Baby powder hides what? The wedding planners guide to your emergency wedding kit

If you have ever been to a wedding where the bride is begging every guest for an Advil then you know when it’s your turn, you should make sure you have a few of the essential items in what us wedding planners like to call our emergency toolbox!

If you plan on having a wedding planner, then she will more than likely have one in her car already but if you don’t intend on having a planner, here’s a few items that you can get at your local dollar store or target cosmetic travel section.

Advil and Ibuprofen

Mouthwash (for all those glass clinking moments)

Tampons and pads

Condoms (you just never know with those single groomsmen)

Bobby pins

Dental floss (broccoli really shows up in those photos)

Tissues (cause someone’s bound to cry)

Paper towel (sweaty foreheads)

Nail file

Cotton swabs (amazing for eye makeup smudges or fixing up your lipstick)

Small mirror (so you don’t apply lipstick to your chin)

Clear nail polish

Scissors

Safety pins

Crazy glue

Glue gun

Candy (in case of a diabetic reaction)

Snacks (something high carb and high protein cause you probably didn’t eat your breakfast)

Water bottles (your bridal party will thank you!)

Evian refresh spray (great to wake up and refresh your face)

Extra earring backs (it happens!)

Straws (to keep your lipstick nice)

Tweezers

Oil blotting sheets (your bridesmaids will thank you)

Lipstick/lipgloss (in the shade you will be wearing)

Hem tape

Anti static spray

Lint roller (black tuxes show fluffs)

Rubbing alcohol

Brush/comb (in case of wind while on location for photos)

Deodorant

Chapstick

Black shoe laces (for the men’s shoes)

Shoe polish

Extra buttons (probably white but if not, get the same colour as the men’s shirts)

Extra cufflinks

Baby powder

Bug spray (summer nights especially at golf courses!)

Corsage pins

Garter (in case you forgot to wear one or if you want to keep yours on)

Fake wedding bands

Hairspray (also works great for soles of your shoes on slippery dance floors)

Hand sanitizer

Hand held Steamer (for wrinkly types of fabric for bridesmaid dresses)

Scotch tape

Stain remover (someone always spills!)

Tooth brush/ paste

Sunscreen (save your faces and bare arms, trust me!)

Vaseline

Polish remover

Hand towel

Hair gel/cream

Perfume

Small flashlight

Umbrella

Antihistamine (also great for bug bites!)

Utility knife

Cake cutter (don’t assume your venue has one.. Mine had a pie lifter)

2 Champagne glasses (most couples forget these for their toasts!)

Floral tape/wire

Tape measure

Batteries

Curling iron/flat iron

Flat shoes (your feet if in new shoes will get sore)

Contact solution/case

Long handled lighter (believe me, I had over 200 candles at my reception and the poor girl used a tiny lighter for them all!)

Extension cord

Blister stick

Extra copies of vows, speeches, directions, vendor contact info, bridal party contact info

I know it seems like a lot of things to be lugging around on the wedding day but give it to your maid of honour to put in your bridal suite or limo if you’re going to do photos away from your venue. Chances are you won’t need anything anyway but it’s always good to have just in case.
Murphy’s Law right?

I’d love to know what essential items you don’t see here that you would really need on your big day! XO

April showers bring May flowers

 

 

Okay guys today I woke up with a big feeling that I need to change. I need a huge slap across the face in many regards and I’m going to ask that you all make this chick accountable because well… I’m finding it hard to not justify certain things and although I have the best intentions.. I get lazy. 

Today I realized something… I realized that I’m a major justifier. I justify my spending, I justify my emotional eating, I justify my excuses. Everything. I’ve known this for a long time but today is the day I’ve finally made myself sit and think about it. How do I change this? Well for me.. I’m not extremely sure but I do know I’m going to give it everything I’ve got to try.

