MichCraw

This thread is mostly non existent .. however I would have loved to have met up with some other Montreal brides! For any future brides that need help in finding stuff around the Montreal area .. don't be shy to message me! I had a wonderful wedding and really appreciate the information I got off of this site!

Hello 2012 brides! I recently got married in December and I was an avid follower of the Weight Loss 2011 Thread. I just wanted to let you know that this site helped me immensely to get my butt in gear and work out even when I didn't feel like it! I am so thankful to have found that thread, it's not easy to motivate yourself but when there is others and they are going through the same stuff that you are .. it helps. I started January 2011 .. with a goal to get fit and lose weight and I did just that. I have never in my life been this fit .. EVER .. I have been skinnier but not in shape.. this makes a huge difference! I didn't starve myself and I followed my exercise program to a tee ... working out 3 to 4 days a week .. sometimes more and sometimes less .. and I reached my goal 2 months before the wedding. Good luck in achieving your goals and here a before and after picture that I also posted on the 2011 thread. Michèle

Just thought I would leave a little note on this thread since it helped me quite a bit during my wedding preparation! I had set a goal to get fit and lose the extra pounds that 2 kids had on my body. I was determined and I have to say that I have never been this fit in my life. I have been skinnier however never this " FIT", which really does make a difference. I didn't starve myself at all this time and I followed the exercise program I was given and it worked like a charm! Following MWises' lead here are some before and after pictures, it was hard to find a picture of me from head to toe but here is one of me in 2010 and beside it is one of me during my wedding week. Hope it can encourage some of you brides out there and I am proof that it can be achieved! ) Michèle

Sharon99, I had found them at Pier1 Imports last summer. It is a store in Canada don't know if it's in the US as well. Thanks Joanne! lol I wouldn't say tiny but a whole lot better than I was. Congrats again to you too ... you were a STUNNING bride!

Photographer If you are lucky enough to have Photophil available on your wedding date, the sure thing is to book him FAST. There are no vendor fees for hiring him, and he knows the Majestic resort & staff like the back of his hand. The resort photographers aren't bad either actually they have improved quite a bit since I started doing research over a year ago, however I was lucky enough to book Phil early on and he really did help us on the day of the wedding. Can't wait to get the final pictures from him so that I can show them!!! (Can be up to 3 months) I was lucky enough to have my friend who has traveled around the world and takes great pictures she also took over 1000 pictures of the wedding day preparations, ceremony and reception. Reception We were a small group and we didn't have it in our budget to have a private reception, so we ate at the steakhouse which is a la carte restaurant. I had brought some decorations, that I had painted myself. Starfish, shells... the table runners and sashes were transferred from the ceremony to the supper. I had bought some place card seashells, and I DIY'd my place cards. I also bought some disposable cameras for everyone to take pictures (efavormart.com). BEWARE: The disposable cameras from efavormart.com are " rebuilt", once you take the decorative exterior off the camera is held together by gray electric tape or big black tape, half of the cameras didn't have batteries or even the film!!! Out of 16 cameras, I would say 2 of them were usable! So instead of having a nice album with plenty of funny and unexpected pictures, I have maybe 10 pictures that are nice. On a brighter note, I had a guestbook made at www.guestbookstore.com. They have every color you can imagine and they are great to work with! They even translated my book into french sent the final print for me to check if the spelling and everything was alright ... and poof I got it within 2 weeks. Great company to do business with, and the guestbook is fun, you can draw pictures, tell anecdotes, it really is a great keepsake. For the cake, we went to a local bakery and had seashells done in purple and pink to put on the cake, plus they made us some chocolate ones as well which we scattered on the cake table.. and they were gone in no time. I had a cake topper made on etsy, one of my biggest disappointments actually. It was expensive, it didn't come out like I wanted and it was so fragile that I received it with many pieces broken. We tried to fix it up at home and I put it in my carry on and was really careful and it still came apart once we arrived. One of the only things I would NOT redo if I had to. I also had door hangers made for the night of the wedding, I handed those out before guests left, they were cute but in the end that could have been one of those things where I could have saved my money for something more useful. Here are a few of the pictures: Etsy Vendors: Ring Pillow, Basket & Ribbon: SisiCreations Cake Topper: Garden4Arts Grandmother Bouquet Charm: PhotoCharmShop Wedding Door Hangers: designedbyme Ring plate & Maid of Honor and Bridesmaid jewellery plate: SayYourPiece I think that's all for now, if ever I left out any information ask away, I feel like there are many pieces I am leaving out!! If it weren't for this site and the help of many many brides, my wedding would not have been as organized and incredible as it was .. I thank anyone and everyone that helped me throughout this process... my destination wedding was a dream come true! Michèle

Forgot the shoes! Found them at Le Chateau on special before I bought anything else! Took them half a size too big because my feet are usually swollen when i'm down south... but this time they didn't! Ouch.. blisters at the end of the night! Bought some cute Guess sandals for the ceremony, they were nice and blingy! Jewellery Starfish theme, so my necklace, earrings and hair accessories were diamond-like starfish. I got a purple amethyst bracelet as a wedding present from my mother. I also added starfish in my bouquet, some might think I went overboard but when you like something you go for it! This is a picture of one of bridesmaids attaching a photo keepsake of my grandmother who had passed recently. I had that made on etsy, here is a picture: I'm sorry if it's not as detailed oriented as other planning journals ... I feel a little lost and disorganized, however I will try to continue tomorrow and finish what I started maybe a bit of sleep will bring me back on the right path!