JA2012

I've never actually heard of Sandy May before. I will look into her and add my two cents.

LOL @ lug poles....well in my mind, i'm still trying to figure out a way but i suppose it doesn't make much sense. My wedding is at a villa style place so I have to bring everything in. All down to the chairs I want, as I didn't want to use plastic chairs with a white cover on them. I want chiavari chairs. Picky, I know. I'm going to source some hardware stores there and try to convince the villa to purchase the poles as it will be good for them in future too.

Yes please. Keep me posted on the name of the company. I'll start doing some research also. This would def come in handy for a JA wedding where a bouquet of roses or orchids is over $120. Gosh...this wedding biz is way too pricey!!

Now I need to figure out a way to cheaply hang my paper lanterns overhead....any suggestions? There aren't any trees nearby. Just an open space. I need 12' poles from somewhere. Ugh! The drama continues.

it was actually my wedding planner who told me to go that route. Apparently things in JA are sometimes up to 4x the price what we pay here. And the quote for my centrepieces was $50+ each. I need twelve of them so for me it's not an option. I'm going to have to throw it all in a hard shell suitcase with lots of bubble wrap etc. The good thing is that I'm going to bring it in Dec and wedding isn't until May. So if I open my suitcase and its full of shards of glass I"ll let you ladies know to just pay the $50 for ea centrepiece. hahaha. It's only costing me an extra $40 to bring another suitcase so thats also good,. Vases, lanterns, LED lights and luminaries and candles are all coming down at xmas.

Is Real Touch, the brand name? Can anyone give me an idea of where you get these, if they custom design them and what the general price range for them is? Also, how well do these flowers travel?? Thanks. They do look lovely.

Check out Dwayne Watkins photography. His stuff looks really good. He's not the cheapest but I find his photos breathtaking in comparison to some of the other photographers in JA that I've come across. http://www.dwaynewatkins.com/ I haven't booked him yet so in the meantime I'll look into Roan.

i need to get that!!

Ikea had a good selection. I know for sure they had white orchids. And Michaels had white roses.

You def have to hunt to find the orchids. But if in doubt, they're at Ikea and they will probably be on sale at some point. Reg price isn't bad at $1.99 Lol! Hey why not...let me know next time and I can prob give you a hand if I'm free. I think I'm beginning to bore my friends with all of my recent wedding talks anyways. I still have a few months so I should try not to drive them nuts just yet.

I just learned that if you travel and fill your first suitcase with your allowed 50lbs all is good. If you exceed that, it's usually $5-$10/kilo or something ridiculous that you have to pay. but if you have a second suitcase that you check it's only like $40 for another 50 lbs. All these years i've been paying close to 100 bucks for a few extra pounds. I feel robbed! But if you need to, you can always pack a suitcase and give to one of your guests to bring down. Just pay the $40 for them. And maybe leave the stuff in JA when you're done if you don't need it or find another JA bride who you can sell or offload it to (like me)...just kidding, I'm not til May but I will be in JA around xmas so maybe that's not such a bad thought after all. Lol.

Tai Florals is RIDICULOUS!! They were the ones who gave me a bunch of absurd quotes. But as I've been told, there's no point shopping around for better prices in JA because EVERYTHING is expensive! The floating candles I got from Ikea are only 2 inches and I thought they were too small as well. BUT, when they are lit and in the water it's like everything looks bigger. Somehow the shadow or whatever makes it appear to fill up the vase. I'll try Michaels when I'm there next. I have another 40% off coupon so will probably be back. I'm seriously addicted.

Oh and never mind the elastics on the votives. I will cover that with ribbon. @SoonCB - thanks so much for posting for me :-)

I used two kinds. The light pink flowers are from Ikea $1.99 a stem. And the darker pink ones (almost purple) are from Dollarama (no lie!) once they are in water you can't tell what they look like. I LIVE in the Michaels at Yonge/Shepp!! That's too funny! I've probably seen you there. I bought the last few at the Dollarama at Leslie. But then I found a whole bunch at the one on Orfus...may have bought all of them from there. You have to look hard to find them. Most look yuck. But if you search hard enough you'll see them. Check www.afloral.com - or google it. Site might be spelled wrong. But they have a lot of orchids.

i'll keep trying. Give me a bit to figure it out.

