What A Lovely Place

I received some of the best eco-tips ever from some of the best readers ever!

Jessica was lucky enough to win the recent contest but she also gave back with this awesome piece of advice:

“My eco tip: pour a handful of brown sugar into your palm, add just enough honey to mix well and use as a face scrub- way less chemical involvement than store bought and no extra packaging!”


She wasn’t the only one dishing though. In no particular order, here were some of my faves …

“My best eco-tip is to use reusable menstrual products. I love, love, love my diva cup and pretty soft cloth pads. Not only am I helping the earth by not tossing several blood-soaked piles of bleached cotton and plastic in the trash, but I am so much more in touch with myself as a woman. I am not gross or disgusting and my menstrual cycle is not gross or disgusting. It is part of who I am as a woman!


Cloth diapers are also a great idea for those with babies. Disposables are absolutely awful for the environment, and cloth (which has really been updated - there are dipes that look and function like disposables these days, you just don't throw them away!) is a great and frugal alternative!!”

“I have banned harsh chemicals from my house. I only use biodegradable safe products. The harshest thing in my house is melaleuca oil, which I use with vinegar to clean my floors. I use either Melaleuca brand products or orange cleaner. My motto is if it has a warning label on it I don't buy it. I also go through a lot of baking soda and vinegar. It works great for cleaning as well as orange extract cleaner which I buy in bulk and refill my bottles.”


And the following reader went above and beyond with her amazing list. I’m only going to post snippets at the moment but another day will definitely share all FIFTY-ONE tips with you!

• Lower your thermostat. Buy a programmable thermostat.

• Reuse your water bottle. Avoid buying bottled water. In fact, reuse everything at least once, especially plastics.

• Check out your bathroom. Use low-flow faucets, showerheads, and toilets.

• Start a compost in your back yard or on your rooftop.

• Buy foods locally. Check out Eat Local Challenge and FoodRoutes to get started. Buy locally made products and locally produced services.

• Buy in season.

• Recycle your newspapers.

• Consider a car sharing service like Zipcar.

• Go to your local library instead of buying new books.

• Get off junk mail lists.

• Buy products that use recyclable materials whenever possible.

• Landscape with native plants.

• Take your batteries to a recycling center.

• Do full loads of laundry and set the rinse cycle to “cold.”

• Recycle. If you’re not at home, take the extra steps, (literally), to find that recycling can.


• Reuse. Plastic food containers make good crayon and marker holders. Use padded envelops more than once. Buy your toddler or preschooler’s clothes from a thrift shop and give away those that don’t fit to friends. Goodwill or the Salvation Army can help.

• Limit the length of your showers. Even better, take a “navy shower,” shutting off the water while soaping up and shampooing.

• Recycle your technology. Dell, Hewlett Packard, Apple, and IBM, among others, offer recycling programs.

• Good to the last drop. Switch to fair trade coffee.


Thank you so much for contributing to this everyone ... I really am quite humbled at how everyone came together!

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You Must Be The One

The contest for a copy of Ecoholic by Adria Vasil is officially over!

Congratulations to ...

*drum roll* ..................

JESSICA MCEWEN!!!

Make sure you send me an address and I'll have it sent off to you asap :)

I'll be posting the wonderful tips given by you as soon as possible. My readers really are incredible!

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Near, Far, Wherever You Are

Back from vacation. Boo.

Playing catch-up today so I won't go into too much detail of where I went and what I did but a great time was had by all! My mom and brother were visiting from B.C. so we did many tourist-y things including Niagara Falls ...


I have a few other pictures I would like to share once I have more time. Until then, keep the entries for the Ecoholic book coming! I've actually extended the contest until next Wednesday, May 13th at midnight, EST. Keep the tweeting coming! ;)

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You're the one that I want

In early March, before flying off for his tour, MM and I went to check out a little country inn near our city. It turned out to be beautiful, and while not perfect (what venue is?) we had high hopes for it, based on what the proprietor told us. It seemed like all that was left was for us to get the contract, confirm that the pricing and terms matched what we'd been told, and voila! the search would be over.

