Jennifer and Brent were married this past Sunday at the gorgeous and fabulous Chateau Lake Louise. The weather was perfect for their outdoor ceremony out on the terrace. Later that night they were blessed with rain, but we were all indoors by then celebrating their wedding in the Victorian Ballroom.

A special thanks to Patrick Smiley from Class Act DJ for the wonderful photos (half way to Lake Louise I remembered mine was still in the diaper bag!)

Congratulations Jenny and Brent and thank you for letting us be part of your special day!

Outdoor weddings are so beautiful, but if you're getting married in Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, or any where for that matter, weather may not always be on your side! Our May Long weekend wedding in Banff gave us a taste of all four seasons! We saw sun, wind, rain and of course SNOW!

Make sure you have your back up plan ready to go and decide with your venue and wedding planner when to make the decision to keep the ceremony outdoors or move it indoors. Here are some other tips for outdoor weddings:

Have umbrellas or colorful wraps ready for your guests in case it rains or is a little chilly. Alternatively, you may want to provide those umbrellas to shade guests from the sun. Offer sunscreen in case guests forgot to lather up before heading to the ceremony.

Dress weights can be handy for you and your bridesmaids. These are sewn into your dress hem and found at most sewing supply stores.

Solemates - these handy little plastic peices fit over the heels of most high heel shoes and protect your heels from damage and from digging into the grass. You can order them here or conact us for some!

So we've probably all been to a wedding that had a candy bar, and we all know how much fun and how great they look. Especially when the bride and groom create a theme, whether it be their wedding colors or types of candy (such as old school candy - Poppey Smokes or gold mine gum anyone?)So here are some new food station ideas to WOW your guests!

Hot Chocolate Bar - think biscotti, chocolate drizzled marshmellows, whipped cream, colored sprinkles....

Coffee Bar - from espresso to flavored lattes, you can even use some of the ideas from the chocolate bar above - biscotti and coffee..mmmm

Popcorn Bar - Use sweet and savory flavors to appeal to all pallets

Cookie Bar - include some shoots of milk to wash down delicious homemade cookies

Ice Cream Bar - sprinkles, choclate and caramel sauce, whipped cream, bananas, cherries... keep your guest cool while their on the dance floor

Carnival Food Bar - Popcorn, corn dogs, mini burgers, candy floss, and of course mini donuts!

A source of wedding stress can typically be found once you dive into your guest list. You and your fiance have an idea of who you want at your wedding, but your parents will also have their lists, especially if they are helping pay for your wedding. Here is the best way to go about your guest list.

1. Have everyone write down who they would like to invite to the wedding and then sit down together to go through the list.
2. Be realist as to how many people you can/should invite. If you've already selected a venue, this becomes easier as your limited based on their capacity capabilities.
3. Review the list and cut people who you haven't seen in years or don't even know you're engaged. There will be people your parents want to invite that you don't even know, just remind them why this day is special to you and that you want the guests in attendance to be people who mean something to you. They're excited about the wedding just like you, so understand where both of you are coming from.
4. Just because you were invited to their wedding 4 year ago does not mean you have to invite them to your wedding.
5. Inviting coworkers usually opens up a can of worms. If you invite one or two you may cause hurt feelings to those you haven't invited. Explain to them that you are keeping the wedding to close family and friends only.
6. If you're inviting single friends or family members and are limited to how many guests you can invite, adding guests to those who are in a committed relationship and no guest to those who would be bringing just a casual date is okay. Just explain to your friends/family that you want them to be there but don't have enough room/budget for everyone to bring a guest.

One more tip, keep all your guests names, addresses, etc in one spreadsheet. This will make it easier when you go to do labels, print envelopes or send the information to your calligrapher. You can also use the same list to keep track of RSVP and meal selections as they come in.