On the big day, the key is to be organised. Have your menu planned out and all the ingredients for each recipe ready to go, and know how much time you need to cook each item. If you’re catering for a large group, don’t hesitate to ask your friends for some help, as getting ready can be the most fun part of the day! Next week we’ll talk recipes for breakfast, brunch and evening teas.

Image Courtesy of The Vintage Tea Party Book

How you dress sends out signals of who you are and who you want to be! To get a cute and simple 1940′s look, tie a headscarf into your hair for style and hygenic purposes. It looks extra cute if you put some curls in the front. In fact, all vintage hairstyles start with some sort of curl. Try a victory roll or classic pin curls!

Make sure you find a cute vintage apron! Visit Anthropologie for some sweet ideas, or make your own! If you get your own copy of The Vintage Tea Party Book, Angel Adoree has step-by-step guides for hair, make-up, aprons and more!

Another fun idea at the beginning or before your party is to have a station where your guests can make their own hair decorations. Since the late 17th century, women have been decorating their heads with adornments, like Marie Antoinette who was known for wearing just about anything on her head.  Gather some glue guns, vintage buttons, pieces of fabric, straw fascinator bases, veiling, crocodile clips, feathers, and beads and let the creativity begin!

And that perfect vintage dress? It’s the one who has already lived, been to fabulous parties, and enjoyed enticing cocktails. When you get your hands on of of these, you must wear it to its full potential. Set off to your local thrift and vintage stores. Look for something with colour and texture – lace, sequins, black and reds. Look for something you will keep forever. Have fun with it and pick up some great accessories along the way too. We recommend searching on a rainy day when you don’t mind being cooped up inside little vintage shops. If you’re in Vancouver, Main Street is just FULL of shops!

The post Teatime With Heirloom | How to Plan the Perfect Tea Party | Part Two: Hairstyles, Outfits and Organisation appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

1. Order of Splendor 2. My Luscious Life 3. Historic Royal Palaces 4. Victoria and Albert Museum 5. Vintage & Cake 6. Vintage Vignettes

Ah, the elegance of a Victorian wedding…

The tradition of wearing a white wedding dress was made popular by Queen Victoria herself in 1840. She wore a beautiful ivory satin and lace dress, since inspiring brides for many years to follow. She also wore sweet ivory ballet flats with ballet like lacing – most definitely a woman ahead of her time. Before Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, a match based on true love, women generally wore their best gown to be married in. Of course, for those who came from noble and aristocratic backgrounds this gown would be especially made for the occasion but it was almost never white. Wedding dresses of the Victorian era had a fitted bodice and waist, pulled in by a corset.

A Victorian wedding is all about elegance, grace and class. Oh, and of course royalty! Want to add a touch to your own day? Every royal bouquet since has had a sprig from Queen Victoria’s myrtle bush added in, so include some in yours. Also keep in mind, the standard Victorian flower is the rose.

To keep the theme going throughout your day, have a four-tier Victoria sponge with summer fruits, which Queen Victoria loved to have a slice of with her afternoon tea.  A typical Victoria sponge consists of raspberry jam and whipped double cream or vanilla cream, yum! Serve some tasty tea in vintage teacups and saucers alongside your cake. This would be a great idea for a wedding shower as well.

Victorian weddings were usually held in a church. But, venue choices also includes a backyard garden, botanical garden or a provincial park. A historic Victorian mansion would also be perfect.

All in all, a Victorian themed wedding calls for romantic gestures of a dainty nature like, fine floral china, lots of intricate lace, and fragrant little rosebuds!

Alicia-Rae & Tammy xo

The post Inspired by Queen Victoria | A Victorian Wedding appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

The Wedding Chicks posted a super sweet and very affordable DIY favor box tutorial by Tulle Box Designs with the adorable gold bird made with candy wrappers (available in the baking aisle of craft stores) and a craft punch to resemble a delicate charm on a bracelet, so we had to share it with you! When favours are packaged beautifully, they can be a stunning part of your table decor! The tables and floral displays were created by the always lovely Celsia Florist.

