Friday, August 21, 2015

First Dance Songs

Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat - Lucky

Train - Marry Me

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Worthwhile Wedding Registries, Perks, Promotions, and Freebies 2015

Have a wedding coming up? Just had a wedding? Then you either know about lots of good deals for new couples or want to know about them. Here's a collection of what I have come across so far. If you have found any other good finds, please let me know and I will add them!

If you are just looking for good common household appliance rebates and promotions, check out the last section of this post!

Sears Wedding Registry

SEARS REGISTRATION INCENTIVE PROGRAM - Register for a KitchenAid® standmixer PLUS a minimum of 3 or more KitchenAid® small electric appliances, or attachments, on your Sears wedding registry and receive a free KitchenAid® Cookbook

SEARS COMPLETION INCENTIVE PROGRAM - Complete or receive the KitchenAid® standmixer and 3 additional KitchenAid® small electrics or attachments from your Sears wedding registry within 6 months of your event date and receive a free KitchenAid® 16pc Knife Block Set

SEARS REGISTRY TOP UP PROGRAM - Get 20% off regular priced items or 10% off select sale items for up to 1 year on any registered items not purchased by your guests.

See your Sears Registry Consultant to learn about the new exciting products, programs and free gift offers from KitchenAid®. Program valid to December 2015 or while quantities last. http://www.sears.ca/content/specialty-services/gift-central/wedding-rewards-events-list

Hudson's Bay Wedding Registry

Completion Program - Get 10% off remaining items on registry
Special offers:

VITAMIX - Purchase a Vitamix Blender off a couple’s registry or your own and receive a FREE “The Art of Blending” hardcover recipe book ($19.99 value).
ALL-CLAD - Register with Hudson’s Bay to receive a complimentary set of measuring spoons from the Stainless collection and a 9″ Stainless Steel French Skillet, personalized with a monogram or name when at least $1,500 worth of All-Clad products have been purchased off your registry

Go here for more special offers - http://www2.thebay.com/giftregistry/offers/

Williams-Sonoma

REGISTRY BENEFITS - http://www.williams-sonoma.com/registry/registry-benefits.html?cm_type=gnav#top-benefits
WUSTHOF - Register for $200 of qualifying Wüsthof products and you'll receive a Wüsthof Chef's Apron.

When your guests have purchased $450 of qualifying Wüsthof products from your registry, you'll receive a Wüsthof Classic 4" Partial-Serrated Utility Knife.

SHUN - Register for $450 of qualifying Shun products and you'll receive a Shun Hinoki Cutting Board.

When your guests have purchased $450 of qualifying Shun products from your registry, you'll receive a Shun Limited Edition 3.5" Vegetable Knife.

CUISINART - Register for $150 of qualifying Cuisinart products and you'll receive a USB Flash Drive (food processor-shaped) containing recipe software, plus 75 original Cusinart recipes.

You are eligible to receive a set of 3 Multi-Color Mixing Bowls if you complete your Williams-Sonoma Bridal Registry of Cuisinart® products ($500.00 minimum).

RIEDEL - Register for $500 of qualifying Riedel products and you'll receive a polishing cloth.

When your guests have purchased $500 of qualifying Riedel products from your registry, you'll receive a set of 2 Riedel Vinum Bordeaux glasses.

ALL-CLAD - When your guests have purchased $800 of qualifying All-Clad products from your registry, you are eligible to receive an All-Clad d5 Stainless Steel Engraved 9" French Skillet.
LE CREUSET - When your guests have purchased $1,000+ worth of Le Creuset products from your registry, you are eligible to receive both the complimentary Limited Edition Stoneware Mini-Cocotte Gift Set and a Forged Hard Anodized Braiser with Lid.
GLOBAL - When your guests have purchased $450 of qualifying Global products from your registry, you'll receive a Global 3" Paring Knife.
CALPHALON - When your guests have purchased $500 of qualifying Calphalon products from your registry, you'll receive a Calphalon Elite 8" Omelette Pan & 2.5-qt. Saucepan.
POST-WEDDING 10% DISCOUNT - After you say “I do,” you’ll still save 10% on unlimited purchases for up to 6 months after your wedding day.

Bed Bath & Beyond

BRIDAL FREEBOOK - free booklet listing all the different rewards offered by vendors if your guests purchase a certain money amount of products. Vendors included in 2015: Mikasa, Lenox, Noritake, Spiegelau, All-Clad, Anolon, Calphalon, Kitchenaid, Keurig, and Cuisinart. View it online here: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/registry/RegistryIncentives
COMPLETION PROGRAM - get up to 20% off on items that remain on your registry after your wedding.

Other Good Rebates/Deals

KITCHENAID REBATES AND PROMOTIONS - http://www.kitchenaid.ca/en_CA/promotions/

From June 4 - July 2, 2015 receive up to $80 mail-in/online rebate on select KitchenAid® Small Appliances. Submission deadline is August 2, 2015.

