And These Are The Moments

She's back!

Autumn_Bride is home from her fabulous honeymoon and we've gone over some pictures from the day ... now I would love to share them with you!



Considering she was married in mid-October, the weather completely blessed her that day. Not too hot, not too cold and blue skies. Here are some of my favourite shots ...

This was the stunning church after all the guests had left.

Here is Paul from Shooter 4 Hire giving some directions to the bridal party on how he wanted the shot set up ....

The reception was held at Boaden Catering in Mississauga. Here's a great room overview.

A close-up of the head table. All décor by Natasha of Occasions.

A guest table shot ...

And another table shot ...

Delectable cake!

The card box and photo guest book table.

Always thinking of her guests, Autumn_Bride put together fantastic bathroom baskets for both the mens' and ladies' rooms. I heard from her last night that the mens' room basket was completely used up ... who knew?!

The favours of choice were packages of four tealights ... all adorned with different leaf embellishments.

A serene first dance to "I Could Not Ask For More".

She's fantastic, strong, determined but man ... she can cry at the drop of a hat! ;)

At Boaden Catering, when a new course is ready for the head table, loud music comes on and the staff come out dancing and clapping as they serve them the food. It was a huge hit!

A DJ or a simple band wasn't enough for this pair. They *had* to hire their favourite local band, .: Orangeman :. to come out and entertain. Best decision they could have made, too. The dance floor was packed all night long!

The Bridal Party dance and introduction of Orangeman.

This couple had a LOT of fun with the garter retrieval and toss. They did a cute little number to "You Can Leave Your Hat On" that had the crowd loving it.

Orangeman was kind enough to learn a special song for the groom ... here is a (fuzzy) picture of his reaction to the surprise.

Didn't I say she was meant to model?

A Bride, an Orangeman and a Wedding Planner. Interesting combo.

One of my favourite bridal pictures ... Crystal, Autumn_Bride and Susan.

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Our Circle of Life

As a graduate student, my specialty is sociology. I study people in groups... their behaviour, their expectations, their relationships with others. And given this choice of field, you’d probably jump to the easy conclusion that I love people, have an active social life and I have a ton of people who would want to attend my wedding.


You’d be mostly wrong.

MM and I discovered this when we started making out a guest list for the wedding. Even by stretching the numbers a bit and hoping that most of who we included on the list would actually attend… we ended up with 45 names.

45. That’s it. The sum total of who he and I know.

First of all, I should point out that I’m an orphan (by choice, but that’s a whole other story). Because of this, I don’t have siblings or parents to consider or include in our plans, let alone their family and friends. All those great-uncles, distant third cousins and dad’s former boss that get put on other people’s guest lists? Absent on ours.

On MM’s side, he has divorced parents and a brother. His brother is the best man, and his parents will be invited (along with their current significant others).

Add to that lives that have had both of us move around a fair deal around Canada, him because of army life and me because of… well.. life.. and it means that ties to friends are often tenuous and those people have a tendency of slipping away from us.

So between the two of us, our combined circle of friends and family who would want to attend our wedding comes out to 45 people.



This seemed to be a good number though. Smallish, true, but still enough to have a rocking party.

Or so I thought. Until we started actually working with Susan to find a place to hold our nuptial shindig. Then the problems cropped up.

...(to be continued next week)

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Round, Round, Round, Round, I Get Around

Actually, Tarriell does.

It seems one of her posts caught the eye of a researcher ...
Take a look .: over here :.

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Now Everytime I Go For The Mailbox ...

Now that wedding season is dying down a bit, I'm happy to focus more on invitations. For those who don't know (because it doesn't get posted about often enough!), Moments That Shine loves to get creative on paper, too! Actually, this time of the year is part of my favourite. Chaos seems to wind down and I'm able to focus more on being artistic. Perfect for those blustery days!

I love using fabric and different textures! This is an inexpensive yet trendy concept.
And yes, I know it should be 'Gwyneth' ... luckily this was just a sample ;)

Right now we're trying to come up with eco-friendly options for customers even if it's a suggestion as simple as 'get rid of inserts'. My biggest pet peeve is too much paper but I understand it has to happen sometimes. For that reason we're looking into 100% post-consumer recycled papers (check out .: Jennifer's post from last week :. to shed more light) and becoming more socially aware by donating portions of proceeds to an organization that is making a difference.

I did want to share some designs with readers today. All invites (or other stationary) from Moments That Shine is completely custom-made. We may start with a photo or two in mind but eventually everything evolves into a product that is uniquely you. Perhaps that why I love it so much! Here are some of my favourites ...

Suzanne opted for a custom drawn lamp post on a very simple single panel invitation. The final product was elegant and very meaningful to the couple!



Pocket folds are always a popular choice. As from the first picture, I was lucky enough to have Jennifer Images snap a photo of Jesara's invite for me. :) And of course, pocket folds come in many different shapes and colours!



For a destination wedding, luggage tags are the oh-so-favourites. This one for Lisa involved a custom map by .: Deeya Design :.


I think most readers remember this invitation. Along with Blogger Bride & Groom, I came up with one of the most unique designs yet. This echoed their personalities beautifully and was just so much fun!