I have always had a shopping/spending problem, for as long as I can remember I would go to the mall or anywhere you need to buy something, and buy things. Useless things most of the time. In the moment I felt that I really needed things and it wasn’t until this past weekend when I looked in my summer clothing bin and found 20 bikinis… And I just bought three more!!! What the hell is wrong with me? Who needs that many bathing suits?? No one. Not even swimsuit models have that many damn bikinis. But I do, and I went to the beach three times last summer, once the year before and come on.. Not necessary.

I’m going to blame Instagram a little bit… On the daily I see cute pics of flowers, brand new outfits, a gold stapler, the latest Target haul and I feel inadequate. Majorly. Why? I have a wonder husband, a loving family, I have some of the best nutritional food on the planet, I have more than enough yet I feel like if I don’t have what everyone else has, I’m not good enough. Being truthful here.. I have always had this issue. My best friend of 23 years when we were little I used to be jealous because she would get anything she ever wanted and because I had a brother and she was an only child, I didn’t. (That’s some really messed up thinking eh)

Here’s where I would justify my spending… The dollar store has some cute things sometimes so I wouldn’t be spending a whole lot but I would still spend on things that do not matter. “It was only $30 for all of this stuff” often came out of my mouth when my husband would politely ask is that new? (Regretfully lowers head/avoids eye contact)

My husband is the sole provider for our little family, and has been for a while while I try to make my business successful. He is so amazing and I often take his kind heart for granted. (Again lowers head/avoids eye contact) What a bad wife! That goes through my mind daily. How could I so foolishly spend his money while he works his ass off in another province so that I don’t have to go back to a job I hate and make my business happen. No. That’s enough, it’s time to grow up!

This month I’ve decided to take the contentment challenge. I’m not fully sure what that is or what it’s going to do to me (have the straight jacket on standby) but I need to start appreciating what I have and that I have enough. I am enough. I need to be grateful for the things that matter like sunny days, green grass, my health, a home that doesn’t suck, and God. I need to start giving my husband a real good reason to keep me around for the next 80 years. (I’m sure he would laugh at this because he loves me anyway but for me, I need to show him)

So.. Contentment.

1 Timothy 6:6-7

But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.

Luke 3:14

And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Proverbs 14:30

A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

And all that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

Luke 12:15

And He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

Job 36:11

If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Hebrews 13:5

Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

Philippians 4:11-12

Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

WOW! It’s funny when you put it all into perspective and it’s a big punch to the gut as well. I never really thought of being brought into this world with nothing, leaving this world with nothing. So why must I have everything while I’m here?

This month is about finding joy in the simple things…
My marriage being meaningful
My home being comfortable
My diet being nutritious
My relationships being full of service
My spirit being rich

So I’ve taken the challenge to be content. To stop letting the accounts I follow on Instagram rule how I live my life. This is going to be really hard, I will admit that there might be tears and frustration and even some jealousy. But I will remain mindful of that, and keep the idea of I have enough, I am enough always on the forefront.

There it is folks, the honest to goodness truth that is me.

Will you take the contentment challenge? I would love to know how you plan to live fully and happily with what you’ve got. XO

 

 

Yom Ha’ Shoah : Holocaust Memorial Day

 

 

Today marks a day that very few people truly know about or care to remember. Today marks a day that many survivors reflect on their difficult journeys to freedom while their loved ones parished. Today is a day that no matter how old or how busy I get, I will sit and remember all of those people who had to endure the horrid and unbearable lives they lived in the Nazi war.

This past summer I told my husband that it was very important to me that we see some of the memorial sites and concentration camps on our European honeymoon. He kind of hesitated for the fact that it would be extremely sad and we were there to celebrate our new marriage but I wasn’t sure if we would ever have the opportunity again to see them so we made it a necessary stop in each place we would be visiting. I knew I was in for a lot of crying and even just remembering some of the things we saw I’m finding it hard to choke back the tears.

When I was in elementary school, we read the book “The Diary of Anne Frank” and later in high school we also read “Night” and both of those real life stories gave me the urgency to learn more about that part of history. I was also given some family records from my aunt who does genealogy work and some of my own history includes ancestors from Germany. I always wondered what those ancestors witnessed or if they were apart of it all and it really got me to thinking of the importance of it all.

