Background: I was engaged on Feb 3, 2008 and got married Nov 14, 2008. This left me just over 9 months to plan my wedding, and to me, this was plenty of time to throw a wicked party. The goal of our wedding was to have a spiritual ceremony that involved our friends and family, and throw a party for our guests like none they’ve ever been to. Based on feedback, the goal was met and exceeded.
Tip#1: Book the venue and the date BEFORE you tell your family. That way you set the tone. This may not work for everyone's family, but did with ours.
Pictures are professional, amateur and via phone (ya, don’t leave for your honeymoon without the correct camera battery re-charger).
Research: babbling bride/offbeatbride/wedding bee
These are the main sites, although there were many I went to.
- babbling bride on frugal board: The support from all of you has been overwhelming. I needed a place where there were others experiencing what I was and this was that place. The friends I have met here provided my not only the support, but chipped in their own blood, sweat and tears to help me out. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- TIP#2: be careful what you write. I had a venting post sent to my BM from a FB. Wasn’t a good scene, so whatever you write, think that it may end up in that person’s hands.
- Offbeat Bride : This website gave me the courage to throw the wedding how we wanted it, and showed how colouring outside the box can be done. It was this site that I met Princess Lasertron, the fabulous vendor who made my wedding bouquet.
- Wedding Bee : As crazy as these brides are, this site has fabulous DIY ideas.
- cost: Free
Wedsite/Blog: godaddy/blogspot
- I wanted to domain that was cool, so I registered www.myrockstarwedding.com with www.godaddy.com
- I spent HOURS on this wedsite, and not being internet savvy, I found it relatively user friendly. Only glitches were it works best in firefox, and sometimes displayed odd characters. Support for this product is GREAT.
- I decided to start a blog after being inspired by wedding bee. I registered adayinthelifeofarockstarbride.blogspot.com as a way to entertain my mother. I was actually shocked when strangers emailed me before the wedding, telling me they read my blog and wished me a happy wedding.
- cost: Wedsite, $100 which includes domain, hosting for a couple of years. Blog: Free
- After all said and done, going back in time I would have gone with a free standard wedsite and my blog.
Photosharing: Flickr/Keep and Share/Image Shack
- I started with Keep and Share. Whatever, it’s free
- I then found image shack which was good enough as I could use it at work. Free
- Then I found flickr and stayed. LOVE IT!!! We paid an extra $20 to increase the amount of pics/videos we can upload. This way, our friends/family can also upload their pics. As of today, I have 1,500 pics online.
- TIP#3: Protect your pics so only those who log on can see them. I had one of my pics flagged by some creppy dude as a favourite. How do I know he’s creepy? He’s part of online nuddie groups on flickr. GROSS!!
Gift Registry: Bay/Sears
- We registered dishware, kitchen and small appliances at the Bay. No issues
- We registered bedding and bath at the Sears. Again, no issues
Rings: Spence Diamonds/ The Devil's Workshop/ Batten Hand Engraving
- The day after we decided to get married, the FI and I took a trip out to Spence Diamonds by Yorkdale Mall. The first ring we saw, we knew it was it. We check out a couple of other stores at Yorkdale, but knew we had to go back to Spence.
- Service was great and delivery was 2 weeks. We still love my ring.
- cost: $2,100 incl tax
- I heard about The Devil’s Workshop from a friend of mine. We loved making our own rings and brag about it every chance we can. Sarah was great and went as far as to clean our existing rings at no cost. Bonus: you take you ring home the day you make them (assuming you don’t get added diamonds). (See here for a detail on the day: )
- cost: $700 for both rings
- I needed to get my ring custom engraved since it is so thin. I found Batten Hand Engraving through google. Our rings were ready in a week, and look great. His: You Rock, Mine: You Rule
- cost: $45
Invitations: iStock Photo/Paper-Source/John Beads/Vista Print/Canada Post
- Invitations were DIY after finding a design I loved on http://www.uniquityinvitations.com/
- Found the chandelier image on istock photo: $5
- Purchased card stock and enveloped from Paper-Source and had it shipped to my American coworker. $70
- Rhinestones were purchased at John Beads (1000 for $20ish)
- Invitations designed in Microsoft Publisher and printed on my Canon IP4500
- Maps : DIY designed in Microsoft Visio and printed on cardstock
- Photo card: Designed/ordered from Vista Print: $5 for image (istock) and $0 for postcards
- RSVP business card: designed/ordered from Vista Print: free (shipping for all vistaprint items was $20)
- Stamps ordered online at Canadapost.ca
- In the end, the total price came to $2.50 for each invitation incl postage
Wedding Dress: The Coach House Bridal, Waterdown ON
- I saw my dress in a Martha Stewart magazine, and this was 1 of 2 stores in Ontario that carried a sample.
