Came back not too long ago from my second fabric shopping trip, and there was success!!! My mother and I went to most of the Queen West fabrics stores last time, and though we always buy from Leo’s Textiles, we couldn’t find anything our hearts desired. We popped into L.A. Fabrics as well, and saw some potentials, but left empty handed.

We went back to L.A. Fabrics today for a second round, and came across this very lovely tulle. I’m sure everyone is familiar with tulle, but did you know there are different qualities of tulle?

You can get tulle for $2.99 a yard. A steal, yes – but it’s made of nylon. It’s the cheap and chic type that you can find at Michael’s, to decorate your wedding car, or make little ballerina tutus out of.  It’s stiff but does the job.

You can get tulle for $29.99 a yard. This is microfiber tulle. It’s much softer than nylon tulle – it has a nice hand, but also nice structure. You can definitely see the difference between the nylon and the microfiber – a $27 difference.

Then there is the $69.99 a yard tulle. It’s silk. I’ll bet you didn’t even know silk tulle existed. It does, and it’s beautiful. It’s super soft, so soft that you can’t make tutu’s out of it (it would just flop). But for bodices and non-puffy styles, it’s amazing.

We went with the microfiber tulle and got FIFTEEN yards of it. You can all start imagining my wedding dress now.

J and I were at Markville Mall the other day, having a casual stroll, when I saw something really gorgeous at Melanie Lyne. Melanie Lyne, you say? Ok, so I have never shopped there, but it’s about time I did:

Window display at Melanie Lyne

This was exactly what I had talked to J about a few weeks ago! I saw in a photo somewhere, centerpieces that were made of vases, topped with lampshades to look like lamps. We asked the manager at the store where the window displays were from, but she didn’t know. She did, however, say that they sometimes sell their window displays after the season is over, so “check back in August”. Meh.

I didn’t take a photo of it, but they also had a Ghost chair in the window display, which I have been pining for forever (J said we can get some for the flat! WOOO!). Whoever the visual merchandiser is for Melanie Lyne, he/she’s got taste!

We went to Homesense too, and came across some other centerpiece ideas that I thought were interesting but J absolutely did not:

Cool swirly candle holder

One of many different trees and stumps that J hated

UPDATE: The Palais Royale was booked for both of our chosen dates in 2010, so it got scratched off the list.

Day 2 of the venue visits was less cramped but no less hectic. We only went to see 2 places, preceeded by fabric shopping on Queen with my mom.

Toronto Board of Trade

The Board of Trade was an iffy one with me – I mean, how exciting can a bloody board of trade be? I had really low expectations of this one, because I was anticipating a very corporate, conference-like locale.

I went to see this with my mom because J was stuck at the office for a little while. We found the BOT with no problem, even though it’s located inside First Canadian Place. I had an issue intially with the wedding taking place “inside a mall”, but once I got there, I saw a completely other side.

The Board of Trade is at the Adelaide entrance of First Canadian Place, and it’s hard to miss. The event space is on the 4th floor, which you take an elevator up to. The entire meeting and event space, as they say, is “over 30,000 square feet of freshly-renovated, beautifully contemporary space for your corporate meetings, sit-down galas, intimate social gatherings, and everything in between.” I guess I should mention at this point that their exclusive caterer is Oliver & Bonacini (drool).

My first reaction when I got up onto the 4th floor? “Oh”. “Oh”, as in “Oh, this is not what I expected.” It was spacious, open, and definitely freshly-renovated. The colours were black, grey and white, and the overall look was contemporary, clean and stylish. It was JUST my cup of tea.

I met with Lisa, who was very friendly and extremely helpful. She took my mom and I around, and showed us all the space we were entitled to use. The main ballroom area was huge, and could easily fit over 300 people. There were 4 boardrooms that open up  into 1 long room, which was perfect for the ceremony. There’s a reception area for cocktails, a suite with a bar which could be used, and a room down on the 3rd floor which could be used and locked up with a key. Not to mention a handful of Macs that you could check your email on (in between toasts).

