WeddingsExotic vows Planning the day
Top destinations What you need to know
TrendingWhat’s hot this year
Friday, April 25, 2014
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Spice things up in an exotic localeFOREIGN EXCHANGE
Here are three popular destinations to consider for the big day.
Mayan Riviera, MexicoThis sprawling stretch of Caribbean coastline on the Yucatan Peninsula is known for its techni- colour reefs and white-sand beaches. Comprised of a number of smaller towns and villages (Tulum, Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen), each has its own vibe; there’s a locale to suit every bride and groom’s tastes.
JamaicaThe third-largest Caribbean island, Jamaica boasts more than 1,100 kilometres of coastline. It’s also known worldwide for its friendly locals, laidback spirit and, frankly, an abundance of good rum. If you’re in the mood for a party, this is the place to be!
Dominican RepublicPostcard perfect, this jungle-heavy area offers couples both Atlantic and Caribbean backdrops. And with snorkeling, diving, surf-ing, fishing and jungle explorations all on offer, guests will have plenty to do before and after the nuptials.
After a winter like ours, it’s easy to understand the overwhelming urge to get the heck out of dodge.
The frigid temps and abundance of snow and ice makes it easy to understand why so many Calgary brides and grooms are opting for destination weddings these days.
Trading vows in a winter wonderland has its charms, but saying “I do” on a white-sand beach with a pina colada on standby brings an appeal of its own.
Wedding planner Amira Harris gets it. In fact, she’s built an entire business around helping Calgarians facilitate their nuptials abroad as the destination-wedding specialist with Posh Productions Event Planning and Design Inc.
According to Harris, those pondering getting hitched in a tropical locale need to make a few thoughtful considerations before they go booking flights.
First, a conversation needs to happen with the couple’s respective families. While it ultimately comes down to whether the bride and groom are happy and comfortable with the decision, having a family chat before the planning begins is Harris’s biggest piece of advice — just so you can ensure the loved ones you really want to be there will be able to make it.
Once the decision to have a destination wedding has been made, Harris recommends enlisting a professional to help ensure the planning process runs as smoothly as possible.
“They have experience with what to expect, as well as what is and isn’t possible in a particular country,” Harris says.
Couples should select two or three locations that interest them. Then, a planner can discuss the details and help them make a final decision, Harris says.
“The time of year they are looking to travel will play a role, especially if there is not an unlimited budget; they are not going to want to travel during peak season — when costs are higher — or choose a location during hurricane season,” she explains.
Most couples have family and friends spread across the country or around the globe, so it’s important to know where everyone will be travelling from to be able to obtain options and rates for all their expected guests.
So how much does it actually cost to get hitched abroad? That depends on the destination of choice. Interestingly, Harris notes it can sometimes be more affordable to do a wedding in another country than planning a major to-do right here in Calgary.
“You can spend a few hundred dollars on a simple cere-mony for two on the beach, or have a reception for 200, with a band, entertainment and fireworks — at a lot of resorts, the sky’s the limit,” she says.
“Some couples may wish to only do a ceremony, and some wish to do all the regular things you would find in a local wedding. It’s best to have a budget set for how much your maximum is per guest, as well as a budget for the actual wedding portion. A specialist can help you determine costs before you commit to anything.”
By MEGHAN JESSIMAN For Weddings
Photo courtesy, Hanafoto.com
April 25, 2014 Weddings 3
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1Establish a budget and stick to it. Do you have tons of cash to spend on your big day, or would you rather spend your hard-earned dollars on a house or a honeymoon? According to Wedding Bells magazine, the average Canadian wedding cost about $23,458 in 2013, and 69 per cent of brides say they spent more than they planned.
Buy a wedding planner book; it’ll help you keep track of everything from flowers to invitations and music. An offshoot of the popular theknot.com website, The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner and Organizer (Crown Publishing Group, $35) contains budget worksheets, digital tools, timeline suggestions, vendor checklists and lots of ideas to make your day special.
2Book a photographer and pick a wedding date. According to Calgary wedding planners, getting a great photographer can be almost as tricky as finding your dream partner. Photographer Erin Brooke Burns (erinbrooke.com) has captured the magical day for hundreds of Calgarians. She recommends booking nine months to a year in advance. Prices start at about $2,300 and run up to $7,200.
