Say YES to the dress x2!

Who loves the show "Say yes to the dress?" its one of my favourite wedding related shows! If only shopping for an indian outfit was that easy. 

Most indian brides-to-be go to India to shop for bridal wear, it's more cost effective and the variety is amazing! Unfortunately, due to work schedules etc I wasn't able to go. Secretly, I was upset but sometimes you have to make the best of what you have.

I researched online and through bridal magazines- also attended bridal shows.

With most stores they only book you by apppointment so make sure you call or email well in advance to gurantee a good time. Always come prepared, with your colour of choice, style etc.

I always knew I didnt want to wear the traditional red, I had a colour in mind but finding it was the hardest thing. I could never find the exact shade I needed, I find that's what happens when you decide to shop in Toronto vs India because you don't get the variety.

After countless weekends/hours shopping- I ended up selecting my wedding outfit- The colour was beautiful and even though it wasn't the exact shade it was perfect! The only downfall was I never got to try it on- I liked two different outfits and wanted to somehow combine them. I got to see how it will look on paper but will have to wait FOUR months before I can see the final look.

My Wedding outfit was purchased at Bombay Trendz, I dealt with the owners son Rohan. I will keep you all posted when i recieve it.


My reception outfit is so beautiful- It was completley different from what I orignally had in mind BUT  I LOVE IT!!! I purchase it from Jiva Couture- I met them at the Suhaag wedding show and I fell in love with there outifts. They showcase many different designers - you can take a peek on thier website  http://www.jivacouture.com/  The owners name is Shavali she works alongside her sister, They are so  lovely and patient!!

The designer I chose was SVA... But I wont give away what I picked just yet :)


Both these outfits made me feel beautiful cant wait to get all dressed up!



Can Anyone guess what colours I chose? LOL

Engagement Shoot!

Hey!!

As usual I have been super duper busy! I finally got time to work on my blog.

You will most likely see a number of updates from me to bring you up to date. So where to start?

Since booking our photographer, we've managed to get our Engagement Shoot out of the way, thank God! Nowadays, a lot of couples are going with a certain 'theme' - but Hari and I chose a, somewhat, simpler theme. A Fall inspired theme was at the top of our list, especially because of the changing colours and how well they would look in our photos.

We were searching for the perfect location when we came across High Park for our day shoot and Berber Lounge for the evening. With all the fuss about finding a location, I had no time to figure out outfits and makeup! So as always, I was left panicking last minute. For a girl who loved shopping, every store seemed to piss me off. After endless procrastination, I found a purple blouse at Dynamite and a beautiful dress from Forever 21 (pictures are below).

So then comes the hair and makeup situation - if you know me, then you should know I'm a very simple girl, I don't wear makeup on a daily basis and I almost never get my hair done. Until now that is. I got my hair done at Volume Spa and my amazingly talented friend, Mitza who is a makeup artist, offered to do my make up for me. I can honestly tell you, I've never felt more beautiful. She completely transformed me, I didn't even recognize myself!

With all the worrying about how I would look, I never sat down and actually thought about how I'd pose!! Here's a spoiler alert for all you brides, the photographer(s) will most likely put you in the most awkward position - but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to get the perfect shot!;) 

So this one is for the ladies, most of us have certain insecurities about our body- but please do let your photographer know- otherwise you will end up disappointed with you final product! I am talking from experience, this happened to me because I failed to mention my bad angles! But I'm glad now because I opened up to my photographer and he is well aware for our next shoot!


Here is a SMALL teaser from our ESHOOT!! The rest will be viewed during our reception in a slideshow. 

Below are 'Selfies' we took before our shoot started! LOL

Practicing our poses! LOL

DIY 'Tying the Knot' Save the Dates.

I always wanted to attempt a DIY project and my wedding has become the perfect excuse! I am forever on Pinterest or wedding blogs looking for ideas.

I found the cutest tying the knot theme and had to make my own version. http://thenaturalweddingcompany.co.uk/blog/2011/06/do-it-yourself-eco-friendly-brown-card-and-raffia-rustic-save-the-dates/

Although I loved the rustic look I wanted it to have a little more colour, I popped into some arts & crafts stores to purchase a few items for my project.

