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Mabuhay!!*

Posted June 15th, 2010 | 9:00 am | By Judith Manzano | 26 Comments

*pronounced mah-BOO-hi and is an expression used to exclaim “long live”.

It’s hard to believe that six months ago I introduced myself and Mark to the Weddingbells online community and now I’m saying my farewell. In that time, you’ve learned quite a bit about our Filipino heritage from the ceremonial traditions to the superstitious beliefs. You’ve followed me through the gong show that was the hunt for my dress, hopefully received some makeup inspiration and learned about the difficulty of coming up with a cake design.

When I entered this contest, my head was still floating high in the clouds from the proposal. You know what I mean: the perma-smile plastered on your face, you walk as if you were part of a ballet and you find every excuse to talk about the proposal. I couldn’t help but jump at every opportunity to tell my proposal story and this contest was just another chance to relive the proposal. I was completely gobsmacked when I was contacted by the Weddingbells staff and the rest is history. Read the rest of this entry »

blogger search » traditional

Thanksgiving Comes Early

Posted June 14th, 2010 | 9:00 am | By Emily Wood | 64 Comments

As I write my last post in the competition, I can’t quite believe it’s drawing to a close so quickly. It seems like just yesterday when, one rainy September afternoon, I found out I was a semi-finalist, and a few weeks later (thanks to your awesomeness), a finalist! My blogging journey has FLOWN by, and I’ve had a blast reading about the other ladies’ journeys, sharing nerdy DIY projects, dance experiments, scouting out winter armour outerwear and dumping eggs all over my head for the Internet’s viewing pleasure. It’s been AWESOME, and I have to thank everyone who’s shown their support with kind words, e-mails, and comments (even hopping over to my personal blog!).

In keeping with the theme of gratitude, I thought as I bid you all farewell, I’d take a moment to reflect on everything for which I’m thankful during our engagement. In wedding planning, there are naturally ups and downs, and it’s easy to panic when things don’t go quite according to plan. So with everything wedding-related, I’m trying to adopt the same attitude I do with life’s curveballs: take a moment to count the blessings, and it’s amazing how hiccups can quickly turn around. Read the rest of this entry »

blogger search » luxury

Tying up the Loose Ends so We can Tie the Knot!

Posted June 11th, 2010 | 9:00 am | By Jessyca Mullan | 7 Comments

The bow on the front of our menu booklets

I guess when you’re just a little over two months away from your wedding, that’s when everything really starts coming together. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had more appointments than I can count.

To give an update on my hair, I went for another trial and it was much better than the first. Completely different style and this hairdresser really knew how to handle my thick hair. It didn’t budge at all. I made sure to jump up and down to be sure! I’m really excited that that aspect was taken care of.

My room has now turned into a printing press! I’m printing maps, menus and ceremony programs, and the piles of paper are starting to overtake me. I keep saying I’m glad the guest list is on the smaller side, because it would have multiplied the cost and the amount of work. For our menus I decided to tie Tiffany-style bows around every single one. I’m glad to say I completed the task much faster than I thought, and it really cut down on what it would have cost if I hired someone to make them.

I was hoping I would have a photo of our centrepiece by now, but the stock has not arrived as of yet. We decided on renting centrepieces using silk flowers rather than real ones from a florist. This especially kept some costs lower, considering florists don’t offer rentals! Not that I know of anyway. If everything goes as planned it will be a very tall trumpet style vase, with a large pomander or roses and Gerber daisies. Read the rest of this entry »

blogger search » destination

Give me your Forever…

Posted June 9th, 2010 | 9:00 am | By Lara Varona | 14 Comments

By far, writing our own vows was the most meaningful and touching part of the whole wedding process for Karlo and I. We had a religious ceremony, so we still did the standard vows that we all know by heart (“for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part”), but we also had a chance to insert our own personal vows into the ceremony and in the end we couldn’t have been happier with that decision.

