If you recall from my post Venue Visits: Day 1, I had high hopes for the Andrew Richard Designs space as a wedding venue. Sadly, hope was shattered once I heard the price of just renting the space – $3500 for the upstairs Atrium, and $7000 for the downstairs Loft. Throw in kitchen, table, chair, linen and china rentals, and we’re going down Baller’s Lane.

Things may not have worked out for us romantically (more like financially), but ARD Events still had a soft spot for me and I got an invitation to their event last week called L I V I N G. Who better to bring than my BFF and Maid of Honour? We arrived promptly at half six, and our doubts about being earlybird losers went away the moment we stepped inside. If you’ve never been to a schmoozefest, I high suggest you try and get yourself on the guest list of one. This party was sponsored by Belvedere, Moët et Chandon, Vitamin Water, and a bunch of caterers, just to name a few.

The clear winner of the night: strawberry with goat cheese, drizzled in balsamic from Amazing Food Service

Field of Dreams: among the sinfully delicious are tiramisu, cheesecake and strawberry shortcake

Getting my breathe on at the Element Oxygen bar

Getting my relax on by Asha Massage

Hello lovely people – I’m proud to announce the “unofficial” opening of my Etsy shop, Papertalk!

For those of you not familiar with Etsy, it is a haven for people who love to create and buy all things handmade. Etsy is especially great for brides, because you can find the most unique accessories (jewellery, fascinators, ring pillows) and paper goods (invitations, guest books) – and I will now be part of that collective. I’m so excited!

For those of you who weren’t familiar with what I do… you guessed it, I’m a designer. I’ve  delved into many different fields – fashion, web, GUIs – but my main love will always be print.

The shop is starting out small but I’ve got big dreams, with the help of my fiancé . At the moment, I have a few wedding invite designs for sale. As I spend more time working on Papertalk, I will be expanding into all things print (business cards, wedding guest books, social invitations, stationary, etc.).

Be sure to bookmark it, and always check back as I create more designer paper goods. Spread the word!

I went to a beautiful bridal shower yesterday for my friend Evan, at Il Mulino on Eglinton Avenue West. It was my first shower at a restaurant. It was the perfect combination of elegant sit-down and noisy games, and it was really fun. There were about 40 guests and we took up the entire place.

There were beautful floral table pieces at each seat – some of the flowers were so incredible they looked fake:

Peony in full bloom

So I’m now loving the resto-shower, and if you don’t have an outrageous guest list it’s a classy way to go.

Girls and their ice

Tasteful shower games

Evan’s in-laws are Italian, so a bunch of the ladies got together and made Italian cookies and cakes!!! This table was loaded with sweets and was so delicious, I’m sad I didn’t take a picture of it. At the end of the shower, everyone got to make their own takeout bag of cookies.

Oh, and the food at Il Mulino was delicious, too.

Mmm antipasto