Love Letter Cookies. Needless to say, I stopped my online search right there and then.

We commissioned one for every guest in two colours; each individually adorned with either the bride or the groom's initials in a fondant version of a wax stamp -- how yummy are these? You can read about how she came up with the idea for the cookies on this page of her blog.

I encourage all of you to check out her blog; but be forewarned: even those of you who haven't baked since your Easy-Bake Oven days will be inspired and eager to open up the pantry (even if your baking powder is woefully passed it's prime). I am also happy to tell any readers out there that working with Rosie is even more delightful than the goodies she conjures up!

The View From Here

2011-08-29T12:11:00.003-04:00

Here are two shots from a wedding Gabi did recently at The Toronto Hunt, with the bride and groom standing at the edge of the bluffs, overlooking Lake Ontario. These were taken by the fabulous Nikki McKean -- and we couldn't decide which one we liked better, so you get to see both!

Thank you, Nikki, for sharing such epic photos with us.

A Wicked Little Cake

2011-08-28T16:01:00.006-04:00

When the father of one of our recent brides kiboshed her plans to have her dog walk down the aisle on her wedding day, she thought of a great way to include her beloved friend into the day anyway: she commissioned Jaime Ho of The Wicked Little Cake Company to capture the essence of Pebbles in a cake! Yes, the dog, the pillows and the flowers surrounding it are all edible. My associate Gabi then ensured that Pebbles had a place of honour that night -- to the right of the head table -- and was dramatically lit from above to make sure all the guests noticed she made it to the wedding after all!

I personally love it when clients introduce us to new vendors -- I'd never heard of Jaime or the fun & original work she does and can't wait to come up with something really unique for her to turn into a cake!

The View From Here

2011-08-28T15:14:00.008-04:00

Well you can tell when our busy season hits -- the blog posts come to a screeching halt. It's a good thing to be busy, but I always feel a tinge of guilt when I'm ignoring She Said Spectacular! To that end, I'm going to try a new series entitled, "The View from Here," filled with short glimpses and quick snippets of the parties we do in (almost) real time, snapped with entirely unprofessional, iPhone photos.

"The View from Here" is the perfect description for the first entry in the series... these were taken last weekend at Malaparte at the TIFF Bell Lightbox; otherwise known as the new, permanent home of the Toronto International Film Festival. Perched high above the street is the most stunning terrace where the guests feel like they are partying in the sky. These pictures were taken mid-afternoon, but once the sun began to set and the lights in the surrounding buildings started twinkling on, the effect was truly magical.

The occasion was an engagement party for 225 guests -- people gasped as they came up the stairs and saw the view. (As a professional aside, there are 64 steps leading up above... let's just say the poor Malaparte serving staff got a very good workout that night)...

Not to mention the poor installation guys from Contemporary Furniture Rentals; ALL this furniture was schelpped up those same 64 stairs and then back down again at 2:00am... I think it'll be quite a while before they forgive me for this one!

I love how the happy sunflowers pop against the grey skyline in the background. Once we get the professional photos from the photographer we will share them -- it was such a glorious evening up in the clouds; I can't wait to see the pictures myself.

Ready for My Close Up

2011-04-24T16:59:00.008-04:00

We were asked to film a segment on the Steven & Chris Show last week on the CBC; and while seeing myself on television absolutely makes me cringe, we showcased a few fun details that are worth featuring here on the blog.

Our challenge was to come up with a Kate Middleton-inspired head table, in honour of the upcoming Royal Wedding. More posts are sure to come from this fun experience, but for now, I thought I might show the menus and the favour cards.

One of the requests I had from the producers of the show was to have a DIY component to our table. With this in mind, we designed the menus to look like scrolls... Christine Flynn from Love the Design designed and printed them on a really cool parchment paper she fortuitously had lying around her studio. I then had wooden doweling cut to size and went to work with a trusty glue gun, some Crazy Glue and a whole lot of bling, courtesy of my local bead store.

For anyone who knew me back in high school, rest assured I am still TERRIBLE at math! The reason there are two different styles of beading is because I miscalculated how many mini crowns we would need. Alas, it turned out just fine because it shows the different looks you can achieve, just by switching out what you attach to the end of the dowel. This, of course, is for a very fancy wedding, but I imagine that you could put seashells on the side if you were having a beach wedding, or acorns if your nuptials were to take place in the countryside etc.

Finally, we were asked to come up with some kind of giveaway or favour... Quite honestly, I couldn't imagine Will and Kate doing anything of the kind, so I did what I suggest a lot of my clients do, and that is to make a charitable donation instead. For this, Christine Flynn designed an origami-fold card, that I sealed with a wax seal, encrusted with a formal 'W' for the House of Windsor. I picked a real charity that William is a big supporter of: The Prince's Trust, which helps educate, train and employ youth in the UK.

To read more of what we created for the actual shoot, click here.
Thank you to my sister for allowing me to take advantage of her and her Big Girl camera on a long weekend...

Dessert Fit for a Princess

2011-01-23T17:44:00.006-05:00

Since the Royal Wedding is just around the corner, I thought I would publish a post about a wedding we did last year. It was the first time, believe it or not, that we were asked to create a Fairy Tale Wedding for a bride-to-be. She had found her Prince Charming, the castle was booked and now it was up to us to coordinate the details that would bring her dream to life.

One of the first calls I made was to the dashing caterer Rick Rowe, formerly with Daniel et Daniel, and now with Presidential Gourmet. Rick immediately got the vision and hit a home run when he suggested white-glove, cloche service and a Fabergé Egg for each guest, sitting under a cage of spun sugar for dessert.

The Egg itself was rich, dark chocolate, molded into a delicate egg form (in two halves to make the whole). These were filled with the lightest dark chocolate mousse and flavoured with a hint of Triple Sec. The spun sugar cage was molded and created in advance of the mousse. An entire week was spent creating the masterpiece, as the timing and order of the multiple steps (sugar cage, chocolate base, chocolate egg mold, mousse, egg decoration, dragées) was key to producing this fragile and beautiful indulgence.

I was so proud of Rick when he wrote to tell me that his creation won a Catie Award (the International Caterers Association), a few months after this magical evening. Working with such creative and professional people in this industry is one of the best parts of my job. I love when I give a colleague a nugget of an idea and then see them run with it -- in this case, Rick soared to new heights. This dessert made guests' mouths drop open when presented to them and went far beyond anything our Fairy Tale Princess ever imagined when she dreamed about her wedding...
Images courtesy of Storey Wilkins Photography

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

2011-01-23T10:42:00.011-05:00

We did a blowout wedding last summer in cottage country at a beautiful, lakefront property. Our bride and groom got married on the boathouse deck and as the ceremony was drawing to a close, the massive Wenonah II pulled up at the dock below to whisk all the guests off for a 2-hour cocktail cruise around the lake.

We brainstormed to come up with a fun and creative way to tie this cruise into the rest of the wedding and -voilà- little floating boats became our escort cards for the night. Poor Barb at Fiori had the tedious task of folding close to 150 of these little charmers, but it was worth the effort to see the look of delight on guests' faces as they fished around to find their own names.