We wrote our personal vows the night before the wedding, because we wanted them to be as natural and organic as possible and not seem dry or rehearsed. We decided to follow a simple format (one that I’d read somewhere a long time ago), and simply state three reasons why we love each other, followed by three promises to one another. If given the chance, I’d shout my vows from the rooftop, because I’d like the whole world to know how much I love Karlo. Instead, I’ll just share them here with you now… Read the rest of this entry »

blogger search » intimate

(Somewhat) Final Thoughts on Wedding Planning and Marriage

Posted June 7th, 2010 | 9:59 am | By Mai Trac | 8 Comments

As we get closer to our wedding, I find myself reflecting on the last few months of wedding planning. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable process and I wanted to pass on my words of wisdom to other brides-to-be.

1. Be True to You

It might be easy to let others (i.e. in-laws) sway you into having a different kind of wedding than you want, but don’t let this deter you or change the wedding you envisioned for yourself. Sure, some decisions might be changed along the way as you weigh your different options but it is important to let your wedding reflect you and your future hubby. It doesn’t matter if you have an intimate or extravagant affair; at the end of the day, you will look back with fond memories if your wedding was everything YOU wanted and more. Read the rest of this entry »

blogger search » alternative

Chair Covers and a Wedding Gift for the Groom

Posted June 4th, 2010 | 9:00 am | By Heather Kentner | 9 Comments

Let’s talk about chair covers. They seem like a tiny little detail in the grand scheme of things, but they sure do dress things up. Our venue was providing the chairs and our caterer was arranging the chair covers. We assumed that the chair covers from the caterer’s preferred rental company would fit just fine. However, when we called, they suggested that we try one out on the chairs. We put it on the chair and… definitely not a fit! The cover didn’t even stretch to the bottom of the floor and it looked awful. Good thing we tested it out before the wedding. Read the rest of this entry »

blogger search » eco

The Clan in San Fran

Posted June 3rd, 2010 | 10:34 am | By Carrie Ye | 7 Comments

I just got back from a great long-weekend trip to San Francisco with my bridesmaids! I knew I really wanted to go somewhere for my bachelorette party and Vegas seemed like the obvious choice, but my friends and I don’t really drink or gamble…but we do shop and eat! A lot! So San Fran seemed like a perfect choice.

I decided to do this trip with just my bridesmaids because I figured it would be a nightmare to coordinate everyone. Plus my bridesmaids don’t know each other well, so this was a great opportunity for everyone to bond!

Five of us (Kim, Mariko, Sara, Clarissa and I) took the long weekend off from the office/the lab/the hospital/the books to hit up what I think it the funkiest city south of our border. The only one missing was Isanne who was busy graduating from Med School in Winnipeg (Congrats Isanne!).

Clarissa made us all colourful, animal embellished, personalized name tags to wear on our flight, ensuring everyone knew exactly what we were on this trip for…because the tiara and bright pink boa that Sara brought for me to wear didn’t make that obvious enough! Read the rest of this entry »

blogger search » bride again

Pink Elephants, Oh My!

Posted June 1st, 2010 | 9:00 am | By Judith Manzano | 17 Comments

Many of the other bloggers have expressed the importance of finding a photographer that will not only fit your budget and style, but will also deliver stunning photographs that you can enjoy for many years to come. Pink Elephant Photography and Design not only delivers the style we were looking for, they are also friends of the family. Casey and Jojo (yes, just like one of my favourite R&B groups) are a husband and wife team whose unique style caught our eye. Not only do they take great photographs, their artistic use of photo-manipulation was what sold us on these two.

I knew right from the day we were engaged where I wanted to take our engagement photos: at my work! Okay, as lame as that sounds, the building I work in is a state of the art, eco-friendly building that’s won many design and ‘green’ awards all over the world. Mark thought I was crazy but after seeing the building, he agreed. Manitoba Hydro Place is Manitoba Hydro’s brand new building in downtown Winnipeg. This building uses the latest technologies in sustainable energy which makes it not only functional, but aesthetically pleasing in a minimalistic/simplistic style which is very much “us.” Read the rest of this entry »