snswedding2016

@@Laurena1229 let me know if you end up going in Sept, we'll be there for sure. Maybe we can grab a drink together if you end up going around the same time as the BDR. LIke @@TinkerSofi we went with the Always and Forever basic package and added on from there. We're having our ceremony on the terrace (the level below the Sky Deck) and our reception will be in the garden. We are bringing all of our own decor with the exception of a couple small things we're getting from Lomas. We did upgrade to a private event and we're using our semi-private dinner for our rehearsal dinner the night before. In terms of chairs, I agree it's ridiculous that they only cover 24 chairs in the package. What I found out was that, that is for the upgraded chairs (chiavari), if you want the basic garden chairs (which I think look really nice) they are free of charge. We're going fairly simple and especially since we're paying for our parents travel we had to trim our budget accordingly. I'm really happy with what we've chosen so far. Our bill at the moment (it may go up since I still have 5ish months left to add things to it ) with the resort is just over $3000 for 51 people (kids included). Keep in mind that this doesn't include decor we're bringing, gifts, attire etc. We initially budgeted double that amount though for the resort and I feel like we're doing pretty well. Side note: regarding Toronto brides and drinks - have you seen the "GTA brides meet up"? You should join us! At the moment we're trying to plan for drinks on a patio for Aug 14!

@@cassiadams22 I'm not sure about the vinyl dance floor. I'm assuming it is separate as most things are through lomas...sigh.

@@yycbride2016 Thanks! I'm loving the new look of the garden and Sean loves it too!! I'm still thinking about the passport holders and resisting the urge to go back to Indigo... @ I think the bamboo poles with Chinese lanterns will look beautiful!! I think I've seen them in other palace bride threads and love them!

Wow! $500!!! I don't blame you for not going for string lights either. Azul Fives charges $50 per pole which is still crazy but not as crazy as $500! I'm glad we can just hang them from the trees now, which will save us a little on the set up costs. I feel like I just wander into the indigo anytime I'm near one and I always find stuff I want but don't need. haha!

oh tough choice! Love the colours!! I think I'm leaning towards the second option but i don't know I keep going back and forth when I look at them. As for vistaprint…I'm afraid I'm no help. I haven't ordered from them yet but I'm sure the other brides will be able to help you out!

@@vancouverpetunia Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to your comment. It got a bit buried - I had a hectic weekend! Yes, I've decided to do get the money by cheque. I think you can use the Paypal option from Canada as well but I think they charge you a service fee….which brings me to the 9.65%/7% service fee. I think you're right (from my understanding of it anyway) that if you choose direct deposit or the paypal option there is an additional 2.65% added to the 7% service fee. You can choose to have your guests pay the 7% service fee or you as the couple pay the 7%…really it just means you adjust how much you price your items at, since you get to set the amounts anyway. I hope that makes sense! I've written my TA about it too since she's the one who suggested the site to make sure I'm understanding everything correctly. I irony is that after all this work I don't think many people will use our honeymoon registry. In the Asian culture (I'm Chinese & Japanese) you usually just give money for weddings so I have a feeling most of my family who will want to get us gifts will just give us cash instead of using the registry. oh well - it's there just in case! @ thanks I'm so excited for the shoot and the location! Hope our photos turn out as well as your engagement photos shoot did! That's a great deal on the straws. I don't think their too child like - I think your adults guests will love them! They're so fun! I almost went back to get them for everyone at our wedding and not just the kids but they didn't have enough in the blue. Mini Updates: Garden - Reception: I found out from another bride who is at Azul Fives right now that they actually removed the grass from garden area and replaced it with stone. My initial thought was "that could be nice" and then I thought "what about our string lights and lanterns??" - in the garden they used to dig poles into the grass to hang the lights off of. I was worried we wouldn't be able to do that with the new look. The bride said she was going to post some pics of the garden soon….sometimes I can be impatient so I decided to call Karisma directly to see if I could get some answers and some photos. I reached the wedding department and I was in luck because my WC was in the office and available to answer the phone! Those who deal with Karisma know that that's a feat in itself! ha! She was very helpful and confirmed that it is stone now (actually stamped concrete) and that it looks really pretty. String lights are still possible as they now have a couple of trees in the area and that is what they use to hang the lights off now. After seeing the photos I am actually happier about this look. I know some brides are disappointed that the greenery is gone from the area but I actually like the look of it. The stamped concrete is quite beautiful and i like that we have something natural to hang the lights from instead of metal poles. I also love that now I can move my dance floor to the centre of the reception. We're not renting a dancing floor so initially (when there was grass) we were going to use the area by the pool as the dance floor and I was fine with it but it is a little further away from tables and not nestled in with the group. Now we can have the dancing right in the middle of all the action! Also ladies can wear heels if they want to and not worry about sinking into the grass! Here are pics (I've posted this to the Azul Fives thread as well): I also asked my WC for dimensions of the garden chairs for my DIY chair sashes: Vow Books - I found cute journals at Indigo to use as our vow books. There were so many cute things at Indigo…I picked up and put back down so many items. I'm pretty proud of myself that I only bought the journals. The other items that I really wanted were these passport holders that look like his and hers - I love them but they are $18 each…maybe I'm too cheap but I found that too expensive for things are aren't really necessary. Maybe they will go on sale if I wait it out.