Finally, here's a little snippet of video that the wonderful Luis Moreira of I mages Film and Video shot for us. It makes me laugh every time I see it:

Thank you to Storey, as always, for the great pictures, Lidia for the amazing decor and Luis for documenting the festivities so fabulously.

Daniela and Marco in WedLuxe Magazine

2010-12-20T22:48:00.007-05:00

We are especially proud to have the wedding of Daniela and Marco appear in the pages of WedLuxe Magazine because this particular couple came to us when they fell in love with another wedding we'd organized in that very same magazine! T.H. Jackson Huang of Ikonica, Lidia Tacconelli from Fiori Floral Designs and Julie and Christian from Pantry Press were part of the same team on that original wedding... it was such fun to work with these amazing professionals on something that was rooted in the same colour scheme, but executed in a totally different and modern way.

This time around, the venue was the sophomoric Royal Conservatory of Music. The light, the windows and architecture all work together for guests to experience a place like no other in Toronto.

A small glimpse at the menu that Pantry Press designed, based on Chef Arpi Magyar's culinary offerings. Each menu also worked as a place card, with each guest's name featured at the top.

We custom-designed creamy white lucite containers to hold the floral and candle components for this event. We tried to get the colouring as close as possible to the white Victoria chairs from Contemporary Furniture Rentals!

Finally, a beautiful photo of our fantastically fun couple. Thank you for one of the most entertaining and laughter-filled planning experiences we have ever had. We look forward to years of friendship between us ahead. And, yes, Marco, everyone thought you looked Ridiculously Good Looking on your wedding day...

Daniela and Marco: Some Fun Details

2010-12-17T18:39:00.007-05:00

Now that you've seen some of the beautiful room shots, we thought you might enjoy seeing some of the details that didn't make it into the magazine... Because this wedding reception was being held at the Royal Conservatory of Music, we thought we should embrace some of the elements that could be found within the hallowed halls of what is arguably Canada's finest music school.

During cocktail hour, all the hors d'oeuvre were passed by waiters on cymbals. This particular photo shows Couture Cuisine's mouth-watering crispy fried shrimp with a kadaifi crust. Oh my...

This photo cracks me up: it was taken long before the guests arrived... Kristin Campbell, the Facilities Rental Manager snapped this photo of the cymbals going through the dishwasher at the RCM on her iPhone!

Escort cards were slotted in between the strings of three beautiful, ornate harps. The harps were handily situated at the top of the stairs, so they were the first thing the guests saw as they entered the Atrium where the dinner took place.

Finally, a detail that was a small, inside joke for our bride and groom. Pantry Press did up these cheeky signs to go on the back of Daniela and Marco's chairs. The original artwork from the letterpressed invitations was carried through the entire day; from the escort cards, to the menus and beyond...
Ikonica's T.H. Jackson Huang was the natural choice to photograph this wedding. Not only is he a gifted photographer, he spent years of his youth studying and practicing violin at the Royal Conservatory! Thank you, to Jackson and his team for capturing this magical day so beautifully.

Med School Reunion, 1.0

2010-11-27T19:55:00.006-05:00

We were recently asked to help organize a 10th Reunion for the University of Toronto Med School Class of 2000. The dramatic Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District was chosen to host this very glamourous party... The colour scheme came from the time of year (Fall) and how well orange plays off the linens we chose, a cheeky take on doctors' scrubs...

Orange is my favourite colour and because most brides don't tend to share that sentiment, I love to use it in corporate or other social gatherings whenever I'm allowed. It's such a warm, wonderful hue -- and , most importantly, it flatters all skin types in photographs!

Lidia Tacconelli of Fiori Floral Designs shares my love of the colour and went to town with every orange flower she could get her hands on. The arrangements were bold, bountiful and bursting with personality. At the end of the evening, we arranged to have all the flowers delivered to Princess Margaret Hospital so that even more people got to enjoy the riot of orange.

This is a fun shot down one of the tables... the two metal structures at the end of the table (that those of us in the industry have dubbed The Boobs) were once used in the liquor-making process, right there in that very room, in it's past life as the Fermenting Room for the Gooderham and Worts Company.

Over 100 graduates and their guests gathered for what they referred to as a very "In Style" party. When I heard that, I knew we had done what the Class Organizer had asked of us. In our initial meeting, he requested a truly Spectacular party... one that inspired so much talk, it would ensure all the people who didn't come to this reunion would surely be there for the next!

Med School Reunion, 2.0

2010-11-27T19:05:00.005-05:00

As with any great party, it's the details that make all the difference. We thought we'd share some with you here:

This was the booklet we designed to sit at each place. It worked 3-fold: the front (pictured here) showed the "logo" we designed for the reunion, the back listed out the menu for the evening and the inside can be seen in the next photo...

We scanned the yearbook photos from 10 years ago and got each attendee to write in where they were practicing now, what their specialty was and what their favourite med school memory was. We thought this would be a fun memento for people to take home with them to read up on their fellow classmates in the likely event they weren't able to connect with each and every one of them that night.

Here's a shot of the parting gifts: a bottle of "vitamins" for each attendee and a group photo taken earlier in the night. Each photo was in a custom-designed folder, made to look like one in a doctor's office, with a tab at the top with the class name.

Here's a close up of the bottle of "vitamins," a.k.a. chocolate truffles, courtesy of our chocolateer friends at Eitelbach. We had the class rep write out the latin prescription for "take one truffle, three times a day." We then added, "take 3 and call me in 5 years;" their next scheduled class reunion!

And finally, a detail that few probably found as funny as we did: antique medical illustrations on every stall in the bathrooms. A foot here, an aorta there... we thought this would take the former students RIGHT back to their days in the classroom!
A very hearty thank you to Nicole White from Tynan Studio for the photos.

New Website Photos: A Sneak Peek

2010-10-18T19:57:00.008-04:00

Embarrassingly, it's been almost 2 years since we've updated the photos on our website. Alas, it isn't for a lack of fabulous weddings, parties or celebrations... it's simply about finding the time to actually make it happen! Our webmaster guru, Todd, is in the process of updating our pictures literally as I type; but it never goes quite as quickly as an Instant-Gratification-Girl like me would like. So in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy a snippet of some of our favourites:

Photo credits:
Photos 1, 3 & 4: Courtesy of Storey Wilkins, Storey Wilkins Photography
Photo 2: Courtesy of Rebecca Palladina, 5ive15ifteen Photo Company

Perfectly Pressed

2010-10-06T10:59:00.009-04:00

I've been lucky to work with some pretty special vendors over the course of my career and thought it was high time to dedicate a post to two of my favourite people of all: stationers Julie Gibb and Christian Morrison, the husband and wife team that own Pantry Press, purveyors of fine letterpress. For invitations and subsequent menus, programs, place cards etc., you would be hard pressed (pun very much intended) to find anyone better out there. There are many, many examples I could show of their beautiful, handmade work but thought I would highlight some of the pieces they created for Kirsten & Jamie's wedding last March at the Canon Theatre.

