stylish bride...

Essentially, that's one of the many wishes any girl has for her wedding day: to find the perfect wedding dress that's just her style. Then add a beautiful venue, tasteful invitations (with about a million stamps), the best tasting cake, a talented photographer and dresses that flatter all your bridesmaids...and you've got one hefty "to do" list.

With just having celebrated my own wedding in June, I completely understand how it's a delicate balance between planning the perfect day and remembering you have a budget! Fashion and personal style are very relevant factors when it comes to the biggest task: choosing the right dress.

If you're recently engaged or wedding bells are in your near future, nothing is more efficient than finding all your wedding  vendors under one roof. That's exactly what's happening on the evening of Friday, September 23: you'll find over 40 vendors and businesses setting up booths at the Trade and Convention Centre.

And the best part? (Well, in my opinion!) A fashion show, of course. Heavenly Gowns will be featuring over 70 wedding dresses in a runway show put on by NWH Modelling and Fashion Shows and hosted by Normand Hector (this will be his 10th show with Heavenly Gowns). We all know how important finding the dress is...so here's the best way to get a preview of what you may and may not love...without trying on a million dresses.

Photo Credit: Alfred Angelo

I chatted with both Sheri Israel, owner of Saint John's Heavenly Gowns, and Normand of NWH Modelling, on what's popular and on trend for bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses this year:

• "fit and flair" 
• trumpet and mermaid styles 
• strapless
• lace-up, corset-style backs
• the always classic, Cinderella style dress
• Alfred Angelo's Disney Collection 

Detailing such as lace and flowers continue to be popular and going back to traditional white seems to be a growing trend. When it comes to popular colour palettes for bridesmaid dresses, it's been all over the map this year. In that case, I'd recommend choosing a favourite colour that will be flattering with your bridemaids' skin tones.  

Tickets can be purchased at Heavenly Gowns (230 Thorne Avenue) prior to the event for only $10 or if you're a last minute type of gal, you can still grab a ticket at the door for $15. The bar will be open, so here's a great excuse to invite your girl friends for a post-work drink to say hello to the weekend, all while scoping out choices for your upcoming wedding. Finding them all under one roof is so much easier than searching for them individually, plus there will be many prizes to be given out...including one girl's choice of a wedding dress from Heavenly Gowns!

Date: Friday, September 23

Time: 4:30-10:00pm

Location: Trade & Convention Centre, Saint John

What you'll find:

Caterers | Photographers | Dress Shops | Wedding Venues

Event Planners | Make-up & Hair | Beauty Services | Gift Registries | Decorators

Plus, Heavenly Gowns' Fashion Show

featuring 70 bridal gowns & bridesmaid dresses

Will you be attending?

*This post has been sponsored by Trademark Show Productions. From experience, I know how important it is to a bride-to-be to find her perfect dress that she can look amazing and feel comfortable in. It's likely the most important dress you'll shop for. In my experience, events like these really make the planning process so much easier! 

wedding photos...

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I've been meaning to share with you some of our of my wedding photos- which we got back a few weeks ago! Lynette (Mason Photography) was great to work with (and at a very reasonable price)! Couldn't be happier with how they turned out- here's a selection of the pictures from our wedding day (June 4, 2011):

My dress: Maggie Sottero, Lockhart's Weddings & Special Occasions

Feather hair piece and bird cage veil also came from Lockhart's

My shoes: Enzo Angiolini, The Urban Shoe Myth

My jewellery: Swarovski, Charm Diamond Centre

Bridesmaid dresses: Mori Lee, Heavenly Gowns

Tuxes for Groom & Groomsmen: Tip Top Tailors

Bouquets & Boutonnieres: Sandra Miller Floral Designs

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3 things: where our wedding photos were taken

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Now that life is starting to- relatively- go back to normal and I'm back to blogging, I'm also bringing my Friday feature back into the picture. To bring this week's blog posts to a close and kick off the weekend, I'm going to share with you 3 of the spots we had our wedding photos taken on our big day by photographer Lynette Mason (Mason Photography).

Since we had such an early ceremony at 1pm that Saturday afternoon, that left for plenty of time for photos before the reception at 5:30pm. I was really pleased to say, we actually made it back in plenty of time to greet our guests as they came in the door at the Lily Lake Pavillon- the location where we hosted our dinner and dance.

Here's where we were after the vows and prior to the big party:


1. Outside of Our Lady of the Assumption (Catholic Church, Lower West Saint John)

Photos: Right- Mason Photography; Left- My friend Katie

The photographer also snapped some group photos outside of the church following the ceremony.

2. Martello Tower (Lower West Saint John)

Both photos: Mason Photography

Also taken at this location: family shots at the base of the hill & group photos in front of the actual tower.

3. Uptown Saint John (around Kings Square & random alley off Charlotte Street)

Both photos: Mason Photography

We got some really fun photos uptown: walking along the street, huddled in the alley, climbing on top of stone walls & ledges!

My dress, veil, and hair accessory came from Lockhart's (Sussex). Hair was by Reflections Day Spa, bouquets and boutineers from Sandra Miller Floral Designs (Quispamsis), and make-up was done by Lindsay Thorne Makeup!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! See you Monday!

 

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wedding hairdo...