@@ashhtayy I love the "Rose, Blush and Gold"! They are both beautiful but I think the second one feels very romantic and I think it will be easier to shop for things that are in the pink tones. I'm seeing tones of stuff in blush these days! Sean says the same thing as Mike about most things for the wedding like "love it!" or "sounds good"…it's hard to get any sort of strong opinion but at least I don't have to fight him on anything. I know he'll get picky as soon as we get to the BDR. He needs to be in the space to visualize it and then he'll go crazy planning the logistics and go all "mcgyver" on how to make it happen! haha! no joke, Sean usually rearranges most hotel rooms on vacations to maximize the space and make it flow better but forget trying to get him to plan a trip ahead of time…he would pack in a laundry hamper if I let him.

Yes I will be at the BDR at the end of Sept. If there are any other questions after @@TinkerSofi gets back from her wedding, feel free to let me know what they are and I will do my best to get answers from Azul Fives. In other news I just found out that they took out most of the grass in the garden area and put in stone/stamped concrete. Now I was initially nervous about this since my reception is in the garden and I was planning on having string lights. I called Karisma immediately got my WC on the phone and she was able to send me photos right away! I know some brides are not thrilled that a lot of the greenery is gone but it actually works out much better for me. I think the stone looks really pretty and now I can have the dance floor closer to the gazebo instead of by the pool (I'm not renting a dance floor). This also means the dance floor will be covered by my string lighting as well for the dancing! The string lights are still possible but they are now at fixed points in the garden instead of just being able to place the lighting poles where you want them. I'm confirming with my WC about where exactly you can hang the lights from. I'm assuming it is by the trees only. It also looks like there is extra lighting in the strips of greenery around the garden area. Oh and a bonus - ladies can wear heels without worrying about sinking into the grass! The other side of the gazebo still has grass. here are some pics: Also if anyone needs the dimensions of the garden chairs here they are: (I asked because I'm thinking of doing my own chair sashes)