It was the one we wanted. Or so we thought. MM flew away thinking it was all over but for the ink.

It was not to be.

After a long and frustrating wait, in which Susan followed up several times, the prices and contract landed on her desk and whoa! it turns out that the prices quoted on that visit didn't begin to truly approach the reality. Despite some forthright and honest attempts to negotiate, the gap between what we are willing to pay and what they expected to get paid could not be bridged. Thus, no matter how beautiful, that venue was not the one for us.

So now we are back to the drawing board. Same three issues as before exist. There are three bigs ones:
... our wedding size
... the kind of sophistication and intimacy we want
... cost

Our seemingly healthy budget is not really up for negotiation. We want something that feels beautiful, sophisticated and polished, yet not cavernous or impersonal. And we are still facing the issue that the Ontario venue market doesn't think that people invite 30-45 people to weddings.



I'm trying to keep an open mind and realistic expectations though, along with a much shortened list relative to last fall. The biggest problem right now is my time. Between my thesis crunch time and my upcoming vacation (going to spend three weeks with MM in Europe in June whoohoo!), I don't know how or where I'll find the time to be jetting all over Eastern Ontario looking at places.

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Wedding flowers 101- First lesson: The bridal bouquet

Jessica from Periwinkle here- Yet another bridal appointment began with the bride to be uttering the words “I don’t have any idea about flowers for my wedding…” This happens often, and has spurred me to this- the Periwinkle guide to what you as a bride need to think about when thinking about your wedding flowers in order to get the perfect mix for you.

First up, let’s do as we at Periwinkle do in our wedding consultations and start from the top with the bride herself. The very first thing we as a florist want to know is what the dress looks like. This always gets the bride talking, which is great and we usually get way more detail than we need. Essentially, what matters is the colour, the style and if there is any ornamentation. So let’s tackle these one by one.

The colour:


Very seldom do we get brides going with an actual colour over a shade of white, but when they do it opens up a world of possibilities for the bouquet. But neutral still reigns for the bridal gown, and so what we need to know is are we talking true white, natural white, off white, ivory, cream….you get my drift here. Because the dress is the background for the bouquet, the flowers need to compliment it while actually showing up in front of it, so if it is a true white and you have your heart set on only the purest white flowers, we will recommend having a greenery collar at least, probably mixing some greenery into the posy itself. This is because if you don’t, all your photos will show you holding basically nothing in your hands as the white flowers will be indistinguishable from the white of your dress. Choosing an off white heading into the creamy tones means we will try to avoid using too much pure white in your bouquet, as this can often make the colour of the dress seem “dirty” or “muddy” against the pureness of the flower colour.


The cut:


Again, we get a lot of detail about this, but what we want to find out is how full the gown is and if it is following a particular era in styling. For example a gown with a full skirt and sleeves will need a fuller fancier bouquet, perhaps getting into a teardrop or cascade even, to balance out the visual weight of the skirt- a delicate posy of lily of the valley would be totally lost. A slender, body skimming fit lends itself more to elegant architectural bouquets, such as three stems of calla lilies left long and simply bound. If the gown has a princess feel we will know you are heading for a different look overall in the wedding than the bride that has chosen the 1930’s art deco gown.


The ornamentation:

Is there some delicate beading around the waist band? Embroidered vines all over the skirting? Your florist needs to know if the dress is calling attention to a particular area so the bouquet doesn’t take away from that- A too full posy will block that beading from view entirely, and we’d want the posy for the embroidered dress to have some echoing of the vines within it, without making it feel like the whole look is overgrown!
Ornamentation can also give some great little details that we can then pull through the rest of the wedding- One Periwinkle bride had a beautiful coloured sash around her waist- this was repeated with similar satin ribbon at the necks of the centerpiece vases and was a wonderful personalization of the event.

