Congratulations Kevin and Naoko!

May 4th, 2008
The Toronto Wedding Chapel

TRENDS IN WEDDING INVITATIONS

What will make the first impression on your wedding guests? That illustrious honour belongs to the wedding invitation. It should reflect your personal style as a couple, coordinate with the colour and design of the wedding, and complement the level of formality or informality of the event. Here are some of the hot trends in wedding invitations.

Eco-friendly invitations:
Eco everything is all the rage these days, so it only stands to reason that eco-friendly invitations are hot. Look for recycled paper in colours inspired by nature, handmade tree-free papers, and botanical embellishments including pressed leaves and flowers, or silk fibers.

Letterpress invitations:
With many couples opting to design their own invitations with personal logos and graphics, letterpress invitations can become works of art. The only downside is the cost. They tend to be more expensive.

Bold and vibrantly coloured invitations:
Step aside white and ecru, bold and vibrant shades are all the rage - red, coral, electric blue, bright orange, hot pink, sunny yellow, and purple. You have the option to use dark coloured text or white text if the background colour is very dark.

Unusually-Shaped Invitations:
Everything that creates visual interest is a go. Round, tri-fold, or oversized invitations are in great demand. Buyer beware, they may require additional postage.

Invitations made of fabric:
The hot trend is invitations that are decorated with cord, lace, and ribbons. Satin is now being used to line invitation envelopes or used as bands around the invitations. These embellishments can also be done at home if there are any talented crafters around looking for a project. What a great way to personalize your invitations!

Pop-up invitations:
These will truly stand out. They are whimsical and truly a novelty, but very expensive.

Monogrammed invitations:
Although monogrammed invitations are true classics, monogrammed everything is hot, hot, hot. This is one case where something traditional is also all the rage.

Don’t forget to place the additional postage on the unusual sizes and shapes that require them and leave ample time for mailing. There is no such thing as too early, but too late can spell disaster.

Congratulations Sallie and Wilson!

June 14th, 2008
The Toronto Wedding Chapel

TRENDS IN SUMMER WEDDING HAIR STYLES & ACCESSORIES

The hottest trend for summer wedding hair styles is a return to the classics – the top knot, the Edwardian, and the French twist. Where hair colour is concerned, chunky streaks are out and multi-toned natural looking streaks are in.

Brides with long hair who prefer their hair down are either wearing their hair with romantic waves (create the curls with a curling iron and just gently separate them with your fingers) or sticks straight (straightened with a flat iron).

Brides with medium length hair are wearing their hair with a slight curl and bangs with a sweep. This creates a look of motion and doesn’t interfere with a veil.

Brides with short hair are wearing an ultra layered look that is ultra feminine and ultra sexy.

Hair of any length, even the shortest styles can be dressed up with hair ornaments.

• Fresh Flowers: they are especially apropos at summer weddings. After all, what says summer more than fresh flowers. They create a lovely romantic look and can be worked in with any hair style.
• Hair pins: they can be decorated with flowers, crystals, pearls, rhinestones, ribbons, or feathers. They are both functional and decorative.
• Combs and Barrettes: the larger the comb or barrette the more decoration they will hold. Like hair pins they can be decorated with flowers, crystals, pearls, rhinestones, ribbons, or feathers, but because of their larger size they can be quite elaborate and very striking.
• Headbands: they are discreet, simple, and elegant. They work perfectly with the return of the classic styles and at the same time are quite modern.
• Tiaras: they have always been in vogue. For summer weddings they tend to be smaller to complement the softer more casual dress styles and they can incorporate flowers and ribbons in their design.

Congratulations Michelle and Adam!

May 3rd, 2008
The Toronto Wedding Chapel

THE LATEST STYLES IN WEDDING BOUQUETS FOR SUMMER WEDDINGS

Summer brides are in luck when it comes to choosing flowers for their wedding bouquets. Fresh flowers are plentiful and much cheaper than at any other time of year. Some of the most popular flowers for summertime wedding bouquets are roses (still the most popular regardless of the season), fabulous peonies, alstroemeria, gerbera daisies, colorful lilies like the stargazer, hydrangeas, sunflowers, poppies, chrysanthemums, hibiscus, orchids, and gardenias. Pink is the hot colour for wedding bouquets this summer. It’s romantic, fresh, and innocent and there are a plethora of flowers available in pink. Tropical flowers and exotics lend themselves to summer weddings. They are bold, passionate, and make a statement. Incorporate birds-of-paradise, proteas, ginger flowers, and heliconias into your wedding bouquet.

Bouquets with that “just picked” casual look are very popular this summer. A round bouquet in all one colour is very trendy right now as are nosegays at outdoor or casual weddings. For elegant and more formal weddings the cascading bouquet - starts large and in an oval or round shape and then it trails down, or cascades - is still the most popular. With any style of wedding bouquet you can opt to have it hand-tied (the most popular by far) or have the stems wrapped. Hand-tied bouquets have long stems showing, with the tie in the middle. Wrapped bouquets have stems that form a handle for the bride to hold and they are most often wrapped in silk. The stems may be embellished with crystals, rhinestones, or pearls.

With so many choices to make – flowers, colours, style – what will your wedding bouquet look like?