@@vancouverpetunia We set up our honeymoon registry with honeymoon wishes (http://www.honeymoonwishes.com/) but my TA's company has a way to link it to our specific trip. We also had the option of setting it up through Karisma (via honeymoonwishes) that owns Azul Fives. We considered both but if you set it up through your honeymoon resort you can add very specific items to your registry. You can add a specific spa treatment that only that spa offers at the resort or a specific room upgrade, so it's nice that you can make it that specific. If you do it that way though it goes through your resort and has to be used for those specific items. The advantages of doing it through our TA is that we can keep our honeymoon resort secret (we're going right after our wedding and we don't necessarily want to encourage other family or friends extending their vacation to 'hang out' with us haha!) and you can add items like "room upgrade" or "candlelit dinner" or "hotel transfer to the airport" but when you receive it, it comes as cash. It allows you the freedom to change your mind of what the money will be used for on your honeymoon. Takes the pressure off a little. This is the link to our registry, it'll give you an idea of what your guests would see if you set one up. http://myweddingaway.honeymoonwishes.com/Honeymoon-Registry-259034-Its-a-Surprise-Stephanie-Nakamura-Sean-Clement.html @@veryvalentine @@Wafflesmom Thanks so much!! We're so excited for the shoot! Hopefully the weather cooperates. After much back and forth we finally found a date that works for us, our photographer and the farm. I have to say I hate when I get responses to emails that are so vague that could be much clearer and we waste 5 emails going back and forth. I asked are there private permits available between Aug 4-6 from 5-8pm? I thought that was pretty clear. I got back the response "yes, we have some of those times available on some of those dates".....really? That's not helpful. So then I had to go back with "can you tell me what dates are NOT available from 5-8pm between Aug 4-6"...I really just reworded the same email I sent. sigh. Anyway it's all sorted and we ended up picking Aug 3!

@@calgarybride2015 What about a hotel in Thailand?? My TA was there in March for some wedding events and the Four Seasons in Chiang Mai looks AMAZING!!! She raved about it. You could splurge and do a nice hotel or resort (like the Anantara Phuket Villas) and then have some adventures travelling around that might appeal to Shawn. Best of both worlds!

@@calgarybride2015 oooh that's exciting! I think I read on your thread talk of Thailand or somewhere in asia maybe for your one year?? That would be so fun!!

@@calgarybride2015 Men! Just fuelling the fire! I'm so glad to hear that your sister loved the El Dorado! My TA recommended it after we decided to do a little mini moon. I'm super excited for the casitas suite with the outdoor shower!!

@@yycbride2016 Thanks!!

@@yycbride2016 can I ask what the length is of your chair sashes? I have a spool of tulle for my chair sashes and I'm trying to figure out the length to cut them. I might try and do something funky like a diagonal sash if I feel brave enough to attempt this DIY - I'm still a bit undecided.

@@yycbride2016 @@ashhtayy @@TinkerSofi Thanks ladies! I know I have to stop going into those stores, I keep picking stuff up and justifying how to use it for the wedding. haha! Although last time I was in Homesense I had about five things in my cart and only bought one of them! I was pretty proud of myself! Those Michaels discounts are just way too tempting sometimes! We've asked for no gifts but we know some people will still want to get something or those who won't be able to go to the DW will want to get us a little gift. We decided to do a honeymoon registry instead. Sean and I are transferring to the El Dorado Casitas Royale for 5 days after our wedding week so we'll be using anything that we receive for that trip. They can purchase candlelit dinners, room upgrades, excursions, champagne etc. So excited for the engagement shoot! Hopefully the farm is everything I'm envisioning. I think we're pretty much set on a date, I'm just confirming with the lavender farm about the permit. They've already said the date is available, we just have to do the paperwork. Aug 2!!! We were going to do late Aug but they warned us that, that is a bit late in the lavender bloom. Although there is no guarantee, there is a better chance for the bloom in early Aug. Now to pick out the outfits!!

@@ashhtayy if you can't borrow a steamer from a guest, I got my travel steamer from one of the bridal shows here in Toronto. It's called Steamply. I haven't used it since I bought it (I got it specifically for the wedding) since we have a stand up steamer at home but the demo at the bridal show was pretty impressive. You can use it as a steamer and as an iron. It doesn't look very heavy duty at first glance but the guy slammed it against the table several times to show us how sturdy it was! haha!

@@acw271011 yes so sorry!!! We totally hijacked it with money talk! @@calgarybride2015 yea I've been the help line for my friend to put stuff on my card when she wants to get something for her husband. I don't mind at all but I know she always feels awkward to ask.