You chose your gown because it makes you look how you want people to see you, even if this wasn’t a conscious part of your decision process, so a good florist can glean a lot of information about what your want in flowers from hearing about your dress. Breaking down the elements of colour, cut and ornamentation is a great way to help guide you in your bridal bouquet choice, even if at first you really do feel you have “no idea ” about the flowers.

In my next installment we will tackle the bridesmaids and flower girls so stay tuned!

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Your Life Is NOW

Contest alert!!!

In honour of Earth Day tomorrow I'm going to give away a copy of a book that changed my life. It's been out for a bit but for those who haven't had the opportunity to pick it up, this is the perfect day for it.



The contest is open to everyone (even vendors ;)) ... just read the details ...


Ecoholic by NOW magazine columnist Adria Vasil will open your eyes. Some of the info is scary at times but all-in-all the book serves as a huge reference tool, in words we can all understand, for bettering our lives and the environment. Everything is Canada based which is a huge advantage.

It would make sense that I'm doing the draw for the book tomorrow, right? It would if *I* made sense. Unfortunately I'm going to be on vacation as of 5:30EST tonight and won't be returning until Wednesday, May 6th. So, here are the contest deets ...

WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO:

IF YOU HAVE A TWITTER ACCOUNT:
1. Retweet the message - RT @sulicu get Ecoholic by Adria Vasil for free at momentsthatshine.blogspot.com!
2. Follow me at http://twitter.com/sulicu
3. Send me a direct message so I can see that you've Retweeted!

IF YOU HAVE YET TO JOIN TWITTER:
1. Type out an eco-tip. It can be big or small and it can be something you practice or something you just Googled. As a side note, I'll be posting the best of the tips after the giveaway.
2. Email the tip to me with your full name and best email address to reach you at.

Do this by Friday, May 8th (2009) at noon EST. I'll hold a random draw and the winner will be contacted for a shipping address right away. Everything will be announced no later than Monday, May 11th.

There's no limit to the amount of times you enter ... if you're going the Twitter route, just keep retweeting message so I can keep track of how many entries you should have.

It's that simple. Good luck everyone!

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Nothing more than feelings

I haven't been to many weddings in my life. Not sure why, but it means that I'm not influenced too much by family traditions or reciprocal relationships with friends.

These days then when I'm looking for inspirations for our wedding, I find myself looking at photos of 'real' weddings on various websites and in bridal magazines. And what strikes me as the most important aspect of any wedding isn't tradition, or theme, or colour. It's feeling.

Specifically, how personal and meaningful do the various elements seem for who the bride and groom are, separately and as a couple? I've seen a lot of photos of beautiful weddings, but what comes off in some of those photos for some of those weddings (not all, of course!) is this hollow feeling, as if it was more important how the wedding looked than how it felt.

We don't want to be one of those.

Though the wedding is getting closer and closer (less 13 months away now!) there are a lot of things that have yet to be decided or finalized. We have that luxury, I think, because we're not going for anything huge or even particularly showy. When I take time out of my week nowadays to think about our wedding, that is the question preoccupying me. How can I make our wedding personal and meaningful?

But more important, I think, is that we're both coming to understand that we don't want our wedding to come off as a performance or a show. Yes, it's a social event, but it's also deeply meaningful day for both of us.
Thus, the way we have the evening flow should feel right for us. This means we'll be jettisoning anything "traditional" or "usual" to weddings that doesn't feel right for us. A big part of this is the fact that we want our guests, all close friends and immediate family, to feel completely part of our first day together as a married couple. Not sure yet how we'll accomplish this, but that's where Susan's expertise will come in.

We probably know more about what we don't want right now than what we do want. No kitcsh, no favours, no peronalized napkins or fussy chair bows, no dancing, no one present that at least one of us doesn't know quite well by first name.