Meaghan & Stuart were married in a private ceremony overseas (lucky them!) but wanted a party when they got back. The invite below is one of the first styles I designed for them and then afterwards they decided they wanted programs for the day as well. Turned out great as they were able to use their wedding photo on the cover!

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The Rear View Mirror Telling Lies

An event that has something fun for the guests to do *always* is a hit.

Pretty simple, right? You'd be surprised at how many people don't think about that though. I've talked about cookie-cutter weddings before so you know what I mean. I think some fine folks just get caught up in a nice time and they don't aim for a EXTRAORDINARY time.


One idea to make your guests have that fantastic time is to have fun with photos. Gone are the days of having disposable cameras at your tables (they're bad for the environment ... plus, how many butt shots do you really need?) ... try something a bit more advanced!

Many of my clients have opted to hire on an extra photographer for the day to have a little photo area, some love the instant gratification of Polaroid cameras, some are renting photo booths ... .: check out this option :. ... Snapshot Photobooth will come to you and set up the equipment. After that, your guests simply get in the frame, step on the pedal and snap their own photo!

You'll have people talking for year :)

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She Took Everything She Owned

GREAT website find for those who don't know about it yet. Are you having troubles finding a dress? Actually, there is more than just dresses to this site ...


Emily has these wonderful listings for designer dresses (for less!) but her .: blog :. is just as phenomenal. She has tips, trends and sometimes, just good, old-fashioned fun! Check out this centrepiece ...

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I'll Be the Sand, You Be the Pearl

"As you may be aware, there are various different gems such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds and not forgetting the good ole diamonds. But did you know that compared to all the possible gems available pearls are by far the most eco-friendly gem. Why, you may ask? Because pearls don’t require mining that is used to unearth other gems. This mining is destructive. Pearls don’t require any chemical leaching. Most importantly pearls are found in mollusks which are used to culture pearls and these mollusks depend on a relatively stable environment and clear water, in order to develop."

I don't think I could have said it better myself. Well, I may have been a little less ominous but that technically is what I've been trying to put into words. The quote is from .: PearlGenie :. and is very true. There's a huge debate about diamonds and actually a lot of educating to be done about them. For example, did you know that 250 tonnes of ore have to be dug up for one single carat? Okay. That was ominous. More on diamonds later. Right now I wanted to do a post on pearls. Who says you have to have a diamond engagement ring? For those of you unsure of the idea or just not hip enough to be square, I dug up (no pun intended) some inspiration pics for you. Some of the rings are pretty funky but I also managed to find some for the more traditional ladies reading. I hope you find some ideas you like!

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I Have No Missionary Zeal

I'm a huge fan of bamboo. I love the way it smells, looks, is durable ... everything! And you know I love it most of all because it's eco-friendly :) I decided to make this week's Etsy post all about bamboo. Some items are completely made of it and some are just pretty because they have bamboo on it ;)

Believe it or not, this is a bamboo pillow. I kid you not! Contact .: tinydecor :. for more information. The cover is 100% organic cotton, too!


Something we can all buy to help the environment *and* our wallets ... bamboo cutting boards. They're wonderful ... less splitting than wood and they actually don't scuff! This one is by .: ADrauglis :.


Look familiar to anyone? This awesome keepsake plate is made by friends of Moments That Shine. .: SerendipityCrafts :. not only does neat designs like this but they have wonderful personalized plates making perfect gifts.


.: diprimadesigns :. is on here twice this week! Not only do they make funky necklace tiles from bamboo but they have some special breast cancer awareness designs right now ... perfect for the month of October!




No, it's not here ... yet. But when I saw this design, I couldn't resist sharing. .: smockpaper :. prints their designs on bamboo paper and it doesn't stop there! They donate a portion of proceeds to the environment and package everything in biodegradable products. Way to go!


And my favourite of the week ... had to be something pretty :)
Check out this necklace by .: Janaration :. All I can say is I'm in love.

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top 5 things you can cut from your wedding decor! Part III

When you start planning your wedding, most brides have a pretty good idea of what they think their wedding should look like. This is perfectly normal. But then that very very bad evil EEEEEVIL budget gets in the way of your totally awesome day. Stupid budgets...



As I've mentioned in my 2 other posts (say no to chocolate & to sash or not to sash, the little things can certainly eat up a lot of your precious budget.

Another area where you probably can cut from your wedding decor budget are those fancy dancy napkins and tablecloths you picked from the banquet hall's book. Yep. The damask chocolate brown napkins and the pintuck taffeta tablecloths they flew in from Italy via China.

Nothing wrong with these items. I certainly appreciate beautiful table linens just as much as the next decorator (and I won't discourage you renting them from me either! But if you're skipping mortgage/car/osap payments because of the fancy dancy napkins and tablecloths, let me help you out.

Use what the hall includes! Most halls include basic white or ivory napkins and tablcloths with your package. Some might even include coloured napkins and/or tablecloths.

Of course, if you rent a hall that has tablecloths that don't touch the ground or is is BYOE (bring your own everything), then you probably have this built into your budget. If not, using what the hall currently provides can save you hundreds of dollars.

If you want to add colour to the tables, overlays or runners are a perfect inexpensive alternative. It adds that perfect splash of colour and doesn't hurt your Coach wallet! (I have a thing for them...sorry!)


Next week, *cue x-files theme music* chair covers.

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