@@vancouverpetunia That's hilarious!!! I've had some crazy wedding dreams as well but haven't in a little while. I do remember having one before my friend's wedding. As one of the bridesmaids I was running around the day of the wedding looking for my shoes, my dress, my hair wasn't done etc. and the bride was just sitting waiting for me the get my act together! ha! It was such a stressful dream and I felt so anxious waking up!

I agree, this is certainly a sensitive subject and there are different methods that work for different people. I agree with everyone suggesting the amount you pay for bills should directly reflect the amount of income coming in. Some friends of mine used a specific formula to budget which included paying the bills of course, putting a certain percentage away for savings and a certain percentage for "fun" money…kind of like an allowance. It seemed to work for them and helped the save a lot. Sean and I have been living together for 3 years and have been splitting the various categories similar to @@krystalball. We've never had one person consistently make more than the other - it has gone back and forth over the years with various job shifts so this has worked out the best for us. Since we've been engaged, Sean's been paying the rent and I've been putting money away for the wedding every month and that has worked out really well. I've also noticed that for a lot of my friends it has helped to have a joint account as well as individual accounts. This may seem trivial but a friend who only has a joint account with her husband and join credit cards with him can never surprise him with anything because he has access to all the transactions - haha! Not that you want to keep anything from your spouse but sometimes you want to surprise them with a gift for their birthday or anniversary etc.

For those looking to use the sky terrace - here are the dimensions

Updates Decor - I wasn't intentionally looking for new decor items but I was in a party store wandering around waiting for a friend and stumbled upon an entire blue section and there were a couple of things that I just couldn't pass up. I've been looking for those paper striped straws for the kids glasses - I thought they would be a fun addition. I kept finding options that were either not the right colour (ie. navy - just a bit too dark for our palette) or too expensive for not the perfect colour (ie. grey - our accent colour). Well this weekend I found the perfect light blue straws and there $2/pack. I also found light blue cocktail napkins - so not necessary but I thought I could use our personalized stamp that says "Thanks for being a part of love story! xoxo Steph & Sean" to stamp them and have them by the walk up bar during the reception. There was also a big role of light blue tulle that I might cut to the right length and use for chair sashes. Lastly I found some blue trays at home sense that I'll find a use for. haha! They were blue and cute and two for $7 so I couldn't pass it up. I might use them for the escort cards or favours. Jewellery - I was debating for a while on what I wanted for a necklace. I'm not a big jewellery wearer so I wanted something that felt natural on me and didn't look too over the top. I decided on wearing the necklace Sean got me a couple of years ago fro Christmas, that I tragically lost but then he had remade and used as the decoy gift when he proposed! It feels right, it is something that is so sentimental to me and us and now so connected to the wedding. I love it and it makes me so happy thinking about wearing it on our big day so I know that this is the perfect choice! I'm going to get a thinner chain for the wedding day. I have a fairly thick chain on it now with an intense clasp mainly because it was clasp that came loose the first time when I lost it so I'm pretty careful with it now. The back - excuse the slightly blurry pic…I was trying to get the inscription in focus without the reflection getting in the way. It says "To The Moon My Love" …with moon spelt in our silly way of saying it (I know cheesy, but I love it!) Accommodations - Sean's brother decided to upgrade to the 1 bedroom and it got me thinking about whether or not we should upgrade as well. We're hoping for the upgrade to the sky suite but I heard they only upgrade you one category level so we initially booked a deluxe pool view room so the next upgrade if we got the free one would be to the 1 bedroom. We thought if the price isn't too much upgrading to the 1 bedroom would be good because if we get the free upgrade we would get a sky suite and if not we would still have the extra space to have some of guests over to party throughout the week. We paid $230 total to upgrade for the two of us so I'm pretty happy with that! Honeymoon - We've been making payments in chunks to our TA so that it doesn't all happen in the fall when it is all due at once. We've now officially paid off our honeymoon!!! Woohoo!! That feels good - now onto the next thing... Sky Terrace - I finally got the dimension of the terrace back from my WC. To her credit she has checked in with me several times to apologize for the delay and let me know that she even went to her manager because the hotel was taking too long to get me a response and that was unacceptable. I really did appreciate her following up with me even when she didn't have the info. Here it is for those who may be interested. I know some of you have been asking me to post this when I received it. I'll post it in the main Azul Fives Brides thread as well. Bridal Shower - my maids of honour have been asking me about potential dates and for a guest list so they're starting to plan my shower, which is kind of exciting. I know a lot of my guests won't be able to be there but there are a lot of people who aren't able to attend who have been asking about it so that they can celebrate with me. It will be nice especially for my cousin who was supposed to be a bridesmaid but found out in Feb that she's expecting. Second Engagement Shoot - I mentioned in an earlier post that a photographer friend randomly messaged me on Facebook offering gift us a photo shoot! I'm excited to have some summer photos to go with our first session that was in the winter (although you can't tell since we're inside). I'm also happy to have another chance as I wasn't particularly happy with my body at that time. I still really like our photos but I just feel better and healthier now so I'm happy we get a second go of it. We were toying with several ideas including going back to our engagement spot but that's a 4 hour drive!! yikes! Nothing else was really speaking to me. I wanted something a bit different and we already did the urban city kind of look but I didn't want to just pick a random field or beach. After much searching I stumbled upon Terre Bleu a lavender farm just outside of the city. It is gorgeous and I'm super excited about this idea. I told my friend and she fell in love with the idea instantly as well. We're just trying to figure out dates and organizing getting the permit. I didn't want to necessarily have to pay somewhere to get a permit but I feel like the location is worth it and the photos are free. Last minute trip - Sean's going away for a short boys trip at the beginning of Aug and I thought I should go away too!! haha! So I booked a trip pretty much on a whim to NYC in Aug!!! I'm super excited! I love New York and it's a bonus that a really good friend of mine is living there now with her new husband. She just got married last month and can't really leave for a while so it will be nice to spend a couple of days with her. I was also able to get in on that porter sale they were having last week! It's been a rough couple of weeks with Sean working such long hours and then it hit us that we haven't taken a vacation in a year! We've had a lot of people visit us this year which has been nice but we're really itching to get away. Then I realized that this is what the next couple of months looks like for us: Aug: separate trips - Sean's going to Ottawa/Montreal and I'm going to NYC & mini trip to Niagara on the Lake (wedding) Sept: BDR to Azul Fives Oct: PEI (family wedding) They are all pretty short trips but still we have 4 trips in 3 months - haha! I'm kind of excited to just get through July now! Plus I have to figure out when we can squeeze in seeing my clients in their out of town shows. I know these next 6 months are going to just fly by! Exciting and terrifying!!