What do we want? The answer to that question is still emerging and evoloving, but it seems to lay in a variety of elements. Some of them are obvious things. Colour is one, of course, Purple is my favourite colour, followed closely by green and (oddly?) brown. So our palette will play in and around those (I think I want to wear amethyst and peridot gemstone jewellery, rather than the traditional colourless pearl or crystal). We'll probably try to have wines that reflect our favourites from our first trip through the wineries of Niagara, as MM was learning that he loves wine, so long as it is "the right kind of wine" (his words). We're both inveterate meat-eaters, as are most (all?) of our guests, so red meat of some kind will be our star in the entree. We'll be custom writing our vows, mixing in traditional elements with snippets of things we say to each other daily, so that it really carries an emotional punch for us both. (Heck if MM doesn't cry after saying his, I'll be surprised!). And, if the budget can be stretched to accommodate it, we'll have live music that includes at least one bass or cello, since MM loves that instrument.

As we pick the options and elements in the next few months to come, with each choice will come the need for us to answer the question: how does the choice make us feel about this big day? I think that as long as choice can be answered byone of four words ("happy/comfortable/silly/fun) then we'll have a day that we feel reflects us and our commitment to one another, and that will be remembered happily and fondly by us and our guests for months to come.

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Show Me Where To Look ... Tell Me What Will I Find

We're obviously full on into wedding season now so the blog has been quiet. I'm hoping everyone will be back on a regular basis soon though! To tie you over a bit, I revisited the wedding dresses on Etsy ... they didn't disappoint! Here is some eye-candy for you ...


This masterpiece is by .: sarahseven :. Yes, the rest of her designs are just as scrumptious.


Handmade by .: amandaarcher :., this dress is even machine washable.


How about a flair for the dramatic from .: btrousseau :.?


.: Makool :. makes this unique dress with three layers of chiffon and silk.


If simple and classic is your style, this dress by .: Breathless :. may be what you're looking for.


For the look of vintage, Etsy has a great range of dresses! This one courtesy .: VeraVague :. has been left in perfect condition for decades.


Toronto seller alert! This dress from .: atouchofvintage :. is just dreamy.


I'm in love with this dress by .: englishdept :. LOVE the simplicity.


.: jinxydv8 :. has added pizazz to this dress with the great tulle flowers!


And how about something upcycled? A detachable train makes this dress by .: bytheway :. something new again!

And get ready for my Pick of the Week ...

Hopefully you remember a certain guest author by the name of Morgan Boszilkov. If not, go back .: HERE :. to check it out.


I was ecstatic to see this dress by .: NaturalBridals :. on Etsy. Morgan's dresses are not only eco-conscious but they are couture to die for!

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I Want To Walk With You On A Cloudy Day

Happy Wedding Day Autumn & Mat!!!
May it be everything you dreamed of ...

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Missing you from down low

By now, MM should have finally left Canada and is who knows how many feet up in the air, flying towards his new desert home. This means I won't be able to talk to him for a few days, as he settles into his desert cubby. :-/

What better way to distract my wistful self than some retail therapy, you say? I agree! Here are some today's finds from mTs' fave site, Etsy.

Spring is in the air here in Ontario. I feel it, despite today's dark and cloudy aspect. So I'm thinking about t-shirts and loving the idea of a few screen printed numbers. And I heart anything with trees on it. Like this one from Ellembee:



I also start thinking purses in the spring. School ends for me this week (barring a bit of grading) so I start thinking about ditching my backpack and snagging a few bright and girly purses. This one from Chicago Fine Threads isn't bright, but it is girly.


It could even work as my wedding day purse, hmmm....

And finally, I've been thinking of an original way to send out Save the Date cards. it will happen too early to have nailed down our actual wedding invite look, so I was thinking of sending out photo style cards. But that seemed a bit narcissistic to me. Then I found Unless' illustration shop on Etsy that makes custom line drawing portraits from your photos. Check it!



Now THAT would make for an original and memorable Save the Date card hmm? Love love this idea!

