Movies We Love!

With the weather going from hot to cold, sunny to raining, we've had some time to look some of our favorite movies! There are so many movies out there with weddings as their central theme, making it almost a right of passage for every bride. Naturally almost every "wedding" movie is a romantic comedy, but some even have a place in the best movie category. 
My Big Fat Geek Wedding, for example, won lots of awards and gained global recognition! Both brides and grooms can enjoy this film!

The Wedding Signer is a typical Adam Sandler film with a romantic twist - very nostalgic. 

Our favorite: Father of the Bride - it's an AMAZING movie and I think made everyone tear up just a little - it also showcases how much weddings can cost and the stress in planning!

So go ahead, rent a wedding movie, indulge! - we won't tell! 

After months of planning, your big day has come and gone, and it’s now time to take your first vacation together as a married couple - your honeymoon. Maddy K Events + Weddings Atelier is including complimentary honeymoon planning services to all Maddy K clients. 

Couples can take advantage of complimentary honeymoon consultation and planning services with Sara Abbott, Maddy K’s exclusive honeymoon and destination wedding consultant. With over 6 years of experience, Sarah is able to plan your dream honeymoon anywhere in the world! 

“There are many reasons why a honeymoon is important” says Sara, “it’s a romantic get-a-way, and a trip where a couple can be alone for their first couple weeks of marriage.” 
We know it’s important to have a travel agent take care of all the little things before and during your honeymoon, and that’s why Maddy K is including free honeymoon planning services to all her clients! “When booking a big trip on your own there a lot stressful things to consider” says Sara, “things like which supplier is reliable, what documents are needed, and who the couple should contact if something goes wrong. With the stress of planning a wedding, a honeymoon shouldn’t be something a couple has to worry about as-well.” 

This exclusive service is offered to Maddy K clients only, so why not take advantage of this essential service courtesy of Maddy K Events + Weddings Atelier.

Eco-Chick just in time for Earth Day!

Eco-Chick is not only in this season, it’s here to stay! Do your part while planning and decorating your wedding by incorporating eco-friendly elements into the reception. With Earth Day on April 22nd isn’t now the best time to think green?

Our suggestions...
Lighting: Typically receptions are held at restaurants, reception halls, or even on patios. Ask the location if they’d be willing to exchange their lighting for candles. It’s romantic and really sets the mood as well as saves energy!
Wedding Favors: Think glass, aluminum, recycled paper, and even bamboo. We’ve found some great ideas online, like potted plants, votive candles with cinnamon or bamboo attached. All are recyclable and reusable!
Table settings.: We found these great place setting holders made of bamboo. You can really get creative with table settings, think rocks, or anything else for that matter!

Idea like these are fun, unique, and most importantly good for the environment!

Happy Earth-Day

-The Maddy K Team

The lovely, the classic and our favorite accessory....
The Headband!

Headbands come in so many shapes, sizes, and decor, that the possibilities are endless and the statements are fabulous! Brides love headbands, and we love how it polishes the look!

We've compiled a mini-inspiration board with some of our top headband picks!

Enjoy!!!

Not too long ago, we talked about different locations to have your wedding. We were so inspired about vineyard weddings, that we’ve compiled an inspiration board of Vineyard weddings. It’s so romantic and simple that a Vineyard Wedding will surely leave your guests in aww...

Other then who you are going to marry, what you'll be wearing is the second most important aspect of a bride's big day!

"Say Yes to the Dress" is a great little show on TLC that reveals the inner workings of the world's premier bridal salon in New York, Kleinfeld Bridal.
The show features fashions and trends in bridal wear, as well as some heart felt stories of real brides to be. The show also features many gowns and what styles go best with body shape. It's a great show for brides to be to watch and gain perspective of cuts, alterations, and opinion.

There was one episode of a bride who really wanted a dress from a particular designer.. but her body figure wasn't made for this designers style. So the team at Kleinfeld Bridal found her exactly what she was looking for, but from another designer..... and she knew that dress was to be the one!

It's one of the most important accessories for brides and grooms alike.

Their Shoes!
And with luxury designers like JimmyChoo, Christian Loubouton, and Manolo Blahnik, why not indulge a little when it comes to your shoes.

What's hot? Heels that pop! A trend we are seeing this wedding season is colour, crystals, bows and anything that strikes as original and fun! Predominately chunky over dainty, and heels over flats. But anything goes, so have fun and maybe even indulge in your favorite designers like JImmy Choo or Christian Loubouton!

We've compiled an inspiration board of shoes from mid to high end designers. Although we've chose pink in our board (with a beautiful pink hand bag by Christian Loubouton), don't be afraid to look for green, yellow or blue when picking your heels!


Enjoy!

-The Maddy K Team

Watermelon pink is fun, exciting, sexy, and as feminine as you can get! It's also one of this seasons hottest colours, for Weddings! I love pink because you can always sneak it in the reception, or you can have a full watermelon pink themed wedding. We've compiled a watermelon pink inspiration board!

