Fair Trade Friday - Chocolate

Often when my husband goes for groceries, I add "treat for Jess" at the bottom of the shopping list.   Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but I often end up with a yummy surprise.  Well, I sent my husband and son grocery shopping a couple hours ago, and one set of car keys locked in the car later, I'm at home wondering what my treat for today might be:)

This craving for sweets has got me thinking about chocolate.  Here's two of my favourites:

For chocolate bars, Cocoa Camino wins.  Fair trade certified and with several flavours available (I prefer milk chocolate if you're wondering), Cocoa Camino is sold at Ten Thousand Villages and pretty much all the organic food stores.

For gifts and super special treats, Chocolatier Constance Popp is the top of the list.  Many of their chocolates are fair trade and organic, and the chocolates are made here in Winnipeg at their Portage Ave location.  I haven't tried very many flavours because the first time I was in the store I had vanilla bean, and it was so good that I buy it every time.  And for brides, these chocolates are perfect for a dessert buffet or as favours.

Back to waiting for whatever "treat for Jess" my family comes home with today!

Adrienne & Dan - May 2009

Yes, you read right...this wedding was in May, 2009.  Adrienne and Dan's wedding was on a beautiful and windy May day and full of personal and unique touches.  After the wedding,  I asked Adrienne if she would write a blog post about the wedding.  Time went by.  She wrote a blog post and it sat in my inbox...and more time went by.  So now here we are, nearly a year after the wedding, and here is the long-awaited post, from Adrienne!

For over a year now Jess has been asking me if I would like to write for her blog. Why such procrastination? Well I suppose that the task seemed daunting, I mean really, where are you supposed to start?

After having some time to think it over I have decided to write a little bit about my
wedding and just a few of the things that made our day unique, memorable and very special.

When I was planning our wedding I was inspired by the idea of an old fashioned lemonade stand. The idea evolved into a more vintage, chic italian soda bar. The result was wonderful!
I was pleasantly surprised at how many different flavours of syrup were available. From fruit to nut, irish cream to white chocolate and everything in between I'm convinced there is a flavour to quench anyone's thirst! Fruity flavours were on the menu for our day complete with a old fashioned chalk board guide to which different flavours were being offered. The mixologist gave me a list of different syrup mixes that were most popular and suggested using frozen berries or fresh sprigs of mint as a garnish.
An italian soda stand would be great for an outdoor, summer wedding especially if your ceremony and reception are being held at the same location with some lounging time in between.

Beautiful, unique tea cups adorned the reception tables to add a little bit of old world charm. When I first had the idea to use tea cups my thought was "where am I going to find all those cups?" I quickly found out that there are many people who had a stash of them hidden away, and were more than happy to let lend their collection out. If this is in idea you're thinking of for your wedding I suggest asking older family members, or their friends. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find!

Although I didn't wear anything old for my wedding I still wanted to have pieces of old family memorabilia around. Old wedding photographs of our grandparents and great grandparents and even my Grandma's wedding veil were displayed at our wedding. It was an easy way to incorporate some family history and a special way to honour those people. For our italian soda stand we used an old, restored buffet from my parents house. It served its purpose beautifully.

I will always love that our wedding was tailored to capture who we were. That's what a wedding should be. A day for other people to join and celebrate your love and what makes you guys you! So make your day your own, a one of a kind celebration. Our day was perfect for us. I couldn't have asked for more!

Wedding Emergency Kit

Last year in a meeting with a couple, the soon-to-be groom was reading over my proposal for their wedding.  He asked, "it says here you bring an emergency kit....is that like a car emergency kit?"

Although a car emergency kit is definitely helpful, I carry what wedding planners call a "wedding emergency kit" to all weddings.  You can't really plan what will happen at each wedding, and for me, each wedding needs a different item.  However, in just one full wedding season, I've needed almost every item in the kit at one time or another.  Following is a list of items that are in my kit, so that you can add them to yours (unless you're a client, in which case I've got you covered)!:

Extra stockings
Needle & thread
Hairspray
Static guard
Lip gloss & chapstick
Powder
Earring backs
Chalk
Club soda
Clear nail polish
Extra stockings
Breath mints
Crackers
Water
Hand held mirror
Antacid
Feminine hygeine products
Tylonel or Advil
Bobby pins & hair ties
Curling iron & straightener
Deoderant
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Floss
Tissues
Tape
Extra boutonniere pins

Earth Day Weddings in Point Form

This is a good day to come out of my non-writing streak and get back into it.  With a Green Fashion Show and a family wedding in the past week, blogging has been about 200th on my priority list.  The good news is that I have lots to blog about over the next couple weeks!

With a Flourish has a niche market in eco-friendly weddings.  We're all about helping clients have a super stylish wedding that also has a low impact on the environment.  Here's a point form list of things you can do to green your wedding:

Dress - Adele Wechsler is Canada's leading eco-friendly gown designer.  Her work is beautiful.  The Cotton Bride carries a few of my favourite dresses in the world, and their collection is handmade in the USA.

Invitations - Look for paper made with Post-Consumer Waste (meaning, made from paper that has already gone through the system).  One of my favourite places for wedding invitations is Botanical Paperworks, which embeds seeds in their paper so guests can plant their invitations and flowers will grow.  Also, consider printing on a flat panel card to minimize waste, or going without an outer envelope.

