We’ve had a busy week (what else is new), and some really great offers. Most of them came through meeting great indy artisans at Ottawa’s WedByHand wedding show (site: http://www.wedbyhand.com/ ); the show was a one-day event, held at the Glebe community centre (one of the most beautiful spaces of its kind), and it was loaded with awesome local people offering awesome local services and items. Krista, one of the organizers of the show, connected with us at a previous craft show, and said that they’d like to help us out; they gave us four tickets to the show, and gave the artisans a heads-up that we’d be coming. Consequently, it was a breeze chatting with people, because we didn’t have to give quite the same amount of backstory as we usually do.
The show was full of everything from mini cupcakes, to truffles, to the most delicious lavender iced tea I’ve ever had—and actually, if someone reading this knows who makes that iced tea, or has the recipe, please email or comment on the blog. The only bad thing about the two glasses I’d downed: I don’t usually drink caffeine, so I was buzzing. The upside to that: lots of energy to talk with all the vendors. And boy, did we talk! It’s so much fun to talk about something you’re doing when you love it, and even better when it’s a project all about love in the first place. Getting to walk around with my wonderful fiancé and tell people about our plans was so much fun.
But enough; I’m sure you want to hear about the offers. Towards the end of this entry, I’m going to give a call-out for commercial artisans to send me comments, so if you’re one of those talented people, read on…
In no particular order:
ACCESSORIES
The ladies of Victoire spoke with us early on in the day; they peddle antique dresses and accessories, with a mix of some new-made designer items; they describe their boutique as ‘rock n’ roll tea party’, which obviously sounds pretty perfect for our wedding. We chatted for a while, and they offered us the loan of some items, perhaps hairpieces. We’re looking forward to connecting with them soon to get more details. Thank you, Victoire! You can connect with them at http://www.victoireboutique.com/ .
Kate of Flights of Fancy, an amazing artisan extraordinaire whose line of burlesque-worthy hairpieces and accessories, chatted with us for some time. Ottawa is a small world, and Brian and I had actually met her once before, very briefly, yet we all recalled one another. Kate makes the most beautiful items…hair clips, combs, boutonnieres, and other googies, rich in feathers and sparkles. When I’d looked through the WedByHand site and scoped out all the vendors’ sites (yes, I’m a ‘plan ahead’ type of gal), Kate’s goodies were something I was most excited to see. Before I even got a chance to find her table myself, Mo (my Maid Of Honor, ‘Mo’ for short) found it, loved it, and dragged me over. We chatted for some time, and Kate offered us four feathered hair combs/clips for my bridesmaids. We accepted the offer immediately, and then I focused on keeping Mo from fainting in her excitement. Kate, thank you so much for the generous offer; the girls are so excited and I can’t wait to take them to see you and see them jump around excited like preteens at a Justin Bieber concert. See what Kate’s up to at http://www.bombshellscloset.com/ .
DECORATIONS
Karie of Rehash made us a lovely offer; she makes beautiful handcrafts and had these adorable flag lines on display. Karie has offered us an adorable bunting or flag line (string of triangular flags with letters spelling a word) for our wedding. We have sent her a few ideas on words, and I am soooo looking forward to holding onto this keepsake for the rest of forever. Before we left, Karie grabbed me a second time and said she had some peacock feathers that I could have to craft with, if they’d be useful for the wedding! Well, of course they would be! Thank you, Karie; you’re awesome and I love your bunting! Fall in love with Karie’s work at http://workermade.blogspot.com/
ALSO: Karie’s table partner Annie Bananie ended up emailing us after the show; she said that Karie had given her the 4-1-1 on what we were doing, and she’d like to offer us a felting workshop for our wedding party, to either learn to make felted centrepieces, or felted people (to put on the cake). Annie, this is going to be sooo much fun; thank you for the offer and we look forward to connecting with you soon to get this set up! http://www.anniebananietheclown.blogspot.com/
Now, from our UsedOttawa.com ad came another offer this week: Judy R has offered us a seamstress’s dressform to borrow so that my immense green ceremony dress can be put on display at the reception. Judy, thank you so much for this offer. It’s going to be so special for me to have that beautiful dress where everyone can admire it…while I wear something far more appropriate to Ottawa’s August weather.
Another amazing, incredible, mind-blowing offer came in from the prairies this week. Angela Klassen of Imagine Wedding & Event Planning has offered to make and send us aisle markers: cones full of peacock and other feathers! I am seriously excited about this, but I gotta say, my Mo almost hyperventilated. It was amusing and awesome to watch. Angela followed up her offer to also offer us table numbers done on our ‘leather and feathers’ theme. Angela, thank you sooooo much for contributing to our (thus far) meagre decorations. We will make the most of these and will display them both at the ceremony and the reception. Check out Imagine’s site at http://www.imagine-weddings.com/index_003.htm .