- If you need to go after work, call to make an appointment.
- Store was clean, contains many dress options (great DW section), and fantastic customer service.
- Only problem was I ordered a size 16, and a size 14 came. I didn’t push it cause it fit. I wanted the 16 just in case.
- cost: $1,000
- Alterations were done by my BM’s MIL. Cost: Free
- cleaned, shortened and beads touched up by Lisa Van Hattem(cost: $200). I wore my revamped dress out on New Years Eve. Lisa even went as far as send me extra jewels for my dress cause one fell off New Years Eve
Bridal Shoes and Accessories: Sterling/Cutesy Shoes/Three 16/ q.g.designs
- I had 3 pairs of shoes: 2 from Sterling ($130 for both) and 1 from cutesy shoes ($30). I received my cutesy shoes in less than a week. CRAZY quick shipping.
- I purchased jewelry from Three 16 for my Maid Of Honour’s birthday knowing I would wear it for the wedding. Cost: $70
- My birdcage was my first etsy purchase. The veil was made in less than a week and got to me in a couple of weeks. LOVE IT!. Cost: $70
- Husband threw out my birdcage veil by mistake during our "post wedding clean". MAKE SURE you pack what you want to keep away to avoid tears.
Bridesmaids Dresses: Le Chateau, Three 16, Denise, Mendociano
- my girls were asked to get a cocktail length dress in chocolate brown
- each girl loved their dress (as they should, they picked them out) and looked fantastic.
- cost: $100 - $200
Groom’s Outfit: Le Chateau/Toy Breaker/Boot Master/Tristan/
- Pants from le Chateau: $50
- Shirt from Tristan: $60
- Jacket from somewhere online
- Ties from etsy seller toy breaker: GREAT ties. First shipment got lost so I had to reorder and pay to get them expedited. Regardless, he looked FAB!: $30
- Boots: Boy wanted rock and roll boots to complete his look. He was about to give up when he found his python boots at Bootmaster. Customer Service was great. DH says it was the perfect blend of niceness and customer service. He even threw boot protector when he found out they were his wedding boots: $350
Groomsmen and Rocker Boy’s Outfits: Various/Toy Breaker/
- Boys were asked to wear all black. No idea where they got their suits and shirt from, but they looked way fab.
- Ties were the same as DH and looked way hot: $30/each
- I bought my Rocker Boy’s jacket at dandy social club and LOVED how he looked. He also wore a traditional borang under the jacket as well as a chain. He totally rocked the look. Cost of jacket: $60.00
Hotel: King Eddie/Courtyard Marriot
- We booked the Thursday and Friday night at the King Eddy. Beautiful room, big comfy beds, and right downtown Toronto.
- NOTE: You cannot take pics in the lobby unless you are getting married at the hotel. No biggie as it was a beautiful day so we got some cool pre wedding shots in the neighbourhood.
- Parking is CRAZY expensive at the hotel: $40 day/night
- Cost for room: $180 and 28,000 aeroplan points for 2 nights
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- I blocked rooms for my OOT guests at the Courtyard Marriot Toronto.
- Leslie, the person I was assigned to, was fantastic to deal with.
- The day after the wedding, the restaurant accommodated 30 of DH’s family (without reservation), and when they found out there were 2 birthdays, the sent out a complimentary birthday cake.
Hair/Makeup – Luisa at Sheer Heaven Spa and Marleen at The Colour Room
- I’ve had Luisa do my hair/makeup for other weddings, so I was thrilled she was able to do my wedding. Luisa did a great job and everyone was happy with how they looked
- Cost: $475 for hair x 5; makeup x 6 (including makeup trial for me) including travel for her to come to us
- I’ve been going to Marleen at The Colour Room for 4 years, so I went to her for my wedding updo. Always expected, she did a great job and the boy loved it. $75
Spa: Pantages Spa
- I treated my mother, MOH and another bridesmaid to a mani/pedi at Pantages Spa.
- nice spa, nice ladies, and everyone enjoyed the time to relax
- Best part, they had nail polish called “Curry up don’t be late” which is hilarious cause my maiden name is Currie. 3 of us used it ‘cause really, we had to!!
- downside, no jacuzzi for pre mani/pedi
- cost: $380ish
Rehearsal Party: Ben Wicks
- great pub food and atmosphere
- Mom made the arrangements and found that after she started dealing with the owner, her questions were being answered more quickly.