KITCHEN AID OUTLET AND REFURBISHED STORE - http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/more-ways-to-shop-1/outlet-and-refurbished-2/outlet-and-refurbished-3/102020231/
SAMSUNG INDUCTION RANGE DEAL - http://www.hapromos.ca/#Enter

Buy any Samsung Induction Range and get a BONUS Paderno Canadiana cookware set. Offer valid on purchase of eligible Samsung appliances from participating authorized Canadian retailer made from May 1, 2015 to October 31, 2015.

Happy Wedding Planning!

Friday, May 29, 2015

Best 80's Songs For A Wedding

It's hard to find 80's songs that aren't so cheesy your hair curls or so emo that you want to cry and laugh at the same time. Here's a collection of some songs that still make the cut when you take out the most offensive of the bunch. Okay, there are still some super cheesy ones in here, but they are fun. There are some 90's songs thrown in too.

Enjoy!

Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now – Starship https://youtu.be/bBQVrCflZ_E

Grease- You're the one that I want https://youtu.be/7oKPYe53h78?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough https://youtu.be/yURRmWtbTbo?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

UB40 CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE - https://youtu.be/Ajp0Uaw4rqo?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Bob Marley - One Love https://youtu.be/sonYFxHHvaM?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Don't You Forget Me - Simple Minds https://youtu.be/CdqoNKCCt7A?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me https://youtu.be/RaG8faaFUMM?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Young MC - Bust A Move https://youtu.be/xy4FXhkm6Nw?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Sugar Sugar - The Archies https://youtu.be/JywK_5bT8z0?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Tone Loc - Wild Thing https://youtu.be/387ZDGSKVSg?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Modern English - I Melt With You https://youtu.be/LuN6gs0AJls?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

The Cars - Just What I Needed https://youtu.be/9hwE0slNd3Y?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

You're My Best Friend Lyrics - Queen https://youtu.be/tN_HVup9oOg?list=PL2E373ABBD360C09F

Tonight I Celebrate My Love - Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack https://youtu.be/unHolTGi1uk

Celebration - Kool & The Gang https://youtu.be/3GwjfUFyY6M

I Love a Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbit https://youtu.be/VJ1GQFtHGxU

Livin on a Prayer - Bon Jovi https://youtu.be/lDK9QqIzhwk

AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long https://youtu.be/Lo2qQmj0_h4

The B-52's - "Love Shack" https://youtu.be/9SOryJvTAGs

If you can think of some other suitable 80's wedding hits, please send them my way! Have a great day!

Red Bouquet Inspiration

I was originally going with a peach, pink, champagne, hint of gold wedding colour theme, but since choosing a wedding dress with claret/wine/apple red details, I have had to rethink the colour theme. Now my main wedding theme colours are red (my dress, bridesmaid's dress, bouquet), brown (chair sashes, curly willow branches), white/cream (my dress and hydrangeas in centerpieces) and fall leaf colours (those paper leaves I made to scatter on the tables).

I'm actually kind of excited about going with red now. It lets me make everything a lot more colourful and bright. Which is good, because the illustration I made for my wedding cards is colourful and bright and I can use the image for signage and other decor now :)

This is probably my favourite bouquet of the bunch. I like how textured it is.

This is very similar to the one above, but with some cascading flowers and more greenery.

Looks rather pretty on that fancy seat, huh?

A darker red/purple-almost bouquet

Pretty pinker shade of red, almost coral but not quite. It's a vivid, cheerful look.

Poppies...

Which one is your favourite?

Happy Wedding Planning!

Favorite Wedding Songs

Here's a collection of some of my favourite songs to play at the wedding so far! Let me know if you think of any other great choices.

Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars https://youtu.be/OPf0YbXqDm0

Shut Up and Dance - Walk the Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JCLY0Rlx6Q

All of Me - John Legend https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=109&v=450p7goxZqg

Treasure - Bruno Mars https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=69&v=CHVq1xQSjnM

Happy - Pharrell Williams https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=86&v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

I Choose You - Sara Bareilles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjE5D9cHiOk

Boom Clap - Charli XCX https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=120&v=AOPMlIIg_38

I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD4vsh1zDA&ob=av3n

I'm Yours - Jason Mraz https://youtu.be/EkHTsc9PU2A

The Way You Look Tonight https://youtu.be/yDh4GC7n0ig

Better Together - Jack Johnson https://youtu.be/seZMOTGCDag

Beautiful in White - Shane Filan https://youtu.be/XRuDQ6aYeD0

More Than Words - Extreme https://youtu.be/UrIiLvg58SY

Everything Has Changed - Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran https://youtu.be/w1oM3kQpXRo

Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer https://youtu.be/yFwkhn35Szk

You're Still The One - Shania Twain https://youtu.be/KNZH-emehxA

Ho Hey - The Lumineers https://youtu.be/zvCBSSwgtg4

Forever and for Always - Shania Twain https://youtu.be/IpT-FW_G8-A

The Moon Song by Karen O & Ezra Koenig https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=107&v=Twg25xkACwo

Happy Wedding Planning!