Many years ago I watched Oprah sit down with the survivor and writer of the book “Night” and she walked through Auschwitz with him. Seeing the numbers tattooed on his arm and the tears in his eyes when he said people are starting to forget about us, really upset me. I think I was 17 at the time and I knew that the war had long been over but many of the survivors were passing on and there was little to no interest for people to continue to learn about the things that changed the world so long ago.

I vowed that no matter what, my children and grandchildren would learn about the Holocaust even if I had to take them there myself. I do not have any family members or ancestors who were Jewish or who had to struggle for their lives in a concentration camp but I have a great grandfather who fought in that war and as long as I remember him, I will remember what he fought for.

The first place we went to was the Anne Frank house which as a child I had read about and had pictured in my mind of what it must have been like and what I can tell you is nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. The tiniest of rooms, hiden stairwells and walls. No one really understands what it’s like to feel the sadness that still remains in that house. My first reaction was anger and how could people let this happen and my anger turned quickly into sadness that even in their own countries they did not and could not have known what was taking place to their neighbours and families.

Our next stop was in Berlin where we spent some time at the wall. A wall that had so many stories to tell, with no way out and no way in you could feel the despair in the rubble that remained. Paul and I both tried to mentally prepare for our first concentration camp visit which was Dachau, the first of which all the other camps were modeled after. We spent the majority of the day walking the grounds and through the buildings that housed so many people who knew they would not survive. The gates alone gave me the chills. The words Arbeit Macht Frei “Work brings freedom” across the metal fence made me wonder how anyone could just lie like that. There was no freedom. You would not be set free for working, you would be a slave until you died. There was no way out unless you were willing to kill your neighbour to survive.

We walked through the roll call area where thousands of people would be given jail like garments, have their heads shaved and their names stripped from them only to be permanently scarred with a number and a Star of David with certain colours showing the class of person you were including religious or gay. It angered me to see that some Jewish people would no doubt be beaten and killed instantly just because they were a little less fortunate than the person next to them.

The area where the prisoners slept really got to me. Wooden slabs no bigger than a twin bed side by side with no comfort, no blankets and all squeezed in together like over milked cows on a cattle farm. Then it hit me, and it hit me harder than I could have ever imagined, the gas chambers where hundreds of people would be told they were to strip for showers. Hundreds of people at a time with no chance to say goodbye and no warning. Killed. I cant describe the amount of sadness I felt in those rooms. It was almost unbearable for me and I would never know the true meaning of pain that those people had suffered there. At the end of the barrack there were three crematoriums. So small, no decent sized burial casket would ever fit inside. This is where I lost it. I almost threw up from crying so hard that Paul and I had to leave immediately. I could not stand the thought of it any longer and I felt like I had no right to cry.

Outside the building was a garden with a tombstone that marked the tomb of the thousand unknown. It was a mass grave that the Nazi soldiers piled bodies upon bodies. It made me sick to my stomach to visualize the horrific sight of sickly skeletons just thrown with no regard for life. No emotion whatsoever for the lifeless bodies, the fathers, mothers children and babies that didn’t need to be that way.

I don’t know if I can really convey the right words to describe how sad this place was. It felt like the souls of the forgotten were still there. No one was talking, and it was so hauntingly quiet. The barracks had all been removed that used to line the camp but the numbers remained where the buildings used to stand. At Barrack 40, recently placed was a bouquet of flowers and some other memorial pieces. I stood there for a while and thought to myself in sadness, why did this have to happen? What was the purpose.

I never thought I would want to feel so much sadness on vacation, especially on my honeymoon but it was an experience I think everyone needs to have at some point in their life. It’s important to keep their memory alive, and to show the survivors that we care and show the world that this will never happen again. In a world where we are consumed in ourselves and in our technology, I feel it’s important to learn a bit about our past even if it didn’t directly effect us.