My favourite part was that the space was modern, and fit right in with our colour scheme and tastes. We’ve seen a lot of elegant places with super-vaulted ceilings, but something urban and modern suits us so much more. When we sat down to talk about the menu – I was just drooling. We had to leave to see 1 King West, but I told J (who was on his way down) that he needed to come by and see the space after.

Pros: unique, the look of the space, the amount of space, food, price, parking downstairs
Cons: needs decor, the bar package… there isn’t one; all based on consumption

The main ballroom, with the cool chandeliers

The wall lighting throughout the room

The Grand Banking Hall

The Grand Banking Hall is located inside the Suites at 1 King West. I had been dying to check this space out in person. It’s absolutely gorgeous in their photos – it was built in 1911 as the Dominion Bank head office. However, by the time we got there, my heart wasn’t fully in it because I couldn’t stop thinking about the BOT.

To get to the hall you have to go up a marble staircase, up to the 2nd floor. I caught a glimpse of the room through the glass doors and it was striking. The moment you step inside, you are immediately drawn to its gorgeous 35-foot ceilings. Though it was impressive, my first reaction was that the space was not big enough for 200+ guests.

The reception would take place on the 12th floor, cocktails on the 3rd floor, and to get to the dinner, guests would have to go back down to the 1st floor and up the staircase to the Grand Banking Hall. I didn’t like the idea of having so much travel between these 3 spaces, although all 3 spaces were really nice.

I think this space is great for those who have a wedding of 180 guests or less – but it really wasn’t going to work for us.

Pros: incredible ceilings, great 100-foot long bar
Cons: capacity, very separate ceremony, cocktail and reception spaces

The Hall when you first walk in

The 100-foot bar, which used to be where the tellers sat!

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After going to 1 King West, we had a little bit of time left to take J over to the BOT. I was so happy when he said that he liked it too!!! Let’s keep our fingers crossed; I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

posted by: missmiellen

Before I get started, I wanted to clarify that J is the FI and the J that I blogged about here is my MOH. I hope I didn’t confuse anyone else because I actually confused J (as in the fiance). Hahaha! He thought I wrote an entry about him but it was actually about MOH. Sorry! So to clarify, my fiance is NOT my maid of honour, and I am not marrying Miss Pro Nails.

Yesterday, J the fiance and I set out to see our first batch of wedding venues. We started the day pretty early, at breakfast by 9 and heading downtown by 9:30 to get to our 10AM appointment at the Arcadian Court.

Arcadian Court

I didn’t blog about Arcadian Court previously, but it was on my list of places to see. I spoke to a few people who said it was nice. Arcadian Court is a space on the 8th floor of the Simpson Tower, also known as The Bay’s head office. It’s right at Bay and Queen, so we parked underground at City Hall and took a 1 minute walk over to the building. Relatively close and convenient. During the day, Arcadian Court is actually open to the public for breakfasts and lunch, so anyone could go in and check it out.

My first impression was, “damn, is this ever ugly”.  The building is old, and it really shows in the foyer. Carpeting is dark and ugly, the ceilings are low, and it just looks dated. Not a good first impression. When you actually go into the space, it’s a different story. It is ginormous. The 48-foot vaulted ceilings definitely define the space. It comfortable seats 220-250, which works for us. The marble floors however, were a disappointment; we were not into the salmon/cream combo.

Cocktails are held on the mezzanine level, which you reach thru stairs in the foyer or elevator (I think). It’s also pretty huge, and wraps partially around the court in an L-shape. You can overlook the court from above. Pretty nice view, but the mezzanine itself was dark and needed a lot of work. There’s also a bridal room, which you can use and lock up – great for taking a break, and storing gifts during the ceremony.

The best part of Arcadian Court? The price. It was very affordable. There were 3 packages you can start off with, and all of them included a 5-hour open bar, taxes and gratuities. It was actually the only place we saw that offered all inclusive pricing. Sandra, the catering consultant we met with, was also super nice.

