I ordered our ivory aisle runner on the phone from Micki's. It was an easy process and the lady on the phone was very friendly. I had my florist (Stemz) pick it up, install it, pack it up and return it for me for a small fee. It saved me a lot of time to make that arrangement, because Micki's is located in Concord, Ontario, which is out of my way.
I love the extensive choices Mokuba offers. Most fabric stores do not carry the same quality of ribbons and trims they have. I've first learned about them when they used to be located at Queens Quay Terminal around the late 1980s, early 1990s. Back then, I purchased a beautiful, pastel coloured rosebud trim for a plain dress that needed some interest. Many years later, I'm back again to choose the ribbons for my bridal bouquet and ribbon for one of my bridesmaid's dresses.
Glenn was recommended by one of my bridesmaids. He was just starting to rent out his vintage car for parties and weddings. Glenn has kept his car in mint condition and he was great as our chauffeur. We were nervous about not being able to wear seat belts in the car, but he ensured that he drove safely and at a moderate speed. Apparently, I learned that they didn't wear seat belts in the 1950s. Illegal in today's times, but legal to ride in a vintage car without seat belts.
Gourmet sandwiches at reasonable prices. A friend of mine researched and suggested this place. She helped me place an order for a variety of sandwiches for the wedding party, their spouses and a few of our helpers. Most weddings don't think about eating in the middle of the day, but it's important to fuel up, even if it's just a little nibble. The food was fresh and very tasty too! It was perfect for our photo op stop at St. Lawrence Market. Thankfully, we managed to grab a few picnic tables.
Emmy Leung was recommended by my mother, who heard about her on TV. My dressmaker happens to be friends with her as well. Emmy did an amazing job to make me look beautifully natural on my wedding day. My only complaint is that she is way too expensive, but she's definitely one of the best when it comes to makeup for Asian skin. I went to several non-Asian make-up professionals for trials, however they always ended up making me look older and too caked up. Emmy was also nice enough to fix up my mom's make-up, as the lady from Faces Bridal & Make-up Studio didn't do such a great job. After Emmy's touch, my mom looked gorgeous too!
The make-up done on my bridesmaids and my mom was not so great. I don't remember the lady who did the make-up. Emmy Leung used to work for Faces, however not all the make-up artists' skills at this studio were consistent with Emmy's. Thankfully, Emmy agreed to fix up my mom's make-up and mom looked great afterwards. I had to hire a make-up artist to do my make-up for my 2nd wedding banquet for the groom's mother's friends and didn't want to spend too much by hiring Emmy Leung. I went back to Faces, but found another make-up artist (Connie) that was much better than the one that did my bridesmaids' and mother's make-up on the wedding day. My mistake was I should have arranged for trial make-up for one of my bridesmaids or mother before letting them book a make-up artist of the studio's choice. Word of advice: Invest your hard earned cash on make-up trials so there will be no regrets...including secondary makeup artists!
I didn't have too much time to do hair trials. Lina was prompt and patient. She kept changing my hair during the trial until I was satisfied. I was going for the 1930s/1940s finger wave with a low chignon, but unfortunately, that's difficult to achieve with Asian hair. Lina really tried, I'll give her "A" for effort, but the wave just would not stay. I know it's possible though, because I've seen it done in period movies. If I had more time, I would have tried out at least one more salon that could achieve that look, perhaps I should have tried out a salon that specialized in Asian hair.
Betty had plenty of patience for a finicky bride. I used to attend the same church as Betty and she also did an amazing job on my sister's wedding dress in 1998. I showed photos of the Vera Wang dress I wanted her to replicate, as well as other designer dresses I wanted to replicate for my 3 bridesmaids, flower girl and my mother. Betty spent the time to look for fabric and trim samples. Although Betty does not specialize in making Asian dresses, I took the chance to have her replicate a Tang Dynasty dress for me. She did a great job such that the guests were wowed and my groom's jaw dropped when he saw me walk into the room. Betty also made a simple veil and replicated an adorable ring bearer's pillow from a photo I found in a wedding magazine.
Images Film + Video was initially my second choice for videographer. My first choice was all booked up. Images Film + Video did a great job capturing the day. I'm currently awaiting the finished product. I've only recently submitted my music decision list for production, due to procrastination on my part. I will definitely share the flashback video once it's completed.
Boston Avenue was actually my 3rd choice of photographer. My first two were all booked up at the time. However, Boston Avenue offers the best customer service and one of the best quality of photo-journalistic style of photography Toronto has to offer. They covered the wedding from my parents' house till the end of the speeches at our reception. Serafino & Dodge were great! We got a lot of spectacular shots and our wedding album was perfectly put together. We also ordered our "Thank You" cards from them to include a few digital photos to share with our guests. My only complaints are that their office (west-end of downtown Toronto) is too far from where we live and that their goods and services are way too expensive.