Julie created this lovely program for the ceremony: it's a little hard to tell here, but the letterpressed cover with the title, "I Do," was then covered in a layer of glassine that wrapped around the cover, like a book jacket. Julie then took every single program (all 250 of them!) and ran it through her sewing machine so that the spine bound the pages together with a beautiful gold thread.

This is one of my favourite shots that photographer Storey Wilkins captured that day, taken while Kirsten and her bridesmaids were getting ready in the not-so-glamourous basement of the theatre. The ladies had their very own Green Room and each of the bridesmaids had her own makeup station, surrounded by bright lights. It may not have been fancy, but it certainly was authentic down there! This photo was part of the feature on this wedding in the current issue of WedLuxe Magazine.

When guests first arrived at the beautiful Yonge Street entrance of the theatre, the first thing they received were their escort cards. I love the authenticity Julie and Christian were able to achieve, right down to the perfect perforations on the sides. We had real theatre ushers handing these out, from boxes marked A-I, J-R, S-Z! The backs were also printed with the date and place of the wedding.

One of the first things I arranged when we decided to move forward with this unusual wedding venue was to arrange a tour for all the vendors who would be involved so they could see exactly what we were going to do. Julie and Christian turned up armed with a camera and took lots and lots of detail shots, all around the theatre, which ended up on various parts of the stationery created for that day. The inspiration for the menu came from the jaw-droppingly beautiful golden dome in the ceiling of the theatre itself.

And finally the funniest element they created for the day: I had the idea to call Chef Arpi Magyar's late-night take on the Egg McMuffin "The Kirsten McFirsten," (based on the bride's 'married' name of Kirsten Firsten) then Julie and Christian ran with it, going so far as to add: "I'm Lovin' Him... I'm Lovin' Her" to the design. McFabulous!

Julie and Christian are some of the kindest, most thoughtful people you could ever be fortunate to work with. Julie handles the design aspect of the business (though her husband is also a graphic designer -- he would want me to mention that!) and Christian tends to the letterpress; painstakingly running every piece through the press, one element at a time. It certainly isn't a very fast or modern way to make a living, but the artistry and love that they bring to every product they produce is a throwback to a slower, more gracious era. Every time I pick up one of their wonderfully tactile, letterpressed invitations, I am grateful that they are keeping this time-honoured craft alive. Lastly, potential clients, take note: Christian makes a mean latte too!

Back to the Barn

2010-08-31T15:39:00.008-04:00

A few years ago, we worked on the amazing wedding of Kaleigh and Iain that took place at the family farm about 90 km from Toronto. The jaw-dropping ceremony took place at 4:30 in the afternoon, just as the fading light was streaming in through the slats in the side of the barn. Magic. So when Kaleigh's sister got married recently, we knew we had to do something different, given that a lot of the same friends and family would be in attendance. This time, the marriage itself took place at a quaint Anglican Church in a nearby village. Afterwards, guests came back to the farm where the barn played a totally different role: as host of an intimate, 4-course feast cooked up by North 44.

Celebrating the end-of summer was our goal, both in the decor and in the menu. Hundreds of battery-operated pillar candles lined the walls inside the barn (and lest you think I'm joking, I assure you, there were hundreds -- many were actually lit the day before as they were put in place; some as high as 16 feet up in the air). We couldn't risk having real candles anywhere near all that wood...

I snapped this photo of the North 44 chefs in our host's vegetable patch, picking the tomatoes that would be featured in the first course. Sometimes having the iPhone in my pocket comes in really handy...

And here are the fruits of their labours -- these tomatoes were like candy, they were so sweet and ripe. North 44 Executive Chef Sash Simpson was ecstatic with the bounty he got to create with. There really is no better a time of year for tomatoes, is there?

I thought this photo of the makeshift kitchen, tucked into the drive shed next to the barn, was fun to share... there is so much charm and history on the property that even the kitchen was cool. Take note of the overhead lamp shade -- yes, it's a metal bucket!

Finally, the view from outside while dinner was going on inside. It was actually quite chilly at this point in the evening and I begged Storey Wilkins to go outside to snap this photo. So nippy, in fact, that some guests voiced their displeasure that the big barn door was open, so Storey had to work very quickly!

I love this photo showing the light radiating from within the barn and am thrilled that it was a completely different effect from the last time we held a celebration within it's storied walls...

99 Bottles of Veuve on the Dock

2010-08-25T10:35:00.003-04:00

At our wedding this past weekend in Muskoka, 170 guests consumed 126 bottles of Veuve Clicquot... that has to be some kind of record, doesn't it? Fantastique!

La Vita e Bella

2010-08-07T12:29:00.006-04:00

Last year, we had the pleasure of coordinating the wedding for our Sunniest Bride Ever (who also happened to have one of the best "how did you meet each other?" stories we've heard): She and her fiancé literally bumped into each other on a street corner. As in, bam! When he asked why she was so happy, given that he'd almost flattened her, she replied "because life is beautiful and I'm always this way!"

So when it came time to start planning this wedding for Miss Sunshine to our dashing, charming and worldly Italian groom, it was no surprise when she chose a night in Tuscany as her inspiration. The Boiler House restaurant was filled with simple blue glazed terracotta pots filled with simple, cheery sunflowers. (Truth be told, since some of the courses were to be served family-style, there was no room on the narrow tables for anything more elaborate -- but the effect was simple and joyous). We brought in the chairs to complete the look and -voilà- bellissimo!

Pantry Press printed the menus on yummy, sunflower-yellow vintage paper from the 70's they had bought from a supplier years before and had had lying around the shop... I guess the colour hadn't exactly been in high demand before this bride walked in...

Elaine from The Vintage Gardener down in the Distillery District did all the floral work and managed to capture the feeling our bride was going for perfectly.

By this point in the post, it probably won't surprise you to learn that our bride's favourite drink is a Shirley Temple. What surprised us, though, was how popular the drink was with guests! Perhaps it's one of those happy-childhood-memory things that immediately takes you back to drinking 'cocktails' with your parents at Fancy Restaurants... I don't know. Regardless, we ran out several times and the bartenders scrambled to keep up with the Shirley Temple demands! Just when I think I've seen it all...

Photo credits: Storey Wilkins Photography. Brava!

Prest-O, Change-O

2010-07-22T15:08:00.006-04:00

At every event we help organize, we always try to make our designs do double-duty -- we can't help it; at the end of the day, we're practical girls! With this very purple wedding we did last year, we envisioned an escort card table that would turn into a late night dessert station as the evening progressed.

Lidia Tacconelli and I designed thick, lucite 'boxes' that spanned almost the entire width of a 30" table and then set to filling them with delicate, white dendrobium orchids. In the end, it took almost 6000 of them to achieve the look we had imagined.

Later in the evening, we colour-blocked the fruit to correspond with it's matching tart... and we asked the chefs at The Granite Club to scoop the fruit into bite-sized balls that could easily fit onto the skewers we provided on the side...

Guests loved that they could wander around easily with the skewers instead of cumbersome plates and the tarts were a big hit too. You can read more about this wedding in WedLuxe Magazine or by clicking here to see the online version.

Thank you to Storey Wilkins for always shooting our details so beautifully.