 

We need to take the time to remember and to teach. Do not forget because those survivors, they can never forget. Listen to their stories, feel for them and love them. 

 

A mission of the heart

My little baby is becoming a little more official lately, reworking my business plan from esthetics college and after many many attempts and rewording, I finally have a mission statement! I put my heart and soul into this little venture of mine and now I would like to share my mission with you all.

“At Blooms and Bowties we believe in serving others while creating memorable and lasting experiences that hold true to the integrity, beauty and playfulness of each individual we connect with, while upholding to the highest level of standards and bringing to life seamless events that are both whimsical and romantic.”

ahh there it is friends…my whole focus for this company right there! After obtaining my certificate from the lovely ladies at the WPIC, I wondered how am I going to do this? How will I learn the inside of a business when I’ve never owned a business before? How would I tell people I want three thousand dollars to plan their weddings when I wasn’t even sure I was worth that yet… well my heart as of late has completely changed its way of thinking and feeling about what I am actually worth. Maybe I don’t have 20 wedding features in just a year of operation but I know that is where I am headed. Baby steps they tell me. For me, it’s not a race… although I would totally love to be at the goal…its the journey to the goal that makes that goal much sweeter. Everyone has little potholes on the way to success… and I never really realized this but those potholes make the next sweet spot worth it. If it came easy to everyone… We would have a lot of really nasty people to work with. It’s because it’s how you deal with stress and how you manage your time or even what you decide to write as a blog post that one day you will just be there and think…wait a second, I’m here? And then you will laugh and say I never want to go back.. even if you are facing 60 more potholes. In the beginning of this little experience, I thought what the heck, why is everyone else leap years away and they’ve only just begun themselves? Well little did I actually know, they didn’t really just begin, they have just now succeeded. That is the difference. They have worked their little tails off just as hard and just as long to get to where they are, but we don’t see that stage in their business. We see the shiny lights that say, I’ve arrived! Patience. It will happen if you make it happen. No matter what journey you are on, it will happen. I am a firm believer in becoming what we think and feel. So if you feel worthless…you eventually become worthless. Change that attitude! Tell yourself, you are worth that three thousand dollars whether you’ve planned 3 weddings or 100 weddings.

Last saturday I attended a church meeting with my mom after 4 years of what I would call betrayals against my own beliefs, I decided now is the time to do what I know in my heart to be true and not care or worry what anyone else thinks or says. So I sat in the pew for the first time and before I knew it, I felt that lump in my throat and the little pinchies all over. I was feeling something that I was longing to feel for four years! I felt home. While I sat there with a bunch of strangers watching the broadcast, I tried to hold back the tears through all of the songs that God decided I needed to hear that day. One of the leaders during his talk mentioned worth. We are worth everything to Him and we really need to start believing we are. I think that is part of the reason my mission statement starts with “we believe in serving others” because without a heart of service, you are nothing. In this industry, or any for that matter, you need to not only focus on your business and how to make a living but you also need to focus on service to others. I let myself become so self-absorbed in the last few years and I’ve forgotten that huge piece of me. I haven’t really been doing that, but that is why we learn the things we do sometimes. We just need to be reminded what really matters in life. For me that is my family, my faith and my goals to help more people in life. It’s not something I like to brag about when I give to charity or make 8 dozen cupcakes for my mother in law when she just doesn’t have the time, I do it out of love and for the sheer fact that I know if the roles were reversed, the same would be done for me.

As I write this insanely personal post, my heart is softening and I’m starting to feel those pinchies all over. I may also be slightly crying. But this is a good thing. I am feeling again. Something I so desperately wanted to feel is finally inside me, and that is hope. This past few days many wonderful people were attending the Make Things Happen Conference in Chapel Hill, and while I was not one of those participants I have been making things happen right here at home. Baby steps. I honestly just woke up this morning feeling like I needed to write this post and I’m not even proof reading because once I stop typing I can’t even focus because the words just keep filling my head. Maybe the purpose of it is for someone else who is feeling the same way I did, who knows. But I know I had the strongest push out of bed to get up and write. I don’t claim to be a good writer and I am definitely not a good social speaker, I am actually an immensely quiet person and I often keep to myself, which is funny because I chose to be a wedding planner where I have to put more than just words out there, I need to put my whole self out there!

