OUR LATEST WEDDING DESIGNS

We’ve been so busy in the office as of late designing for 2020 and 2021 brides. To say this is my favourite part is an understatement. If you’ve been following our Instagram Stories lately you would have have see a few sneak peaks of what I’ve been working on. But I thought I would show you everything we’ve done since the Pandemic! The creativity doesn’t just stop.

ROMANTIC INDUSTRIAL TOSCANO

This gorgeous client is getting married at the Horticulture Building. All her original inspiration came from on of our past wedding featured on Style Me Pretty. See the full wedding here. Because our brides wedding is this fall we decided to add burgundy and deep crimson pops of red/black. Our floor plan also changed quote a bit with multiple floating greenery halo’s throughout the whole building. We also included the DJ within a large bar, giving it that luxury vibe.

ECO LUXURY CLEAR TENT WEDDING

This gorgeous client planning for this September in Quebec at a private club had two variations of her design. At first she was thinking of a more luxe look with pops of black but opted for a softer look bringing in french Parisien wood elements with two large lounge areas to keep the vibe luxe but casual and comfy. She also pitched the idea of a Versace printed dance floor in a nude color… so I’m excited to see how that turns out. I LOVE it when clients take the leap in incorporating things they’ve never actually seen before!

BOTANICAL GATSBY RHAPSODY

Yes you heard me right! Gatsby esq design. This client is getting married on Halloween this year! To say i’m excited about this design is and understatement. Our design here is for the Ottawa Art Gallery for 200 guests. Because they’re wedding falls on Halloween, they wanted to play up the black tie costume aspect giving their guests and opportunity to really “zhuzh it up” to the max gatsby style! Everything needed to be larger than life for this wedding. The bride asked for an organic and mid century modern variation of Gatsby…. a challenge?!?! Never! I pushed my creativity to the limits. Our floor plan includes a FULL . ROOM . FLIP . …… Did you read that?!?! Yup from 200ppl for a ceremony to 200ppl cocktail in the Alma Duncan Room. Imagine this, walking down the herringbone patterned aisle with 5ft tall oversized crystal chandeliers floating above encompassed by floral halo’s and a ceiling of twinkly lights….. at the alter a large floral arch awaits with the twinkling lights waterfalling from the ceiling to the floor….. and that’s all you get to know! The client and I cameup with some super cool never done before concepts which I can’t wait to show you on the day of! It will blow your mind!

70’S NEW AGE ITALIANO RETRO

I had a lot of fun with this design. The Bride wanted a few key elements including pampas grasses, burnt orange and a tuscany 1970’s vibe. At first it was hard to imagine the combination and we had to be careful how we added the burnt orange so that it didn’t look too pumpkin Halloween. It’s hard to get burnt orange in the flowers I would typically request for a design, so i decided to add in the terracotta to balance the color and also the 70’s vibe were looking to achieve - keeping in mind the pampas grasses. I always like to have hints of a theme instead of theming it out completely because then it looks overdone and super intentional. The verdict is still out on this design…she may not like the terracotta element or decided to axe the pampas grass. We shall see.

UPDATE:

Since this email has been drafted we’ve had a mood board revision. Sometimes when you see all the elements on your wish list come together- it wasn’t as you had imagined. This being said our bride opted for a more tan inspired look.

DESIGN PROCESS

For every client we do Full Planning with, design is always included. But we do have many clients from other cities and countries that we design for which may of may not have their own planner. In that case with our Design Only, we also include a Technical Doc which you can see a bit of bellow. The imagery and the process allows us to design full weddings and leave the coordination and planning to the client or their planner.

We currently have a client getting married in Picton and she has hired us exclusively for design and partial planning and will have their own Day of Coordinator whom is local which we will work with in conjunction. This works great for clients who want to support local but also want a gorgeously design wedding.

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So that is all of what we have completed in design during this Pandemic. I purposely took what might have felt like a bleak day, tuned on some tunes and designed my little heart away!

If this has inspired or excited you feel free to send us a note and maybe we could be designing for you next!

xoxo Elise

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MORE INFORMATION

BEHIND THE SCENES

EXPECTATIONS

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE YOU START WEDDING PLANNING

Before you start planning your wedding there are 5 things you should do before announcing your engagement to the wider public! Too often I see brides getting ahead of themselves and hence left feeling overwhelmed or upset that what they want just isn’t realistic . But if you follow these 5 steps you’ll surely be on the path to success! Just think of me like that pesky lifeguard at the pool…No Running! lol

Compile your guest list

Before you begin dreaming of your wedding plans it’s important to lay down some ground work starting with your guest list as this will help you gauge the size of wedding you will be having and the investment you will likely be making. When considering your guest list it’s important to consult with your parents on whom they believe should be included and if children will be permitted to attend. There is no shame in having an adults only reception.

Establish a budget

Once your guest list is established it’s time to address the elephant in the room, budget and who will be contributing. If your unsure of what is realistic I tend to provide the following statistics.

Catering Costs $120 - $150 per person

Open Bar Costs $80 - $100 per person depending on if you are working with a per-consumption bar where you pay for drinks as they are consumed or if your venue provides a flat fee

Decor Costs can be a huge variable, but for a simple but impactful design you could be looking at a minimum of $100 per person. For a more lavish wedding $250-$400 per person

This does not include vendors such as: Hair & Makeup, Transportation, Cake, Venue Fees, Officiant, Invitations and Photography.

In my experience most beautiful Pinterest worthy weddings with a guest list of 150ppl start at around $60,000 CAD

I also suggest couple have a budget reserve of 5-10k for extras and unforseen costs.

One thing I tell all my clients is that whatever design image your looking at, any dollar figure that pops into your head- should be tripled. Meaning if you see a gorgeous centrepiece and you think it’s worth maybe $50, it’s likely $150.

Discuss your vision for your wedding day

Now that your budget parameters have been set you can now start dreaming big or small. Let the countless hours of pinning begin. Once you believe you have pinned to your heart’s desire, narrow down those pictures to your top 25. This will help you narrow down the most important artistic elements.

Develop your wish list

With all the inspo you need under your belt it’s time to start dabbling into a little bit of research. Take your freshly married friends advice with a grain of salt and blaze your own trail in your quest for finding vendors you think match your vibe. But be careful! Many companies out there may be great at advertising but horrible in client care and execution. Things are always cheap for a reason and you need to ask yourself why!

Consult a wedding planner

Which leads me to the most important and final step. Book a meeting with a planner. It’s not a case of whether you think you need one or not. It’s a given that you will need some sort of assistance leading up to your wedding day without asking your friends and family who most likely have no idea how to properly help or guide you. The four steps I listed above will set you up to perfectly to be able to communicate your overall vision and appropriated investment. This will enable the wedding planner to help guide you in the right direction in terms of how they may be of assistance or help educate you on unrealistic expectations etc. At the very least you should hire a wedding planner for the final months leading up to your wedding day to help you organize all your final details.

Whether your local to Ottawa or Montreal or planning abroad or from abroad in Canada- we can help! Our clients are located all over the world and we would love to help bring your wedding vision to life. You deserve to feel like a guest at your own wedding. So call on us!

xoxo Eliza