Summer must be here....

Location for an event, whether private or corporate, is always a key decision for planners. Big or small? Intimate and romantic or grand and elegant? There are so many fantastic venues in Ottawa and I had the pleasure last night to attend two events.

The Atlific Hotels of Ottawa-Gatineau hosted a special wine & beer pairing evening to celebrate the Spring/Summer season. It was fabulous to have the opportunity to meet the teams from Courtyard Marriott, Four Points by Sheraton, Hotel Indigo, Lord Elgin and Residence Inn - all together. Not only did I get to mix and mingle, I was indulged by the food pairing stations that spoiled me with cocktails made with ginger beer and Russian Standard Vodka, white/red wine, and even scotch. There was food stations from seafood to the chocolate fountain and everything was topped off with live music and great company. Congrats to the Atlific Hotels in Ottawa-Gatineau, 2010/2011 will be filled with exciting and new opportunities!

Lago Bar & Grill has since been a great spot for weddings and events. It recently underwent some renovations. Last night, at their grand re-opening party, I had a preview of the new layout, format and full use of the patio overlooking Dow's Lake - the sunny weather just made it even better on the patio. Fantastic venue that brings out the best of elegance and romance. There were samples from the new menu (including oysters to lamb chops) and special drinks! Well done and I'm looking forward to more exciting news from Lago.

By Appointment Only Bridal Boutique...

On May 8th, I had the pleasure of attending the Grand Opening Night of the Ashton Station Bridal Boutique in Carleton Place.

Nestled in an old church, Luigi and Tracy Porcari have renovated the space into a beautiful, modern boutique that provides brides with
high-end bridal gowns designed by Canadian designer Rita Vinieris. In talking to Rita, I'm inspired by her creativity and vision. She is truly a fashion icon in the Canadian wedding industy with presence in many of the International runways, including New York.

Ashton Station is by appointment-only. This offers brides the chance to share their first moment of trying on wedding dreses, with their closest family and friends. The boutique currently offers not only many Rivini dresses to try on but also shoes, headbands and jewelry.

Luigi and Tracy's story was shared by the Ottawa Citizen. You can find the article at: "Say yes to the dress".

You can also read about them at the Smart Bride Boutique Blog. Photo courtesy of Smart Bride Boutique.

Before the wedding season kicks off...

I had the pleasure of co-hosting a sangria and networking event in April, with Trixie Tulip - The Bytown Bride, for Ottawa Wedding Professionals. It was the first ever networking event in Ottawa for this type of industry. Not only was it fun and relaxing but also a night in which we managed to bring together talent and experience from different areas of the wedding industry.

I was graced with fantastic people that night...I probably would have never had the opportunity to do otherwise, especially once the summer wedding season kicked off for 2010. I was able to enjoy the company of Smart Bride Boutique (from Toronto), Sylvain and Caroline Renaud from Reno Video Productions, Julie Butler, and Tangerine Smile...just to name a few among a great group of professionals.

Thanks to everyone for a great night and looking forward to our second Ottawa Wedding Professionals Networking event - save November 17th and bring lots of business cards!

Inspired by tonight's food sampling

Creative but delicious food is always a highlight for any event - both private and corporate. It should be an inspiration of the theme. It should make your guests excited to try it and leaving them wanting more.

Tonight I met with Aliza, Owner and Head Chef for Octogon Catering who treated me to a moroccan-themed sampling of this week's menu. The Moroccan tasting started with pita chips dipped into Matboucha (a cooked spiced tomato salad) and some chips for her Carrot Dip (nicely spiced), Meatballs with Tomatoes, Olives and Homemade preserved lemon, and rolled cookies with raisins, pecans, fruit jam and dates (YUMMY).


Straight off her website, "Octogon catering offers homemade traditional dishes with modern interpretations. A creative culinary experience with innovative customized menus-local or exotic with inspired blend of flavors from various regions of the Mediterranean."

Tonight's tasting not only got me excited for her and the fact that she recently opened a location at 707 Gladstone Avenue, but that we will be working together in planning Octogon Catering's Grand Opening event. More info to come but feel free to drop by her location as she also offers meals to go and unique cooking classes for all ages...truly a Moroccan and Spanish inspired cuisine experience.

Free printable wedding workbook

Collaborating, sharing and promoting other reputable wedding planners in Ottawa is always best done over a coffee on a nice sunny day! I had the opportunity over the weekend to do just that with Sophie from Coverall Event Coordination. I'm so excited for her. She has officially launched "Something Blue" which is a free printable wedding workbook customized by city and state/province. As an experienced Planner, she has developped a tool to facilitate the planning process for brides and grooms - not specifically to replace the requirement for a real Wedding Planner but as a guide to prioritize and track progess. Nothing can replace the warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing you have a real person on the day of your wedding to take care of any problems, handle vendors, set up, and coordinate all aspects includng the itinerary.

Congrats to Sophie for a great idea! Check out Something Blue: Free printable wedding workbook at www.somethingblueworkbook.com!

V for victory for my dear friend Brenda

There are times in our lives when we are forced to really see things in a different perspective and be thankful for our family, friends and their health! I've recently met a great woman who is not only a cancer survivor BUT who's making the most of her second chance at life! While some of use would have given up with a diagnosis of cancer, Brenda decided to turn it into an opportunity. In 2009, while completing chemo, she successfully planned her first ever Survivorship charity fundraiser in hopes of finding a cure. This year she's back to celebrate being a survivor and to plan her second event for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation., in hopes of doubling last year's target. It took me some time to convince her that she really had a reason this year to celebrate and I'm so happy to be a part of it! She has a great line up: Spoken word by Greg Frankson "Ritallin". Comedy by: Catherine Doucette-Smith, Rachelle Todd, Jenninfer Hayward, Jennifer Woodworth - lots of great prizes, silent auction items and so much more! Everyone should join us April 17, 2010 to celebrate Brenda and other cancer survivors and more importantly show support in finding a cure for this deadly disease!!!

For more information.

The traditional wedding registry concept in a not-so traditional way

With more and more couples living together before marriage, it almost seems that having a bridal registry is almost pointless. If you have all the furniture, kitchenware, decorations for your household, what else could there possibly be left for your wedding guests to buy?

Well why not use a gift registry that will offer your family and friends the opportunity to contribute to something you, as the soon-to-be married couple, really want such as a romantic honeymoon, a downpayment on a new car or home, electronics or gadgets, or even a donation to the charity of your choice. This is all possible thanks to a new, not-so-traditoinal registry called Wedding Republic.


How does it work? Well it is quite simple - it allows you to create a wedding profile, select your gifts from their list(or you can create your own gifts), determine how you want to split the gift value by selecting the number of puzzle pieces, rank them based on how important the gift is to the couple, share the link with family and friends, and sit back and track the progess of the registry. The great thing is that guests can choose how many puzzle pieces (or contribution) they will contribute...AND IT'S FREE. You can be as creative as you want with your gift list now.

Excellent idea!