It’s funny, Wendy a wonderful photog friend of mine we have seen each other in person twice but every time I talk to her, I know she once felt the same way I did. Shy, introverted and not really sure of her worth. But every time I see her on location in some sunny destination having what looks like a really awesome time, I can hardly believe she was once the shy unsure girl. She has more friends than anyone I know and she makes me howl every time I talk to her. She is actually one of the biggest inspirations to me but I don’t think she knows. Every time I tell her I quit, she pretty much tells me to shut up. YOU CAN NOT QUIT. I WILL KILL YOU, and then she says something funny like remember your old boss. That alone should keep you from quitting. I love her. I think we all need someone like this in our lives, someone who pushes us softly and someone who drags us by the hair like Wendy.

I crossed two things off my goal list for March, one was to be logo certified and one was to create a mission statement that in so many words described not only my business but me as a whole. These things I believe to be true and that is what I put out to the universe with the hopes that the couples who take a leap of faith with me, will feel that my mission is more about service to them and their desires than it is about those 20 features. (those are a bonus) But if my couples can feel that nothing at all means more to me than making them happy, then I’ve already succeeded.

Authentically me

I am sitting here staring at three Balls of yarn that will somehow turn into a picnic blanket for the summer… I learnt how to knit when I was 14 at a young woman’s activity night at church and always thought of continuing that skill.. Not being able to find the blanket I’m looking for is what has me so inspired to refresh my brain and become a cute old lady knitting machine.

I remember a lot of counting and frustration but also a lot of fun too. Being able to hand make something is so rewarding. It’s something that isn’t done very often unless you do a lot of baking.. But people don’t often take time to make things anymore. If they even buy gifts.. It’s all just gift cards or money nowadays.

I have a lot of time on my hands lately and not being able to find a job or jobs bores me into insanity. Maybe when I get really good at it, I will open up an ETSY shop and start selling all my creative masterpieces that keep piling up in my house just waiting for a good place to go and a nice person to own them. When I was a kid, I used to use all of my grandmas paint and just paint anything and everything that came to mind, and on the other side, I would receive little crochet dish towels or socks. Home made gifts have always been something of a passion for me, I’ve always been that way around Christmas especially.. I would give gifts that were handmade and meant something. Over the past few years I have given home made gifts of a tasty nature, I think my recipients have been thankful for that!

I have paintings, sewing projects, knitting and many other hobbies that would make you think I’m about 95 years old on a rocking chair with a white picket fence and a pie cooling in the window. But I love it. Soon I will get my old typewriter fixed and start writing “blog posts” with it, so that my children and grandchildren can read them the way I used to read old letters and such from my great grandparents. Growing up in church we did a lot of service for people, one actually being knitting a scarf for someone. It’s funny how full circle life really is.

There are a lot of things I want to learn and do before I “kick the bucket” as they say. Many things I want to face fear wise like snowboarding or camping in algonquin where my husband loves to go every summer, and maybe learn how to be around a bee without risking my life. My biggest hope is that when I have children, they don’t learn from me the things I have learned from my parents or grandparents or great grandparents. (No offence guys) I want them to have zero fears, zero regrets, zero anxiety. Maybe we will raise an Olympian haha who knows. I think it all starts with doing new things, things we wouldn’t normally do… Like knitting a blanket or skiing the black diamond (whoa whoa that’s pushing it. I’m still on the bunny hill and I’m okay with that.) but for real, we always seem to do what everyone else is doing and trying to be just like everyone else the way we talk, dress or do things. I challenge you to find one thing you have always wanted to do, and do it even if it makes you seem like a 95 year old. It will be fun I swear.

