Lisa Hanslip
Lounge it!
Thursday, August 13th, 2009 | trends, weddings | No Comments
This couple had a lovely Ukranian Catholic ceremony follwed by a Korean Pehbek ceremony…GORGEOUS!
It was interesting observing the two families witness & interact during both of these ceremonies.
The bride changed back into her breathtaking Ramona Keveza gown & the groom changed back into his stylish suit and continued on to their lovely Lounge we created for their reception.
The low seating was accented with turquoise cushions, the low mirrored coffee tables were accented with gorgeous florals & LOTS of candles, and the tall cruiser tables kept the guests flowing throughout the space.
Live, Love, Laugh…
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 | testimonials, trends, weddings | No Comments
So…penniless (and without a lipgloss to my name!)…the next day went on to Kananaskis for a FAB tent wedding. This gorgeous bridal party was adorned with bling so we had to make sure the reception matched. The tent in the midst of the towering pine trees was filled with crystal & bronze trees, and an oh-so-fun candy buffet.
When we arrived for tear down at 1am these guys were still going FULL FORCE…it’s a shame about the noise regulations in the resorts in the mountains…otherwise I have no doubt these guys (bride & groom included) would’ve danced until dawn.
All their guests got a good sugar rush & a bottle of wine to sustain them. Everything was adorned with the couple’s motto “Live, Love, Laugh” – which they clearly do with fervor.
Thank you Lisa and all of The Wedding Planner staff for making August 2nd the best day of our lives!!! The day was run so smoothly and completely exceeded our expectations. Much love, Andrea & James
THANK YOU ANDREA & JAMES FOR THE OH-SO-YUMMY CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES…mmmMMMMMM!!
Damask & Apple Green…majestic wedding in the mountains
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 | travel, trends, weddings | No Comments
This couple was so cute – we loved working with them…the ceremony had the majestic mountains as a backdrop and the beautiful ballroom was all decked out in damask with yummy apple green accents.
Everything from their invitations to the custom menus, seating chart and gobo had their monogram. Those little details really make a huge impact. 
I Do! on top of the world…
Monday, July 27th, 2009 | travel, weddings | No Comments
We had two gorgeous weddings on top of the world this weekend. Kicking Horse always makes for a spectacular backdrop for summer or winter nuptials – but the hot clear blue skies this weekend were a lovely contrast to the snowy white-out with our last wedding on the top of Kicking Horse.
…)
However there are drawbacks when EVERYTHING must get to the top in the gondola – and a bit nerve-wracking when our Saturday wedding got evacuated due to lightning and then the GM calls a couple hours before the Sunday wedding to let you know there’s another storm blowing in and the gondola might stop running altogether (meaning no once-in-a-lifetime I DOs at the top of a mountain)…but as you can see from the photos the skies were clear & blue and from the couple’s perspective everything turned out perfectly. (Any good wedding planner is adept at keeping potentially catastrophic news from their clients – and thankfully we didn’t have to put Plan B into action!) 
Glorious Blue Skies at Kicking Horse
Saturday, July 25th, 2009 | travel, weddings | No Comments
It’s a glorious day on top of Kicking Horse today…with the bright blue skies I know our clients getting married today and tomorrow will have amazing photos. It is HOT though…I’ll have to make sure I have a surplus of sunscreen in the emergency kit.
I’ll post some detail shots when I return to the office next week.
Have a great weekend!
Eeeeek!! Hide your grooms…BRIDEZILLA has arrived!
Thursday, July 16th, 2009 | etiquette, media, Q&A | No Comments
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CALGARY HERALD, JUNE 2005, IN LISA HANSLIP’S COLUMN “I DO, BUT DON’T…”
image credit: Alex Eben Meyer (http://www.eben.com)
Q. My best friend is getting married in a few months and I am so happy for her, but in the six months since she got engaged she’s changed into a totally different person. She never wants to discuss anything but the wedding and she’s obsessing about every single detail. Since I announced I’m pregnant she no longer wants me to be her bridesmaid because I won’t look good in the wedding photos. She’s gone completely crazy, is there anything I can do to snap her out of it?
