Glamnuptials: La Bosse des Noces (We were on TV)

Being a blogger for Weddingbee has definitely made me feel special / sort of celebrity-ish at times (but seriously I'm just a normal gal who blogged about her wedding planning) and it was an honor to share it with all of yous. Some bees have been recognized in public on several occasions (crazy I know!) So when Mr.Flamingo and I took part of a wedding tv show called La Bosse des Noces, well that definetly an interesting experience.

A couple of weeks ago, I was flipping the channels on the television and came face to face... with me. Yup, our wedding was airing again on television. Kinda neat I know. I know you have been waiting to view this video for quite some time, but trying to find a way to upload the video took longer than I anticipated. But I can finally share it with you now. So for those of you who understand french - enjoy!

Though it may not look like it, but I was extremely nervous. Its not every day you have cameras in your face and someone prepping your makeup. A hint ? Notice how many times I say "Glamour" lol ...

The show was about helping us out with issues we came across while planning our wedding. They helped us out with decor elements and our place card chandelier tree. What's great is that they even featured Wes Jones of Film Jones because they found the whole 8mm video really intriguing... plus that whole segment is in english  :)

Our wedding was also on the web with a detailed description of the episode (for canadians only), list of stores where they purchased the items for our wedding and DIY explanations. Check it out here (if you can read in french) Our wedding will be playing for the next 5 years (re-runs obviously) So the "Hey weren't you on TV?" remark will be common, but i can get use to that...LOL But seriously we loved our experience and would do it again in a heartbeat.

So that's it... I'm officially done my wedding recaps. Sniff sniff. I hope you enjoyed my blogging as Mrs.Flamingo. Now this is not an official goodbye, because I will stick around the hive and maybe blog a few more things ;) but my journey as a bee is finished. I've been around for 2 years exactly... and its my time to sign-off and let the spotlight shine on the new bees.

You can visit me on Glamour This! my personal blog. Or better yet, follow even more my randomness on twitter @blushink. 

Best of luck to everyone, and thank you for reading/listening to my rambling :)
Now and forever,
Flamingo
xox


If you want to see all the Glamnuptials recap posts... they are listed below.

Glamnuptials: Beauty Time
Glamnuptials: Prep Time
Glamnuptials: Our details
Glamnuptials: Ceremony Part 1
Glamnuptials: Ceremony Part 2
Glamnuptials: Bride Posing
Glamnuptials: Groom Posing
Glamnuptials: Strike the pose Part 1
Glamnuptials: Strike the pose Part 2
Glamnuptials: The Newlyweds
Glamnuptials: We are Family
Glamnuptials: The first dance
Glamnuptials: Toast time a lot of tears
Glamnuptials: Boogie on Down
Glamnuptials: 3,2,1 and Catch!
Glamnuptials: The Favors
Glamnuptials: Le Gâteau
Glamnuptials: The Guestbook
Glamnuptials: Decor Elements
Glamnuptials: Giving our gifts
Glamnuptials: Our mini moon
Glamnuptials: DAS aka Day after Shoot
Glamnuptials: Wedding Movie Trailer
Glamnuptials: Real Wedding Inspiration Board
Glamnuptials: The REAL Budget

Glamnuptials: Strike the Pose Part 2

Taking pictures and more pictures is what a wedding is all about, so here is part 2 of Strike the pose! When we were planning our wedding we wanted to take the whole picture thingy into consideration. So we decided to rent some vintage inspired lamp posts to recreate a park circa the 1950s.

The result... beautiful pics with an awesome backdrop.

My sisters

We seriously had a blast taking pictures with our guests. It was the beginning of a movement (if I can call it that) people were standing in line to take pictures of us; like we were some famous rocks stars signing autographs. Rock on!

Some girlfriends

My flower girl showing off her pink flip-flops

I was lucky that two of my grandparents were able to share this special day with us, since Mr.Flamingos grandparents passed away when he was just a little boy. Mommy flamingo's daddy was with us, and daddy flamingo's mommy too. They were so happy to witness this special day, and we were even more happy to share it with them.

My 93 year old italian nonna

I felt extremely lucky to have both my mom and my stepmom... thats double mommy goodness, and the fact that they are such great friends made it so much easier. No fights, no issues with seating arrangements, just love.

