Intimate weddings

If you want the extravagant, classy, upscale wedding, why not have it with just fewer people? An intimate wedding with only 60-80 could be absolutely lovely. There's a few mansions in NOTL that have been turned into bed and breakfasts that will accommodate up to 80 people in the grand ball rooms or library.

The Grand Victorian Bed and Breakfast is an example of such a place.

The Grand Victorian Bed and Breakfast, NOTL

Another option for an intimate upscale wedding would be one of the vintage inns in town - The Prince of Wales, Queen's Landing or The Pillar & Post.

They have off-season wedding packages that are only $99 per guest - an amazing deal for a hotel that high on the scale.

The Prince of Wales Hotel in Winter

The Queen's Landing Hotel

The Pillar and Post entrance at Christmas

A Niagara-on-the-Lake wedding continued...

Queenston Heights Entrance

If you've ever been to Niagara, you know that it's nickname should be the floral capital of Canada. Having hundreds of greenhouses, florists, horticultural programs and gardens in the region makes it extremely easy to find the flowers you want at a reduced cost. However, still keep in mind that whatever is in season will still be the least amount of money.

Queen's Royal Park, NOTL

Photography? Easy. Find a friend that has an SLR camera and enjoys taking photographs and ask them to be your photographer. All of the places I named in the previous blog entry (for example, Fort Mississauga, Queens Royal Beach, Queenston Heights) would be great locations for wedding pictures... and they're free public areas!

Hair and make up? Niagara College has full hair dressing, esthetician and cosmetology programs that offer full salon and spa services to the public at very low costs. They do a great job, but it takes longer than it usually would, so just schedule extra time!

National Historic Site, Fort Mississauga

Here are links to the price lists:

Hair salon - http://www.niagaracollege.ca/hairsalon/ ($20 up-dos!)
Spa - http://www.niagarawaters.ca/

Food and wine? Niagara College also offers programs in culinary skills and wine and beer making. This also means that they sell their products! The wine is excellent and can be purchased by the case and I believe the restaurant caters.

Winery - http://www.nctwinery.ca/
Restaurant - http://www.niagaracollege.ca/content/Benchmark/BenchmarkHome.aspx

Niagara College NOTL Campus

Take a step back in time...

Yes, I took this picture. That's how beautiful it actually is.

After spending the last 2 days in my favourite place in the world, I had the urge to write about it. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a wonderfully beautiful place. It is located in southern Ontario just 20 minutes from the world famous Niagara Falls. It's my personal favourite because it is a historic, quaint little town that resembles one you would have found in Britain over a hundred years ago. Not only that, it was also named "Canada's Prettiest Town" and holds the "best Sunday afternoon drive" as named by Winston Churchill in 1944.

Queenston Heights Battlefield and Brock's Monument

It is steeped with rich history, as it holds a long list of firsts for Canada. It was the country's first capital, it holds the country's first museum and masonic lodge, it was home to Canada's first newspaper and among many other things, the main site of the War of 1812. Walking down the main street you feel as though you've stepped back in time as the church bells ring, horse and carriage's clip clop down the road and all of the buildings are circa 1800s.

What does all this have to do with weddings? A lot. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a premier wedding destination for thousands of people every year. However, this does not come cheap. Having lived in the town for 4 years, over the next little while I am going to show you ways you can have a magical Niagara-on-the-Lake wedding for much less than you would expect.

NOTL Historical Society and Museum

To start I am going to reinforce the date. Prices drop dramatically in the town's off-season, as the tourists have all gone home and the local seniors find it too cold to step outside. Local businesses are desperate for revenue, and thus will strive to make your dream wedding in your budget. This holds especially true for the hotels, bed and breakfasts (which there are over 200 of), and the many, many wineries.

Famous artist, Trisha Romance's art gallery

While those locations are what you normally would think of for a wedding in town, have you ever thought where else a wedding could be held? There's a wonderful museum with a large space, old mansions that can be rented out, a gazebo on the waterfront and beach, two War of 1812 forts that have hosted weddings, an old apothecary, open vineyards, Niagara College's beautiful campus on the escarpment with a gourmet restaurant and winery on site, and while this town's library is quite modern, other similar towns may have a historic one perfect for weddings.

Place Settings

In keeping with the idea of a lovely fall wedding, how about gourd place settings!? They're super cute, colourful and easy.

All you need to do is find a local farm or road stand and buy a bunch of them a couple weeks before the wedding (the later the better - unless you're going to shellac them), clean them off and tie ribbons with your guests names on them.