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4 Thinking of hiring a wedding planner? You may want to engage them at this stage. Typical rates start at about $100 an hour, and range from about $2,500 to $10,000 or more, depending on what your dream day includes.
“A basic wedding takes about 250 hours to plan,” says Lisa Hanslip, a Calgary-based wedding planner and owner of The Wedding Planner Inc. If that seems overwhelming, consider budgeting for a professional planner who can do “anything, from hourly consultation to talking through planning issues that a bride may be having, to literally doing everything from start to finish,” she says.
Select your bridal party. Pick your bridesmaids, your maid of honour, your groomsmen, your ring bearer and your flower girl. 5
How to plan the perfect weddingCongratulations, you’re engaged! You have found someone you want to be with
for the rest of your life, and you’ve told all your friends and family. Now the real fun begins. Whether you have three months or a year before you get hitched, a wedding
requires plenty of planning. Here are 14 points to consider before your dream day.
By SHEllEy BOEttCHERFor Weddings
6 Choose your reception location — Heritage Park, the Calgary Zoo and The Wedding Pavillion are all popular options for Calgarians. The Fairmont Palliser is also a longtime favourite.
In late 2013, Great Events Catering took over the historic Bow Valley Ranche. Great Events also has spots in Fish Creek Park, Lloyd Park and Spruce Meadows, and the company rents everything from chairs to glassware.
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4Weddings Weddings April 25, 2014
How to plan the perfect wedding
8Book an officiant. If you opt to skip a religious ceremony, you can find a list of marriage commissioners at servicealberta.ca.
9Buy your dress, and book your tuxes. The options in Calgary these days, it seems, are endless. If you are trying to save some money, consider The Bragging Bride (thebraggingbride.ca), a locally owned and operated discount designer and consignment wedding gown and accessories shop.
10Will you have cake? Or cupcakes? You may want to consider nut allergies and the vast number of people who don’t eat gluten anymore. Bliss & Co. (blisscupcakes.com) offers a range of options for various needs.
11 Music! “If music be the food of love, play on,” Shakespeare wrote in his play Twelfth Night. You just have to figure out what you want your guests to hear: classical, jazz, rock? Live music? A DJ? You pick.
12Start planning that honeymoon! Whether you opt for a weekend in the mountains or a sun-soaked tropical destination, you need to book time off work and possibly update your passports. And yes, you’ll need to budget for the break, too.
13No, you still aren’t done. Now is a good time to start thinking about your vows. If you’ve chosen a religious ceremony, you may not have to worry about what to say. But if you’re injecting your own personality into the big day, plan ahead.
14Last, but not least, relax and have fun. Enjoy the exciting and beautiful experience that is your wedding.
7Book your flowers and your caterer — perhaps via your reception location, perhaps not. There are many florists and caterers in this city; ask for recommendations from friends, family, your reception location co-ordinator or a wedding planner.
Consider looking to Top Chef Canada for your culinary inspiration and contact Nicole Gour-met Catering (nicolegourmet.com). It’s oper-ated by chef Nicole Gomes, who competed on the third season of the hit reality TV show.
Courtesy, Top Chef CanadaChef Nicole Gomes.
taking the ceremony beyond the church
By ANNAlISE KlINGBEIlFor Weddings
If you don’t want to say your “I dos” in a chapel, there are plenty of alternatives in Calgary and area when it comes to tying the knot.
Many couples are thinking outside the big square box and getting married in non-traditional locations. Others are ditching the confines of four walls entirely, crossing their fingers, hoping it doesn’t rain and heading outside for a beautiful ceremony.
The Plaza Theatre / Theatre Junction GrandNow playing: your wedding. The Plaza Theatre in Kensington and its 370 seats can be rented for your nuptials. Hand guests popcorn as they come in and they’re sure to give your big day rave reviews. Or, feel like a star at Theatre Junction Grand, a historic theatre building in the heart of downtown Calgary that also hosts weddings. The 102-year-old theatre offers a range of rental options.
