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Your Engagement Party

An engagement party is a great trial run for your wedding day!

Take this as an opportunity to test vendors and get a sense of their capabilities. For example, hiring a florist for your engagement party will give you a sense of what that florist is capable of doing, whether or not he/she arrives on time, sets up properly, etc. It can be quite beneficial to see vendors in action during your engagement party before you sign on the dotted line for your wedding day!

However, many questions arise when planning an engagement party. Who gets invited? How far in advance should they be notified? For starters, it's never a very good idea to invite someone to your engagement party if you're not planning on inviting them to the wedding. To most people, the engagement party is the stepping-stone, leading to a bridal shower, bachelor/bachelorette party, and finally the wedding, itself. Of course, you can choose to invite immediate family and close friends to the engagement party and your wedding list can be significantly larger, but it's best to ensure that all your engagement party guests are also on your wedding guest list! People tend to feel hurt and left out when invited to the engagement party and not the wedding itself, as it may seem to them that you invited them to obtain an engagement gift, but didn't feel they were important enough to share in your special day. That said, when planning the engagement party, it's always safe to assume that people need at least one month's notice. This allows them enough time to hire a babysitter, clear their calendar, and/or purchase your gift!

Avoid Making Mistakes on Your Wedding Day!

Planning a wedding is certainly no easy task! A lot of detail is required and it can be very difficult to "cover all the bases". As a wedding consultant, I often run around on the day of the wedding, trying to stop accidents before they happen. Here is a list of some common suggestions to make your special day easy and flawless:

Seating plans typically fall apart and cause confusion on the day of the wedding. Although you may think that it would never happen to you, unexpected guests always find their way to your wedding! Whether it's someone's uninvited child, or uninvited date, it's bound to happen, so be prepared! I always suggest that an extra table be completely set and ready to go. Number the table like you would the others, and ask the facility to set cutlery, centerpieces, plates, etc as you would if you had people designated to that table! This way, when your "unexpected" guests arrive, they'll have a place to sit and blend in with the rest of the crowd, rather than making it obvious to all attending that there's been a glitch in the wedding. If no unexpected guests surprise you, or there are a few seats left at the "extra" table, you can invite your vendors to sit and have a bite to eat (i.e. Disc Jockey, Wedding Consultant, Videographer, etc). Also, make sure a friend or family member has a copy of the seating plan and is on-hand to help people find their seats. Also, make sure you cross-check your written seating plan with the place cards to make sure everything matches and the numbers written are clear - if someone mistakes a 4 for a 9 for example, this will throw off your seating arrangements. Ensure there are at least 2 people with master seating plans handy.

Afraid to fall or lose your balance on your wedding day? Here are a few hints: drink lots of water, and make sure you eat, to keep your body energized! This is a very emotionally charged day so at the very least, try to make sure you're not dehydrating, or starving! Also, during your rehearsal, wear the shoes you plan on wearing on the day of your wedding. This will give you a chance to wear them in and will also allow you to get an idea of the footing in the banquet hall. You'll notice the uneven spots in the floor/carpet, and will be prepared for the big day!

CASH, CASH, CASH. You may think you've covered all your financial bases, but you never know when an unexpected situation may arise. You may be approached by a vendor that requires a final payment, a guest that requires a taxi to be paid to get home, overtime charges, or a phenomenal vendor might deserve a tip. Whatever the situation may be, make sure you have some cash on hand to take care of these little "unexpected details".

Many couples decide to get married on what happens to be a long weekend. There has been much controversy about this, as many feel that it will affect the turnout of the guests expected to attend the wedding. The reason for this is that most couples plan their vacation time and mini-trips around long weekends, in order to maximize on the extra day without having to officially take it off work. However, this will not interfere with your wedding if you plan ahead of time and give your guests plenty of notice. Let them know, far in advance, that your wedding day will be held during the long-weekend. This will prevent them from making long-weekend plans!

The Benefits of Hiring a Wedding Consultant

As we are all aware, a wedding requires much time and planning. Your wedding day is one of the most memorable days of your life and likely one of the most stressful as well. Hiring one of our wedding consultants can help make this one of the least stressful events. Everyone fears that the companies they've hired (i.e. limousine services, florists, caterers, etc) will not show up, or will somehow make an error with an order. This is one of the reasons many couples leave the planning in the hands of our experienced consultants.

Our wedding consultants deal directly with various companies in all categories. This saves you from having to choose from the thousands of companies in the phone book and potentially trusting your wedding day to an unreliable or inexperienced company. Our consultants are affiliated with various vendors. De to the substantial amount of annual business we send to those vendors, we are able to obtain significant discounts that are not available to the general public.

When booking a wedding, many couples end up writing numerous cheques to various different companies and often lose track of how much has been spent in total. To avoid this confusion, a consultant will work closely with each couple to form a budget. This budget should be closely followed by the consultant and they are usually responsible for allocating the money to the various institutions and companies which have been hired. This ensures that couples do not end up spending more than they budgeted for, or writing numerous cheques.

Hiring a Wedding Consultant will help ensure your special day goes as planned! Let us alleviate your stress and plan your wedding to perfection!

The Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony

Tea is the national drink of China, and is used as a symbol of respect during many traditional Chinese Wedding Ceremonies. The tea is always served with both hands on the tea cup, as it is considered to be very religious and precious...much care is given to the teacups. Tea plays a very large role in the traditional Chinese wedding ceremonies. To begin, the bride-to-be serves tea to her parents at their home before the groom arrives. This is seen as a sign of respect, where the bride, in a sense, is thanking her parents for raising her and for attending her special day. Again, the tea is served with both hands on the tea cup.

After the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom, as a newlywed couple, serve tea to their guests. The guests are all seated in chairs and the bride and groom kneel to them as they serve the tea. The bride kneels on the left side of the guest's chair, while the groom kneels on the right side.

In return for their serving of the tea, the newlyweds receive small red envelopes filled with monetary donations, or gifts of jewelry. Theirs are called "lai see", and are not only gifts, but are considered to be good luck envelopes. The envelopes that are donated are placed on the tray which holds the teacups.

Bridal Bed

The bridal bed is an old Chinese tradition. It is a traditional ceremony which is initiated by the groom. On the day before the wedding ceremony, the groom selects a man or woman to install a newly purchased bed. This bed is installed, and children are invited to play on the bed, as an omen of fertility. This ceremonial tradition is to encourage the newlywed couple to have children, and the children playing on the bed, serve as good luck charms of fertility. For this same reason, many nuts and fruits are scattered on the bed. These, too, are said to encourage fertilization for the newlyweds.