In Search of the Perfect Manhattan

2010-07-01T15:20:00.006-04:00

This particular post may cause some readers to think they're on the wrong site, because today I got... dare I say it... downright domestic. The impetus? Trying to recreate the perfect Perfect Manhattan cocktail I had when I was last in, you guessed it, Manhattan.

The background: my sister and I started to drink them on a lark one night, as homage to our late mother. The manhattan had been her cocktail of choice, so when my sister ordered them for us, I was a little bit terrified: I had never enjoyed them when our mum had let us sip hers when we were growing up. As in, not ever.

My sister laughed at me choking down the first taste and gave me the sage advice that it takes until the fourth (yes, fourth) sip to begin enjoying them. Not only was she right, it has become my signature cocktail too; I have since done my best to try almost every version known to man. I now know that I prefer a Perfect Manhattan (equal parts sweet and dry vermouth) and I like it made with bourbon, not rye.

But then I went to New York. And one night at the Gramercy Park Hotel changed everything.

The answer: Brandied Cherries. From France, no less. Of course they were.

And yes, birds sang, the earth moved and angels appeared -- they were THAT much better than the regular, super sweet maraschino variety.

So, I'm not really sure what possessed me to get all Martha today -- it could be the fact that cherries are in season at the moment. Red, ripe and beautiful. It could be that I've never sourced the right ones since that fateful night in New York. But the other day, I became someone that my friends wouldn't recognize: I went online and Googled how to make them myself. Cut to today: Freshly washed cherries, a recently purchased cherry pitter (who knew?) and a whole lot of enthusiasm.

In case you don't know what a cherry pitter looks like, I took a photo, along with the mandatory rubber gloves. (While every website had a variation on the basic recipe, the one thing everyone could agree on was the necessity of rubber gloves!) Too bad mine were about 3 sizes too big... it made the job that much slower. Plus I chose to keep the stems on (more of an aesthetic thing than for any other reason), so it took even longer to get the job done.

The result: A glorious bowl of de-pitted (is that a word?) cherries, soaking in 2 cups of fine French brandy. And the little bowl next to it, proudly showing the fruits of my labour. Pun intended. The cherries will soak overnight and then tomorrow I will tackle the next steps: making a simple syrup and then bottling them. Who knows? This might be the start of a brilliant new side business... I'll keep you posted when I finally get to try one in my first Perfect Perfect Manhattan. Supposedly around 6 weeks from now...

The Talented Mr. Greenberg

2010-07-01T09:46:00.006-04:00

I thought it was high time to devote a post to my friend the photographer Michael Greenberg of Phototerra Studios. When the family for this particular wedding and I were in Montreal interviewing photographers, I came out of the meeting with Michael and said to my clients, "We would and should be honoured to work with that man." Sure enough, the photographic results that came from that very special September weekend in Mont Tremblant, Quebec are a testament to the beauty of the surroundings, the love within an incredible family and, most of all, Michael's rare talent.

Since that wedding, I've had the pleasure to get to know him a little more. A former doctor and classical pianist (with a brief stint in the Israeli army thrown in for good measure), he brings a pretty interesting life experience to every photo he takes. Above all, he is one of the most humble and unassuming talents I've ever met. In fact, he's probably blushing right now, if he's reading this for the first time...

It's been really interesting to watch the world catch on to his gift too; you can read some of the accolades and articles being written about him on the Phototerra blog. He travels regularly between Montreal and Toronto, where they also have a studio, as well as jetting off to far parts of the globe to capture weddings and 'stuff' that he documents on his own personal journey.

Some long-time readers of this blog will recognize this setting from a previous post I did. I still get the shivers when I think back to this time. You can click here for a shortcut to the story.

I'll end this post with one of my favourite photos Michael took from the entire weekend. On the Friday night, we held a cocktail reception at the top of the mountain. We served pink champagne at the base, then guests climbed on the gondola and were whisked to the top, where a smorgasbord of Quebec cheeses and charcuterie awaited. This picture is of the emergency stop for the gondola -- I, of course, love what is implied in this photo... the truth is that the gondola operators were not responsible for the glassware left on top!

Canon Theatre Transformation

2010-06-16T09:19:00.006-04:00

When the lovely, talented and funny Bruce Patterson of Cloud Nine Creative suggested doing a time lapse for a wedding we did together back in March, I got so excited. We do a lot of 'transforming' of spaces at SpectacularSpectacular and I have always wanted to film the process, because our clients tend to turn up when it's all ready to go and have no idea what has gone into making the magic happen. Plus (I have to admit) having a time lapse is a really cool memento for us too.

When Bruce sent me the finished product, it was even better than I ever could have imagined. Click below, make it full screen and enjoy! You can also read about this wedding in the new issue of WedLuxe Magazine, available on newsstands now.

Canon Theatre Timelapse V2 from Cloud Nine Creative on Vimeo.

Tulip Fever

2010-05-29T13:24:00.007-04:00

So, you may wonder why the title has 'tulip' in it, but the photos don't? That's because, as any person in the event industry will tell you, working with mother nature can be a very stressful thing...

We were given the task of designing a party for a highly sophisticated, highly attuned and self-proclaimed Design Snob. 800 tulips had been ordered (for a sit down dinner for 28 -- yes, it was a bit excessive, even for us!) in two shades of red, to try and tie the bluey-red of the feature wall and the orangey-red of the Philippe Starck chairs together. When I got the call from florist Marijke Engel the day before telling me the tulips had arrived in PINK and ORANGE, we had a brief moment of panic and then had to change tacks quickly.

Knowing that pink and orange would never do for our Tom Ford-loving birthday boy, Marijke had to scramble to get any flowers at all on such short notice. She had the great idea of using the simple, elegant phaleonopsis orchid, en masse, to save the day. With the regal flowers in quickly-borrowed containers, black croc candles going down the length of the tables and the odd red chair randomly thrown in to the mix, the combination ended up looking sensational -- and not one guest knew that the party had had a totally different 'look,' less than 24-hours before. Crisis diverted, but not without a new grey hair or two.

Über-chef Arpi Magyar from Couture Cuisine was given free-reign to design an unusual and amazing menu. Given that it was such a small group, we served -gasp- Berkshire pork as the main course! It was a topic of much discussion throughout the night, with people wondering why more people don't offer it, more often. The meal was a work of art and complemented the tulip-free environment to perfection.

Thank you to Jackson at Ikonica for recording such a special night so beautifully with your photos.

Table For 100

2010-03-20T11:44:00.004-04:00

Once upon a time, we had a very unusual bride and groom who came to us with a most unique vision: "We want a single table for all of our guests to dine at and we want it to look like something out of a old Flemish painting; dripping over with oysters, pearls, candles and ripe fruit and flowers." We worked closely with Bill Fulghum, who at the time still owned Church Street Flowers, to execute this very particular request; here are some detailed shots of what the guests got to experience that night.

Mushrooms, garlic, oyster shells and quail eggs were strewn down the length of the table, with spanish moss scattered throughout.

Tall stands covered in bulrushes and moss with candles hanging off gave the table the height it needed to balance the soaring ceiling in the tent.