Items I purchased:-

Micheal's

• Pastel coloured cardstock $4
• heart shaped stickers $ 1.25 ( I didnt use these so i will return them)
• envelope love sealed stickers $ 1.99 

Walmart

• calligraphy pen $4.99

DeSerres

• white envelopes $5.99
• Black ink pad $2.99
• "All you need is love" Stamp $6.99
• Pastel Coloured help cord $4.99

Originally, I was going to  decorate the card freehand but that didn't turn out so well- it was a complete hot mess! So I turned to Microsoft Office to create a template! I searched online for the perfect images!! It was tough, believe it or not it took me a good 2 hours.

Step 1: After creating the template, I took my cardstock to Staples to have them print it for me. The lady that was assisting me was such a sweetie, she offered to cut them all for me too. 

Step 2: Each card was folded into a 3 fold, I then used the "All you need is love" stamp on the front of each card. 

Step 3: I made a small hole using the end of a compass on each side of the card, I then placed my Hemp cord through it and tied a small knot.. I then looped it in the middle and placed the other end through the hole and knotted it. 

Step 4: Voila! i loosened the loop in the middle and folded the card to give it a go. As soon as you open the card the loop turns into a knot- which symbolizes our union as a couple tying the knot :)

I am so happy with the way they turned out, Hari absolutely loved them too, I think he was actually relieved with how cute they turned out. The cards were especially made for our close friends, I cant wait to see what they think!

I am happy to share the template that I made- Comment below with your email address and ill send it to you :) I would love to see different versions of this card. 

               What do you think of them?

Wedding STRESS- & we booked our photographer!

Our wedding is 6 months away!! I am freaking out.

Growing up most of us dream of the perfect wedding, we know exactly what we want and everything has its place. Ever since my dream has become my reality I have found planning such a nightmare! Everything I envisioned was just a fantasy and its so stressful making it come to life.


The wedding has taken up every second, minute and hour of my day! Mine and Hari's lunch breaks both consist of emailing potential vendors or making appointments.

Although I want that perfect wedding I have to understand all of that comes with a hefty price tag. I think this is where the stress kicked in...

Budgeting is very important when planning and Hari has been amazing with that. He has carefully researched and allotted each vendor/task a certain amount. However, when you actually met with potential vendors i.e. Photo/videographers you realize that the budget set may not have been realistic!


Since booking the venue, we have been researching potential photo/videographers. We met with 3 companies after narrowing down our search.

First company- Adnan Ansah.
http://www.adnanansahphotography.com/ 

I came across this photographer while on modernrani.com and he had gotten great reviews, his attention to detail and colour was spectacular. We went to meet him and he was such a nice person, he took us through his work. He really focused on colour when taking his photos and we loved that. Indian weddings are the most colourful and we have so much detail so it went perfectly. He was also very flexible and his pricing was great. The only downfall we faced was he was a one man show ( his wife, who is just lovely is his assistant) and he didn't do video!


Second Company- Kumari Photo & Cinema
http://kumariphotoanddesign.com/
I also came across this company through Modern Rani, I fell head over heels with them. The work they showcased was just flawless in every way, I also noticed my cousins sister-in-laws wedding was featured on their website which they covered amazingly! I was able to book an appointment with Dan, he is known as the friendly giant on the website I believe. He was such a lovely person, he made Hari & I the most delicious tea. Dan was very accomodating and helped us customize a great package within our budget. 

Third Company- Channa Photography
http://www.channaphotography.com/ 
I came across Channa's work whilst on facebook LOL!! A friend of mine had posted a video of his sisters next day edit, after watching that I had to book an appointment. We went to meet them and the lead photographers were brothers. We primarily worked with Sukh, he is so down to earth and really listened to what we were looking for. He knew we had a strict budget and gave us various options. He also was able to customize a package for us!


Other companies we considered were; Banga photography, Kujit Rehal, Photokitch and Big Al's photography.