Where to get your supplies?

1. Truffle favor boxes

2. bird craft punch (you can use any type of craft punch heart, butterfly)

3. double sided craft tape

4. gold candy wrappers

5. gold elastic ribbon

The post Tuesday Tutorial | DIY Favor Box appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

There you are, standing with your new husband, both dressed in your very best after your ceremony, in front of all of your excited family and friends … what’s next?

Your wedding day requires so much planning that when it finally arrives, it will be over before you even realise. All the excitement will put you into a daze and when you finally have a moment to calm down, the day will pretty much be over. So, if you have invited more than 50 guests at your wedding, the one way to make sure you greet each and every one of your guests and thank them personally for coming, is by having a receiving line.

Sure, it’s a bit formal and very old school – but we, of course, love old traditions! Whether you decide to have a receiving line or not is completely up to you of course. It’s certainly not required – modern weddings mean modern approaches to traditional rules! But, even in modern times, some traditional etiquette and values remain. So many people have put in hours of time and money into being a part of or helping with your day, and they all deserve a little recognition. It’s a sincere bit of gratitude for the time they have all taken time to travel for the wedding.

Alternatively, you can rely on the more casual approach of greeting-people-as-you-bump-into-them method. But this also means that you’re going to spend most of your reception entering in and out of awkward conversations to make sure you get to the next person. In the end you’re bound to miss someone. At a small wedding though, it’s fine for the bride and groom to visit with each table – usually during the meal – to greet, thank, and chat with their guests.

Image Courtesy of Photos courtesy of Alixanne Loosle Photography & Snippet and Ink

Generally the receiving line is formed immediately following the ceremony, or right before the start of the reception followed by formal photos. This way you get a little bit of face time with everyone to hug, kiss and congratulate the both of you. It’s also a great way to ensure all the guests meet the bride and groom’s parents.

You should expect that it will take about 30-40 minutes for every 100 guests (that’s only about 20 seconds with each guest!) Everyone is going to be so excited to see you, and will want congratulate you and your new husband or wife. They will also want to chat for as long as possible, to tell you how beautiful you look, how perfect the ceremony was and how gorgeous the venue is. Most guests know they should move through quickly but some like to linger, so you really need to be the ones to keep the line moving. A subtle way is to physically motion them onto the next person in the receiving line and slowly turn back to the next person in line to see you, saying, “I look forward to talking more with you during the reception.”

The traditional order is to have the mother of the bride, the father of the bride, the mother of the groom and the father of the groom, bride and groom, then the maid and/or matron of honour. Sometimes the best man and children of the couple participate. If someone other than your parents hosts the wedding, they should be at the front of the receiving line. Fathers aren’t required to stand in line; they can mingle with the the groomsmen, among the guests.  However, if one father participates, the other should also.

The most common and sensible areas for a receiving line are the spots where you and your guests can be comfortable. This includes the hallway, the head of the aisle, outside the entry doors to the church or venue, down the front steps, on the front porch. If your ceremony is going to be outdoors, even better, have it at the back of the garden where your ceremony was held!

If you decide to plan it before your reception, consider the cocktail or seating lounge, in the lobby, just outside the doors leading into the dining area, or even on the dance floor. Ideally, you want your guests to be able to have a refreshment while they wait their turn,. A great idea is to position a waiter at the beginning of the line with a tray of beverages (like champagne or a signature cocktail) to offer your guests. Place a small table next to where you’re standing so guests can put their beverages down before greeting you – we don’t want any spills on that gorgeous dress!

We had a receiving line, and it was wonderful to be able to personally say hello to everyone. However, it was a little annoying that nobody realised that after 80 people wrapping their arms around my hair and squeezing me to congratulate me, my perfect curls and braid would probably fall out.

Our receiving line also did take up a good chunk of time that I had planned to spend mingling with guests during the cocktail hour. I had in my head plans to play croquet and lawn games and in the end, didn’t even get a chance to take a photo holding a croquet mallet!