I loved this detail Bill came up with: rusted treasure boxes filled with orchids... you can just make out the pattern on the box. The pattern on the petals perfectly mirrored the leopard print seats on the chiavari chairs that the groom's grandmother (and two of her friends) just happen to own... how funny is that? We've never had clients with their own stash of chairs before.

Artichoke blossoms, red roses with the texture of velvet and shamrock chrysanthemums gave the table the necessary burst of colour.

I always remind clients that their wedding should be a direct reflection of who they are as a couple and I cannot think of a better example than what we achieved here. The drama of the single, long table, the hundreds of small details going down the length, the nerve to serve lamb (!) as the main course made for a most memorable evening. When I heard a guest exclaim "Oh my God, this is so them," I knew we had hit the nail right on the head.

We have photographer Storey Wilkins to thank for the smorgasbord of beautiful pictures.

A Very Fashionable Bash

2010-02-07T12:24:00.009-05:00

We recently had the honour of helping to throw a very big birthday party for a truly special lady whose love of fashion comes second only to her love of family. We took this obsession with All Things Fashion and carried it through the evening...

The first hint of things to come was the invite. Caren Thomas of Bus Stop Design and I came up with the idea of a paper doll of our birthday girl and hired an illustrator, not only to draw the Guest of Honour, but to come up with outfits and combinations she would actually wear. Chanel, Pucci, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Sonia Rykiel can all be found in the spot-on renderings.

The celebration was held at the Four Seasons Hotel and when Bill Fulghum (who designed the party as well as the florals) came back from Europe and said everything was purple that season, we knew what our main colour had to be. Peter Somers from Contemporary Furniture Rentals had sofas covered in purple upholstery just for the occasion and we all got a little carried away. I even bought ridiculously uncomfortable (but oh-so-chic) purple stilettos. Needless to say, it was a very purple night!

We staged a fashion show with clothing exclusively from Holt Renfrew. The lovely Erika Larva and Pauline Brown from Monarch Events Group produced the show and the hilarious Paul Venoit was our MC. The clothing was magnificent -- there were 8 segments to the show and Pauline spent a full week at Holt's pulling the clothes that were showcased. We had to hire round-the-clock security to guard the wares after the party until they could be returned to the store the next day. The furs, the purses, the accessories, the clothes were every girl's (or shopaholic's) fantasy. Sigh.

I had two favourite moments that evening: The first was at the beginning of the fashion show when Tom, the Doorman from Holt's, came out with two male models, laden with dozens and dozens of the store's eponymous hot pink shopping bags. He then proceeded to greet each model as she came on stage and take a shopping bag from her -- just as he does to every customer who enters the store. The crowd cracked up! My second favourite moment came when our birthday girl first spotted her own granddaughter (one of three who were part of the show) when she first appeared amongst the professional models. She squeeled out loud, rushed the stage and announced to the crowd that that was her granddaughter. It was a classic moment -- just one of many at a party that was so much fun to plan and so, so memorable for all that were there to celebrate the joy of family, friends and yes, fashion!
Photo credits: Leigh Tynan, Tynan Studio

Celebrating Sixty in Miami

2010-01-28T18:22:00.008-05:00

Last October we planned a 50th wedding anniversary party here in Toronto (you can read the post in the 2009 section below) -- I thought being married to the same person for 50 years seemed like an amazing feat. Well, we managed to top that with a 60th anniversary bash we threw last month in not-so-balmy Miami. Even more remarkably, there was another couple in the crowd who were celebrating 64 years of marriage!

Alas, we were there to celebrate this milestone for a truly extraordinary couple, blessed with good health, the most wonderful family and, above all, a marriage still filled with spark and passion. My "bride" wanted a mass of orange orchids -- and ultimately we were able to give her what she wanted. There were close to 3500 mokara orchids scattered around the octagonally-shaped room and the bar. It was sensational.

Once I get photos from the professional photographer, I will post those, but in the meantime, enjoy these ones, courtesy of my trusty iPhone. The linens, banquettes, chairs and borne came from Nuage Designs and the wonderful Linda Goldman of Blake Roses did the flowers. I'm sure she doesn't want to see another orange orchid for awhile...

Must. Have. That's. All.

2010-01-28T18:12:00.005-05:00

This isn't even a possibility where I live right now, but dammit, one day I really what has to be the Ultimate Wine Fridge in my own kitchen. These photos were emailed to me, so I can't even give the person who came up with this ingenious idea the credit they so deserve -- I am duly impressed and completely envious, all at once!

And a Cherry on Top!

2010-01-13T10:40:00.006-05:00

The Question: How to compete with the show-stopping cheese "cake" that Chef Mark McEwan created for our bride's sister's wedding, 18 months before.

The Challenge: Our bride is diabetic, so a fancy, traditional wedding cake was out of the question. Plus, we were at the same venue (the family farm) with many of the same guests in attendance -- we had a lot to live up to!

The Solution: A custom-designed, lucite cake stand to hold all the autumn bounty from the farm and a teeny, sugar-free cake for the bride and groom to cut into. North 44 Executive Chef Sash Simpson literally hand-picked each plum, pear, peach & apple and placed them with care onto the stand. And yes, please note, for the final touch: the cherry on top!
Photo Credits: The fabulous Storey Wilkins beautifully documented both weddings. You can watch Mark McEwan in action with the first farm wedding on season two of his show: 'The Heat' on the Food Network.

Peacock, Chartreuse and Coral at the RCM

2010-01-01T10:35:00.010-05:00

Nothing can influence the mood of a party like a burst of cheery colours as guests first enter a space. That was exactly the case for an engagement party we did at the Royal Conservatory of Music: it was a cold, typically grey November day in Toronto and the bright and unusual pairing of peacock & chartreuse greens with a hit of coral set the tone of what was yet to come...

Whimsical chartreuse vases & candelabras from Contemporary Furniture Rentals filled with Japanese tree peonies were the first thing people saw when they entered the event space.

This is a cool shot of the building; you can see how the architects at KPMB incorporated the old Royal Conservatory building within the new structure. We had musicians playing the bongos and maracas in the juliette balconies as guests walked past, into the event space where the sounds of a DJ greeted them...

I've been accused of not showing enough photos of people enjoying the parties we plan, so this last photo is to satisfy the critics! Guests were treated to a feast from North 44, amazing wines and rockin' DJ we brought in from Montreal. If an engagement party can look this beautiful, you can only imagine what we're going to do with the wedding itself... check back in March to see what we create when it's time for the Main Event...

Thank you to Storey Wilkins for the photographs.

Coco Chanel in WedLuxe Magazine

2009-12-26T16:38:00.014-05:00

By now, many of you will have seen the spread we were asked to produce back in the fall for WedLuxe magazine's Designer Issue. Photographer Jackson Huang of Ikonica, Florist Extraordinaire Lidia Tacconelli of Fiori Floral Designs and I were given Coco Chanel as our muse and inspiration for our assignment. What an honour.

I snapped behind-the-scenes photos that day with my trusty iPhone which I'm attaching below, along with some of the professional photos taken by Jackson and Gillian Williamson at the Ikonica studio that day. You can see the real deal in the magazine or by clicking here for the online version.