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Let it be chocolate and vanilla

Quick post from me today, on the eve of a big day tomorrow. MM ships out tomorrow, so we are spending the evening hanging out and doing everything possible to distract ourselves. Not sure how it happened, but web browsing and wedding stuff ensued.

And once again he surprises me by falling head over heels for something.

In this case it is cake. Specifically, the cakes from a small Ottawa vendor, The Girl with the Most Cake.



"those are awesome! Can we have one of those?"

When I reminded him of the cost of a fancy cool cake, he just shrugged and said...

"Ok guess we'll have to use cheaper liquor to make up for it."

That's my man. I love you and will miss you these next six months.

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Fortunate Fool

To all of you still partying ...


HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

The four leaf clover is a wonderful thing. With a little help from .: Sampleireland.com :. here are some facts ...

The four leaf clover has long been considered lucky. Many say this belief originated in Celtic cultures - with Wales being identified in particular. This would not surprise as the landscape of the British Isles is abundant in clovers of all shapes and sizes.

Today the Clover and Shamrock are both seen as lucky symbols in the US, Ireland and much of Europe, Australia and the rest of the world.

The origins of this belief are lost in time, but it's likely to come from the fact that the nutritional values of clover are high and domesticated animals fed on a diet rich in clover grow fat and produce good milk. From this perhaps, the plant took on the power to do good things.

The rarity of the four leaf clover has meant it is highly valued.

Another reason for the leafs power lies with the druids of long ago.

They used the clover in spells and the belief was the four leaves represent the four elements of alchemy - earth, water, fire and air - and also the four seasons.

St Patrick is said to have used the shamrock to explain the Trinity - of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Three separate parts, but intrinsically one entity.

The fourth leaf then represented God's grace.

In more modern times, special powers are granted to owners of four leafed clovers. These powers include being able to detect witches and evil spirits, and to see fairies. Cows are protected from witches by clover.

So maybe that all helps to explain the luck of the Irish..

Aparently the chances of finding one are a million to one - as there are 1,000,000 3 leafed clovers to every four leaf clover..

But they are out there, so get yourself out into a paddock and don't stop til you have your very own four leafed clover.

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Pretty Plum Posies

We are in full swing here at Periwinkle, meeting with brides for summer and fall weddings this year. Something new we are doing is putting together “mood” boards for our brides to help them visualize the colour combinations, as it can certainly be overwhelming during the planning process and when I say purple and yellow that might not look the same in your head as it does in mine! As an example, here is the board I created for one of my most recent brides to be. She is getting married in June this year and has chosen a lovely plum colour for the bridesmaids. We discussed a few different colour combos, starting with the more obvious one of mixing in pinks, but this bride is a little more adventurous and wanted to do something fresher- here’s where we picked up the idea of a soft creamy yellow as a highlight to the plums, purples and blues.

I love it! And it works so well for this bride as she herself is a light blond with pale skin. I can’t wait to work on this one!

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Getting Your Ears Pierced?

Makeup In Motion's Tips & Tricks

Adornment worn on the ears dates far, far back. In many cultures, for religious or traditional reasons, it was customary to pierce the ears of a newborn girl.

Today, people have their ears pierced (or other body parts pierced) for a variety of reasons. The main one being that piercings are an expression of ourselves, our personalities and the message we want to convey.

Whether you opt for single or multiple ear piercing, or whether you're considering having your baby or child pierced, here are some tips that may make the journey a little easier.

Choose an experienced establishment....one that practices the utmost in hygiene and personal care. And if a baby or child is having a piercing, make sure the provider is experienced with children.
Choose a good quality white or yellow gold earring as there is less likelihood of an allergy. Avoid plated products and make sure the earring itself has a dome-shaped backing that prevents discomfort while sleeping.
Be committed to having those earrings in for at least 8 weeks for a proper formation and healing of the hole. And when you do take them out, get another pair in asap and keep wearing earrings daily.