So as I sit here trying to do two things at once, I am going to somehow turn these balls of yarn into a blanket, then I’m gonna do some more crazy things people say we don’t have time for anymore. Maybe opening up that little ETSY shop will turn into something bigger than I imagined.

Happy knitting folks. Do something different today. I would love to know what you come up with!

XO

The Shift

Happy Friday Everyone!

This year I’ve gotta say, has gotten off to a really good start with a few minor details that God has put on my path just to remind me to still hustle and remain positive through it all. “Something has changed within me, something is not the same” quoting Wicked of course.. But something has completely switched guys, I don’t know how and I really don’t care all I know is my heart is so full of gratitude and a new respect for the life I’ve been given. No longer do I wake up in the mornings with a bad attitude just because, and my so to often self complaints have changed into positive affirmation no matter how much that “I’m so ugly” statement tries to weasel it’s way out of my mouth. My New Years goal and statement for the year is C’est La Vie, and my word this year for life is foudroyant (adj) meaning dazzling, stunning in effect. This year I will dazzle inside and out even if I’m the only one who can see it. For so many years as most of you who know me, know that I change my hair colour from brunette to blonde to both and back and forth throughout the year… I never felt at peace with how I looked on the outside but never changed a damn thing about my self on the inside which made it hard for me to appreciate the outside no matter what my hair colour was or how tanned my skin looked.

This year is all about not giving a hoot about anyone else’s opinion of what hair colour looks best on me and if I’ve gained a few pounds. I have found peace in what God has given me and I have to appreciate it because some people are not fortunate to have the things I so often complained about. I’m taking every negative situation and finding light from it. I’m not gonna lie, sometimes it’s hard to snap out of a funk especially when you are trying really hard but saying how grateful I am for even just one thing during the day has completely changed me.

This year may not have started with a fully booked wedding schedule and I have to be okay with that. I could do what most wedding planners start out doing but I’m not okay with that. I have yet to read worth every penny but it is on my list of things to do this year, I know I can charge whatever I want to even as a “newbie” because I can deliver and make it worth every penny. I have lost 3 potential weddings that I know of.. two were sent my way but never gave me a chance and one who had emailed me last year under the Keighli Events name emailed me again under my new business name just looking for a price. Even though last time I did not get a thank you but no thank you, I still emailed away fully knowing it wasn’t about me and what I do it was about price. And I’m okay with that, because it comes with the job. I also didn’t give in to someone who has been in my life for a long time now, not allowing myself to do it just because I don’t want to lose them as a client or a friend. I said I’m sorry but I actually don’t do that but if you check out my website I have many packages that you can choose from. To my surprise instead of saying well that really sucks, I received wow I’m so proud of you, so professional already! It felt good to stand my ground even if I lost out on something.

This year I have spent more time devoted to organization and making lists and plans. Making sure at least once a week I blog, and keep up to date with social media. One thing I do need to remember is my work hours that I have set… And to take breaks. I gotta say, it’s super hard to remember that your body needs fuel and sleep in order to keep going, especially when you’re knee deep in a Fairytale wedding that you stay up until 430am designing and working out the details for. I am reminded by the bride to go to bed, it can wait. It’s just the love that I have for this job that all these ideas keep popping into my head when I’m trying to unwind at night. I have set myself a bedtime… That I often don’t adhere to but most of the time I do. 11pm is the latest I will starting now, allow myself to stay up until, especially on work nights. Most of this month I’ve gone to bed at 1030, and after 8 hours I’ve felt so rested and energized to tackle all those lists during the day.

I have also started back on my Isagenix nutrition program and for the last week I’ve noticed a major shift in how I feel physically and emotionally not to mention I’m able to fit into some of my tight stuff again. It’s going to be a battle not indulging in those Doritos but to be honest, I ate some a few days ago and the next day… I did absolutely nothing all day, I spent the entire day grouchy and on the couch neglecting my lists, neglecting my self and most importantly feeling like absolute poo. Not worth it. Not at all.
Every morning I start my day with a chocolate shake that takes me less than a minute to prepare and then I’m good to go. I have to remind myself to eat before I do anything. Your body works it’s best if you eat maximum 30 minutes after waking up. Any longer than that and you’re just setting yourself up for a bad day. It really does make a difference in how productive I am when I make it a priority.