This is the beautiful double-page spread that opens our feature. We imagined an intimate wedding, more sexy dinner party than grand affair; one that might have taken place in Coco's own apartment in Paris... The gorgeous 3-seater sofa is part of the new "En Provence" collection available to rent from Contemporary Furniture Rentals.

... And this is the scene on the other side of the table: Lidia had sewn a beautiful black fringe on the front of the tablecloth -- the trouble was it was so heavy that it kept pulling everything forward. We ran around the Ikonica studio looking for things that would weigh it down to stop the pull of gravity. Paint cans, tool boxes; just about anything with heft was put into not-so-glamorous service!

This shot is of our bridesmaid, Audrey, sitting at the table. This photo is particularly special for me because she is wearing a vintage dress that once belonged to my grandmother. The weirder thing is that I found it, along with some other extraordinary gowns, in an old trunk just days after Angela from WedLuxe asked me to produce this feature... I had totally forgotten they even existed.

This is Jackson, working out the lighting and the layout of the shot you see above.

Lastly, this is Yumiko laying the black and white "marble" floor. In reality, this was printed on vinyl, complete with the natural striations normally found in marble by our friends at Emerson Design. They also printed the banners in the background and the fabric runner going down the centre of the table that the menu was featured on. Because it's all printed digitally, the process is remarkably cost-effective and the possibilities that you can create are almost limitless...

More Fun with Coco

2009-12-26T16:07:00.010-05:00

Here's the fantasy shot: Our male model, Michael, who we dubbed 'The Hotness" looking rather enticing in behind the place cards and in front of the fountain of pink champagne. The staircase banner was also printed by my friends at Emerson Design.

... and here's the reality shot: It wasn't pink champagne at all, but ginger ale with a few drops of red food colouring added to each bottle. Here's Lidia filling the glasses and balancing them rather precariously on top of one another. Not to worry, though: we all shared some of the real stuff at the end of the day -- you can see it here in the vintage champagne bucket, lent to us by the fabulous Peter Somers of Contemporary Furniture Rentals.

This is a shot that didn't make it into the final spread: our bride, standing ON the table, showing off the bouquet and the runner with the printed menu running across it. I love the single feather that fell off her dress, landing perfectly (and unplanned) onto the salad plate.

This is Toyo, the stylist from Judy Inc., adjusting our bride, Sarah. The shoes are by Valentino.

Finally, this is my dog, Miss Jinx LaRue, posing in pearls and diamonds with the gorgeous cake, designed by Roxanne Wickware of Roxycakes. Gillian from Ikonica took this photo to simply to humour me; I had no idea that Jinx would make it into the magazine... appearing twice, no less!

Art Basel Miami Inspiration

2009-12-05T10:11:00.009-05:00

Every December, our annual trip to Art Basel in Miami is a highlight of my year. The city just comes alive during this contemporary art fair -- the creativity and artistic vision that is literally on every street corner is intoxicating, rejuvenating and plain old inspiring. After a hectic wedding season, those 5 days in Miami going from exhibit to exhibit are just what I need to get revved up for another year of parties and weddings. The creativity is literally everywhere -- these (admittedly bad iPhone photos) were taken when we saw more installations on the side of the road in the Wynwood District. In spite of the fact we were tired, hungry and on our way to dinner, we all jumped out of the car to experience yet another version of 'art' because you just can't seem to get enough of the colours and overall vibe in the city that week. The sun seems shinier and the drinks taste better when you're experiencing the power of the human imagination...

The Single-Flower Bouquet

2009-11-16T18:38:00.006-05:00

The Local Favourite: The Late-Spring/Early-Summer Peony

The-a-Little-More-Exotic: Gloriosa Lily

The Classic: Phalaeonopsis Orchid

There is something so simple yet impactful about choosing a single flower and using it over and over again in your bouquet. Here we've shown some of our favourites... all designed by the wonderful Bill Fulghum, formerly of Church Street Flowers and now of William Fulghum Designs. The single-flower bouquet adds colour and drama but doesn't fight with the dress... and, most importantly, photographs so beautifully...
Photography credits: Leigh Tynan for the first and Storey Wilkins for the last two.

Sneak Peek at our New Colours

2009-11-11T10:41:00.003-05:00

We're updating our colours for our corporate identity -- a relatively inexpensive way to get a whole new look! We've had the old ones for 5 years now and it's time for a change. The main colours are putty and persimmon; I chose the combination from a decorating magazine: there was a persimmon couch next to a putty-coloured wall and I knew at once that it was the new look for our company. I always tell brides to look at everything when they're searching for their wedding colour palette, not just the wedding magazines -- and this is the perfect point in case. You'd be amazed where you can find your inspiration; we had a bride that picked hers from a wallpaper she saw in a restaurant! Our new colours should go live on the website either today or tomorrow, so check back soon!

Fifty is the new Twenty-Five?

2009-11-10T18:03:00.005-05:00

With this post, I'm going to try a new format: describing the photos as I go along. We did a 50th wedding anniversary party last month and what a wonderful celebration it was! Given that we make our living planning a lot of weddings, I was amazed when I heard a speaker give the following statistic that night: Only 5% of all marriages in North America make it to 50 years together -- isn't that crazy? What a milestone this particular "Bride and Groom" have reached! For the party, the invite definitely set the tone for the joy and merriment that was to come...

The bride and groom love to dance... so we put together a package that included the invite printed on a real 45-rpm record, a necklace to identify which part of the family that recipient was from and, lastly, cab chits to and from the party. On the front of the package, we showed a bunch of fun facts from 1959, the year they were married.

We kept the theme going on the back of the menu where we included more trivia from each decade they've been married. During the dinner, we had professional dancers do a dance with each corresponding decade and, needless to say, much shimmying and boogieing ensued.

To see the bride and groom celebrate with all their siblings, children and grandchildren was a marvelous thing to witness -- 3 generations of one family coming together to eat, drink and dance the night away -- and a wonderful reminder of why we wedding planners do what we do! Love!

Thanks to Leigh Tynan for capturing all the warmth, love and FUN in the room so effortlessly.

Not Quite Your Mother's Heels...

2009-10-23T21:14:00.005-04:00

Thought I'd share a couple of the fabulous works of art some of our recent brides have been sporting with fellow shoe-obsessed readers out there! Question, though: is it just me or are our brides' heels getting higher and higher? It always amazes me that the ladies that wear these platforms seem to be able to last all day and night in them -- I am not nearly that talented (or coordinated!), I can assure you. Good thing, given that some of these shoes cost more than my mortgage payments, they can be worn again and again after the wedding day...
A big thank you to Mike and Rebecca from 5ive15ifteen for capturing details like these...

A Gift that Makes Scents

2009-10-20T09:07:00.008-04:00

Brides are always asking us for suggestions for bridesmaids gifts and now, one of our very own clients has come up with the perfect idea! Aromachology is a new perfume line whose formulations use an innovative scientific process to create a customized fragrance to fit each client's personality. How cool is that? Each person fills out a quick "Scent Profiler" questionnaire which puts them in one of 5 distinct personality groupings; then they get to choose up to 3 different top notes to make a completely unique and custom fragrance. What a great idea for a party as well... the lovely ladies at Aromachology will bring their scent bar to any place you and your friends are gathered to celebrate! Details can be found at their website.