Flowers - Look for locally grown flowers, or organic flowers.  The Friendly Florist recently provided flowers for an event I coordinated - and every flower used came from Manitoba.  In the middle of April.  We had gerbera's, tulips and daisies, all grown close to home.

Drinks - Organic and Fair Trade wines are popping up at the MLCC and they are really good!  The MLCC currently has them grouped together and when I was in, the staff were really knowledgable about what to try.

Food - Look for caterers that use local ingredients.  Food tastes better in season, and it really reduces your weddings carbon footprint by having the food produced close to home.

Companies are slowly going green, and one of the most influential things you as a bride can do is ask for eco-friendly services.  It lets wedding businesses know that, if they were to provide more eco-friendly services, there would be interested brides to purchase from them.

Happy Earth Day!

Sponsored Weddings in Winnipeg

I'm really excited today.  I've worked four really long days this week, woken up in the night thinking about work, and not seen enough of my really cute son and really cute husband.  So today, I'm off at noon.  If you need me I'll be at the park near my place:)  I'm also designing a promo table for an upcoming event, with a vintage theme (no surprise, I know), which definitely counts as play and not work.

Also, if you are planning a wedding or know someone who is, I have space for one, maybe two more weddings in July, and August is pretty open.  Please spread the word!  Thanks.  Onto todays post...

An article came out in the Winnipeg Free Press on Tuesday, about Lynzie Causton and Kyle Friesen who have an interesting approach to paying for their wedding.  Instead of having a social, cutting down on the size of the guest list, putting off the wedding until they can afford it or even taking out a loan, they are asking vendors to sponsor their wedding.  From what I can see, this means listing vendors on their wedding website, and promoting vendors at the wedding itself.

This isn't a new concept - couples have been having sponsored weddings for a few years now and wedding businesses are divided between thinking it's a brilliant idea and being horrified by the thought of doing a wedding for nothing but a listing on a wedding website.  I have done wedding planning for free, and I do event management for free for organizations that are close to my heart and/or good for my business, but I can't imagine that doing a sponsored wedding has any return on investment at all.

So... I don't know about sponsored weddings.  What do you think?  Are these couples really creative or just tacky?  Would you consider a sponsored wedding? Why or why not?

Event Styling in Winnipeg

Photo: blf Studios

We launched our Event Styling services quietly just before Christmas, and it has quickly become our most popular service.  Already about half of our 2010 bookings are for Event Styling.  It's perfect for couples who have the budget, timeline, and logistics covered, and need assistance with the atmosphere of the event.

Event Styling is more than decorating, more than rentals, and more than pretty linens.  It is designing the whole atmosphere and the small details.  Decorating asks what guests will see when they walk into a room, and Styling asks how guests will feel when they walk into a room.  It is sight, smell, taste, sound and texture.

As you can likely tell, I'm excited about this new service.  It's something Adrienne and I really love to do, and the more creative we can be the better.  Styling is a service that our Full-Coordination clients have been enjoying for the past year, and since introducing it as a stand-alone service we are happy to be assisting even more couples in planning their dream wedding.

Our With a Flourish style includes getting to know our clients, and making suggestions that are personal, seasonal, and classic. We're collaborators, and we love brainstorming and back and forth idea-swapping with clients and vendors.

In honour of finally blogging about Event Styling, the following services and pricing are in effect for wedding clients only that book before April 30th and are getting married in 2010.  Please contact us for a complimentary consultation!

Simple Styling:
-A detailed questionnaire to guide our consultation
-A two-hour in-person consultation
-Emails and phone calls as needed to brainstorm, share ideas and find resources
-A complete list of recommended stores/vendors and products that fit your wedding
-A digital inspiration board

$175

Sweet Styling:
-A detailed questionnaire to guide our consultation
-Two in-person meetings including one initial two-hour consultation and one venue walk-through
-Emails and phone calls as needed to brainstorm, share ideas and find resources
-A complete list of recommended stores/vendors and products that fit your wedding
-Three digital inspiration boards
-Up to 4 hours hands-on assistance making favours, seating charts, picking up supplies, etc.
-Complete set up and tear down of wedding styling items including linens, centrepieces, greeting/assisting cake, music, photographer, videographer and rentals with setup, favours, etc.* up to 4 hours

$800

Splendid Styling: 
-A detailed questionnaire to guide our consultation
-Four in-person meetings including one initial consultation, one venue walk-through and meetings with vendors or the couple when needed
-Emails and phone calls as needed to brainstorm, share ideas and find resources
-A complete list of recommended stores/vendors and products that fit your wedding
-Three digital inspiration boards
-Up to 8 hours hands-on assistance making favours, seating charts, picking up supplies, etc.
-Complete set up and tear down of wedding styling items including linens, centrepieces, greeting/assisting cake, music, photographer, videographer and rentals with setup, favours, etc.* up to 6 hours

$1200

*this does not include items that the venue typically sets up including tables, chairs, tents, cutlery, and electrical cords.

Vintage & Vogue: A Green Fashion Show

This Fashion Show on April 20th is going to be amazing, featuring the hottest designers in Winnipeg.  Check out the facebook page for more details, and email me for tickets!  More info to come next week!