So I am getting married - wedding advice, expertise, past experiences needed.

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

It was a very fun touch, personally I enjoyed trying to snap upskirt pictures.

FYP Captain

[undercoverbrother]

Look at the organization of a wedding as a war. There are certain battles you must concede, and there are ones you must win.

I picked one of my mountains as music. Specifically certain songs that I would not allow to be played and certain types of music (country). It was a non-negotiable point.

The wedding really is for the women. How many boys had pretend weddings when they were young or looked at bridal magazines.

So in short. Pick 3 things that are important to you. Verblize that to your missus and let all other things be to your soon to be wife's liking.

And on a go forward basis always remember "Happy Wife, Happy Life"


Enjoy Your Wedding.

[flamingchina]

Rather than starting a new thread, Is there any way to do a registry besides the usual Bay/Sears?
Apparently Home Depot doesn't do one in Canada, and Canadian Tire stopped doing it a few years ago.

[CedarMeter]

Originally Posted by flamingchina

Rather than starting a new thread, Is there any way to do a registry besides the usual Bay/Sears?
Apparently Home Depot doesn't do one in Canada, and Canadian Tire stopped doing it a few years ago.

Crate and barrel http://www.crateandbarrel.ca/Gift-Re.../Find-Registry

Home outfitters http://www.homeoutfitters.com/giftre...n/default.html

[Mazrim]

We set up a few registries for our wedding, and only two gifts ended up being from them, so take that as you will. Knowing what I do now, I would give one registry as a guideline of what we were looking for and let people do what they want. 75% of the gifts we got were cash/gift cards.

[Rathji]

People are stupid as well, and just buy stuff from the registry without getting it marked as purchased. One item on ours, we got 4 of. I think we got as much money in gift cards on returned gifts as we did in actual gift cards.

[moncton golden flames]

i want to give a shout out to our photographer, from our september wedding in canmore. he has been in wedding bells magazine as a 'top 25' wedding photographer. we absolutely loved working with him for our engagement and wedding shots. his prices are very good too!

rowan jane photography - http://www.rowanjane.com/Hello

here are some of our shots... http://www.rowanjaneblog.com/?p=4938

[mykalberta]

Oh wow I didnt realize how expensive photographers would be. Wowzers

[Hockeyguy15]

I'm telling you, get a really good one and only book for 2-3 hours...All the reception shots are of drunks anyways, plus everyone has a camera and is taking pics so you will get enough good ones.

[me_dennis]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Oh wow I didnt realize how expensive photographers would be. Wowzers

It all depends on what you want from your photographer.

Do a lot of research. There are TONS of photographers out there. Take a look through their portfolios and pick ones that you like. There are some photographers that are well known for weddings, and so you will be paying a premium for those, but there are also lots of other photographers, perhaps just starting to do weddings, that have lower prices, but they may still take very beautiful photos.

We went with Ohhlala Photography, Karina and her sister Kristen. She normally does baby photographers but has been doing a few weddings a year for the past few years. Her prices were much lower than some of the popular wedding photographer, and her photo packages were very flexible. We ended up going with an engagement session, 8 hours of coverage, all digital images, 300 edited prints on a cd, but no prints or albums (albums will drive your costs up). Karina and Kristen were a pleasure to work with and the turnaround was about 3 weeks after our wedding, which was amazing.

Of course, you may not need or want as much, but try to find a photographer where you can customize your own package.

You can find really good photographers that are not advertised in magazines or bridal shows. Just google it and look through their portfolio and choose one that suits your preferences and style. You have lots of time for availability. And whatever you do, do not go with a groupon photographer!

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

I'm telling you, get a really good one and only book for 2-3 hours...All the reception shots are of drunks anyways, plus everyone has a camera and is taking pics so you will get enough good ones.

Dont most wedding photographers only have a full and half day rate? I cant remember seeing one you could get for just a couple hours, but I might be wrong.

We had ours for the full day, and she covered everything- photos of both wedding parties getting ready, the ceremony, bridal party photos and family, the pre-reception cocktail hour, and the reception (not the drunk and crazy part though). The wedding was in Banff though and she requested a hotel room, which was unfortunately an extra $300, but she was a good rate to begin with. I can't remember exactly, but I believe it was $2500 with engagement photos. She was excellent though.

edit- apparently it was a bit cheaper than 2500. Don't exactly remember

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Dont most wedding photographers only have a full and half day rate? I cant remember seeing one you could get for just a couple hours, but I might be wrong.

