Columbine Rainbowwand
Author: Becky Newhook
Michelle’s Grower Direct might be new to Bridal Fantasy but we are not new to the wedding world. Our team had a fantastic first show in Calgary. It was a lot of fun to interact with brides and find out what they are looking for in the 2012-2013 wedding seasons. We are finding brides are looking for simple yet elegant bouquets for their special day and the biggest hit was the bling that we placed in and around the arrangements; definitely a show stopper. The fashion show was the biggest highlight and we heard great things from the brides that found us after. All our arrangements were fresh and big for the special day and you noticed that!
We have been designing and working with brides for close to 20 years. Brides continue to come to us based on our great price points and ability to work within the budget - high or low. To celebrate our first time with Bridal Fantasy we want to extend a 15% discount for all brides that book their flowers through us. We give a free consultation, which includes discount offers from other wedding vendors that we love and trust. Come check us out and start your wedding planning on budget with our team that cares about YOU and your very special day!
All Photos Courtesy of Michelle’s Growers Direct
Address: 4041 Macleod Trail Phone: 403-423-3388 E-mail: weddings@michellesgrowerdirect.com
Fairy Godmother
Jesse and Ashley ~ 09/15/2012
Jesse and Ashley had talked about marriage and knew without a shadow of a doubt they were going to get married; they even spent a few Saturday afternoons looking at rings! It really only came down to the guessing game of when Jesse was going to pop the question. Every time they went out to a nice dinner Ashley thought to herself, “This is it, he’s going to do it, he’s proposing tonight!” Then dinner would progress, dessert would come and go, the bill would be paid and Ashley would leave without a beautiful ring on my finger.
This type of guessing game went on for about a year until one day Ashley finally had enough of it! She decided there would be no more of the “when is he going to propose” guessing game; it would happen when it happened and that was that!
Ashley was at work, and having a regular day with little stress; As she was wrapping up with a client she noticed Jesse walk into the office. Jesse asked if he could have a moment with her, at this time Ashley was not scheduled for a break; but Jesse ensured her that he had already spoken with her supervisor and that it was okay for her to take a few minutes away from her desk. At this time Ashley became concerned because she figured something must be wrong. Ashley asked if everything was okay and he reassured her that everything was fine. She asked him what this was all about, and he took her hands in his and told her how much he loved her. Ashley stood there in shock as he got down on one knee and said, “Ashley you know how much I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?” As Ashley stared at him in shock she could feel the tears running down her cheeks. As she took the ring out of the box and put it on her finger she looked at Jesse and yelled, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes”! The whole drive home they called everyone they knew to tell them the great news. It was the perfect way to end the day.
Earth Mother
With most weddings sticking to a budget can be difficult but with Bridal Fantasy’s Bride Coupon you’ll have a handy resource right at your fingertips.
From Photographers to DJ’s we have you covered! Some of last year’s popular choices were 15% off Bridesmaids Package of four or more dresses courtesy of Tifany’s Bridal for those picky bridesmaids or $300 of any wedding package courtesy of Images of Distinction. Grande Rockies Resorts offered 15% off the ballroom or outdoor ceremony space rental fee for brides who were looking for a unique venue. For brides who were looking for that must have staggette Bust Loose offered $50 off any staggette transportation so they could travel in style.
*Please note these offers are expired*
This money-saving Bride Coupon is exclusive to Bridal Fantasy and you will receive one coupon per ticket purchase, not just per bride!
Now you’ll be able to use some of the city’s top professionals and be able to stick to your budget!
Columbine Rainbowwand
Since we are quickly approaching the date of my wedding, there isn’t much left to do. As I write this, I still have one last dress fitting in about a week, and we have to pick up my fiancé’s tux about a week before the wedding. Other than that, we are waiting.
So far, the hardest part of planning has been worrying about other people-who we should invite as a witness, if we would hurt someone’s feelings, how to please everyone. That’s why we decided to make it very small. We are getting married in front of and having a small dinner with 7 people. Now, to please everyone else who wanted to come, we have decided that we are going to have a delayed reception. As in, probably a month or two after the wedding. It will be casual, pay for your own, and attendance is optional. We haven’t started to plan that yet as we’ve got enough on our plates as it is, but the idea has pleased most and it’s a way for us to have the wedding that we want without stepping on too many toes. The reception will not have favours, and we don’t want any speeches, it will be more like a gathering to have a bite and catch up.