COuld it be because i haven't done many posts why I can't upload it? I read somewhere that you have to do 150 posts before anything can be attached. Oh but Jreist saw it so that makes no sense. :-s

thanks Jreist!! Yes, I was having the same issues with the florists in JA. They want something like $80/centrepiece...NO WAY! If I wanted to pay those prices I wouldn't be having a wedding in another country. Apparently, the flowers are imported, thus the high cost. But even the local flowers were about $50 ea. I just googled and copied. And thank goodness for Dollarama, Ikea and Michaels. It will cost me under $100 to dress 12 tables like this. And I have leftover votive candles for the bar. I just attached the flower with an elastic to hold it securely, but will cover it with a fuchsia or silver ribbon at some point. Lol!

FYI, I found a co online that sells a pkg of 1800 rose petals for $4.99 or something like that. Colours may be limited but at that price, who cares. www.justartifacts.com That's where I plan to be ordering mine from. The co is located in the USA.

How do u copy/paste? It's not letting me for some reason. Is it not done the usual way? Hmmm...Help!

If you have a hard case suitcase it will be ok. I just came back from a humanitarian trip to Zambia and had to lug a suitcase filled with things like mirrors, glass and blenders...anyhow, i used bubble wrap, clothes and packed it well. All was safe. I'm going to stuff clothes in the vase, wrap tight with bubble wrap and use the hard case. I'll pack it tight so things don't shift. It should be fine. Or I'll bring in carryon....wrapped well. I'll give ea of my friends one or two to carry. It's cheaper to bring 2 suitcases at 50lbs then to have one overweight so just pack one suitcase of supplies and you'll be good. I'll post pic soon. I'm quite proud of them.I think they look pretty fabulous for fakes. Check out Ikea. My mistake, I bought votives in glass, not tea lights

Oh!! Another deal for Canadian Brides! Ikea had 50% off this weekend on all candles. 24pk/floating candles for $2.49 and some beautiful tea lights in the holder were like 49cents. I bought 56 of them. They looked easy to pack and i figure they can be used on tables at reception, and along the bar etc. They will easily fit into suitcase pockets and carry ons etc. While I'm on the subject, I should say that I attempted to make my centrepieces and I figured out a way to do them for $6/pc. It's the submerged flower idea. I got a $2 vase from Dollarama, a silk orchid for $1.99, the candle from Ikea, and some diamondy rocks from Dollarama ($2 and the same ones at Michaels for $6 btw). If I can figure out a way to post the pic I'll show you. I'd love some input.

Just ask. The worst they can say is no. Give them that undecided look and say is there anything better you can do on the price?" It can't hurt at all. and if you're buying everything there, they will likely be more eager to please you.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll find something. The wknd experience was a bit nuts but I didn't have an appt and they just kinda fit me in where they could. So I'm sure you'll get proper attention. $350 is CRAZY!! If you don't try it you'll always wonder. One thing I did notice is that some of the dresses I tried were a bit thin and I felt like I would be able to see through them in the sun. BUT...some of those same ones were also light and perfect for a destination wedding. So my suggestion would be to get a good slip to hide any transparency and it would be fine. For that price, you can get a high end slip and still be happy. OH and get this...Because I was going back and forth over my dress and still contemplating going back to get the original favourite one, they brought the manager out to talk to me. She asked what would make me buy the dress today and I said, incl the alterations. Lol. (I'm ballsy, I know). Anyhow, she said no. I said you pay the tax. She said no. ANd in the end she gave me $50 off. The dress was already on sale so I was on cloud 9 after that. Never be afraid to speak up is the moral of that story. haha! :-)

I LOVE Fuchsia with navy. It looks so great together.