Watermelon Pink Themed Weeding: Watermelon Pink and Apple Green!
What I've seen to be so cute is giving your guest watermelon pink and apple green jelly belly jellybeans as wedding favors! The Maddy K Boutique (http://www.maddyk.com) has lots of different little boxes and tins you can put the jelly beans in. So, be creative, have fun, and don't hold back!

Lovely "Notions"

Ideas and concepts for a wedding cake can be found almost anywhere.  More often than not they are designed to match a color scheme, a specific theme, or tie in with floral arrangements.  Sometimes a bride and groom need not look any further than to themselves for inspirations!  The bride in her beautiful wedding gown and the groom in his crisp suit are, after all, the stars of the show so why not choose a design to highlight just that!

A classic white cake covered in sugary eyelet lace is a lovely way to compliment the details of the bride's dress while still being simple enough to work with many colors and themes.  True, it's all about the bride, but even the groom's attire can lend itself to a unique design by focusing on the fabric and details of his shirt!  A collar, pattern or button for instance may be all the inspiration you need to find your perfect cake!

For The Birds!

One thing I've noticed recently is that no matter what store I stumble across, I always manage to find something adorned with birds!  From home decor to fashion, they are everywhere!  On delicate china patterns, assortments of whimsical wall hangings, pendants on necklaces or fun, feminine patterns on t-shirts, one thing is certain; it's all about birds!

I am happy to say that this inspiration has also made its way to wedding cakes and personally, I absolutely love it!  In my opinion these fun patterns and designs are trendy enough to add a modern touch to your cake while still remaining delicate and romantic.  Whether keeping things soft in a pastel color pallet, taking it up a notch with bold reds and yellows or simply topping the cake with an adorable pair of love birds, it is clear that these fashionable feathers are very versatile!

This beautiful collection of cakes is all courtesy of Lovin Sullivan whose cakes are always spectacular!  The cake topper is a more recent discovery of mine by Ann Wood who has a charming, handsome collection of ornaments fabricated out of re-used materials from vintage garments.

Join us on Facebook!!!

We invite all brides to join our Facebook Fanpage. There you will see more updates on what we've been up to... more albums of 'real weddings', our calendar of weddings for 2009 along with the Maddy K Video that you just can't miss!

We will try to make sure we update our blog as much as we do our FB Fanpage... however as the summer months get closer, we will have less and less time to update both... so do keep visiting!

VIVEZ LA VIE WITH MADDY K

Great news! Maddy K has now partnered up with Vivez La Vie, a worldwide concierge service company. This new collaboration will be exclusive to Maddy K clients and give them access to a free personal concierge service for a whole year! Let Maddy K and Vivez La Vie give you back your most valuable asset: your time.

Now Maddy K couples and their guests can have more time to indulge in other activities! Your personal concierge team will work out the details and take away the stress. Vivez La Vie will learn your personal tastes and assist you with any travel arrangements, restaurant reservations, guest accommodations, Spa day for the girls and even finding a babysitter! You can now simplify your life by taking advantage of your free one year membership with Vivez La Vie’s personal concierge team courtesy of Maddy K, enjoy!

ABOUT VIVEZ LA VIE

Founded in 2006, Vivez La Vie quickly established itself as an innovative enterprise offering new resources to address local needs, a broad international network and a top level team. The enterprise has already won several awards including the 2007 Quebec Entrepreneurship Contest and the 2008 Prix Reconnaissance Innovation, a distinction honoring Quebec's most innovative businesses.

Today, in addition to serving its international clients, Vivez la vie continues to expand its private concierge team and its worldwide affiliated partner network in order to continue optimizing its services.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Rich of his studies in both Thailand and Taiwan, Nicolas rapidly evolved on the workplace from sales and customer service position to upper management. He’s very proud of his achievements at Dell computer working with the Preferred Account Division in Toronto and as director of Customer Service and Chief of Operations for the corporate branch of Van Houtte in Montréal.

Now with 15 years work experience in the corporate world and service industry, founding managing director Nicolas Marion belongs to that generation of dynamic young entrepreneurs endowed with a capacity for achieving greater client satisfaction by combining efficiency and know-how, effectiveness and accessibility.

A firm believer in local and social involvements, he actively participates on the board of the SADC des Laurentides, a non-profit agency that promotes the social and economic development of the Laurentian community, as well as being a member of the ICEA, the International Concierge & Errand Association.

As we get closer to spring (28 days till spring!), we want to share some of the hottest colours when it comes to spring weddings. Today we are focusing on clover green. Green is always popular for spring and summer weddings, clover green gives you a darker version of green that contrasts great with springs natural backdrop.

You can easily pair clover green with white, pinks, browns, blues and blacks!

Here is a little inspiration in clover greens.

Introducing Luisa Galuppo's Sweet Tip of the Week

Since graduating from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Institute, Luisa has experience much of what the wonderful world of culinary art has to offer, pastries in particular. Over the past several years, she has had the pleasure of working in some of the best hotels, pastry and chocolate shops Montreal has to offer. All of these great experiences have led her to her true passion; cake! Exquisite wedding and specialty cakes!