However, looking back, I am glad that I got the chance to say thank you to every single person in our receiving line because otherwise I would have been so carried away in taking photos, and trying to remember whom I had spoken to and whom I had not.

Regardless of whether you decide to have a receiving line or not, the basic rules of etiquette still apply – you need to greet and thank every guest you have invited to your wedding.

The post Tuesday Teatime | The Receiving Line – How To Greet Your Guests On Your Wedding Day appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

1. Sparkle And Hay 2. BHLDN/Wedding Chicks 3. Bauble Bar 4. Wedding Chicks 5. SB Chic 6. The Every Last Detail

Spring is here, and that means gorgeous pastel colours, including one of our very favourites of the season, the palest of greens, a mint green wedding theme! Some call it sea foam green, the experts at pantone call it grayed jade, we don’t mind what name it goes by, we’re in love. It’s so light and fresh we can’t wait to see brides using it this season!

Incorporate is into your bridesmaids dresses, or you engagement/rehearsal dinner dress… mix up the BHLDN Crinoline skirt with a lacy tank for a modern look with a smidge of vintage love. Be extra bold and have a mint green wedding dress. Be subtle and have minty fresh jeweled earrings. If you love statement jewelry, don’t be afraid to let your fashionista side come out and wear a bold necklace and earrings to match your mint green wedding day. Another understated way to add it into your wedding day attire is with your shoes!

If you’re not into having it in your wedding day outfit, show your love for your wedding color in the little details. Have a cake with mint green accents, or even better, have mint chocolate chip cupcakes!

Paint your mason jars with a mint green chalk paint at fill them with flowers to place down the aisle or as center pieces(sold at Meuse Boutique on West 4th or The Passionate Home in Langley), or even make your own chalk paint to get that perfect colour (DIY chalk paint tutorial as featured this week here) Or, if you’re really crafty and want to have some pieces you can use in your home after the wedding, visit your local thrift and antique shops to find some vintage finds to incorporate into your big day and then paint them! Think matching minty green bride and groom chairs, or a cute vintage desk to use as your signing table, or an old window for your seating chart.

How will you be incorporating a mint green wedding theme into your big day? Let us know!

Alicia-Rae & Tammy xo

The post Thursday Theme | Minty Fresh | Mint Green Wedding Theme appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

Spring has sprung and BHLDN Spring 2013 Collection has arrived! Our favourite part is the addition of mother of the bride dresses. I know from personal experience it was tough for my mother to find a dress that she felt fabulous in. I mean, she is the mother of the bride and deserves to look spectacular on my big day as well.

BHLDN has come up with some of the most perfect designs for your moms, incorporating lace and other delicate fabrics like chiffon and silk. They are all in very wedding-esque tones like blush pink, ivory and taupe.

Some say that mother of the bride dresses are the hardest ones to choose, but here are some options to make it a breeze…

Our personal favourite, this dress is so classy, yet so flattering on basically any body type, and it doesn’t scream “mom.” It’s sexy because it shapes the silhouette,  yet is still classic. Silk chiffon drapes and twists over metallic lace, settling across shoulders like a delicate mist. By Badgley Mischka. Back zip; wrap connects in back with hook-and-eye, or can be worn draped loosely around shoulders. Cloud Cover Dress - $650

Exquisite draping is the star of this Byron Lars original design. Lush silk charmeuse cascades to a tapered waist accentuated by a removable belt, before billowing out to a swirl-worthy full skirt. Preservation Society Dress - $500

For the classic mother. This silvered tweed dress, abloom with appliqued gold flowers, walks the line between day and evening wear with elegant ease. Badgley Mischka ramps up the sophistication level with crisp taupe piping at the edges and slim slash pockets. Twilight Shift Dress - $595

For the mom who wants to feel like she’s in a fairy tale too. We think this might be a bit over the top for most mothers of the bride, but it might just be the perfect fit for an extravagant ballroom affair. A swirl of blush tulle, a scattering of metallic roses. Badgley Mischka’sstrapless silhouette seems plucked from the pages of a moody fairytale. Beaux Arts Dress - $540

What is your mother going to wear to your big day? Do you have a preference on what you want her to wear, like matching a certain colour scheme or style?