- because it’s street parking, 2 of my guests got dinged with $30 parking tickets (time ran out)
Centre Pieces: Ikea/Dollarama/John Beads/Michaels/Kitchen Stuff Plus
- I was thrilled how these turned out. These were created by the minds of all my bridal party. I had the general idea, and they executed it at my Craft Party.
- picked up vases from Ikea – 1.99 per vase
- clear glass stones from Ikea – 3.99 per jar
- picked up candles from Michaels – 12 for $8ish
- round mirrors from Dollarama - $1 each
- mixed beads/ribbon from John Beads - $50ish
- flute candles – Kitchen Stuff Plus - $1.99 each : These candles lasted all night without dropping wax.
Venue & Catering: Berkeley Church
- In March 2007 we attended the wedding of our friends at the Berkeley Church. That night, before the ceremony even started, we realized this was where we would be getting married. The day after we got engaged, we picked a date and put down the deposit. There was no other venue we were going to get married at so there was no point looking
- Our vendor coordinator was Liz and she was a dream, the day of the wedding there were both Liz and Alison (night coordinator) and Andrew, artistic director.
- We had an incident where I screwed up our tasting date. It was that night Berkeley showed how professional they are. (Read more about it here ).
- They allowed us to leave some stuff and set up the PA the night before the wedding. They also allowed us to come back the day after the wedding to pick up the rest of the stuff. All without an extra charge.
- tables, chairs, candles, couches were included in the venue cost. We only needed to pay for linens, flatware/glassware and extra cruiser tables.
- Catering is in house. We opted for stationed dinner and had Italian, sushi and carving. Everyone we talked to raved about how great the food was.
- Greatest part, was how the staff were amazing hosts to our guests. Whether it was food, cake or a beer, they always made sure our guests, the DH and I were well taken care of. And we were treated like royalty by everyone at Berkeley. "Alison, here's a beer ... but this one is half full ... you've been drinking it too long" .. hahaha
- Extras Berkeley threw in: hanging tea lights, complimentary champagne, and the presence of Hank, the house bulldog.
- Cost including catering: $12,500
Here are pics of all the different areas within Berkeley:
And of course, Hank
Flowers: Princess Lasteron/Cool, Green & Shady
- my bouquet was made of felt and buttons by a girl I met of offbeatbride.com
- she was fantastic to work with and made me a bouquet I will love forever. She also made 4 button-niers for the BMx2, DH and RB
- cost: $100 for all
- after leaving my original florist (FACTORY FLORIST - DO NOT USE), I was referred to Amber at Cool, Green & Shady. She was extremely professional and provided FANTASTIC flowers for my girls, parents etc. A week later, the bouquets were still fresh.
- cost: shy of $400
Photographer: Greg Tjepkema / Lisa Mark Photography / AMG Fotography
- We met Greg a few years back (Jer giged with him) and he has done personal pics for us since.
- Professional, skilled at truly loves what he does AND he drove 4 of my bridesmaids to the church.
- Our agenda for pics was as follows:
4pm – 5pm: pre wedding at hotel/outside with girls
5pm – 6pm: pre wedding with boys and back for some more with the girls
6pm – 630pm: wedding ceremony
6:30pm – 7:00pm: cocktail hour and rest
7:00pm – 7:30pm: parents, wedding party pics
7:30pm – 8:00pm: photobooth (we had it set up so in order to get to the main floor, all guests HAD to go through the photobooth. Only ones that didn't were my parents and the cocktail musician). Main reason for this is because we will be putting them in our guestbook along with our guests comments.
8:00pm – 1pm: random reception pics
- He sent us a touched up teaser the day after the wedding, and a few more on the Sunday.
- Turnaround time for 800+ photos on DVD (which was all we wanted): 2 weeks
- Cost: Amazing rate .. cause we got the friend rate
- I hired Lisa Mark to do my boudoir shots. She was professional, fun to work with and made me feel damn hot. Especially when I got my shots back. My mom cried with joy
- Cost: $275 (pictures only and photobook)
- When I joined Frugal Bride, I was one of the first to take advantage of Tony’s free e-pics. Tony was a great guy and produced some fab pics. We are still told how awesome his pics are.
- Cost: Free
Videographer: Jawad Mir from Film Style Weddings
- Jawad responded to my craigslist posted a month before my wedding.
- DH and his brother went to meet him and were impressed with his profile and his professionalism
- The day of the wedding he was professional, non intrusive and did everything I asked of him
- His teaser video is AWESOME (minus the music which we did not choose) and look forward to our final video. Turnaround time for teaser: 2 weeks (see here )
- Cost: reasonable .. but his rates have increased
Officiant: Pastor Rick Wells, Creek Community Church
- Rick is a family friend so it meant sooo much to the DH and me that he marry us.