@@TinkerSofi 30 day countdown!!! So so exciting!! I love the engraving idea - I was thinking of doing something similar for Sean as well. We both decided to not do gifts and to just exchange notes before the wedding but I think the engraving would be such a nice added touch. I hope you have an amazing time at your bridal shower this weekend!! It will be great event to get everyone pumped for the big day and trip to Mexico!!!

@@acw271011 just catching up on your thread! I LOVE your shoes and veil, the whole look is really coming together nicely! I'm still debating the whole veil idea. I think I want one but I need to bring in my dress with me when I'm shopping for it. I thought I would borrow my maid of honour's veil but when I put them together it made my dress look yellow. Excited to see your shoes in the horizon colour!

@@yycbride2016 I totally hear ya! We definitely didn't want to pay extra for chairs. Our upgraded chairs were chiavari chairs…our package came with 20 of them but you had to pay extra for any additional, which is why we went with all of the same free chair which happened to be the garden chairs.

@@yycbride2016 the sashes look great!! Do you have the option of requesting garden chairs? I'm having uncovered garden chairs and there is a place to hang things off of the top of the back of the chair. These chairs were actually the free option …which is why I went with them. haha! The other alternative is that you could get shepherd hooks to dig into the sand. EDIT: oh I like the way it looks with the chair sash! You could do that just for the chairs that line the aisle.