Step-mom, me (duh!) and Mommy flamingo


My new family :)

My high school friends made it to my wedding, who knew we would stick together after all this time ( 14 years is a very long time!) I was the first one to get married and let me tell you they partied like there was no tomorrow. LOL

My cheeks hurt so much because of the permanent smile on my face. Guess thats part of the whole "its your wedding day, say chesse! " ;)

My aunt

Up next: Introducing the newlyweds…

Images taken by Ipi-events and guests
——————–
Previously:
Glamnuptials : Beauty Time
Glamnuptials : Prep Time
Glamnuptials : Ceremony Part 1
Glamnuptials : Ceremony Part 2
Glamnuptials: Bride Posing
Glamnuptials: Groom Posing
Glamnuptials: Strike the pose Part 1
Glamnuptials : Le Gâteau
Glamnuptials : The Guestbook
Glamnuptials : Decor Elements
Glamnuptials: Giving our gifts
Glamnuptials : DAS aka Day after Shoot
Glamnuptials: Wedding Movie Trailer
Glamnuptials: Real Wedding Inspiration Board

Glamnuptials: Bride Posing

Hello Hive! I'll start off by saying I'm pretending that I haven't been MIA for the last 4 months and will continue my recap posts where I left off. ;) Looking through my Glamnuptials posts, I realized that I've been writing all wrong. Going back and forth with no story line... "um hello, where's your head been flamingo?!?" I'm gonna get my act together and continue the recaps properly.

Looking through my Pro Pics, I select some shots I thought were pretty. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of me. I don't know if it was because we were tight in time or because everything seemed to be overwhelming, but at least the ones I do have are awesome.

The next picture is my ultimate favorite shot. I remember how I felt at that exact moment. I literally took 10 seconds to let the whole day sink in... I was getting married and felt like a million bucks!

What I love about the next couple of shots is the angle they were taken in. I'm a fan of unique pictures and not to mention that they showcase my fake lashes rather nicely ;)

I loved our limo, a 1959 Bentley... exactly how I like them - 50s inspired vintage glamour. Apart from the fact that we didn't have AC, it was rather roomy and not to mention comfy. I definitely felt like a movie star.

At the reception, we rented vintage outdoor lighting and a bench to re-create a park in NYC circa the 1950s. It was only fair that I take the first shot to test it out. It passed the test and our guests loved the bench of love... :)

Up next: Its the grooms turn to pose...

Images taken by : Ipi-events
--------------------
Previously:
Glamnuptials : Beauty Time
Glamnuptials : Prep Time
Glamnuptials : Ceremony Part 1
Glamnuptials : Ceremony Part 2
Glamnuptials : Le Gâteau
Glamnuptials : The Guestbook
Glamnuptials : Decor Elements
Glamnuptials: Giving our gifts
Glamnuptials : DAS aka Day after Shoot
Glamnuptials: Wedding Movie Trailer
Glamnuptials: Real Wedding Inspiration Board

My Real Wedding Inspiration Board

When I was planning my own wedding, I loved seeing inspiration boards. I couldn't get enough and I was making myself some as well. It really gave an overall feel of what type of wedding I was going for, not to mention its a great starting point to any party planning.

Now what I loved even more... is seeing a real wedding inspiration board and compare their original idea and what the wedding actually looked like. Its fun to see if the theme/ideas stayed the same and see if the wedding is better than the inspiration board itself :)

I made my own before and after boards. (click to enlarge):

Original Inspiration Board
(1940s, Vintage, Glamour Theme)

Real Wedding Inspiration Board

(1940s Vintage Glam Movie Theme)

My wedding theme changed a little in the planning process. When I first created my inspiration board, I was going for my pinks, golds, champagne colors and more a vintage modern approach. Then, it shifted to 1940s brown and ivory movie vintage theme. Honestly I really like how my wedding came out, and if I were to do it again... it would be exactly the same, but instead of brown and Ivory, I would go Ivory and Black.

I have to confess that I was sort of competing with my own inspiration board. I wanted my wedding to be better than what I had envision. I know... isn't it weird?