Another fun idea is to paint them your wedding colours or simple golds and silvers.

There are ways to preserve them so they'll last a long while, but I would only recommend doing that if you have extra time of your hands or very few guests.

You could also use items like pinecones, apples and other fruit, however it can start to seem cheap - especially if the pinecones still have dirt on them. Yuck.

The apple of his eye - DIY FAVORS!

Fall is that yummy time of year when everything local is ripe for the pickin' and we start packing away for the winter. What's one of the most common fruits this time of year? Apples, of course! Why not make your own wedding favors  - caramel apples!

Who better than to show you how to do it!? Paula Deen of course. While Paula uses caramel, nuts, chocolate, etc for decorating the apples remember you can use anything you want. White and dark chocolate would be cute for bride and groom apples or even sprinkles in your wedding colours!

Click on the video to see how it's done - and don't blame me if you end up craving one.

Her Royal Highness

As you may have heard last year, when Kate Middleton married Prince William she applied her own makeup for her wedding day. She looked absolutely stunning, as always. You can too, without the extra cost of $100+ and the fear of looking like a the Joker.

I've posted a video below that demonstrates the techniques that Kate used for her wedding make up. Obviously, if you're going to do this you'll want to do a few trials with different colours before the wedding and use different foundations to see how your skin reacts.

The video is only 10 minutes long and can teach you some really lovely techniques. Enjoy!

Pinterest

If you haven't already become addicted, Pinterest.com is a social network that allows you "pin" ideas, pictures, quotes, etc that you like onto online "boards". It's a great tool for keeping track of the things you find online that you don't necessarily need at the moment or don't have time to look over at that time. It has taken the wedding industry by storm.

Women all over the world that are engaged, or in long term relationships, or don't have a significant other whatsoever but love weddings and the idea of planning one have taken to Pinterest to plan their weddings.

It is an exceptional tool for DIY ideas, ways to save money, company reviews (is that cake really worth $2000?), engagement photo poses without the fancy photographer and how to plan a wedding in general.  It is a lot of fun and is extremely addictive - I'm warning you now.

The statistics down the side of the page are an example of what you might find on Pinterest. Great advice and very helpful.

Something new?

Asides from the ring, the next big thing for the bride is the dress. While yes, every woman wants the "ouh" and "ahh" experience when she walks out of the dressing room for the first time in a beautiful white gown, not every one can afford that experience. I have a solution for you.

Go to the bridal salons, try on gowns, figure out what you want, what size you are, etc... then go on http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/. There are other pre-owned gown websites out there, however I like this one best. And here's the best part: most of the dresses are brand new with tags - at 60-85% off!

I'm quite taken by a Amelia Carrara dress (pictured below) that usually retails for $9000, give or take a few bucks. I found on this website a while back in my size, and for my tall height (which is rare to find anything in) for $2000! The only thing that held be back (other than not even having a boyfriend at the time) was not having the closet space to store it for God knows how many years.

It won't hurt to take a look... I don't think you'll be disappointed!

DJ? What DJ?

I just came across this great iPhone/iPod app... For $2 you can design and play your wedding playlist from your device - no DJ required! The app is called "My WeddingDJ".

It lets you make out an entire wedding "music plan" that includes multiple songs and playlists for everything. There's reccommended playlists such as pre-ceremony, bride's walk down the aisle, recessional, dinner, first dance, father-daughter dance, going away, etc... or you can make your own.

It fades, takes breaks when you enter them, and can even take requests! And the best part - it's guaranteed all of your favourites will be played!

The reviews for it are fantastic, and if used, it will save you hundreds of dollars. Now all you need is an MC!

Check it out in the iTunes store here:

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/my-weddingdj/id383243064?mt=8

Save the date!

Most couples have the vision of their ideal wedding in their heads years before they get engaged or even meet their fiance. However, if you don't and you're open to ideas, the wedding "off-season" (November to April) is a great option. Not only is it significantly less money, it will be a heck of a lot easier on you. There's a 99.9% chance everything you want from the venue, the florist, the photographer, to the DJ will not only be available but also offer you reduced rates in order to secure your business.

Don't be discouraged if you're picturing a dreary, blah, cold setting. Winter weddings can be wonderfully romantic - if you do it right. Look into it; I promise you won't be disappointed.

Check out this video from the Vintage Hotels in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

http://vintage-hotels.com/winterweddings.htm