Pros: price, large, super-high ceilings, parking close by
Cons: needs a lot of decor in the foyer and cocktail areas, carpeting and marble floor was yuck; J hated it.

view from the mezzanine

the mezzanine, where cocktails would be held

Hyatt Regency

I’m not going to get into the details of the Hyatt Regency, because this place was DISAPPOINTING. For those who aren’t aware, the Hyatt Regency is the old Holiday Inn on King West (white building, near the Princess of Wales Theatre?). They just completed their makeover recently. When you first enter the hotel, it is gorgeous. Really gorgeous. J and I were so excited – very urban chic, espresso woods, brushed metals, glossy marbles and granite textures. But… I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Downstairs, by their bar and restaurant. Hot!

Photo belongs to Hyatt, but it shows the new look of the hotel. Hot!

WTF... yes, this is the ballroom.

Design Exchange

I blogged about the DX already, and the space didn’t disappoint. It does, however, require A LOT of imagination, because when we went to see it, it was completely bare. It’s very spacious, and how you want to arrange the space is up to you. But – with this comes a price tag. We will have to bring in kitchen pieces, tables, china, cutlery, lighting, decor and staff into this space.

Pros: spacious, bring in any caterer we fancy, design and decorate the space as we want
Cons: lots of decorations needed, rental costs, service costs

Huge... but you'll need to have an imagination

Trading Floor decorated

Trading Floor decorated

Le Méridien King Edward

Out of all the spaces, the King Eddy had the most promise pre-venue-visit. I had corresponded with Breia, the catering sales manager, and she sent me a photo of the Vanity Fair ballroom that just made my jaw drop (don’t worry, I’ll show you below). I had seen some really nice photos on Boston Avenue as well.

The King Eddy is located on King Street East, just east of Yonge but before Church. The first impression of the hotel is that it’s a very elegant and exquisite space. The large ballroom is the Vanity Fair, which is located just up the stairs from the main foyer. When Breia opened up the glass doors into the ballroom, I was… underwhelmed. Blame the incredible pictures that I had seen before, but in real life, the Vanity Fair ballroom is not as big as it appears. I guess it’s very photogenic.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s still very beautiful. It was probably the most traditionally beautiful space we had seen all day. The cocktail area is also great. It’s just outside of the ballroom, on and overlooks the downstairs grand foyer.

When we sat down to discuss prices, we started to get more concerned. The King Eddy is not cheap. It could very well be double the price of Arcadian Court. Breia mentioned that the hotel offers 100% valet parking – at $40 a car!!! Our eyes almost fell out on that one.

Pros: beautiful, our parents will love this space, bridal suite is included in the price, photos will be amazing
Cons: price, space seems small (will it hold 220-250 comfortably?), not very “unique”

photo belongs to Le Méridien King Edward

photo belongs to bostonimages.com

photo belongs to bostonimages.com

The balroom on a regular day

Andrew Richard Designs

This is a very unique venue. Andrew Richard Designs on Adelaide is a store (the old UpCountry) that has an amazing space – and they’ve started to rent out this space for events. We didn’t meet with anyone to speak about the rentals, but popped in as it’s open on Saturdays just like any other stores. There’s the main floor, called The Atrium, which is very cool, spacious, with an area that could turn into a sunken dancefloor and bar. The upstairs is called The Loft, which is a large, long, all-white rectangular room with windows all the way through. Unfortunately this won’t hold over 200 guests.

Pros: unique, contemporary, spacious
Cons: from what I hear – the rental fee, rental costs to bring in EVERYTHING (including kitchens)

The Loft

photo belongs to Andrew Richard Designs - The Atrium (a portion of it, anyway)

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Overall, we didn’t fall hard in love with any of the spaces we saw. Most of them have potentential for us – but we need to see a few more places before we can make a decision. Venue visiting is a tiring task!!! By 5pm we were completely beat.

At last! A post about the actual wedding event. When I first thought about the wedding, the ceremony and reception, I immediately had an idea of what I wanted – chic, New York glamour. The colour that came to mind immediately was black. I spent the first few weeks convincing J about a black colour scheme, and showed him some really nice pictures of weddings that had black decor, and I sold him on it.