What do you think, is my real wedding board better than the original? Did you make a real wedding board as well? Would you have changed anything?

Le deroulement....

I have a confession to make. I'm not having any decoration at the church. Yes yes, I'm serious. I thought that since were going to be there a whole 45 minutes, I rather spend the money on other decoration items for my reception site. That being said, I still thought that my guests should have a little something - theme-ish at the ceremony.

Programs have always been a stationery item I loved... Not only are they really pretty, but they can be personalized and they serve as information/memento for your guests. Seriously I've spend hours looking for neat ideas for our program.

Here are some of the few I've collected:

Left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

It wasn't until I read one of Mrs.Lovebugs post that it hit me. Telegram baby!!! So I am happy to present my (french) wedding program.

I've used real elements of Telegrams that I found on Retro-Gram and re-created something that was just right. I used Photoshop to modify the original telegram and I was lucky to have found one of the fonts used in the original piece. I'm really happy of the outcome of my programs. Straight to the point... well that's what a telegram is right?

Did you opt for a unique program?

Finally... the unveiling of my centerpiece

Like I had mentioned in my previous post, Mr.Flamingo and I wanted for our centerpiece some type of chandelier on a stand (but we didn't want to make a big hole in our budget.) During the holidays while I was doing my shopping, I suddenly had this “AWWWWWWWW” moment - and I apologize because I never showed you what that AWWW piece was.

Well without further ado here it the AWWW piece:

They are beautiful clear vase-type candle holders. We got 2 different models (the one you see at the front which is shaped like a wine glass, and the ones completely at the back that are thin and long. Both models have a ribbed pattern in the glass which will create beautiful lighting. Plus they are all different heights - so it will create such a beautiful effect)

These vases were such a deal : The smaller ones: 9.99$ and the taller ones: 12.99$ (All purchased at Winners and HomeSense.)

After showing you all the bits and pieces of my centerpieces... the time has finally come to show you the finished product...yes yes I'm not kidding you. Now I apologize for the blurriness of the photos (that's what happens when you don't use a flash) Either way I'm pretty sure you'll get the picture. (get it picture - :) )

My DIY chandelier on a stand:

I am so happy with the outcome of my centerpieces, even my mom is glad she took part in the DIY-ness. (Shes the one that cut all the strands of beads and created the hooks (using jewelry wiring) to make it a WOW factor)

Here are close ups of the votive and the beading of the centerpiece

We have 22 vases in total and with everything; vases, candles, votive holders, tea lights, bead stands, bead curtain, wiring and mirrors our centerpieces came out to 19.00$ each (including 13% taxes)

So what do you think? Is it like what you imagined?

Vintage Ambiance

If there is one thing Mr.Flamingo was really interested about was the decor of the reception site. He wanted to have this specific look and I thought it was a great idea. Since we're going vintage he thought it would be neat to go all out and rent outdoor lighting but for inside. That's exactly what we will be doing. Two weeks ago, Mr.Flamingo and I went to Paul Gregoire a local lighting company which offers rental services.

We wanted to re-create a vintage in-the park kinda look and this is what we got...

A Victorian inspired 5 branch lamp post

Two vintage looking park benches

What we wanted to create was a seating area at the back of the reception site. It will be situated near the bar area, so the guests can sit while having a drink. We will put the 5 branch lamp post and 2 benches. The lamp post will be surrounded by plants to really give that outdoor feeling.

2 Victorian inspired single branch lamp post

We also rented 2 single lamp posts. Still not sure where we will be placing these, there was the option of having them near the honor table. We can also place them completely opposite of the park area... but once we decide where the tables will be placed then we will have all the options open.

My favorite of all... is our card box. When I first read Miss Gingerbreads post on her card box, I completely fell in love with the idea of having a neat vintage looking mailbox. I was so happy to have found one that was perfect for out outdoor idea.

This mailbox is perfect, not only does it really fit that vintage look, its got a light too... What I really loved about this mailbox is that it comes with keys. Isn't that great?... so unless one of my guests leaves with the whole thing, there will be less chances of having disappearing envelopes.

All of this cost 400$ delivery included. Plus they will be painting all the elements in a antique bronze color... perfect match with my colors. I think this will be a great addition to our decor (though we don't have much - really) Things are finally coming together...

