Peacock, Chartreuse and Coral at the RCM

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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...

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...