Friday's Fabulous Find: The Art Concierge!

Making an empty space feel unique and welcoming for an event, like a wedding, can seem daunting, however The Art Concierge can easily accomplish this for you with well chosen art pieces from the vast print options available today.

Technology in the art world has brought us to the canvas transfer. A canvas transfer is a poster print that is literally melted onto a piece of canvas and then stretched on stretcher bars to look very much like an original. It can then be framed for a truly wonderful presentation.

The best part of this option is that after the wedding, you can hang these pieces in your home, giving you many years of decorative enjoyment, while preserving a wonderful memento of your wedding.

This option when coupled with The Art Concierge’s consultative services will afford you some unique opportunities. His goal is to accomplish the following:

• Consult with you to determine the most appropriate art choices for your tastes.
• Source the best poster print and framing options.
• Project manage the delivery of your choices.
• Maximize your budget value.
• Offer you a more diverse service.
• Allow you more time to pursue more demanding responsibilities.
• Decorate your first home as a married couple.

Of course, he can also make framing arrangements for pieces of art you already own. With seven years of experience as an art and gift consultant, The Art Concierge can provide you with a service that will fulfill all of your art & decoration needs.

Contact Elliot or call 604.351.9251 to arrange your consultation today!

DreamGroup’s Wedding Wednesday: Tip of the Week

Choosing your guest book...

Can't quite decide where to get your guestbook or just have no idea what your options are? Well have a look at some of our favourite guestbook choices below and then take your pick!

The DreamGroup Boutique offers several unique and fun options for your guest book ranging from photo frames to wish card jars to the traditional book...have a look at a couple of our favourite products below and be sure to check out the rest of the site for more great options!

Our Signature Photo Mat is a great alternative to a traditional paper guest book, and something you can proudly display as a keepsake from your wedding day or special occasion. There are no special treatments needed for the mat - just have your guests sign and it is ready to display. Each Framed Keepsake Photo Mat includes one Signature Engraving Scribe, a microfiber polishing cloth to remove finger smudges, and an elegant guest instruction card.

Here is a unique alternative to the traditional Guest Book. The Perfect Pair Jar holds your guests wishes until you can store them away, then it makes a great cookie jar in your new home. Use with the co-ordinating Perfect Pair cards.

This beautifully crafted Guest Book depicts a Love Bird flying to meet his companion nestled on the branches. Quite the charming pair! Golden foiling on the page edges adds an element of polish to the overall design. Coordinating Love Bird Stationery also available.

My Publisher's free downloadable software is an easy and fun way to create your own personalized guest book. Just download the free software, add your photos, play with the layout and you're done! See a couple of our favourite cover style options below:

Classic Hardcover with Leather Cover

Deluxe Hardcover with Book Jacket

The Guestbook Store offers a unique twist on the traditional guest book. Rather than a book of autographs likely to be stored away, these non-traditional guestbooks personalize your event and capture guests' memories and heartfelt wishes of your special day. Each guest at your event will receive their very own guestbook page to fill out and share special messages at their leisure. After your event, simply place the completed pages in one of our many guestbook album designs and enjoy!

The Kodak Gallery's high-quality, hardcover Personalized Cover Photo Books feature your own photos and captions with their professional designs and layouts. Cover size measures 10.25 x 9" and the base price includes 20 double-sided pages (10 sheets of paper). See their website for more book options and cover styles as well

Just remember, whatever you choose...make sure its something that you love because you'll be looking at it for years to come!

Check out the Lastest Issue of WedLuxe Magazine!

Last summer one of DreamGroup's Principal Planners, Geneve McNally, had the absolute joy of working with the stunning Shauna Doersam (now Zingg) on her beautiful August wedding at Cecil Green. It has just been chosen as one of the featured weddings in the current issue of WedLuxe Magazine...

Click here to view the magazine spread and photos by the talented Lori Miles of Sweet Pea Photography.

Also, don't forget to check out DG's other fabulous wedding in this issue of Wedluxe...Annie & Markus by Associate Planner, Alicia Keats!

Friday's Fabulous Find: Gorgeous Personalized Jewelry!

We have just come across this gorgeous personalized original hand stamped Jewelry by Adornments and we absolutely love it!