I'm finally seeing the whole picture and I love it. What do you think?

And action...

Last night I received a private message from a weddingbee reader. The fabulous fadedblue sent me a message saying she had found a really great piece that would be perfect for my wedding theme.

Really intrigued, I clicked on the link she sent me and my jaw dropped. WOW... vintage inspired movie projectors. I'm in love and so is Mr.Flamingo.

Small - $79.99 , Big- $99.99 via Potterybarn

Even though this would totally be a splurge, it would be so nice next to my not so thematic guestbook. I mean I was trying to find ways of making my whole decor more movie-ish without going overboard... so this would be a good choice - right? I can re-use it for decoration in my new home theatre (when we buy our house of course) it would be a great way to remember our wedding. To top this off its on sale... now, how could I resist a sale?

I know, I know, I'm trying to convince myself.

Well, after much debating, I finally decided to purchase it. Problem - They don't ship to Canada. Snif! Snif! I could always ship it to someone I know it the states, but the billing address must be in the states as well. Maybe if I tried calling them.... maybe that would work.

Since its a final sale, I would love to know if any of you have seen these projectors in person? Can anyone help me with that. Its not like I have a Pottery Barn near my house :( so I can't check it out for myself.

Did you splurge on something for your wedding? Is it something you re-used?

À Table

As time passes, I seem to change my mind on what I want to do for the table numbers. At first Mr. Flamingo had suggested having vintage movie posters, but I soon realized that it can be very complicated and hard to understand. First off, if the guests don't know the movie specifically, they will need to search to find the actual title on the poster. In those years there was type all over the place, the actors names were more prominent than the actual movie title, so I think it may be hard to the guests to find their table. Another important point is that majority of the guests are French and all the movie titles are in English. So what now...

There was one poster that I really like the imagery. Its the 1933 movie The Songs of Songs. Not only is the imagery beautiful, vintage and wedding perfect... its actually a love story too. Talk about a coincidence.

Here is the original poster :

source

Then I thought why not use that poster for all the table numbers, that way the same message will be on all the posters, which means less confusion and there will actually be numbers. So I started using my Illustrator and Photoshop skills and tried to re-create this poster to suit our wedding.

Here was the criteria I needed on the poster.

• It needed to look like a movie poster.
  
• It had to keep the actual feel of the original poster.
  
• We needed to write our names in there somewhere
  
• It had to be bilingual

This is what I came up with... (click to enlarge)

I really like the outcome of the poster, I think its perfect. But I haven't shown Mr.Flamingo yet, and I'm afraid he won't like it. He really wanted to go more towards the glamour route but I think that this poster is kinda glamour - no?

What do you think? Please give me your input please...

Where do I sit???

Before I even need to think about who I will be seating where (and let me say I am dreading this part), I first have to decide what type of escort cards I will be using. I recently learned the difference between escort cards and place cards - not very complicated : place cards actually assign the seats of the guests and escort cards simply say which table your guest will be seated at and they choose their seat.

Image source

Since I have a mixture of 2 elements for my wedding theme : Vintage Glamour & Hollywood Movies, I need to figure out which route I want to go with. I desperately need your help with this, awesome weddingbee readers. Now because I've had issues with incorporating movie elements in the wedding, maybe having movie escort cards is the perfect thing to solve part of that problem...

Our table numbers will be movies posters of that era. Even though the colors won't necessarily fit with our decor; the design, typeface and overall feel of the posters brings you back to that era and that's what we want. So then I thought of actually making slates with the movie name (aka table number) the guest name as well as our wedding date.

I would make these in photoshop and then print them out on hard cardboard paper. The fact that I would make them brown rather than the classic black takes away the "be there, done that" I thought this idea was really neat - but when I mentioned it to Mr.Flamingo, he wasn't too keen about the idea (but he's a visual person - so maybe I need to show him what I mean)

If we go with this option, then there's the issue on how to display these... any suggestions?.

Option number 2 would be the glamour option. We've all seen these before, but they are absolutely gorgeous - don't you find? They would be simple to make and the display itself can create a beautiful setting, but because our centerpieces looks like a chandelier on stand, I'm afraid it will look too glam.

