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Frederika Wellet is an amazing photographer. She started out doing photography as a hobby and now she's doing fashion shows and magazines. I'm so happy for her! Frederika has been my friend for 6 years and even if we're 7 years apart it doesn't change anything.
I went on my wedding dress search back in April and actually found my lovely dress that I will be wearing on the big day. When I first bought it I didn't really think I would be wearing two dresses. I though heck, I'm spending a whooping 600.00$ on a dress I'm only going to wear once, so I better wear it all night!
I'm a little paranoid that Mr. Ferret might actually see a picture of my dress, so I won't be posting a picture of it. Only after the wedding. Please be patient ^_^
Mr. Ferret is Vietnamese and his aunt thought of incorporating some of his culture into the wedding. I thought it would be a great idea. They usually end up changing into 3 dresses, but I will only change into a second dress which is called an Aodai and is generally worn in red or pink. They also wear a hat which I won't. It would be nice if I could get one in either yellow, teal, or green.
Here are some images to give you an idea of how they look like:
Forgive me for my lack of writing. Life gets in the way sometimes. I hurt my back about two-three weeks ago. I went to the hospital after one day of staying in bed not being able to move. I found out I had toritcollis in my lower back. I'm back up an running now, but I still get a few hiccups from time to time.
That being said I would like to introduce you my bridesmaids and MOH.
MOH C and I have been best friends since we started college in fall of 2000. We were both in similar programs and shared a clubspace that had the Drawson club (anime and comic book club). Through changes in life such as school, boyfriends, and jobs, we have kept in touch and see each other almost every week.
Bridesmaid V actually used to be my neighbor and babysitter! Well, more like supervisor since my brother and I kept fighting all of the time if my parents weren't home. We became friends when I was 14 and her 17. We had a passion about drawing anime which mostly consisted of Sailor Moon. We also did loads of choreographies of the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls in the basement and driving my brother nuts. *sigh* Those were the days!
Bridemaid P and I went to college together, but met a few years later than MOH C. She is also another ferret owner (proud mama of two little boys), so we have a lot in common. We do a rotation in the ferret babysitting when either Mr. Ferret and I or Bridemaid P and her fiance go away for the weekend. We both love to cook so we share lots of recipes!
Bridesmaid S and I have gone to college together as well. When I had a contract with a job she worked in the opposite tower so we got to have lunch together almost every day! We love drinking wine and just chatting about random things.
Apart from Bridesmaid V who lives out of town, the rest of us hang out almost every week. I really like their company and their personalities. I wouldn't have it any other way!
At first I wanted to get a cake from the bakery. That was before I saw the prices of wedding cakes. I was appalled! No way in heck would I pay 300$ or more for a cake! The fact is that most people don't eat the icing since it's made with fondant. I am not a fan of fondant and neither is Mr Ferret. We enjoy buttercream icing. I asked Mr. Ferret for his thoughts and he had a wild idea: Lets make our own wedding cake!
A lot of people have told me not to go down that route. They say I won't have time or that I'm going to be too stressed out the week of the wedding. I see it as a challenge.
I looked around for cake designs since I never made a fancy cake before and was overwhelmed with what I found online. These were the only ones that I thought could pass for our wedding cake. However, we did not like what we had found.
We wanted something simple and elegant. After searching for about 2 hours non-stop, I found this one.
I live in Montreal, Quebec and there are A LOT of different kinds of venues here. There are the glamorous hotels, the rustic inns in Old Montreal, the laid back sugar shacks on the north and south shores, and random recreational centres that can be rented out for your special day.
As I searched online, these came to mind:
Cabane à sucre Constantin
I liked the idea, but since it's sugar shack season from February until April it would not work out for us. Plus, they have horse rides in winter and the smell gets a little strong when the snow thaws out.
Le St-Gabriel
One of my cousins got married here back in 2003 and the food was amazing. However, we didn't have a lot on our plates. Everything was done beautifully, but I ended up eating more hors d'oeuvres than the actual meal since they were passing out sushi and nobody was "game enough" to eat some. I actually went and got myself a burger after I left the reception...
I checked out their prices and they are pretty hefty. Per person it would cost about 115$ for a 4 course meal. There was no parking included either and in Old Montreal its madness trying to park so we would have to rent out an extra lot for guests to park. Maybe an extra 200$ or so. Too much hassle for us! Plus they didn't even have a vegetarian menu.
Buffet Antique
This place was beautiful! One of my friends got married there 3 years ago and I really saw myself doing my reception here. The food was amazing and they actually had a really good vegetarian meal. Eggplant parmisan with tomato sauce. I couldn't finish it all!
She had paid 110$ per person since she had used open bar. Mr. Ferret and I had thought about this place a lot, but we wanted to scope out another place too.
Le Baron Royal
One of our friends had his engagement party here last summer and we absolutely loved the food. It was an Italian buffet! There was so much variety and we could pick what we wanted. I loved the decor.
Our friend's mother knew the owner so we kindly asked if we could go and check it out and she offered to come with us. It was so nice being able to talk with her and the owner. It felt like we were at home.
We picked the Baron Royal for our reception!
We got an amazing deal. We will have an Italian buffet (which has fried squid, veal, pasta, antipasto, etc), unlimited wine served during supper, free parking that has access to elevators, centerpieces and flowers included, unlimited drinks like perrier, soda, lattes, espressos, cappuccinos...We are so happy with our choice!
We have some family and friends who have allergies and are vegan so the buffet style was the best way to go. You can please everyone in every taste. What's also great is that we can bring in a few traditional Vietnamese dishes as well. We are so happy that we can do this since it means a lot to Mr. Ferret's family.
Mr. Ferret and I are low key people. We don't need a fancy hotel or the most expensive hall in the area. All we need is loads of good food, family and friends, and a dance floor!
Did you ever come by a great deal for your reception hall?
