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

1. 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 
2. 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  
3. 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

1. Completion Program - Get 10% off remaining items on registry
2. Special offers: 
1. 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).
2. 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

1. REGISTRY BENEFITS - http://www.williams-sonoma.com/registry/registry-benefits.html?cm_type=gnav#top-benefits
2. WUSTHOF - Register for $200 of qualifying Wüsthof products and you'll receive a Wüsthof Chef's Apron.
1. When your guests have purchased $450 of qualifying Wüsthof products from your registry, you'll receive a Wüsthof Classic 4" Partial-Serrated Utility Knife.
3. SHUN - Register for $450 of qualifying Shun products and you'll receive a Shun Hinoki Cutting Board.
1. When your guests have purchased $450 of qualifying Shun products from your registry, you'll receive a Shun Limited Edition 3.5" Vegetable Knife.
4. 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.
1. 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).
5. RIEDEL - Register for $500 of qualifying Riedel products and you'll receive a polishing cloth.
1. When your guests have purchased $500 of qualifying Riedel products from your registry, you'll receive a set of 2 Riedel Vinum Bordeaux glasses.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. GLOBAL - When your guests have purchased $450 of qualifying Global products from your registry, you'll receive a Global 3" Paring Knife.
9. 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.
10. 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

1. 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
2. COMPLETION PROGRAM - get up to 20% off on items that remain on your registry after your wedding.

Other Good Rebates/Deals

1. KITCHENAID REBATES AND PROMOTIONS - http://www.kitchenaid.ca/en_CA/promotions/
1. 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.
2. 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/
3. SAMSUNG INDUCTION RANGE DEAL - http://www.hapromos.ca/#Enter
2. 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!

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!

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!

Pretty Peach Bouquets Plus Some Anemone Love

I was looking up pretty pictures of bouquets with peach flowers today and these caught my eye.

Powder blue is apparently a stunning contrast to the peach flowers.

I love how this looks ready to put into a vase.

This looks delicate and pretty with the nude ribbon and vines.

I discovered that anemones look really good as contrast to the peach colours too.

Soft and feminine

Wild and bright.  Love that ribbon texture.

Lush and pretty

Rather stunning

Just a big bunch of over-ripe blooms.  By the end of the day, I would have sticks and a pile of petals!  But so pretty like this.

Again, anemones are so lovely.  

So pretty

Loving the bright red and fuschia

Elegant and unique

These flowers are serving as inspiration to some paper flowers I am working on.  I will show you soon once I upload some photos.  

Happy Wedding Planning!

Ombre Petal Wedding Aisle

I've been admiring the lovely ombre colour changing petal aisles lately.  They look so pretty!  After experiencing a perfect proposal complete with scattered petals, it seems necessary to include some petals in the wedding.  Here are some great examples of how petals were used in stunning ways.

You will need a lot of petals for this look, but it's so beautiful!

It looks like some light blending is required at the joints between colours is required too.  Otherwise, the look will be too stark between colours.

I love how the colours blended into the dark maroon fabric on the stairs.  Very strategic!  The aisle runner effectively gives you a guide on where to scatter the petals so that you form a straight aisle.

This was a more vivid look on a wooden floor.  There is no aisle runner so the edges are softer/more messy.

It actually doesn't look half bad when the petals are not as densely laid down without an aisle runner.

If you want the same look with less petals, just scatter the petals on the sides of the aisle.

Lovely colour changing work with designs along the aisles

I love these designs that people make on the wedding aisle, but who would draw mine out?  This design is not colour changing, but it's a mix of pinks.

 Here's what a mix of oranges, reddish oranges, yellow, and peach would look like.

 This is a very adorable mix of dark and light pinks.  I love how the little flower almost blends in with that sweet little dress.  It looks like she would rather stop and admire the flowers rather than continue down the aisle.

 I feel like this aisle could have used more petals.

 I much prefer how the petals hide the joint between the aisle runner in this picture to make a softer edge.  They seem to have used lighter flower petals on the center of the aisle and darker orange petals along the sides.  It looks good.  I believe the darker orange petals then blend into the dark orange and brown on the pomanders on the very sides of the aisles.  That's a different way to make the colours change on the aisle.

 This is a densely laid mix of petals.  Looks pretty, huh?

Now I need your help!

I have picked a range of petal colours and arranged them into rows the way they  might appear on the wedding aisle.  Which row looks the best to you?  If you the like the mix of colours instead of changing colours, you can just choose the row that would have the most appealing mix of colours to you.  You can also suggest an alternative!

These are V's favourites:

These petals were chosen from this listing which would give me 5000 petals for about $16.78.  

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/50bags-5000pcs-5-5CM-artificial-Silk-Rose-Petals-For-Wedding-Favor-Party-Decoration-Carpet-Artificial-Flowers/1712631377.html

According to this petal calculator, I will need  6000 to moderately cover or 12000 to densely cover a 40 x 3 ft aisle.  Eeeks!

Thanks, and happy wedding planning!