Images : left & right

What do you think we should do? Any other suggestions?

Some bits and pieces

Hey Everyone! I'm Back... well I wasn't really gone, but I've been sick for the past 7 days. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to blog - but my lack of energy didn't help me very much so I stayed in bed instead. NOW I'm back... I know you are all so very excited =)

A while back, I had chosen to redo our wedding website because I didn't find that our previous website design matched the theme and colors of our upcoming nuptials. I really wanted to get the design done before I sent out the invitations, otherwise it would defeat the whole purpose, right?.

First off, I would like to Thank everyone for your input on our banner.

Option A was the big big winner. I also took into consideration what some of yous had mentionned regarding the title. I added the "our" in front of wedding. That way there would be no confusion with the word mariage (which is french for wedding) (click images to enlarge)

Here is the background pattern of my website. As you can tell, its the same design as my invitation pattern. As for the buttons for each section of the website, I went for something vintage looking. Since my website is bilingual, I had to find a way to make both languages look pretty.

It's a pretty basic website. Nothing very quicky or funny about it really, but I made sure to mention our wedding theme. Not that my guests will be the type to play dress up, I still want to put the message out there. You never know... you never know...

I really wanted to have a guestbook on my blogger / website. I find it a great idea to have people leave comments here and there and when I switched design I thought I would not be able to have one. After endless amounts of searching on the web and signing up with ten million websites - I found that the Shoutbox from Shoutmix was the best option.

Its very user friendly and I loved the fact that it can be customized. I like things to be all matchy matchy, and I didnt envision a bright pink and black box on my page. I really recommend shoutmix for everyone who wants to have a guestbook. I found that all the other website would link to another page to view the entries... with this, no nagivation to other websites required. Its all there... and I love that!

Im really happy with the overall look of the website and so is Mr.F. I just hope my guests will appreciated it.
Have you ever tried adding a guestbook to your blogger website?

Help needed - movies anyone?

Alright everyone I need your help. If we look back at the whole theme idea of my wedding, I was going for a vintage glam (40s) inspired wedding, combined with the movies of that era. All seems swell when describing it... but less than 80 days to the wedding, and all the elements seem to be all glam and no movie-ness.

I want to be able to incorporate movie elements in my whole theme, because thats what represents Mr.Flamingo. A wedding consists of 2 people. I'm the glam and he's the movie. I want original ideas ... not the classic, let me go to the party store and buy some fake Oscars and paper movie clappers. So I need all the suggestions I can get.

This is what we have so far:

• Invitation design (vintage hotel , vintage clock and chandelier)
• Website design (matching invitation)
• Cake design (matching pattern of the invitation)
• Centerpiece : chandelier type something (more to come on that)
• Transportation : Vintage 1959 Bentley
• Dress and accesoires : very à la oscars

Whats left (and not really figured out yet):

• Guestbook (no idea)
• Place cards, Menus
• Card box (I purchased a wire mannequin and would like to transform it into a card box. I'm just not sure if I will look good so I need other suggestions)
• Reception decoration / Cocktail decoration
  

Ideas to incorporate the movie aspect:

• Hiring 8mm videographer
• Projecting a slient movie during the reception (not certain this is possible)
  
• Wanting a photo corner with movie props (melon hats, boas, cigarette holder..etc)
• Using old 8mm reel and tin cans for decoration (just an idea)
  

I desprately need your help awesome weddingbee readers. What would you do to make my wedding more movie worthy?

(Sources: Chandelier, Movie Reel)

And the award goes to...

Definitely not me!!! This weekend I finally started working on my invitations. To be honest it's not going very well. You'd think being a designer would help but it's simply making this whole process extremely hard. Like I always do when I don't seem to concentrate on a specific thing... I sidetrack so instead I started thinking about my table numbers.

Mr.Flamingo had found an interesting site a while back with endless amounts of movie posters from the 20s to now. I thought this was a interesting way to incorporate the whole movie part in the whole vintage glam theme. But I am still indecisive.

What do you think? Would it be a good idea to name our tables after vintage movies? Do you have any other ideas on how I could incorporate the movie part to our wedding?

(All images courtesy of : http://www.impawards.com)