wedding planning calgary

{ it’s all a matter of perspective }

Friday, September 14th, 2012 | etiquette, media, Q&A, Uncategorized | No Comments

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CALGARY HERALD, JANUARY 2006, IN LISA HANSLIP’S COLUMN “I DO, BUT DON’T…” { 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. }
wdngszblog
Q. My fiancé and I are planning to get married in about eight months, but we haven’t made many plans yet because we can’t seem to agree on what the wedding should look like. As this is the second marriage for both of us I would like a small intimate event. My fiancé on the other hand comes from a very large family and is expecting a large celebration. Do you have any suggestions how we can plan a wedding that will make everyone happy?

A. A wedding is not just a celebration of the union of two people, but more often than not, it is the joining of two families – which brings with it a veritable treasure trove of opposing traditions and expectations. If the meeting of the in-laws doesn’t tragically mirror a scene from Meet the Fockers consider yourself lucky.

A good compromise in many situations is to split the difference – but I don’t think a medium-sized ceremony and reception will satisfy either side – you’ll still feel like the event was much bigger than you were hoping for (“There were 150 people at my wedding, it was a total zoo!”) – and your fiancé’s family will inevitably deem the moderate guest list too small (“How can we possibly have a proper wedding celebration with only 150 people?!?”).

You might consider having a small intimate ceremony with just your immediate family and closest friends followed by a large celebration later in the day. This way you’ll have the memory of a ceremony that reflected your sensibilities while your fiancé and his family can relish tales of the big bash.

Another option is to have the large wedding your fiancé’s family is hoping for, followed by a small gathering. Try a morning ceremony followed by a raucous afternoon reception – then in the evening you can sit down to an intimate dinner for just immediate family.

Whatever you decide to do – make sure it is a solution that doesn’t leave either of you disgruntled. Focus on what you two need from your day, even if that means ignoring your families. It doesn’t bode well if one of you spends your wedding night on the sofa (because that only leads to a honeymoon spent on the marriage counselor’s couch – and that’s no good for anybody).

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{ jen + colum }

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 | testimonials | No Comments

We received this lovely thank you note from Jennifer + Colum today.

ff-thx

“Dear Lisa,

Colum & I can’t thank you enough for your guidance + patience throughout the entire planning process.

Very Best,

Jen & Colum”

You’re so welcome! It was such a pleasure working with you…all the best! xoLisa.

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Double “I Do!” – weddings in Calgary + Tokyo

Friday, September 24th, 2010 | testimonials | No Comments

Dear Lisa
We wanted thank you for making our wedding day so special. It was truly the best day of our lives. We feel so lucky to find you and have you as our wedding planner. Thank you so much for your hard work since January. All of our guests had wonderful experience and that was very important to us. We cannot thank you enough, Lisa! Wish you the best of luck.
Love Kevin + Kyoko

a-l-thx

Kevin + Kyoko live in Los Angeles and had two weddings: 1 in Calgary & 1 in Tokyo. I had the privelege of planning their Calgary wedding. It was such a treat working with them.

All the best you two…Namaste! xoxo

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Juicy Fruit!!

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 | trends, weddings | No Comments

This happy & sunny colour palette of soft pinks & bright yellows was the perfect antidote for a gray & rainy wedding day.

 a-l-crmny

We adorned the chairs with lovely little paper lanterns tied with a swathe of wide satin ribbon. The altar flowers were just stunning – tall vases filled with lemons topped with pink roses and oodles of orchids. The aisle was awash in 6,000 rose petals.

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Table centerpieces were lemon-filled glass cubes with hydrangeas and dahlias…so pretty…and the whole room was very inviting. Lots of warm pink uplighting, lots of candles, and of course lots of fabulous custom wedding day printing.

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This couple lives in Los Angeles – and they were just a delight to work with. The wedding needed to reflect their shiny, happy personalities…and it sure did…right down to the scrumptious macarons (1 pink, 1 yellow, of course!) in the cute customized favour boxes at each place setting…mmmMMMmm.