Another unpleasant aspect of wedding planning has been the realization that you still have to handle everything else, as usual, when you’re planning a wedding. In our case, we planned a wedding while our house was torn apart due to a leak. We still don’t have flooring and just got cupboards last week. Of course I didn’t plan on having that happen, but it hasn’t helped stress levels. Weddings of any size are stressful and all come with their own problems. It hasn’t been a walk in the park. I don’t know what I was expecting when I decided to get married this year, but it wasn’t this. My mother and grandmother will be here from across the country on December 17th, and I still have 3 animals that I am responsible for on top of an extremely long to-do list.
If I could go back and change one thing about wedding planning, it would be to have a better plan. I thought I had a good one to start out with, but I forgot about all of the intricate details. I thought it would be easy to find a location, rings, a dress, and all of the other things needed. It wasn’t, and I didn’t plan for hiccups, so when they happened I was taken off guard. Sticking to the budget was also difficult since I had no idea what things were going to cost. I did stay within my very modest budget, but having to do so made things more complicated. My best advice would be to give yourself a lot of time and to research things before setting a budget and starting to book things. Look at all of your options, get price estimates, check out locations, make calls, and do up a sort of preliminary plan. Then when the time comes to actually get things in order, you will have back-ups and a number of choices. And remember to breathe. As with everything else, wedding planning can become consuming and it can take up a lot of your time. If it starts to become too much, take a break from it. Get help from your friends and family, spread out the responsibility if you can, and try to enjoy the anticipation.
Feather Elfwand
After deciding the date and the province, my fiancé and I moved onto planning the more intricate details. We started with an officiant. Neither of us are particularly religious and we wanted a small, simple ceremony. I set to work contacting all of the Alberta officiants in the Edmonton area and quickly learned that their prices vary quite radically.
Eventually we found the one that would work for us. Her price was right, and her personality and ceremony ideas matched ours. She suggested we do a sand ceremony after saying our vows, which we both thought was a great idea. Next we picked our guests. We both have large families and step-families to boot, so we decided to keep it small. All in all, our guest list for both the ceremony and reception includes 7 attendees—my mother and grandmother, and my fiancé’s mother, father, and three younger sisters. So very small, but precisely what we want.
Now, I had to find a dress. My budget was small ($200.00!) and when I called some dress stores to inquire about their price ranges, I thought I was going to faint. I considered having one made, but I wanted to look around first. As I mentioned in my first blog, I’m not much of a girly-girl, so I thought that I was going to stay away from poof and sparkle. The third dress that I tried on was poofy and sparkly and when I looked in the mirror I felt like I never wanted to take it off. Big surprise for me. Even bigger surprise for my mother and grandmother who were almost certain I was going to wear jeans and a t-shirt. The dress was within my price range, but it needed to be taken in. I went to a local tailor and they quoted me $285.00 to take the dress in and to hem it. Again, I thought I was going to faint. So, I turned to the internet and poured through seamstress ads. I eventually found a great seamstress that is very close to my home who is only charging me $85.00 for everything. Remember ladies, if you ever feel like anything to do with your wedding is overpriced, don’t shy away from looking at different options. Just make sure that in your planning you allow for some extra time to explore those options.
Since I had found my dress and seamstress, we decided that my fiancé needed to find clothes too. After looking over our choices, we decided to rent a tux. At the store, I almost died laughing as they measured him and asked him what he thought about certain colors and cuts. He’s not one for fashion, so he turned to me to answer just about every question and the expression on his face was one of awkward compliance. He almost ran out of the store when we were done.
But where oh where were we going to do it? Since our wedding is going to be so small and we would like to have a bite to eat with the guests afterwards, I thought that a nice little private room in a restaurant would be perfect. After emailing at least 40, a family member mentioned The Moose Factory. I had never been there, so we went to check it out. It’s very beautiful inside and only costs $40.00 to rent a private room for an evening. We chose the Bordeaux room for our ceremony, in front of a big fireplace, and then rented the Chardonnay room for our dinner. The event planners for the facility have been both extremely helpful and considerate, which was a nice change from some of the other aspects of wedding planning.
This was the point in planning where everything started to come together. After almost 5 years together, (3 of those engaged), we were actually going to get married. For real. And I started to feel that excitement about our wedding for the first time. Like a little kid at Christmas.