Oh, and just a little note about Christina, our florist, proprietor of Flower & Flower of Renfrew, Ontario (
: we met with her this past week, and for the first time ever, I am excited about the flowers. Not that I wasn’t excited about Christina! But I’m not a ‘roses and posies’ type of gal, and usually I like things far more botanical, woodsy, twiggy, berry-y, and foresty. Well, Christina helped me remember that that was my original vision and I have utter faith that what she creates will be beautiful and entirely Bri&J appropriate. Ohhh, and the ‘head table piece’ she’s offered is going to stand about 8 feet high…I can’t wait to see it. (It will, naturally, not sit on the table. Maybe that was obvious to you; I had to ask.)
: we met with her this past week, and for the first time ever, I am excited about the flowers. Not that I wasn’t excited about Christina! But I’m not a ‘roses and posies’ type of gal, and usually I like things far more botanical, woodsy, twiggy, berry-y, and foresty. Well, Christina helped me remember that that was my original vision and I have utter faith that what she creates will be beautiful and entirely Bri&J appropriate. Ohhh, and the ‘head table piece’ she’s offered is going to stand about 8 feet high…I can’t wait to see it. (It will, naturally, not sit on the table. Maybe that was obvious to you; I had to ask.)
GIFTS & GOODIES
Oooooh, this one…this one makes me happy in a very special way. There is a bath & body products company called Purple Urchin here in Ottawa. Two Christmases ago, I met owner Sarah S at a craft show and fell in love with her goodies. Due to my insanely delicate skin, I can’t use bath bombs or soaps with certain products in them (even healthy ingredients…don’t get me started), but she had a cocoa coffee body scrub that I could not walk away from. I bought it, tried it, LOVED it, and then rationed it out for months. I kept hoping I’d see her at another craft show to get more, but fate was not on our side, as even the annual show where she was scheduled to be had been cancelled! When I saw that she would be at the WedByHand show, I wrote her an email and begged her to reserve me a jar of the body scrub. Sure enough, Sarah had a jar waiting for me, and I bought it, and a maple walnut lipbalm. We chatted about P:P, and Sarah made me insanely happy by offering four pots of the body scrub to give to my bridesmaids as gifts (plus one extra for the bride, yay!), as well as some of her delicious and aptly-named ‘man soap’ for the groomsmen. I gotta tell you, if all guys smelled like this spicey, woodsy soap, they’d all have dates. Sarah of Purple Urchin, thank you so much for the wonderful offer! I have been scrubbing myself with my scrub for three mornings now, and I literally hop out of bed in anticipation. You can see and buy Purple Urchin products at http://www.purpleurchinsoap.com/ .
Oh, and while he doesn’t exactly belong in the ‘gifts & goodies’ category, we want to say how nice it was to meet our officiant, now confirmed: Alan Viau will be performing our handfasting. In exchange for his services, Brian and I will be donating time to a theatre company he supports…we’ll post the name soon. It’s going to be fun, actually: Brian is going to help out with sets and whatnot, and I’ll help with makeup, hair, etc. Alan was very helpful, walking us through what a ceremony entails, and patiently answering my stupid questions. No, seriously: stupid questions. For instance, Alan was explaining the portions of the ceremony that would have to be included by law. As he walked us through the ceremony, he came to the all-important ‘you may kiss’ portion, and he stated, ‘You will kiss for ten seconds.’ He paused here briefly, and so I blame him entirely for my asking, ‘Wait: is that, like, to make it legal?!’ Both he and Brian laughed at me, and fair enough; while it is not, apparently, required legally that you kiss for ten seconds, it is greatly appreciated by your photographer. Well, now I know. Here’s Alan’s blog again: http://weddingchaplain.ca/about/
A CALL-OUT TO COMMERCIAL ARTISANS/BUSINESS OWNERS: Asking for your comments
At the WedByHand show, we were speaking with Sarah from Flights of Fancy about the need for a more grassroots approach to the wedding industry—particularly in Ottawa, but I would argue this is true everywhere. Sarah showed us a picture from a recent newspaper spread on weddings, with a photo of a bride wearing a stylized birdcagey veil atop her head; Sarah informed us that the veil alone was listed at $1200.00. Why must a veil cost $1200? Sarah stated that she rarely charges more than the equivalent of the sales tax for that veil, and shared her distaste for the overcharging of the wedding industry. It’s no surprise that Brian and I agree with her sentiments; so often, there seems to be a fabricated surcharge on items and services designed for weddings. Even the zoning permits for a gathering in a public park is a different rate for a wedding versus an anniversary party.
We shake our heads at this, and want to ask the artisans, commercial businesses, and commercial services out there; what do you do to keep costs reasonable for couples getting married? Email us at projectpriceless@gmail.com and tell us what you do…and if you don’t yet do anything, but would be interested in, perhaps, some ideas, email us, too! Bri and I are getting more and more contacts from other brides who are struggling to put together their weddings, and we do try to help them out by passing along duplicate offers, suggestions on venues, etc; let’s open the forum up as we ask: how can you help make a special day a reality for couples with a limited budget?
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