A. Alas, I fear Bridezilla has reared her ugly head:
bridezilla (brId-ZILL-uh) n. A bride-to-be who, while planning her wedding, becomes exceptionally selfish, greedy, and obnoxious.
Bridezillas are a new breed of brides who abuse the idea that weddings are their day to get exactly what they want. They terrorize their bridal party and family members, make greedy demands and break all rules of etiquette. Their sole desire is to be the single most important person on the planet from the time of engagement right up until the last dance at their wedding.
Here are some tell-tale signs that someone you love might be turning into a Bridezilla:
-The bride is incapable of discussing any subject other than her wedding.
-The bride barely eats so she can fit into her dress and then complains that she’s hungry all the time.
-The bride obsessively watches what her bridal party is eating and gasps every time anyone reaches for a cookie.
-The mother-of-the-bride and the maid-of-honour are beginning to feel like medieval footservants.
-The bride chooses couture bridesmaid dresses, even though most of her friends are on a budget. She does not, however, offer to pay.
-When the bride is discussing all the details of her wedding (which she does to every person who crosses her path) you can’t help but picture more “Bride of Frankenstein” than “Princess Bride.”
-The bride is thrilled when her groom is sent away on business (“Finally, he’ll stop interfering in all of my plans…”).
Your friend may have been the sweetest girl you knew before she got engaged, but once a bride falls to the dark side, there’s very little you can do but grin and breathe deeply (slipping the bride a valium couldn’t hurt either). So, take a deep breath and count the days until your friend returns to her normal self. In the meantime…be afraid, be very afraid.
A Picture Perfect Palette of Purple
Monday, July 6th, 2009 | trends, weddings | No Comments
We had a picture perfect purple wedding on the weekend in Vancouver. The weather was glorious, the bride was gorgeous and the bridal party was gigantic!
The processional of 27 (!!) was a fabulous cast of characters that included 2 tuxedo-clad pugs, a pregnant bridesmaid more than a week past her due date, 2 fathers-of-the-bride and a handful of NHL players.
The palette of purples ranged from lilac to aubergine and was used in everything from their custom invitations, the flowers, the 3 shades of linens, the uplighting in the tent, the cake, the cupcakes, the 12,000 rose petals that lined their aisle, the custom M&Ms in their purple monogrammed favor boxes, the custom labels on the wine bottles, the custom menus, table numbers and seating charts, to the purple haze martinis that greeted the guests as the ceremony finished…it was truly spectacular.
Put the cupcake down & step away from the table!!
Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | etiquette, media, Q&A | No Comments
The long road from happy engagement to wedded bliss is paved with potential etiquette faux pas. Wedding planner Lisa Hanslip is here to help you resist your inner Bridezilla along the way.
Q. I’m hoping you can help me. When my fiancé proposed about eight months ago, I was so excited I ran right out and bought my wedding gown. I was so determined to get into shape before the wedding that I bought a dress a size too small. I was certain I could lose enough weight in 11 months to look fabulous in this dress – but now that the wedding is three months away I don’t think I’ll actually fit into it. What should I do?
A. Oh dear…you are certainly not alone in the “it will fit!” attitude to your wedding dress. However, now that it looks like “it won’t fit!!” you need a realistic plan of attack to make sure you actually have something to wear.
You’d be hard pressed to find a bridal magazine or website without copious amounts of information about fitness or weight-loss programs aimed at whipping you into shape for the big day. It seems to be the norm that engagement equates to frenzied fitness and beauty regimens – for the bride anyway. Just as most brides have a long-held fairy tale vision of what their wedding will look like, they have an equally long-held vision of what they’ll look like walking down the aisle.
A reputable bridal shop shouldn’t have let you out the door with a dress that “might fit.” So, unless you bought off the rack, and they didn’t know the dress did not fit you, you should enlist the store for help. You should also start asking everyone you know for the name of a seamstress.