The Saskatoon FarmLocated in Okotoks, the Saskatoon Farm’s Garden Centre is a one-of-a-kind wedding venue. The farm has a relaxing ambiance and it boasts stunning natural beauty, together cre-ating an enchanting vibe. Plus, your
wedding photos in the business’s expansive U-pick saskatoon orchard will be both beautiful, and, possibly very, very tasty. The Calgary ZooAt the zoo, lovebirds can exchange their vows at some of the most beauti-ful outdoor gardens in Calgary. Then, they can party like animals at one of the zoo’s many on-site reception venues. And, for those worried about the rain, the zoo also offers lush indoor gardens where couples can tie the knot. Guests will love visiting the animals during the break between your ceremony and reception.
The Devonian GardensWhether its summer or winter, your guests will feel like they’re in the tropical outdoors when you get mar-ried at the Devonian Gardens. No one will care that the gardens aren’t actually outside; rather, they’re in the middle of The Core shopping centre.
Aero Space Museum of CalgaryAfter they watch you vow to soar to new heights with your partner, your guests can mingle under the wings of vintage planes at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary. The aviation museum’s hangar is a unique and visually stunning place for wedding ceremonies and receptions.
Photo by Janine Deanna/Courtesy the Calgary ZooA bride shares a moment during a wedding at the Calgary Zoo.
April 25, 2014 Weddings 5
Giving your day a unique touch
By SHEllEy BOEttCHER For Weddings
Trying to come up with wedding ideas, but you don’t know where to start? Here’s a look at some top trends in Alberta.
■ Mountain venues: “Sometimes we, as Calgarians, forget, but people fly from all over the world — the U.K., Australia — to get married in our mountains,” says Lynn Fletcher. A Calgary-based wedding planner (lynnfletch-
erweddings.com), Fletcher has organized around 600 wed-dings and says popularity never wanes for destinations such as the
Fairmont Banff Springs and the Rocky Mountains.■ August and September weddings: “June and July are so
unpredictable now, with the weather,” Fletcher explains.
■ Romantic, casually arranged flowers, tied with gold, grey or pale green ribbons: “It’s that vintage trend,” says Misha White, owner and designer at Amborella Floral Studio.
“We’re seeing a lot of soft, romantic, almost pastel colours and fluffy, bigger blooms: peonies, ranunculus, hydrangeas, garden roses. It’s a loose, organic style, a little bit hippie.”
■ Creative favours: Consider wildflower seeds, homemade jams or stuff that can actually be used by the recipient.
“We have a vintage-
inspired key chain that is also a bottle opener,” says Patricia MacArthur,
executive creative director for Weddingstar (weddingstar.com), an online store headquar-tered in Medicine Hat. “It’s very popular.”
■ Dressing to reflect your personality: Brides wear the gamut — strap-less gowns, full skirts, fitted styles. Grooms, on the other hand, may have a hipster influ-ence — perhaps Con-verse sneakers or cool brogues, notes Calgary wedding planner Lisa Hanslip (askawedding planner.com). Or they’re sporting an unconven-tional suit with a bright tie. “There’s a lot of fun stuff happening.”
Starseed favours from weddingstar.com.
Photo courtesy, Amborella Floral Studio
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■ DIy chic: Sometimes people decorate with things they’ve made; other times, they shop on sites such as Etsy.com. Either way, if it looks homespun but well done, brides want it.
■ No favours: Some couples are giving charitable donations instead of favours, or asking for charitable donations instead of gifts.
■ Eco-friendly presentation: Maybe recycled paper invitations or e-invitations, potted plants or lanterns instead of cut flowers.
■ Menus from close to home: “The farm-to-table hundred-mile diet and eating organic is important to many couples,” says Fletcher.
First-dance favouritesLooking for ideas for the first dance, or your
wedding playlist in general? Some sugges-tions:
At last, Etta JamesI Do, Colbie Caillat
this I Promise you, ’N SyncWhen a Man loves a Woman, Percy Sledge
Kiss from a Rose, SealMarry you, Bruno Mars
Can’t Help Falling In love, Michael BubleEverything I Do (I Do for you), Bryan Adams
I Got you Babe, Sonny & Cheryou’re the One that I Want,
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-JohnWe Belong together, Los Lobos
Only you, The Plattersyou’re the First, the last, My Everything,
Barry White
■ Custom rings: “Four out of five people coming in choose custom work,”
says a spokeswoman for jeweller J. Vair Anderson Jewellers. Rose gold is increas-
ingly popular, because it’s flattering on almost all skin
colours. White metals, especially platinum, are in demand, too.