Friday, May 22, 2015

Hand Painted Wedding Card Box from Frozen Treasure Chest - Tutorial

This is a Frozen cardboard treasure chest that I painted into a custom card box for my wedding.

I have a Fall-themed wedding so these colours will fit right in. Also, this image matches my wedding card image perfectly.

If the back of the box faces the guests on the sign-in table (so that the receptionists can put the cards in), then you would see this lovely heart-shaped leaf branch with falling leaves.

I needed a cardbox for my wedding that could close securely, was big enough for cards (but not TOO big), was easy to lug around, and that looked great. Ideally, I wanted it to match my wedding decor. I looked at lots of different boxes for sale online, but nothing really matched.

However, one day, I found this nifty cardboard treasure chest for sale at Michaels. It's a Frozen-themed Anna box and it's the perfect size. I think it was about $15 after a discount coupon. However, I didn't want Anna being the star of the wedding. The solution was to cover the box Modge-Podge style or to re-paint it. I chose to repaint mine over only some of the box images.

If you want to know how to do something similar for your wedding. Here's how I repainted my box.

Materials needed

- acrylic paint

- watercolour paint

- clear, glossy outdoor sealant

- paint brushes

- water and container

- painting palette

- black sharpie markers

Before you begin, protect the cord straps. Open the box, and pull them into the box.

Use small strips of paper to wrap around the cords. Tape the paper closed. Pull/stuff the paper into the holes so that the exposed cord is completely covered.

Grab a reference image and have it handy beside you. I printed out an enlarged image of my wedding card image and had an extra copy of my wedding cards beside me.

Use a black sharpie marker to start drawing your image onto the box. You may find that your sharpie marker doesn't like the coating of the box and may die out quickly. So have a few extra markers handy.

Make sure to cover up all the images on the box that you don't want - sorry, Anna!

Make sure to extend your image all over the box so that your guests will have something to look at from all angles. Or you may want to do this for your own enjoyment since you can use the box for something else later on. Maybe to keep your wedding trinkets!

When you are finished drawing, you are ready to start painting!

I did not have a lot of acrylic paint available, but I did happen to have all of my old watercolour paints from elementary school! Because of this, I was able to mix acrylic paint with watercolour paint (and water) in order to get all the colours that I wanted. The most important acrylic colours for me were white, red, and gold. I mixed red paint with red watercolour paints to get different shades of red, and I mixed white with orange and yellow to get the different shades of yellow and orange. It is important to mix acrylic paint with the watercolour because watercolour by itself is too transparent to cover the images on the box well. Also, acrylic paint sticks onto surfaces better.

I filled in all the darkest red areas first.

Then I painted in my orange and yellow areas.

As the first areas dried, I added on additional layers of paint to make it more opaque.

I started to create a gradient on some of leaves so the bottom tips were yellow and blended up into orange and red at the tops.

More blending

Smoothing out the blending. At this point, I let the whole thing dry through dinner. Before I went to bed, I painted over the images with glossy sealant. Be very careful when you paint the sealant. The paint may rip off if you paint over areas repetitively or with too hard pressure. Use a soft flat brush and paint a generous coat of sealant in smooth, gentle single strokes. Get rid of bubbles by blowing on them so they pop.

The next day, I painted over the entire image again. You can see that the colours are now much brighter because it is layered over the original paint layer. The sealant you painted on the night before will hold the original layer in place so that it doesn't rip off when you paint onto it.

I added highlight spots onto each leaf, and used a sharpie marker to darken up all the lines that were either too light before, or accidentally got painted over.

I let it dry again over dinner and painted a glossy sealant over the paint before I went to bed.

Next morning, I'm ready to paint the tree details.

I used pure gold acrylic paint for the heart with M+V and mixed acrylic gold paint with brown watercolour paint to create more subtle gold highlights on the bark. As you can see, the end result is quite pleasing. Finally, I mixed red acrylic paint with purple to get a very similar colour to the box and painted over any bits of Anna still remaining on the box around the tree and elsewhere on the box. I chose to leave "Radiant Heart" on my box. It seemed to fit in okay with a wedding theme.

Touch up any other paint areas on your image, darken the sharpie lines as needed, and then coat the box with sealant again. Dry and then re-coat as needed to get a nice, glossy surface all over the box.

My box is done now, and I like it very much. I hope you will be happy with your card box too if you are making one!

Good luck, and Happy Wedding Planning!

Update: Some of the paint started to flake off when the temperature changed when we took it outside to the wedding venue. In hindsight, I should have primed the surface of the box using fine sandpaper to make the surface rough so that paint would adhere more securely to it. Most of the paint stayed on so it I was able to cover any bad areas with a glued on paper leaf just before the wedding - phewf!