Kookoo for Coconuts

2009-08-24T09:13:00.008-04:00

For the morning-after-the-wedding Hangover Brunch this past weekend, we offered our very groggy guests some instant relief at their very own Coconut Station! When I heard that coconut water was one of nature's greatest electrolytes, I thought this would be the perfect thing for wedding guests needing a little pick-me-up after a night of partying. Amazed onlookers watched as Chef Neal Noble from Noble Culinary wielded his cleaver with frightening precision, then delicately inserted a eco-friendly straw and -the perfect finishing touch- a paper umbrella! It was hilarious to listen to guests' comments while sipping from their individual coconuts -- most people were surprised to learn how mild the water tastes; so many thought it would be more like coconut milk or that dessicated, dried stuff on cakes and pies. For the really adventurous though, when the water was finished, Chef Noble would crack the whole shell open and offer a bio-degradable spoon to scoop out the coconut meat. Our Coconut Station proved to be the biggest hit of the day with some guests coming back for seconds and thirds!
A big thank you needs to go out to Tina from Noble Culinary for telling me about this amazing idea and then getting such a luverly-bunch-of-coconuts!

Veni, Vidi, VINO!

2009-08-16T10:15:00.006-04:00

We had a great time planning this surprise 50th birthday party for a serious wine lover... and, darn it, having to taste all the wines we would serve that night was such a difficult part of the job! The invitation (above) was die cut in the shape of a bottle and we joked that the honoree had now reached "Vintage Status" and that he was "full-bodied, well-balanced, silky and smooth with a great finish." Wine expert Tony Aspler was on hand to conduct intimate wine tastings and North 44 catered with food that almost (almost) surpassed the wines that evening. The theme carried through to the cake (made by North 44 pastry chef Julie Montgomery) -- the entire thing was edible -- even the 'wood' shavings as well as the outer crate.
Thank you to Leigh Tynan of Tynan Studio for the photos.

Back Door Bride

2009-07-28T09:24:00.006-04:00

In the spirit of showing you behind-the-scenes at events we've done, these fun photos were taken at a wedding we did at The Carlu, Toronto's finest example of the Art Moderne style of architecture and design. The Carlu is a sleek, sophisticated and extremely well-run venue, but a tough place to sneak a bride into without guests seeing her before the ceremony unless she's there well before the guests start arriving. Due to time constraints, that wasn't going to be possible, so we had the grand idea of bringing Gillian and her bridesmaids through the underground parking lot and up the freight elevator. You can see from the pictures that we had a great group of ladies who embraced this idea wholeheartedly and got right into the spirit of things... and the fabulous Storey Wilkins was more than willing to go along for the (literal) ride!
Special thanks to Gill & Dan and your fantastic wedding party. That was a whole lotta fun!

Dog Days of Summer, Part Deux

2009-07-11T18:43:00.010-04:00

This post is for any would-be event planners who think our world is only about glamour and fabulous parties: Cut to the day after the wedding described in the post below. I am sitting (after 2 hours of sleep) in the tent, on a case of beer. For the people who know me, that is probably a pretty funny image in itself, but I digress. I have a plastic bag over my right hand (there wasn't a rubber glove to be found on the island) and am clutching a rag soaked in paint remover, attempting to remove footprints of floor stain from the dance floor before the barge arrives to take the rentals back to the mainland. How did these footprints get there? Well, this wedding happened to take place over the Canada Day holiday and we ran out of stain while preparing the tent floor. Because stores were closed, we were delayed in finishing the staining... and this meant it didn't have time to dry properly before tables had to be set, linens laid and flowers placed before guests arrived. Cater-waiters, florists and everyone else setting up the tent managed to track their prints ALL over the dance floor... luckily, the colour was almost identical, but there was no way I could let it get returned in the condition it was in.
I thanked Leigh Tynan (below) for the great photos but was secretly relieved she wasn't there to capture what was surely one of the more ridiculous moments (okay, make that hours) in my illustrious career!
Photo by Leigh Tynan, Tynan Studio

Dog Days of Summer, Part One

2009-07-11T17:20:00.013-04:00

Nothing says 'summer in Ontario' like a wedding in Muskoka. And nothing says 'logistical challenge' like a wedding on a private island in Muskoka... Behind the beautiful photos are months of preparation: tents, flooring, lighting, power, flowers, florists, tables, chairs, ovens, plates, glassware, chefs, catering staff, DJs and their equipment, alcohol (lots and lots of alcohol), musicians, officiants... all these things have to be barged over in a delicate dance of precise timing, the favour of the Weather Gods and plain old good luck. Once everything is in place, the next step is to get all the guests there! A few magical hours later, it's all over and the work begins again to get all of the above OFF the island... If this sounds like a lot of work, it is a lot of work but the chance to share a unique place you love with your family and friends is worth all the effort in the world... then throw in a glorious sunset for good measure and you've got an experience few people will forget anytime soon!

A great big thank you to Leigh Tynan who not only took the gorgeous pictures but also schlepped stuff on and off the supply boats! Talk about team spirit!

Party In the Trees

2009-07-04T13:09:00.004-04:00

I gasped out loud when I read about The Yellow Treehouse a couple of months ago in Metropolitan Home magazine. Talk about taking our Swiss Family Robinson fantasies to new heights! This project was originally commissioned as a publicity stunt by the Yellow Pages -- everything used to construct it can be found in their book -- and built in a giant redwood forest in New Zealand. At first it was used as a temporary restaurant (and, not surprisingly, booked out solid for it's run) but now it's used exclusively for private parties... can you imagine? Read more about the project (and the fascinating construction process) at the official website.

Photos credited to Lucy Gauntlett at Yatzer.com

The Pictures you Didn't See...

2009-07-02T13:28:00.007-04:00

Many of you have seen the super-stylish wedding that photographer Jackson Huang and his bride Saxon Grimes threw last August when it was featured in WedLuxe magazine. Now it's time to share some of the ones you didn't see...
No matter how much planning goes into an event, something inevitably goes awry. In this case, the elevator in the building where Jackson's spanking new studio is located broke down -- with guests heading to the tea ceremony inside! The fire department was called; doors were pried open and 5 people were rescued; happily with plenty of time to make it to the celebration.
Lisa McPeek of Jackson's team at Ikonica was quick to document the excitement -- I am so grateful for pictures like these because they show the whole story behind every event. Thank you Lisa!

Plaid Explosion

2009-06-27T12:21:00.007-04:00

This was taken at the wedding of Doug Elliott to Greg Lawrence last summer. While Doug's name might not be familiar to a lot of you, he is the lawyer that took the same-sex marriage issue before the Supreme Court and fought that battle for over 10 years. In short, he is the person that made same-sex marriage possible in Canada. When he and long-term partner Greg decided to finally wed themselves, they asked all the male guests to dress in "Scottish Attire." I had no idea how many men would turn up in kilts -- with almost none being true Scots! During the reception, I thought it would be fun to get them all lined up at the edge of the cliff overlooking Lake Ontario and photograph this explosion of plaid. Except that by the time we got almost everyone rounded up, the sun was sinking fast and Storey Wilkins had to work quickly to get any kind of shot at all. Sadly, my other idea to have everyone turn around and then lift their kilts never came to fruition...