- When we met with him, we went to his church where they started the service with a rockband AND reference to Princess Bride. We knew we made the right choice. After the service, we went back to his home where they made us chilli. FI was won over
- Our ceremony was 20 minutes long, involved my guests, and had the perfect amount of spirituality. I didn’t want my guests to forget they were witnessing our wedding vows.
- I received feedback that Rick was fantastic and that they honestly enjoyed the ceremony.
- Cost: donation to his church
Wedding Band and Ceremony Musicians: Stifler’s Mom/Driver /Jonie Lament
- Jonie Lament is a friend of ours who did us the honour of entertaining our guests during the cocktail hour. From what we heard, he was fantastic. Cost: Free
- Stifler’s Mom (1/2 are Thornely’s band, guitar player is Sass Jordan’s guitar player). We hired Stifler’s Mom to be our wedding band, and what a great decision that was. Even with the soundguy sucking, they kept kicking ass. The FI has said a couple of times, that it was these guys who brought the party back (after speeches .. which can be hard). We even got feedback from his mom that his family loved the music. They were friendly, and hugged me all night. I love rockstars! They were real pros, and had the dance floor packed the entire night. Cost: cheap due to the friend discount. BUT, they are and worth every penny they charge at full rate.
- Driver. Driver played a set at the wedding and did not disappoint. They learned a whack load of new songs just for me. Yep, I am loved. But I should be! DH is a member as is my BIL and one of the best men. They even went as far as to get Bruce Gordon (member of I Mother Earth) to come up and play with them for one of my fav IME songs, Another Sunday. IT WAS AWESOME! After their set, Andrew from the Berkeley told DH that he loved their band and would like to get them in there for future Berkeley events. Cost: Free
Choreographer: Robin Bleasdale Dance Fusion
- my bridesmaid and boss (I teach at her dance studio) choreographed a wicked father/daughter dance to "My Girl”. I had so much fun spending time with my dad working on this dance (we only needed 1 hour to choreograph and another to clean it up) and he was soo nervous and proud the night of.
- Cost: Free
Soundguy: Blair, from Long and McQuade
- BRUTAL!!! The worst vendor EVER!!!
- Don't hire anyone named Blair who works at Long and McQuade. Not only did his sound SUCK, but he didn't stop the music during the ceremony, turned mics off so you couldn't hear the paid musicians sing, showed up LATE wearing a t-shirt for my ceremony .. shall I go on?? S-U-C-K-E-D!!
This is when we were waiting for him to turn off the music ... and we didn't!!
Transportation: friends/family/cab
- I refused to spend money on transportation.
- To the church: My father drove me, mom and my MOH; my photographer drove the rest of my bridesmaids and the DH went in his brother's van.
- After the wedding: We hailed a cab in the rain and spent $7 to get back to the hotel.
- cost: $7
Cake: Lida (lida_paulino@yahoo.ca)
- Our cake was a gift and it was perfect. Especially since we originally didn’t want a cake;
- 3 layers: Chocolate, Vanilla and Marble covered in buttermilk icing.
- I sent Lida pictures and went for a tasting and was blown away by how nice she and her husband are as well as how great the cake tasted.
Cost: Free
This was right when we were saying “m’mmmm”
Wedding Planner: ME!!
- I’m awesome and really proud of the wicked party I planned. Thank gawd for my friends and venue who made sure my vision was executed. It was, and I rock!!
Honeymoon: Couples Resort/Roseneath Bed & Breakfast
- We went to couples resort for 4 nights and stayed in a master jr suite which has a king size bed, in-room Jacuzzi, fireplace and looked out to the water.
- Breakfast and Dinner was included and kept me full, although it’s nothing to write home about.
- Room was great; we rarely left it. Staff was pleasant.
- If you go, DO NOT pay for their spa services. It lacked in professionalism.
- Cost: $1,100
- We stayed at the Rosneath Bed & Breakfast in London while DH had a gig. Tina was fantastic! Especially since we showed up a day early. Great room, continental breakfast and stunning home
- Cost: $285 for 3 nights.
At the end of the day, we spent roughly $21,000 – $22,000 for everything including the honeymoon, gifts, ETSY buys (many of them) and other odds and ends for the wedding. Since we only had 9 months to save, we followed a strict saving plan (see here) . I had my perfect wedding, and I keep replaying the day over and over. Sorry, “we” do .. hehe.
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2 comments:
What a great recap! Very detailed. I love your wedding dress. You look stunning in it.
Looks like it was a blast!
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