It was so tough picking one company, we had a moment were we thought of even merging two companies together to cover the wedding. I wanted both Kumari and Channa whereas Hari loved Adnans work. After many arguments and going back and forth to speak with the photographers- we finally agreed on ONE.




We picked CHANNA PHOTOGRAPHY!
We cannot wait to work with these guys and on a positive Sukhs wife is from England like me --which is a bonus in it self! haha  :)

I have been slacking!

Hey!!

I apologize in advance for being such a slacker! I have been extremely busy this last month. I have had family functions, busy work schedules, vendor appointments, wedding shows you name it!

I promised you all that I would take you through my entire planning process, so I have decided to take some time out of my busy life and write for you all :)

We booked our venue!!!!

Myself and Hari are thrilled to finally say we have BOOKED our venue.

After months of going back and forth and negotiating we have sealed the deal :) we are so happy our parents loved the venue as much as we do.

In my previous post I had mentioned that I didn't want to have a banquet hall style reception. Although they can turn out beautifully, we wanted something completley different and less traditional.

In my previous post I gave you all a teaser on what venues we had considered and gave you all the chance to even guess!! Big thanks to those that commented :)

When we were scouting for possibilities I fell in love with this venue immediately, I have to admit though Hari had second thoughts originally. I convinced him how wonderful it was, and how many great things we could do with it.

Being the sweetheart he is, he took it upon him to do everything in his powers -to make sure this was the venue we got. I am so grateful to our parents for all there help and we love them for all the support they have provided.

I know you all must be thinking "What is the bloody venue, she is talking about"

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...................!!!

I am proud to annouce that we will be holding our wedding reception at
                          'ANGUS GLEN GOLF CLUB'



'The Host' fine indian cusine will be our offical wedding caterers for the reception and we are hoping to have both north and south indian dishes to complement both our cultures. We haven't decided on the menu, we will be having a tasting session in the next few weeks.. so stay tuned!!

We are praying to the almighty weather GOD "Mother Nature" LOL that she doesn't bring any snow or rain our way as it will be in Apri.

Now that Angus Glen is booked, we will review our decor oppurtunities- I am so exicited to be going to the bridal show in september to get some tips!! I will be blogging my experience :)

Choosing my bridesmaids and maid of honour.

We have picked the wedding date and looked into potential venues.. so what's next you ask?!

The MOST exciting task ever LOL- choosing my bridesmaids and maids of honour.

This task allows me to choose some of my favourite people that I want to stand by me, on the happiest day of my life.  I wanted to make the selection process heartfelt, so I sent all the ladies a personal email asking them to be my BM or MOH. Each lady will also receive a special surprise (thanks to ideas on Pinterest)  from myself and Hari !

Unfortunately, I cannot share this with all of you yet because not everyone has received theirs. However, I promise to upload it in a future post...so keep stay tuned !
My maids of honour; I asked both my sisters Simpy & Harkiran to do me the honors, as I could not choose one over the other and I love them equally. Simpy does claim to be the head MOH though, and my baby sister has been downgraded to the junior MOH as per Simpy lol.

      Simpy
 

    Kiran

Unfortunately, Simpy is temporarily back home in England so that she can gain some experience through supply teaching (she recently graduated as teacher) as there were no opportunities for her in Canada. This was a great start for her and ended up leading her to a full time position beginning in September!!

Although this is great news and I am so happy for her, it means she won't be here for any of the planning process. It sucks that timing didn't agree, but finding jobs are increasingly tough in certain fields and I'm grateful that she is building her career. She is still a big part of this wedding and is included in every major decision..just in a different time zone ;-) 

My sisters are very important to me and even though we fight, throw punches, pull hair (not really) and get annoyed with each other, we are always there for one another no matter what. I know that both of them will always have my back and help me create the most beautiful wedding ever !



My bridesmaids; I selected 3 special ladies to be my BM's. The lucky 3 were my beautiful cousins Sumeet and Amrita ( who are also sisters ) and one of my dearest friends Simran.

    Sumeet

    Amrita

    Simran
 

These 3 beautiful ladies are like sisters to me and I trust them with my life. I cannot wait to share this moment with them.