Best wishes! xo

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One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Saturday, July 10th, 2010 | trends, weddings | 1 Comment

One of Kim’s clients REALLY wanted fish in their centerpieces…I think this was the first time we’ve done this in over a decade. The wee fish kept startling the staff as they were putting out the place settings…you don’t really expect things to move while you’re putting out flatware! (You’ll be happy to hear she convinced the bride not to flush them at the end of the night…poor lil’ fishies!!).

 
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 Their lovely outdoor ceremony just managed to squeak in before the torrential down pour began…nothing like a well executed timeline…Kim apparently has an “in” with Mother Nature!

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The custom seating chart – as well as the rest of the wedding day printing (menus, table numbers, place cards) – was beautifully designed by MyStylishWedding.Com – SO PRETTY! It all beautifully tied in their invitations, and their colour palette of purple, black & oyster.

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The cake – artfully produced by one of our favorite new pastry chefs – looked just SCRUMPTIOUS – and was accessorized with an elegant monogram cake topper (also from mystylishwedding.com) which matched the font on the invitations and aisle runner. I was sad I wasn’t going to be around long enough to get to try it…SUCH a great job they did…wow!

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 Kim did an amazing job of making the ballroom warm & inviting, simple & elegant…lots of bang for their buck on the client’s relatively small budget…well done Kim!

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Happy Holidays from The Wedding Planner!!

Friday, December 18th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

We wish everyone a very happy holidays and all good things for 2010…here’s to lots of luscious weddings in the New Year. xoxo Lisa, Kim & Val

hotpinktree1

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gondola, shmondola

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 | testimonials, weddings | No Comments

We just received another lovely thank you note from a client that got married this summer. Their wedding almost got cancelled due to high winds threatening to halt gondola service upto the ceremony & reception site:

Dear Lisa,
Thank you so much for all of your efforts putting our wedding together. It could not have been better in any way. The best part is that we didn’t even hear about the gondola drama until the next day.
Our wedding was absolutely perfect!
Thank you.
Melissa and Frank

g-m-thx2
I worked with Frank & Melissa for about 18 months planning their wedding…such a fun couple. I’ve heard all sorts of things in wedding vows – but this was the first time a bride referred to making out during the theme song to “House”…so great…best wishes you guys!

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One family’s zoo is another family’s small gathering

Sunday, October 11th, 2009 | etiquette, media, Q&A | No Comments

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE CALGARY HERALD, JANUARY 2006, IN LISA HANSLIP’S COLUMN “I DO, BUT DON’T…”
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.
wdngszblog
Q. My fiancé and I are planning to get married in about eight months, but we haven’t made many plans yet because we can’t seem to agree on what the wedding should look like. As this is the second marriage for both of us I would like a small intimate event. My fiancé on the other hand comes from a very large family and is expecting a large celebration. Do you have any suggestions how we can plan a wedding that will make everyone happy?

A. A wedding is not just a celebration of the union of two people, but more often than not, it is the joining of two families – which brings with it a veritable treasure trove of opposing traditions and expectations. If the meeting of the in-laws doesn’t tragically mirror a scene from Meet the Fockers consider yourself lucky.

A good compromise in many situations is to split the difference – but I don’t think a medium-sized ceremony and reception will satisfy either side – you’ll still feel like the event was much bigger than you were hoping for (“There were 150 people at my wedding, it was a total zoo!”) – and your fiancé’s family will inevitably deem the moderate guest list too small (“How can we possibly have a proper wedding celebration with only 150 people?!?”).

You might consider having a small intimate ceremony with just your immediate family and closest friends followed by a large celebration later in the day. This way you’ll have the memory of a ceremony that reflected your sensibilities while your fiancé and his family can relish tales of the big bash.

Another option is to have the large wedding your fiancé’s family is hoping for, followed by a small gathering. Try a morning ceremony followed by a raucous afternoon reception – then in the evening you can sit down to an intimate dinner for just immediate family.

Whatever you decide to do – make sure it is a solution that doesn’t leave either of you disgruntled. Focus on what you two need from your day, even if that means ignoring your families. It doesn’t bode well if one of you spends your wedding night on the sofa (because that only leads to a honeymoon spent on the marriage counselor’s couch – and that’s no good for anybody).

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