The post Tuesday Teatime | Mother of the Bride Dresses | BHLDN Spring 2013 appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

On this chilly April morning we have a collection of our favourite quotes about marriage and love, for inspiration and to remind you why you fell in love in the first place. Sure, marriage isn’t always easy, but to have someone standing by your side through all the ups and downs of life, is so wonderful…

 Image Courtesy of Shari and Mike Photographers

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” - Aristotle

“It is such a happiness when good people get together – and they always do. -Jane Austen

“What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.” - Leo Tolstoy

“I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” -Rita Rudner

“One advantage of marriage is that, when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until you fall in again.” -Judith Viorst

“To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow – this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.” -Elizabeth Gilbert

“By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.” -Socrates

“We have the greatest pre-nuptial agreement in the world. It’s called love.” – Gene Perret

“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.” – Albert Einstein

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” - Marilyn Monroe

“Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.” – Oscar Wilde

“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” - Mignon McLaughlin

”A happy marriage is the union of two  good forgivers.” - Ruth Bell Graham

“The best thing to hold onto life is each other.” – Audrey Hepburn

The post Marriage Manners Monday | Our Favourite Quotes About Marriage and Love appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

Wishing you all a very Happy Vintage Easter from the ladies of Heirloom! Hope your day is full of love and laughter with family and friends.

Alicia-Rae, Jeanie & Tammy xoxo

The post Happy Vintage Easter From The Ladies of Heirloom Magazine appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

Today on the blog we have a guest post from Aimée Sulz, one of five lead singers with the Famous Players Band, a Vancouver-based wedding and party band. She has a nine year old daughter, is recently married, and is a few credits shy of a degree in psychology. She has been to more weddings in the last nine years than she can remember and is totally biased when it comes to music and weddings. Aimée tackles the big debate from an insider’s perspective… Should you hire a wedding band vs wedding DJ?

Images Courtesy of Famous Players Band 

Aimée writes:

As a singer and a recent bride, I have an uncommon perspective on the debate between hiring a wedding band vs a wedding DJ. In this blog-post, I hope to give you a little insight and advice on choosing the musical entertainment for your wedding.

Researching for my own wedding, I found a rather eye-opening statistic: People spend almost twice as much money on photography than they do on music and entertainment. Now, I understand that you want great photos to remember your big day with. But, you only get one chance to have the party of your life; to host and thank all of your family and friends for their support over the years. If you don’t have a great reception, your best memories will be your photographs. And, isn’t that just a little sad?

My first bit of advice is this: if you have the budget, do it all! Get your favourite band and a DJ. Most bands and DJs can work really well together, and you get the best of both worlds. With both a DJ and a band, you can have a seamless night of music, entertainment and partying until the clock strikes whatever time you have noted on your contracts with the venue. However, if you’re like me, and you can’t afford to have it all, go for the band.  Here are a few reasons why:

Live Music = Energy

You’re throwing a party here. What’s the biggest buzz kill at a party? An empty dance floor. With a live band, you’re not only paying for the music, but also the show. Live bands are like party magnets. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen. We played a show once where there were multiple venues and multiple forms of entertainment. We were the only live band, however. By the end of the first hour, our dance floor was packed and the people who weren’t dancing were still in the room, watching. The DJ rooms were empty. Why? Because, whether you like to dance or if you prefer to be more of a wallflower, with a live band, you get the music and a show. With a band, you get the energy of living people, who are genuinely enjoying themselves, and that, my dear readers, is contagious.

Live Music = Adaptability

Wedding band’s are professional entertainers. We can read a crowd and move with you. Are you shy? We can start you off slow, and even do some silly things to get you to loosen up. We can help you feel more comfortable, before the cocktails kick in. Not so shy? A great band can play songs from every era, so, if grandma wants to hear Elvis, then you want to dance to Beyoncé, we can do that! Heck, we’ll even lead the crowd in a Michael Jackson dance off, if that’s how you roll.