I have made it a goal to train my pup 30 minutes a day, 15 in the morning and 15 in the evening.. It gives us bonding time and makes him a lot more manageable when I pay attention to him. That sounds awful but sometimes you forget and you’ve gone the whole day without giving him snuggles or affection and when you get into bed he avoids you like the plague because you didn’t spend a second with him all day other than taking him outside to pee and filling his food bowls. He is really good, now he sits, lays down, stays, jumps, waits, and tries to warn me he’s gonna pee inside if I don’t take him out right now. He’s gotten so big, I think he’s 40 or 45 lbs at 6 months. Guess we are going to need a bigger house soon.

Anyways, I have achieved what I set out to do today now it’s time to go make dinner and wait for my hubby to come home 🙂

Here’s to the rest of January and an even better February! Have an inspiring day friends and make it count!

Dani XO

Glitter, romance and flowers galore

Okay guys get ready for some serious pretty overload here. The Toronto Wedlux Magazine wedding show this Sunday was absolutely to die for. From the intense floral installation ceiling, delicious French macarons, romantic candlelit tablescapes, and above all else- stunning …

Rocking your resolutions

So it’s a new year… All those resolutions you vowed to keep are out the window and it’s just the 3rd day of the year. We’ve all been there. You intend on changing, being different, losing weight, etc etc etc… …

The truth about wedding planners

I am often asked, why do you support other wedding planners aren’t they competition? And the answer is, actually no. Believe it or not I find other wedding planners and creative designers to be inspiring. Especially the ones that stand out from the rest. There is one planner that I had the pleasure of meeting a little while ago and to be honest I was terrified! I was scared she would be upset with me for trying to make a name for myself in the vintage rentals aspect of the wedding industry. But truth be told, she was the sweetest person I could have met. Wedding creatives all have something different to offer, everyone is unique and can be of value in one way or another and it’s important to work together building each other up instead of tearing each other down. Yes you could say we are all in competition but we are not all trying to have the same brides hire us. Each couple will click with different planners and some won’t click at all.

I was fortunate to go to school at the WPIC, where many other planners are either just starting their careers or going back for new material because this industry is always changing. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to see all of the people working together to learn this really fun and beautiful career we have all chosen to be apart of. I am also fortunate enough to attend fun parties held by the WPIC members and get to know everyone personally. We have alumni boards where planners can hire assistants for weddings and where we can all find valuable information and guidance from really awesome people.

There are many seriously talented pros who I can’t wait to meet one day, I can pick their brains and be inspired by what they have to offer. If people remain so tied up with the negative or trying to one up each other, our own businesses would crumble because now we are focused on someone else instead of our own self growth. Of course there are many occasions where I go shoot I wish I thought of that or man that’s really good I wish I had that talent, but that’s why if we all worked together to build each other up, couples who have hired us will not only have the most amazing wedding experience of their lives but they will know that the person they’ve chosen to plan their special day wanted to create that experience for them, and not just build a portfolio.

You can often tell who’s in the industry for the wrong reasons. The ones who are mean and selfish and does not play well with other vendors that are similar to their own business. The ones who take time to teach young pups like myself or offer internships and the ones who so desperately want to create magic for you, those are the ones you gotta keep an eye out for because those are the ones you want planning the most important day of your lives!

I am so inspired today and feeling full of gratitude for all the lovely friends I have met and am about to meet. To any other wedding creatives, take the time to personally get to know someone who is in direct “competition” with you, and you will be greatly surprised that you are probably wrong about them. Don’t let your ego for being the best get in the way of creating amazing relationships! You won’t be disappointed. Xo

Have an inspiring day friends!