Cleanse the new piercing 2 - 3 times daily during the 8 week healing period. Use a gentle product specifically for piercings that will disinfect the area but not damage the earrings or dry out the skin. Don't use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.
If pain is not your thing, talk to your local pharmacist about a numbing cream that you can apply an hour before the piercing. This item is amazing, especially for children or those wanting a painless experience.
And finally, if one of your new earrings happens to come out (not likely but can occur) during the 8- week healing process, find it and get it back in immediately. Holes can close almost immediately during your healing, especially with young children.

If you want to learn more about earpiercing, visit our website to view video of an actual piercing. I promise, no blood, guts or gore, just some great information. This will be available for viewing on April 1. Or you can see the segment on Lifestyles With Rita Nave which airs Tuesday March 31 on Channel 12 CHEX TV Durham at 5:30pm.

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Dude...where's my backdrop? 7 questions for your wedding decorator

Lately I've been receiving a number of brides who have come to me after dealing with what I call "bootleg" decorators. The ones who promise the world, but then come up so short on their wedding day, it's really kinda sad. Here are some questions you should really ask your decorator

Do you have free consultations?

Most of us offer free consults. be respectful of time. Try and get all the basic info such as pricing and availability by email or by phone first, that way, you know what you're getting into when booking an appointment.

if you have an idea of what you want, great! you can help us best serve you by having a few ideas outlined with picture examples. We can't help you if you don't know what you want and you don't like what we show you. We assume that you like our work which is why we're meeting in the first place!

If you have a budget in mind, let the decorator know! But you also have to be realistic with what you have in mind. You can't expect your decor to look like $5,000 if you only have $500.

How long have you been doing decor?

This is a great question. We all had to start somewhere! However, your decorator should be honest with you.

For instance, I started in 2005 when my older sister's wedding decor was a disaster! I vowed never to let another bride have grass green substitute sage green in decor because she couldn't afford a backdrop that costs $5k. I started doing weddings here and there for friends and then turned it into a business in late 2006.

Ask them for testimonials/referrals from past clients.


Are the pictures on your website/portfolio yours?

I know it sounds like a crazy question to ask, but ASK! You'd might be surprised at the answer you get.

I know of a few companies have been known to "borrow" pictures from other decorators and pass them off as theirs to unsuspecting brides!

When you're going through a potential vendor's portfolio, it's normal to see a gradual evolution in style, colours, fabric etc.

However, if you see pictures where one job looks like it came out of a bridal magazine and on the next few pages you see tons of sloppy swagging, badly mismatched colours, a case of 'not-enough-fabric' on the head table backdrop or even people in the picture, I would question it.

in a professional decorator's portfolios, 9 times out of 10, you won't see people in their pictures at the reception hall (unless the decorator is also a florist and the people are brides posing with flowers OR they are professional pictures from a photographer).

why? we are normally LOOOOOOONG gone before any of your guests arrive. If you do see people, they should be in uniform - aka banquet staff! so there's no real reason to see the BP at the head table or half eaten cake on the cake table. If they have people in their pictures, ask them how they got them!

I'd also be suspicious if their portfolio included:

- too many blurry pictures and an extraordinary amount of camera phone pictures. This is a bad case of "I went to a hall on a Saturday afternoon and took pictures of a already decorated hall"

- only one picture of a setup. most decorators take MANY pictures of their work, so at least 2 or 3 will end up in a portfolio.


Are you going to decorate my wedding?

Most of the decorators (if not all) on this board do the weddings they book. There are some companies, similar to dj companies, where you speak with one person, but another person does your decor. Nothing wrong with this type of arrangement, just be aware that this may be the case.


Do you have special promotions/specials

ask us! you never know what we might have! Free money boxes/rentals, free receiving tables, free upgrades for off season. If we have a new product we'd like to get out there, we may use your wedding as the example and you can get discounted or complimentary add ons!