After studying with Toronto based cake designer, Bonnie Gordon, and having had the chance to work with the very talented Allyson Meredith of Allyson Meredith Cakes, she has since launched Luisa Galuppo Cakes. Having always been passionate about baking, she is now able to combine her love of pastry with her love of art and design.

Each of Luisa’s cakes is custom designed to reflect the personal style and taste of her clients and always made with the best quality ingredients, exceptional attention to detail and with great care! Luisa believes that the perfect cake is not only beautiful, but more importantly, delicious! It is a labor of love.

Luisa couldn’t be happier to be collaborating with Maddy K and looks forward to sharing her love of cakes and helping you find the right one! Get professional tips on how you can sweeten up your special day each week by tuning in to read Luisa’s Sweet Tips of the Week!

Something Blue...

This spring there are a lot of great colours to choose from, and we'll be sure to make collages on all of them. From blues to greens and reds to purples it'll be a colourful and vibrant wedding season. We'll start the season off with something blue!

We'll see a lot of Light Aqua Blue (or Tiffany blue) accented with whites, creams or dark browns this spring. We love this colour because it's cool and fresh as well as a lot of fun! You can easily use this colour as a simple accent or set your theme around it. We've seen it paired a lot with vibrant red roses or orange tulips.

Here is some inspiration on our cool, fresh and fun Light Aqua Blue.

One of the most frequent questions I get from budding brides is how best to leverage spring seasonal flowers for their upcoming weddings.

I find that this is a very personal issue, but I have some thoughts about what has worked well for brides based on my experience.

For example what could be better than a beautiful display of spring flowers for nuptials occurring in April or May? Some great arrangements can be made with tulips, which are a personal favorite of mine. While they are known to come from Holland, Montreal brides will
be delighted to know that they are grown locally, making them good not only for the ever-tight wedding budget, but for the environment, as well.

Another favorite spring flower is hyacinth. During the spring, they give off a beautiful radiant fragrance. For wedding table displays, they can also be kept with their roots
in a clear square vase which gives a contemporary feel that your guests will be certain to be talking about for days.

There is no holy grail for wedding flowers. What is good for one bride may not be optimal for the next. But, with a bit of planning and creative thinking, floral arrangements can make tying the knot that much extra special extra-special.

If you have any questions regarding your wedding flowers or if you would like to make an appointment to get your wedding flowers done by Maddy K Flowers please email me: victoria@maddyk.com

Personalized Ribbon

These ribbons are a fabulous finishing touch to any favor box or place setting! Personalized with your names and date, or with your own special message, they will be memorable wherever they are used. They come in various colors and could be purchased from our very own Boutique.

Introducing Victoria Surplice - The New Addition to the Maddy K Team
Melding Art and Flowers is Victoria’s Passion...

We are so excited to introduce you to the latest addition of the Maddy K Team.

Having Been involved in floral design for nearly 20 years, primarily within some of Europes top design boutiques has been instrumental in developing her unique and contemporary style.

Each of her designs maintains its own individual distinctiveness, tailored to the clients needs. Originally from England, Victoria studied floristry & art, and soon after embarked on a floristry career. She has provided floral designs for clients that include Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney and Elton John. In addition, she has organized floral displays for major events such as Grand Prix Monaco, The Brit Music Awards and the wedding of Caroline Corr of The Corrs among others. Victoria now resides in Montreal and excited to be joining the Maddy K team to provide clients with her brand of unique and exciting floral displays!

You will see some of her work in the photos above. For an appointment with Victoria you could email her at: victoria@maddyk.com or call (514) 694-4575

Introducing PaperLux by Maddy K

We are thrilled to be introducing a new line of paperie for Maddy K called PaperLux. The line is designed for those that love chic, modern and trendy stationary at an affordable price!!! The line is very different from our Signature collection and is sure to be a hit with all Diva brides :)

To have more information or to set up an appointment please contact us.

Stay tuned because we will be launching PaperLux boxed cards very soon, which could be perfect for bridal showers, engagement parties, baby showers and any other event you would like to use it for!

Bride Wars... how far is too far???

I was invited to the Montreal Premiere of Bride Wars and although I enjoyed the movie thoroughly, I was left wondering really how far could a bride go just to make their wedding day perfect!!!!

Although the movie is a bit exaggerated, it is sending out a message- which in true life is very very realistic!!! Brides should learn to relax and enjoy their planning rather than stress and make it a very difficult time for themselves, their partners and all their friends and family around them!!!

Ever sice the movie came out, I've been asked by email and by friends, whether brides really do go that far and get that serious about their special day... and although I have never encountered a bride that went to those extremes, I have worked with numerous brides and couples that have evolved to be people they never thought they would be or do things they never thought they would do ... just because they were planning their wedding!!!

My advise to couples is to enjoy the months leading to your wedding day...this time is supposed to be beautiful times filled with special memories... so don't ruin it by having unrealistic expectations!!! Most importantly, don't listen to Kate Hudson; when she says you don't alter VERA to fit your body, you alter your body to fit VERA!!! - I DISAGREE!!! Be true to yourself and who you are, and you will look beautiful !!! :)

And oh... If you are planning your wedding... do watch the movie... it will help you put your priorities in place! :)