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For my wedding, I wanted to go with a hairstyle that reflected my everyday style: something that was simple, wavy, and looked effortless but well-composed. Initially I thought about just wearing my hair down as per usual, but then reconsidered when I found an updo that I actually liked. The hairstyle I chose for my wedding day was inspired by updos previously worn by Carrie Underhill and Taylor Swift: a curly, loosely formed side-bun.

Over the last few weeks I found myself at Reflections in Heather's chair: firstly for highlights and then the trial updo the week after, a few days prior to the big day. (I also went the week following the wedding to chop off my hair to the shorter bob I'm currently sporting.)

We were wondering prior to the trial if I would actually have enough hair to accomplish the look I was going for. I'm fairly easy to please, so I was really just looking for a loose interpretation of the pictures I had brought in. I'd been growing my hair out for the past 6 to 8 months, but it seems that sometimes hair doesn't grow fast enough! Randomly, the receptionist randomly found hair extensions the salon had previously had for sale and amazingly they just happened to match my hair!

Below is a shot, on the trial day, hair post- hot rollers with extensions added in.

Heather begins pinning curls to the side.

Then come the accessories!

(Bird cage veil and feather hair fascinator, both from Heavenly Gowns.)

Finished product (on trial day)!

The final look for the wedding:

Photos from Mason Photography

Thank you to Heather for doing such a terrific job with my hair (and for coming in an hour early the day of the wedding)! Coming up tomorrow: a sample of photos from our wedding day taken by friends and family- and a complete look at what I wore on my wedding day!

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i love coco...

...is what my Maison Scotch t-shirt reads. This is what broke the straw off the camel's back and caused me to spoil my shopping fast. (So I guess it's fair to say it was more of a shopping diet...) Maison Scotch is a new favourite brand of mine (found within the confines of Envy), with their cute t-shirts, button-ups, and blazers- each having a unique, quirky add-on to the piece (whether it be a necklace, handkerchief pocket square, or bow tie). In this case, my Chanel lovin' tee came with the dandelion necklace that hangs around my neck in the photos below.

Finally, my hair is long enough that I can pull it into a ponytail or a bun without stick a million bobby pins into my scalp. I'm really only growing it out for the purpose of a wedding day updo- only to have it chopped off again. When it get's this long, it's harder to hold a curl, and becomes a big mass that just gets in my face, therefore I spend most of my time wearing it up. Keeping it shorter makes me accountable for actually styling my hair and not defaulting to the easy way out. This look I like to call my ballerina hair-do. Keep in mind that I'm neither graceful nor did my ballet training extend past the age of 4.

The Outfit

T-shirt: Maison Scotch- Envy (SJ, Apr '11)

Cardigan: Kensie- Je Suis Prest Boutique (SJ, Dec '09)

Jeggings: Guess- Envy (SJ, Dec '10)

Flats: Blowfish- Little Burgundy (Toronto, May '09)

Purse: Fossil- Manchester (gifted from B, Dec '10)

Loitering outside the bottom entrance of the Alehouse, this outfit I wore on a wedding-errand Saturday with B. We had just embarked on an early supper, having visited floral designer Sandra Miller to pick out and plan flowers for the wedding and completed the task of registering at Decor8 in Brunswick Square (we also registered at Sears). Tuesday afternoon we head out to Rothesay to round out our wedding registries with PGal's Closet!  



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wedding shoes!

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With my wedding 66 days away, my next big task is to choose the shoes. Last week I picked up my wedding dress from Lockhart's Weddings & Special Occasions in Sussex. Our primary colour for the wedding is is an emerald/shamrock green, which is to be the colour of the bridesmaids' dresses and the groomsmen's ties/pocket squares. I wanted to find a way to encorporate green into my outfit too, so why not on my feet? Thank you so much to those who sent me links with shoe suggestions: your help was very much appreciated!

It's great that I won't have to have my dress hemmed but I'm only limited to roughly 2 inches of heel in my chosen shoe otherwise the gown will lift off the ground! I'd really appreciate your help in deciding which shoes to wear the day of my wedding from my top 3 picks:

Photo: Infinity Shoes

Photo: Zappos

Photo: Bluefly

Please name your pick for which shoe I should wear on my wedding day by leaving a comment below! I'll be taking a tally from today until Sunday night. I'll report the most popular shoe recommendation on Monday!

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parade of wedding dresses...

At the beginning of the month, I attended a wedding show at the Trade and Convention Centre hosted by Heavenly Gowns. You were able to walk around and talk with various wedding vendors...from decorators to bakers. My mom actually booked my chair covers that exact day. The event was concluded with a fashion show exhibiting Heavenly Gowns latest stock of beautiful gowns. So for the girls who are planning their wedding or any girl who has been planning their since their's childhood, here is a glance at the show and the cast of beautiful wedding gowns...

The dress I've choosen for my own big day was actually featured in the show..and so was my runner-up choice. Oddly, I didn't get a clear photo of either dress. So I suppose I'll have to wait until the wedding to share them with you. I found out some interesting news early this month when I by chance discovered that fellow style blogger Alicia of The Cheetah is the New Black shares the same upcoming wedding date: June 4!

On a related note be sure to check in on my wedding blog from time to time to see my latest inspirations while I plan my wedding!