We had ours for the full day, and she covered everything- photos of both wedding parties getting ready, the ceremony, bridal party photos and family, the pre-reception cocktail hour, and the reception (not the drunk and crazy part though). The wedding was in Banff though and she requested a hotel room, which was unfortunately an extra $300, but she was a good rate to begin with. I can't remember exactly, but I believe it was $2500 with engagement photos. She was excellent though.

We went with Perry Thompson and booked him for either 2 or 3 hours, can't remember which is was. Plenty of time for some getting ready shots, ceremony, pictures after.

Not sure about others, he was the only person we met with after seeing a couple other friends photos.

[SportsJunky]

Don't forget to make a scrapbook for your wife.

[GP_Matt]

If you decide to have a destination wedding don't tell all the guests that the reason for the destination wedding is because
a) a traditional wedding was just too expensive.
b) We thought it would be a good idea this way everyone gets a vacation in Mexico.

You are saving money by having everyone else pay for it. I don't mind, but don't tell me that is the reason. And maybe that isn't how I wanted to use my vacation days this year. I am happy to come to your wedding but don't act like you are doing me a favour by getting me out of the country for a week.

Perhaps I am just bitter though because I have a brother and a brother in law getting married in Cancun a month apart this winter. The first one will be great but I am not too excited about going a second time to the same spot.

[normtwofinger]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

If you decide to have a destination wedding don't tell all the guests that the reason for the destination wedding is because
a) a traditional wedding was just too expensive.
b) We thought it would be a good idea this way everyone gets a vacation in Mexico.

You are saving money by having everyone else pay for it. I don't mind, but don't tell me that is the reason. And maybe that isn't how I wanted to use my vacation days this year. I am happy to come to your wedding but don't act like you are doing me a favour by getting me out of the country for a week.

Perhaps I am just bitter though because I have a brother and a brother in law getting married in Cancun a month apart this winter. The first one will be great but I am not too excited about going a second time to the same spot.

+1. The wife's cousin decided to get married in Hawaii, 1 month after were there for her parents anniversary. And they told us about the wedding just after we booked the trip. Arrgh.

[Hockeyguy15]

Actually having a destination wedding isn't that much cheaper, depending on how many people come. If you go to an all inclusive you still have to pay them for dinner and the drinks at dinner, even though everyone already has open bar. So if you have like 40-50 people coming it adds up pretty quickly.

There is also the added pain of if you don't get legally married before you go you will need to do blood tests in Mexico before your wedding, and you are required to be there for a week before they will even do the blood test. Also you would have to get your marriage certificate translated when you got home before it would be legal here, which is more time and cost.

[mykalberta]

We arent doing a destination wedding (where flying is involved).

We are doing one where a little driving and taking a Friday off work is involved and they will have to spend at least 1 night in a hotel (but that is because they have a 3-5 hour 1 way drive). For the locations we wanted every Saturday was booked so we ended up on a Friday. Every primary guest who we expect to show would have showed for a Friday or Saturday regardless. Anyone who would use Friday as an excuse wouldnt likely come anyway and that just makes it easier to weed down the guest list.

We put down the deposit on the Church and reception venue last night.

Wow do line item costs add up.

[wookster]

When my wife and I priced out our wedding a destination wedding was WAY cheaper than having it in/around Calgary, almost by half. We even "subsidized" some of their vacation package cost for flying there and chose a 4.5star resort. We had 38 guests.

This is just an FYI though, I know your not having a destination wedding. (Congrats by the way) - biggest expenses we priced out when looking were the venue, catering, photographer, and the bar...

[Flabbibulin]

I saw the suit thread earlier and thought of one of the most important pieces of advice for your wedding- and not sure if anyone has mentioned it.

Make sure you and and your groomsmen's suits/tuxes are tailored by someone that knows what they are doing. I don't understand how it can be so common for employees at these rental companies to set the men up with suits and tuxes that are 2 sizes too big. Of course material is important, but the fit of the suit comes first- doesn't have to be a martini fit, but it should have a nice slim fit.

Its amazing how many wedding pics I see (on facebook for example) where the groom's side look like clowns with their enormous suits.

Most guys in general wear suits that are a size too big, but anyways... I guess its one of my pet peeves

End rant

[Minnie]

If you're still looking for a photog, I can recommend someone for you.