Live Music = Integration Like I said above, if you are less inclined to dance, a DJ leaves a lot to be desired. With a live band, maybe you don’t want to dance, but you’ll stay to watch the show. The more people who stay and enjoy your party, the more successful your party will be. With a live band, you have the opportunity to please everyone, because there is a little something for all tastes and all personalities.

Live Music = The Classiest Choice Ask your grandma. Back in the day, everybody had a band at their weddings. If you really want that vintage feel, get a great room, a great band and a great cocktail and canapé menu. The rest will sort itself out.

This is your wedding: Your chance to throw a party like no other. When it comes to entertainment, you deserve to have the best. The best memories I have from my own wedding are dancing with my husband and watching my daughter sing (and steal the show) with my band mates. With a live band, you get people who love what they do. You get expertise, adaptability and energy that you simply cannot get from a DJ. You get an interactive form of entertainment that everyone can enjoy, from young to old. With a live band you’re getting the party going, before it even starts.

The post Friday’s Find | Wedding Band vs Wedding DJ: A Wedding Singer’s Perspective – Famous Players Guest Post appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.

Should a couple live together before marriage? Or should they stick to old tradition and wait until after the big day? For many couples, this decision is greatly influenced by their family members, personal values, religious beliefs, financial situations, society and the media.

For my husband and I, we never had the choice of living apart from the start. I moved across the pond to London, England to go to school and moved into a big seven-bedroom house, signed a lease. He just so happened to be one of my six roommates – so I was pretty much stuck with him from the moment we went on our first date. It wasn’t like he could walk me home and say goodnight, and it wasn’t like I could pick out a new outfit to surprise him with without him seeing me before I got there.

We did get the chance to live apart though, when we were dating and I moved back to Vancouver for eight months. We went from one extreme to the next, from starting our relationship by living in the same house, spending nearly every day and night together, to moving apart into a long distance relationship, then getting engaged, and finally moving back in together after eight long months of skyping, texting, love letters by snail mail and phone calls from opposite time zones.

For me, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I found that living together really sped up the process of us getting to know each other, the good parts and the bad. Things became serious a lot quicker than they would have, had we lived separately and we got to know all of the things we really loved, and didn’t love quite as much, about each other. It did take a little bit of the mystery out of our relationship at the start, but it made things fun!

But I also really value the time that we spent apart. Spending time apart from your partner/fiancée is a very good foundation for a relationship, since it gives both of you an opportunity to be independent, while in a relationship in the time before you enter into a marriage. It also causes you to really value the time you get to spend together, getting to know each other, whether that’s going on dates and small trips here and there, or chatting on Skype while being miles apart. It’s so important to enter into a relationship with independence whether you move in together before or after marriage.

Some people find not living together before getting married to be like buying a car without test driving it first – you need to find out if your compatible in all aspects of life and living together is a pretty important aspect. Moving in together is like a test-run for marriage for many couples. It’s also very easy to justify the move for the sake of convenience. It’s much easier to pay bills when you can split them in half,  living together means less time spent traveling to see each other and more time spent together.

According to Discovery Health, in the 1970s, only about 500,000 couples lived together before tying the knot, but now, upwards of several million couples will [source: Wartik]. According to one estimate, 60 to 70 percent of today’s couples will share a residence before marriage [source:McCarthy].

Our situation definitely wouldn’t work for everyone. According to a CDC study, couples who live together have a higher rate of divorce than couples who don’t cohabit before tying the knot. The study also found that couples who live together before marriage are less likely to be together 20 years later.

It’s possible that if you feel the need to “test” the relationship, you may already know in your heart that it’s not meant to be. Check out this infographic, it might help you make your decision on whether or not it is the right thing for you and your partner to live together before marriage.

Infographic Courtesy of MyMove.com 

The post Should You Live Together Before Marriage? appeared first on Heirloom Magazine | Vancouver Wedding Magazine.