Every piece is made to order. These become beautiful keepsake gifts for all occasions and holidays like Christmas Easter, Mothers Day and so on. Also a popular gift for bridesmaids, flower girls, new babies, moms, sisters, children, inscriptions of faith and messages of good will.

Adornments strives to create unique keepsakes for you and your loved ones to cherish. Each and every piece is entirely handcrafted - charms are cut, filed, hammered, hand stamped, antiqued, polished and brushed with care in their studio. They use quality and durable sterling silver chains, charms and findings, as well as a few copper pieces. You may purchase silver plated necklaces at a lower cost as well or just the pendant if you have a chain already.

Each letter is individually hand stamped, no 2 pieces will come out the same--making every piece its own unique creation! The letters being not be perfectly straight and the variation in the spacing adds to the charm of a hand stamped, handcrafted piece!

For more samples of Adornment's jewelry have a look at their Flickr account and e-mail Wanda Griffiths or call 604.922.3343 for more information on purchasing this lovely jewelry today!

DreamGroup’s Wedding Wednesday: Tip of the Week

Escort Cards vs. Place Cards...

So you’ve created your seating plan and its perfect...but now, how to let guests know where they are sitting? Place cards and Escort cards are two of the most popular options but are also a bit of a mystery to some people. What is the difference?! For those who need a bit of help we have created this handy explanation along with a few great options for each choice! Enjoy!

Escort Cards are little cards your guests pick up during the cocktail hour or as they enter the reception room. The cards are arranged in alphabetical order so they are easy for your guests to find. The Escort card simply assigns your guests to sit at a specific table.

Abbey Cocktail Escort Card

The Escort cards should have your guests' name and table number (or name) listed on them. The guest name on the escort card should match the formality of your event. For example: Mr. and Mrs. Bob Smith if it's a formal event (similar to how you addressed the invitation) or Mary and Bob Smith if it's less formal. Just a note, the lady's name is usually listed first. Also, if you've had guests select their entree and you're not doing place cards, you would need to find a way to designate their food choice on the escort card and ask the guests to set them out at their seat where the catering staff can see them. Keep in mind that any place card can be made into an escort card simply by adding the guest’s table number.

Forget Me Not Place Card with fold

Place cards are most often used at more formal events. These are cards that do exactly what they say... they tell your guests their "place" at their table. It will have their name on it and if you've had them select a specific entree will usually have some way to designate their entree choice (color, ribbon, etc).

Lavish Monogram Place Card With Fold

As with the escort cards, the actual names on the place card, would be Mr. Smith for a formal setting (if you have several guests with the same last name then you can list the first name as well, i.e. Mr. Bobby Smith.). If it's more of an informal event you can go without the title, i.e. Bobby Smith. Each of your guests will have their own place card. That goes for couples and well as your " and guest" mysteries, so, for those people bringing a date it will be necessary to find out the "and guests" name, just put in a quick call to your friend.

Floral Orchestra Place Card with Fold

Just remember that the key to making your escort or place cards unique is to make either the card itself or the display of cards as creative as possible. Have fun and Good Luck!

Do you know how to pee?

You're getting married, and by now you have used the bathroom more times than you can count...but have you ever had to pee in a wedding dress?? Well we have just discovered that apparently we've ALL been doing it wrong! Thanks to Isn't She Lovely Planning and Events in Houston, Texas we can now show you how it is REALLY done!

Wrong Way

(Sitting on the toilet)

Right Way

(Facing the back of the toilet)

Now that should make things a LOT easier don't you think?! Good Luck!

Friday's Fabulous Find: Fantastic High Heel Savers!

Wearing high heels in grass or any outdoor environment can be an interesting experience...but now, a high heel cover from SoleMates can do more than just keep your clean heels looking good, it can also extend the life of your shoes! By increasing the surface area on the base of the heel, the high heel protectors reduce the pressure on this area and prevent the heels from sinking into the grass or falling into cracks!

So, whether you are looking to transition your current shoes into more comfortable high heels to wear on a daily basis or if you are looking for a high heel protector to act as a heel saver for outdoor wedding shoes, grad shoes or other special events, The SoleMates High Heeler is the perfect choice!

Be sure to check out the Retail Locations page to find out when you can get your High Heelers today!