Thank you to Storey Wilkins who is always game for everything I thow at her...

Fun Place Card/Menu Idea

2009-06-27T11:07:00.007-04:00

We did this for a rehearsal party awhile back -- since most of the guests were out-of-towners that night (in fact, most of them were out-of-country-ers), we decided to give them "Passports" to Canada when they arrived to the dinner. The passports worked twofold: The front said the guest's name and table number, then the inside held the menu (which we did like actual stamps in a passport). We had a lot of fun with this one; we even tucked a poem by e.e. cummings in the back; we didn't know at the time we designed it that he was the groom's favourite poet!
Apologies for the photos -- the first one is by a professional, the last two were taken with my phone!

The Day the Ice Went Out

2009-06-26T16:32:00.007-04:00

Every year the residents of the village where my father lives take bets as to which day the ice will finally go out... and while I'm not sure if anyone ever makes any money off this highly-competitive 'sporting' event, this year my sister and I happened to be there the day it happened. She shot this very short video -- we have no explanation for how this effect even occurred, but I can watch it over and over again. It's true... I really need a life...

Sarah & Rob in WedLuxe

2009-06-26T13:03:00.006-04:00

We were so excited to receive the latest issue of WedLuxe Magazine last week and this edition did not disappoint! We were thrilled to see that the wedding that won us the title of "Wedding of the Year" was featured so beautifully. This was a truly spectacular event... it took place on the family farm, 2.5 hours outside of Toronto last summer. The setting was magnificent; Event Designer Bill Fulghum outdid himself and Jackson Huang of Ikonica managed to translate the beauty and feeling of the day into his photographs so perfectly. This was a big production, made all the more challenging because of the distance from the city -- nothing could be forgotten! Over 120 worker bees were onsite day-of to make sure everything went according to plan. Our favourite part? The main tent was filled with over 5000 peonies -- it was difficult to even describe the scent accurately. About as close to heaven on earth as I can imagine... You can read all about it in the magazine, click on the web version or see more photos on our website.
Thanks, Jackson, for letting me use your photos left, right and centre!

Earth, Wind & Fire

2009-06-26T12:05:00.007-04:00

We recently did the Mount Sinai Hospital Auxillary Gala and had the opportunity to work with the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire. For anyone who's ever had to fulfill a band's rider before, you'll know that some of the requests are pretty unusual (think only red M&M's etc.) but lead singer Philip Bailey had a great one. For every performance, he asks for 5 (yes, five) POUNDS of fresh ginger root. Now, for anyone who's ever bought fresh ginger, you'll know it's as light as air... I couldn't wait to see what 5 pounds looked like. Needless to say, it was a lot! I was assured that this item was non-negotiable and the ginger tea he makes from the root is what he attributes his ability to hit the kind of notes that only dogs can hear. I'm happy to report that my jaw actually dropped open at one point during the performance -- I couldn't believe what he was doing with his voice. It was pretty crazy. Click here to read the BizBash article.
Photo courtesy of BizBash.

The Story Behind this Photo...

2009-06-26T11:42:00.009-04:00

Ask any of us who work in the event industry -- we have some pretty great stories. And truth is almost always stranger than fiction. This particular story still gives me chills every time I re-tell it:

The wedding took place in Mont Tremblant, Quebec and making "the call" to hold the ceremony outdoors was particularly stressful as there were the biggest, blackest thunder clouds in the sky that day. When the hotel told me it was due to start raining at 5:00pm (ceremony was at 5:30), that didn't help (!) but we decided to bite the bullet and hold it beside the lake, surrounded by the majestic mountains. Here's a bit of background: the bride's grandmother passed away suddenly about 4 months before the wedding and her absence was the only sad element for the bride and her family that weekend. But! At the EXACT moment the groom put the ring on the bride's finger (it happened to be her late grandmother's wedding band), a single ray of light burst through the clouds and shone ONLY on them. If I hadn't seen it with my very own eyes, I never would have believed it.
By the way, torrential rains came down about 20 minutes after this photo was taken...

Special thanks to the staggeringly talented Michael Greenberg for capturing the magic and to Emily & Jeff, of course!

Sweetspot's 5th Birthday Party

2009-06-26T11:21:00.005-04:00

We recently had the pleasure of working with the lovely ladies from Sweetspot to help organize their 5th anniversary party. I find it hard to believe that fantastic newsletter has been arriving in my inbox for five years now, so it was only fitting that they celebrated in very pink style AND raised money for the Canadian Women's Foundation at the same time. I wanted to give a special and sincere thank you to two people who went above and beyond any sense of duty and donated their products and services for next-to-nothing: Peter Somers from Contemporary Furniture Rentals and Paul Kenyon from Absolute Event Services. As professionals in the event industry, we are asked every single day for discounts and freebies (and when every charity is raising money for a good cause, it's hard to have to say no sometimes), but these two men stepped in and were so generous. Peter's pink chairs and ottomans were the hit of the party and Paul's lighting, staging and power were the quieter -- but no less important -- support players. Click here to read the article: Sweetspot's SpectacularSpectacular Party.

Deliberate Acts of Kindness

2009-06-26T11:13:00.005-04:00

I recently did a charity event and was given a dakband for my efforts. dak is short for Deliberate Acts of Kindness and the concept behind these bracelets is so simple and wonderful. Here's how they work: you wear multiple dakbands on your wrist and when you witness someone doing something kind for someone else, you approach them and offer them 2 of your bands, in recognition of their gesture. At first people are a little surprised until you explain that a) you were so impressed/moved/overwhelmed (insert your own adverb) by what they just did and b) each dakband is numbered so they can go online at Deliberate Acts of Kindness and track where that band has been. And here's the great part: the next time THAT person sees someone else doing something nice for someone, THEY pass one of their bands on. Forget random acts of kindess, these bands honour people who choose to be kind to others. Check out the website for more details (including where the money goes from the sale of the initial bands) and see all the different countries they're making their way to as people are simply being nice to one another. There's even a couple on the site who chose to give the bands out at their wedding instead of favours... inspired! And to think the whole movement started right here in Toronto...

Always a Bridesmaid...

2009-06-26T00:39:00.007-04:00

This is one of our favourite wedding photos from last year. This silly duck was going up and down the aisle during the ceremony, pecking at guest's feet, looking for food. Needless to say, she almost stole the show...

Thanks to Karen Whylie (and to Robin & Ehren) for the fantastic shot.

Paperless Post

2009-06-25T23:17:00.005-04:00

I came across an article in the Globe & Mail newspaper the other day about Paperless Post. What a great thing for anyone who wants to send out invites via email. Their designs are great and all look like they're letterpressed (the envelope that recipients have to 'open' is particularly fantastic) and the interface is easy to use; I know because I tried it out right away. See them here: www.paperlesspost.com