Thursday, April 30, 2015

Amber's Bridal Shower

I helped my sister plan her Tiffany themed bridal shower. This post includes pictures and details of the event. Many pictures were taken by my best friend, Anjali. She did an amazing job! Thanks Anjali! :D 

You can also check out my video on it:



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Stations

We set up a couple of stations and asked the guests to visit each station.
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Station 1 - Welcome bags
The first station had goodie bags filled makeup/perfume samples, crossword puzzles and pens. We asked them to complete the crossword puzzles to enter a chance to win a prize.

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Station 2 - Nail Polish
We also placed nail polishes and asked them to take one each.

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Station 3 - Lipstick Canvas
We placed a blank canvas and asked the guests to "kiss and sign." I love this idea, it's great for bridal showers!

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Refreshments
Before serving dinner, we had a fruit platter and cheese with crackers. 

Some of our friends helped us out serve food/drinks. We couldn't have done it without them!

We also served some non-alcoholic sparkling juice. 

We placed small bottles of water reading "Amber & Co." and date of bridal shower. I designed these using Google Docs.

When food was served, we added Coke and Sprite bottles along with paper straws and bottle opener. 



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Dessert Table



On the table, there was an iPad playing some of the pictures from my sister's Nikah (Islamic marriage ceremony). There were also some photos hanging from the ceiling along with balloons. 

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Cake

We ordered the cake from Les Glaceurs (Old Montreal). I love how it turned out! Inside was red velvet and the size was perfect (12-15 portions).

A photo posted by Nazra (@arzanblogs) on

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Macarons

We ordered macarons from Petit Delights. They were amazing and everyone loved them.  They were all gone! I really like their shop, which is located on 1853 St Catherine west.


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Candy
As for candy, there was cotton candy flavoured "Rock Candy."

Rock Candy
There were also Jordan Almonds and Jelly Beans.
Finally, there were cotton candy sticks, which were pink but we still decided to include it on the dessert table.
Cotton Candy Sticks
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Hershey's Bars
One of my friends designed Hershey's Bar wrappers. Thanks Amalan! :D You can contact him if you want him to design them for your event. He sent me the template and I simply printed them out and wrapped the Hershey's bars.
Photo Credit: Andrea
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Favor Boxes
We also had boxes with ribbon to mimic Tiffany & Co. boxes and they were filled with chocolates. We bought the boxes from our local store "Foret Mini Depot."



I also placed my sister's present there... The actual Tiffany & Co. box is so cute! I just realized I placed it upside down lol


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Drinks
We also served few more drinks on the dessert table. It was a non-alcoholic mojito that we found at Walmart. We included it on the table because of its color.


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Henna
Who doesn't love a henna party?! Moushomee from MouMakeup came over and did henna on each guest. She's a makeup artist and also does henna. She made our day even more memorable.
Not only is she talented but she's very sweet! I'm glad I met her! Even though it was my first time meeting her, we felt an instant connection and I honestly felt like I've known her for awhile. Needless to say, I will always contact her for any future henna parties!
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Photo Booth
I think the most fun part of the day was the photobooth. We actually set it up on our own. We bought a few props and made some on our own.
I bought a backdrop kit that I'm planning on using for my videos. I also had softboxes and Stellar ring light. 

Here's a picture of me (middle) and my besties.



Here's another one with Moushomee from MouMakeup (henna/makeup artist).


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Raffle
We also handed out raffle tickets and there were a couple of prizes. Prizes included Stila palette, Make Up For Ever Eyeliner set, drugstore products, deluxe samples, etc.

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Planning 

RSVP
I created a Facebook event and Splash page. I had a formal invitation on Splash and people were able to RSVP there as well.You can password protect the page and then simply send out the link to the guests along with password. I used Facebook page to keep guests updated because most of us check regularly.

Itinerary 
I designed the itinerary using Drawing feature of Google Docs. I also added icons that I got from flaticon (all the Icons are made by Freepik).
Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com
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Crossword Puzzle
Each guest received a crossword puzzle about Amber in their goodie bag. I used a free online tool that generates it for you: Edtools. It was so easy to make!
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Station & Dessert Table Printouts

I used picmonkey.com to design the stations and dessert table printouts.
They're very easy to make! All you have to do is:
  1. Click on Edit and upload a background you'd like to use
  2. Play around with the features. You can add text, frames, overlays, etc. Many of the features are free to use but others do require you to be a "Royal member" but I only used the features that are free to use. 
I added a Victorian Label (it's under overlays).


For text, I used a couple of different fonts. Let's take the third one as an example:

3: Font "Black Jack"
PUCKER UP, DARLING:  Font "QUENTIN CAPS"
Kisses to the bride: Font "Lobster Two"

I also added lips found under overlays.

 

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Final Thoughts
We spent a whole week putting everything together and it was so hectic. Although we ran out of time, I'm still happy the way everything turned out especially the dessert table. Most importantly, we all had a great time. However, I don't think I want to plan bridal showers for awhile though. 
 

Friday, April 3, 2015

Mangalyam Montreal Wedding Show 2015

Mangalyam Me & You is a South Asian company providing an online listing of wedding vendors. It also provides the listing in printed form through their Mangalyam Magazine. This was their second year hosting a bridal show, which took place at Le Château Royal on March 29th 2015. 
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Mangalyam Team


  • Founders/Organizers: 
    • Sasi Karu
    • Jeetha Sasi
  • Art Director/Stylist: Lynn Gauvreau
  • Art Director/Movement Stylist/Model Coach: Gerry Pitt
  • Bridal Show Coordinator: Jestin Jay
  • Fashion Show Coordinators: 
    • Ruba Sri
    • Aman Rattanpal
    • Jenny Kostrilis
    • Sybelle Samba
    • Shana Ganesh
  • Media Partner/Graphic Designer: Selvan
  • Media Partner: Nisanthan Tharmalingam


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Fashion Show
Fashion Vendors:
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Collection Zauq
Hair & Makeup: Amber Esthetics & Spa
Jewelry: 
Photo by Alfaaz Photography
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Sana Fashion
Hair & Makeup: Navela
Jewelry: Boutique de Luxe
Photo by Alfaaz Photography
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Swasam Jewelry
Hair & Makeup: Reve Studio

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Swasam Jewelry
Hair & Makeup: MouMakeup
Photo by Alfaaz Photography

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O.D.A.C.E.
Hair & Makeup: Amber Esthetics & Spa
Photo by Alfaaz Photography

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Mangalyam Montreal Wedding Show 2015

Coming Soon

I will have a blog post in less than a week but you can watch my vlog in the meantime. I missed the show but I checked out some vendors. However, a couple of photographers covered the event, so I will be sharing their photos.