Black is tough, because a lot of people freak when they hear black for a wedding theme (since, apparently, black is only allowed for funerals and all other life events besides weddings).

One of the main reasons I liked black was because I loved the idea of the  bridal party wearing black. It’s sexy and elegant, a bit different from your typical bridesmaid dresses, and they could wear the dresses many times over after the big day. And imagine stepping into this:

photos belong to jessicaclaire.net

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I had mentioned to my mom that I wanted to do blacks/whites, and she gave me the typical “BLACK?? Are you kidding me?” response, but left it at that. The FMIL, however, was  a different story. Last night we got to talking about the wedding, and when black came up – she did NOT like the idea. Even mixed in with greys, whites and yellow – she wasn’t having it. So this morning, I mentioned black to my mom again, and she hated it too. Sigh. I have the entire Chinoise community against me on this one. To make a long story short, black is kaboshed.

So my brain had to scramble for another colour scheme. And I came up with a variation of the black by keeping the greys,whites and yellows – and out came this very gorgeous, refreshing palette:

Greys, whites + yellow.

This palette is now much softer, which creates a totally different feeling from the original chic. It’s now fresh, contemporary, yet charming. The important thing for us is to keep the look gender neutral (sorry pinks), and have it wedding-appropriate without it looking like a typical wedding.

Keep in mind the colours and look will be affected by the venue – and we are visiting a handfull starting this weekend! I’ll update on the colours again when I have a better idea of the space.

More proposal stories! Hear how my friend Sean popped the question to his love, Kat. They had been together for 5 years when the deed happened last year!

It was a Sunday afternoon, and I had just finished my usual tutoring and grocery shopping. When I got to our condo, I called Sean, who actually offered to help bring up the groceries – this was a rare occurrence.  When we came upstairs, he opened the door and there were roses lining the sides of the hallway and rose petals down the middle of it.  He also had our favourite Christmas Cookies candle lit to fill the room with that deliciously sweet aroma.  I slowly walked into the hallway of the condo, following the path of red rose petals, a little unsure as to what the occasion was – after all, it wasn’t my birthday and it wasn’t Valentine’s day.

The rose walkway he made ended at the edge of the couch, right in the middle of the condo.  There were a dozen long-stem red roses standing up, wrapped in a bouquet.  In front of the wrapped bouquet were another dozen red roses all arranged in a semi-circle on the floor.  He walked me over to the flowers as I kept saying “What are you doing?  What is all this?”.

By the bouquet of roses, he got down on one knee and reached under the couch for something – it was a turquoise box with a white ribbon around it!  I was in shock.  He started saying how I’d made him very happy for the past 5 years and he started to tear up.  That made me start to tear up as well.  I was so nervous when he asked the question that I tried to be funny – I put my hand under my chin pretending to be thinking and said “Hmmm”, but then said “Yes, of course!”.

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On the Sunday before, we had gone down to Bloor Street to walk around and stop into some jewellery stores for fun.  I had found one I really liked, but we weren’t serious about buying it at that point – we were just looking.

The Friday after, I went out with a friend to help her look for a wedding gown.  At the same time, Sean told me that he had to tutor and that he needed to drive back to his school after because he’d forgotten his wallet there.  It’s a little unlike Sean to forget things, so the thought of him possibly making up a story so he could go downtown to buy the ring actually did cross my mind – for a second.

That possibility got blown away when we received a voice message from the jewellery store sales lady the next day. She said, “Hi, this is Joanne. I’m sorry, but the ring you were interested in is no longer available. But we have many more, so you can come by anytime to take a look again”.  I was actually a bit disappointed when I heard it, and I actually told Sean this.  He said, “Oh I’m sorry, but how would I have had the time to go down to buy it?  You know how busy we’ve been”.

But he actually DID go down to buy it and he popped the question the very next day.  I couldn’t believe he had asked the sales lady to leave that message!  It totally threw off any suspicions – I was quite impressed, but that’s Sean for you.