Fair Trade Friday - Wine

Fair trade wines have been difficult for myself and the couples I work with to find, but according to Fair Trade Manitoba, that is changing quickly.

Fair Trade Manitoba put out an article on Wednesday about the MLCC's commitment to sourcing fair trade wines.  According to the article, fair trade wines are available in red and white, from Argentina, South Africa, and Chile. A year ago only two fair trade certified wines were available in Manitoba, and now there are almost 20 wines available.

For those of you planning a 2010 or 2011 wedding, there should be a fair trade wine to suit everyone!

Good Hair Day

I love hair accessories.  From small and dainty bows to gigantic flowers, I am all over this trend.  Anyone else?

Localfare Magazine

Recently, a new magazine came out in Manitoba Liquor Marts called Localfare.  It is filled with fantastic articles about local restaurants and food.  In this premiere issue there is an article about bridal showers, and myself along with two other Winnipeg planners were interviewed for the piece.  You can see my take on a green bridal shower on page 74.  Next time you're out picking up a bottle of wine, be sure to bring home a copy of Localfare as well!  Thanks Carly for including me in the magazine :)

Welcome, Tía - Gift Bags

Our kraft boxes have not arrived yet, however we do have gift bags in stock. If you need a gift in a hurry, we can gladly put it together within a few days and package it in a bag, like the one shown above. Contact us for more details.

Happy Louis Riel Day!

Weddingbells Giveaway!

I can't believe I didn't write about this earier in the week:

The Weddingbells giveaway ends tomorrow!  With a Flourish is giving away five gift baskets to be used for out-of-town wedding guests (although you could use them for whatever you want, of course) to one lucky Weddingbells reader.  There are also some other terrific prizes from photographers, venues, stationery designers, florists, etc.

Please enter your name before tomorrow on the Weddingbells website.

Good luck!

Welcome, Tía - Stylish Gifts for Sweet Occasions

Welcome, Tía is now completely open!  If you're an avid blog reader, you'll remember that a few weeks ago, I launched Welcome, Tía, an offshoot of With a Flourish dedicated to providing eco-friendly, fair-trade, local gifts and favours for weddings.

Well, the night that we put the Welcome, Tía website online, my husband and I were watching a Seth Godin talk.  During the talk, he explained a concept called "conscious capitalism" which is doing good while doing business.  Sam and I talked about how we could do good with Welcome, Tía, and the idea came to give gifts to Osborne House Inc., for them to give a woman there.  Osborne House Inc. is a Winnipeg shelter for women and their children, and I will dedicate a full post to them in the next little while.  So, since then we've met with Osborne House Inc., and come up with a system to provide gifts to them while still making a profit (we are trying to feed our family, after all) and keep the prices reasonable for our customers.

We also created two more boxes and redesigned the website.  I hope you like it!  I would love any feedback you may have, please contact me here.  More information is coming about Osborne House Inc., and products in the boxes.

With a Flourish Q&A

I've received some really good questions over the past couple of weeks about With a Flourish, so I decided to answer a couple of them here.  Please let me know if you have any other questions about With a Flourish or weddings that I can answer on the blog!

The first question is from my good friend:

What exactly is a green wedding?
A green wedding really starts with a mindset.  It begins with a commitment to have a low-impact wedding that does not damage the environment or support low-wage work.  A green wedding can include things like having the ceremony and reception at the same venue, using tree-free stationery, serving a local menu, or wearing a dress made of organic materials.  Please visit the Green Bride Guide , Eco-Beautiful Weddings, or Eco Chic Weddings for more information.

The second question is from a wonderful client:

Have you had any horror stories?
We've had nothing terrible happen - all of our clients said "I do", which is the most important thing after all.  We have dealt with an ill officiant, crying flower girl, a faint groomsman, tipsy groomsmen, broken glass, rain, late vendors, cake mishaps, decor issues, etc. - that's our job!  Fortunately, we work with amazing venues, photographers, florists, decorators, videographers, bakers, caterers, etc. so when something does happen, everyone steps in to help the situation.

In a meeting last week:

What is your most popular package?
Last year, it was Full Coordination.  Many of our clients were living outside of Winnipeg, and looking for someone who could really keep things together in Winnipeg.  This year, it's a variety - we have some Day-Of Coordination's, some Event Styling (very, very fun if you are looking for decorating that reflects your personal style and story), and some Partial Planning.  Many clients are choosing Partial Planning because it's more economical than a Full Coordination, but still provides consistent support throughout the wedding planning process.

The following three questions are from my most loyal blog reader - thanks so much for checking every day!  I know I haven't posted very much lately, but I'm getting back into the groove, promise!

I noticed on your website you have lots of country-style decor photos.  Can you do formal?
Absolutely we can do, and have done formal decorating.  Our goal is to work with each couple and design a wedding that suits them.  Most of our clients don't simply classify their decor needs as "formal" - they are concentrating on celebrating with their family and friends, and looking for special details that reflect their personalities.  We ask our clients about their style, their story and history in order to put together an inspiration board that is personal.  Our style includes using unexpected decorations and special details, which applies to  "formal" and non-formal occasions!

Why weren't you at the wedding show this year?
We were at the 2009 wedding show, and we really enjoyed it.  We met many fantastic people, and were completely happy with our experience. This year, however, our business is sustained mainly by word-of-mouth and referrals.

How large is your team?
Our team mainly consists of two people: myself, and my co-planner, Adrienne.  We have unofficially been working in some capacity on events together for about four years, and plan to continue working together as the core of With a Flourish.  We bring on additional help as needed, but we are a boutique wedding planning company.  We take on a limited number of events so that we can provide attentive service and we absolutely love our jobs!  You can expect a couple of blog posts by Adrienne coming in the next few weeks.

Fair-Trade Friday

I know, the blog has been slow lately.  I've been busy, but I promise, there's some good stuff coming up next week.  For now though, I wanted to encourage you to take part in the one month challenge and purchase fair-trade products.  The Fair-Trade Manitoba one-month challenge begins on February 14th.  The goal is to purchase only fair-trade tea, coffee, and chocolate for 30 days.  You can go here to sign up and learn more about the challenge and why you should be purchasing fair-trade products.

For home consumption, we only buy fair-trade coffee, tea, and chocolate.  It's easy.  We go to Ten Thousand Villages, Blue Earth Organics, Vita Health, or even Safeway to pick up these items.  The catch is that it must be fair-trade certified.  Many companies are selling "fair trade" or "community trade" products.  There is no regulation of these words, so anyone can use them even if there products are not fair-trade.  Certified fair trade products have this symbol:

So, as I was saying, it's easy to find fair-trade products to eat/drink at home.  The problem for me is, I'm not always at home.  Some weeks I pretty much live in coffee shops because that's where I meet clients.  There are obvious perks to this (great tasting treats and low office overhead, for example), but I don't always ask if my beverage uses fair-trade certified ingredients.  So my personal challenge for the next month is to be really conscious of what I'm eating/drinking when I'm not at home.  I'll compile a list of the best coffee shops/restaurants for fair-trade products and post them on the blog as I find them!