■ Woodland themes: Maybe poly resin antlers hold place cards, or there’s a mossy centrepiece.
“It mimics what we’ve been seeing in home decor trends,” notes MacArthur.
■ Cake toppers that reflect the
couple’s interests: Weddingstar offers
everything from cute little bears
to porcelain newlyweds
in various poses. (One is fishing to catch the bride;
another sports hockey skates.)
■ Vintage influences: Perhaps the invitations look like chalkboards. Or a clawfoot bathtub holds drinks at the reception. Or there’s an old-fashioned candy bar.
■ Ornate invitations: multiple layers of papers, even pretty boxes to hold the details.
“The first impression a guest has of the upcoming event is the invitation. This really sets the tone for the whole event,” says renowned Etsy artist and designer Barbara Stanaitis from Bella BaroqueDesign.
“Nobody wants their wedding to be ordinary in any way.”
■ Pinterest: “It makes it easy for a bride to share her vision of their big day,” says MacArthur.
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Calgarian Courtney Kos knew she should start selling high-end bridalwear after talking to countless friends and acquaintances who mentioned they were leaving the city in their search for wedding dresses.
“They just weren’t finding what they wanted here,” she says.
Kos is aiming to change that, one beautiful gown at a time.
She’s the owner of Ette, a specialty designer fashion and bridalwear store on the corner of 16th Avenue and 7th Street S.W.
The shop carries exclusive dresses and accessories from renowned fashion designers, including Zac Posen, J. Mendel, Giambattista Valli and the late L’Wren Scott.
Wedding fashion designers include Israeli designer Inbal Dror, Ines Di Santo, Reem Acra, Elizabeth Fillmore, Jenny Packham and Collette Dinnigan.
Prices range from about $4,000 to $12,000, and many of the labels aren’t for sale anywhere else in Canada.
“We bring in a lot of lines that haven’t saturated the market yet,” Kos says. “They’re definitely for a more fashion-forward bride. They’re very feminine, very elegant.”
The shop offers a range of accessories, including handbags and shoes. Couture — one-of-a-kind, made-to-order dresses — are also available.
“If that’s an option, we can help people with that as well. Many of our clients
appreciate that artistry and exclusivity,” she says.
The shop doesn’t cater to any specific age group, notes Kos. Rather, the clientele are often people who’ve looked elsewhere but haven’t found something that represents their personal style.
“They want to look like themselves at their best,” she says.
Kos didn’t always see herself owning a boutique in the Beltline.
After graduating from the University of Calgary with a bachelor of communications degree, she headed for the bright lights of New York. There, she worked for a fashion stylist, then a fashion PR firm, as well as designer Jason Wu during New York Fashion Week. Career highlights included photo shoots for Conde Nast Traveler magazine and O, The Oprah Magazine.
“It is expensive and extremely fast-paced,” she says of New York. “Here in Calgary, there’s booming opportunity.”
And people travel here, too. Kos has been amazed at the interest she’s had in the shop from fashion-lovers across the globe.
In fact, her next step as a business owner will be building an e-commerce website to keep up with the demand, she says.
“We have had calls from people all over the world who are looking for a specific dress from a specific designer,” she says.
And Ette is there to help with that demand.
Demand drives high-end boutiqueSPONSOR CONTENT
One-of-a-kind dresses available at Ette
Ette, located on the corner of 16th Avenue and 7th Street. S.W., offers exclusive designer wedding dresses, made-to-order gowns plus handbags and shoes.
“The right dress loves the woman who is wearing it.And the world reacts instantly to her.”– Courtney Kos
address Suite 800 – 16th Avenue SW (Corner of 16th Ave & 7th Street) Calgary, AB T2R 0S9 Canada | Tuesday to Saturday Open from 10am - 6pm | Sunday Open from 12pm - 5pm
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8Weddings Weddings April 25, 2014