I know you want to look your absolute best in the wedding photos – but remember that your fiancé proposed to you, as you are – not some ideal you may or may not achieve by the wedding day. What I’m sure will make him happiest is the knowledge that you’re actually enjoying yourself at the wedding. For that you need to feel comfortable – comfortable in your dress and comfortable with yourself.
I suggest you run, don’t walk, to the nearest skilled seamstress to see what can be done with your dress. Then take a deep breath, know that you will look beautiful and radiant on your wedding day – and perhaps steer clear of the woman that insists on bringing big boxes of doughnuts into the office!
That’s Why God Invented Babysitters!
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 | etiquette, media, Q&A | No Comments
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CALGARY HERALD, OCTOBER 2005, IN LISA HANSLIP’S COLUMN “I DO, BUT DON’T…”
Q. My husband and I just got married and we had a really lovely wedding, except there’s one thing that is really bugging me. We had both decided not to have any children at our wedding, both because of the type of wedding we wanted and because we had such a small wedding, our guest list was very limited. Friends of my husband asked him about our opinion of kids at the wedding and he told them that a good gift to us would be a baby sitter as we were not having any kids at either the ceremony or reception. The first thing I saw, and heard, as I entered the church to walk down the aisle was this couple with their children, including their newborn. Am I off base or was this totally out of line?
A. I have three words for you: tacky, tacky, and tacky! Not only were his friends rude and inconsiderate, but they can’t even claim ignorance as you had a specific conversation about your decision to have a child-free wedding.
Regardless whether you are having a small or large wedding it is completely appropriate to choose not to have children at your wedding celebration. The day should reflect you as a couple, and if there are no children you are close to, or if you wish to have a “grown-up” event, there is absolutely no reason you should feel obligated to include any children on your invite list.
The best way to handle this is to be consistent: if you don’t want lots of children, don’t invite any – however, it is also ok to only invite children over a certain age. Some couples want only certain kids, for example their nieces and nephews, but no others. This choice isn’t particularly appropriate etiquette, so you need to be prepared for a little backlash.
To all prospective wedding guests out there – it has been said before, but apparently it bears repeating: IF YOUR NAME IS NOT ON THE INVITATION – YOU ARE NOT INVITED!! This includes your children, the guy you started dating last Tuesday and that unexpected house guest you need to keep entertained.
You are completely correct to be ticked off at your husband’s friends – they were totally out-of-line. As to how you should handle it now – well, that’s entirely up to you – but you should probably set a couple extra places at the table the next time you invite them over for dinner, just in case…
P.S. If it is too problematic to “not” invite the children – consider setting up a kid’s room – hire a team of babysitters and stock it full of kid-friendly fun – they’ll be nearby so their parents can check on them – you’ll get the child-free wedding you desire and you don’t have to have that sometimes uncomfortable conversation with your guests.
A Fabulous Flourish of Fuchsia
Monday, June 1st, 2009 | trends, weddings | 2 Comments
We had a GORGEOUS wedding on the weekend in hot pink, black & white. The bouquets were quite simple & understated. The bridal party was large in number – but they were all tiny – so we didn’t want them to be overwhelmed or overshadowed by large bouquets. They all looked stunning in their hot pink dresses with black sashes.
This was the largest seating chart we’ve ever had printed. It was so easy to read it helped all 300 guests find their table assignments really quickly.
Part of The Wedding Planner team during set-up
The bronze & crystal trees looked so amazing with all the orchids & swarovski crystals & hanging votives. The room was truly breathtaking. The mother of the bride cried when she saw it. All the details reiterated their invitations. They had custom seating chart, menus at each place setting, ceremony programs, reception programs, table numbers, place cards at the head table, and even the gobo on the dancefloor matched!
We used two large trees on the head table – they were visible from anywhere in the ballroom yet didn’t block any sight lines. They were luciously adorned with 3′ graduated strands of swarovski crystals and whole stems of mokara orchids.
A “peak” at the head table
the ice luge was used for their two pink signature cocktails
This ballroom has certainly never looked quite so pretty in (hot) pink!
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