What does your pricing include?

don't just base your decision on cheap pricing! Ask to see a sample of what you're getting for $200! If chair covers are being advertised for $1.00 installed or head tables and cake tables for $200, unless you're getting married in your parent's basement, it's probably too good to be true.

Ask to see examples of their $200 work! If you ask, any reputable decorator may allow you to come and see them on-site during a setup so you can see what you'd be getting for your hard-earned $200. If they won't allow you to see their work on-site, save your $$ for a decorator that will!

Pricing may not include delivery, setup, same night take down, mileage etc.

How does booking/payment work?

if a company makes you feel uncomfortable or pressured into signing on the dotted line, i wouldn't recommend booking with them.

however, most decorators do not hold dates without deposits. if we held dates for every bride that said they wanted to book, we wouldn't get any business done!

For us, peak wedding season is from Easter to Thanksgiving. If you've done all your research and feel that they are the right company for you, contact them ASAP to book! Dates book quickly!



I hope this was useful! Happy Wedding Planning!!!

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May You Build A Ladder To The Stars

Blogging becomes difficult when you're up to your arms in paper, ribbon, tape, etc. Oh, and when you're doing taxes in your 'spare' time, too.

Things are a bit easier at the moment though with Shelley's invitation complete. She came to pick things up yesterday afternoon and seemed very happy with the result! I'd love to share a few pictures of her creation with you ...


Shelley wanted a soft look on top so we placed vellum on the first layer.


At the bottom of the front you can see the peek of her special order blue she asked to have incorporated.


A quick overview of the first layer of text.


She also had a special verse compliments of Bob Dylan she wanted included on the main invitation. Looks great!


Shelley put together a great little map and with a little Moments That Shine magic, we refined it and popped it into the Hotel & Map page.

It was a great time working with this lovely lady! Shelley had a vision off what she wanted and I'm very happy to have been a part of the creative process in her wedding. As I mentioned above, this was her creation ... that's a statement I like to echo with all clients. I'll help them along with whatever they need but generally I bring their ideas to life. No two invitations are ever the same when they leave this office!

Contact me if there's ever anything you would like and remember we can work within any budget!

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And In The Bravest Moments I Watch You

Contest Alert!

My friend Larissa Issler over at .: Ambient Studios :. is having a great contest right now that I'd love to pass along to you. In her own words ...



All they have to do is visit the blog at
http://www.ambientstudios.ca/blog and add their idea for a shoot. It
could be a great location, something meaningful to them as a couple or
unique to their relationship. Out of all the entries we will pick
the top ideas and put it to a public vote on the blog. The winner
will have their idea turned into a reality for FREE, receive a DVD of
all the high resolution files, an online gallery of the images and
their choice of a Fine Art Guest book or framed 11x14 print for
display at the wedding.

So get your thinking caps on and take advantage of this spectacular offer! I've worked with Larissa before and can't say enough good things about her work as well as her personality. Contest ends on Monday so enter now!!!

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I Love Him

It's about time we focused on what the groom should wear on his feet, no? Men generally have it easy in the attire department but there is absolutely no reason why some thought shouldn't go into things. And why not show a little bit of that great personality with shoes?



I love a nice, classic brown shoe like the three below ...


This is actually a photo I found off of Etsy by .: landonhowell :. but I love those colours.


This shot courtesy .: Leigh Miller Photography :.


Photo by .: Erwin Darmaili :.

You can also go the ankle boot route ...


These are by .: WolandandMoon :. and you can find them on Etsy.

How about a twist of colour on classic loafers?


Bright whites by .: Stacy Adams :. and can be purchased at a reasonable price.


Bling for the boy! I found these online at .: Groom ... to have and to hire :.

And now, have some run with running shoes!


Photo by .: Studio Heart :.


Runners with a leaf motif by .: mayahayuk :.


And I love this idea! Bright green and blue shoes with a little custom labeling. Picture by .: Picture That Photography :.

Whatever the mood of the wedding, have fun with the shoes! If anything, it could make for some great photos ;)

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