Posts tagged wedding planning victoria

Supporting local in the time of COVID-19

Well folks….let’s talk about the last couple of weeks, shall we?! Oh man…what a crazy time this is, and we just hope that everyone out there is staying safe, healthy and at home (as much as possible). This has, and will continue to, impact everyone, and I am still just trying to wrap my head around what this means for the wedding industry. There have been so many incredible posts by fellow industry people about the immediate affect, and I am blown away by the grace that everyone (vendors & couples) has been handling our current situation.

Bonnie & I have decided that we might as well use this extra time to dive back into the blog, because why not! When talking about what we wanted to start with, it became super clear to both of us that shining a light on how to support small businesses during this time was the right thing to do. Small businesses are what make up our communities and we just love them all oh so much. The Good Party did a fantastic post over on their blog featuring wedding companies who are getting creative, so be sure to check it out! We thought we would take a look at some of our personal favourite small businesses all across Victoria. If you live in Victoria and have the means to do so, please please continue to show your favourites some extra love right now. If you have found yourself without the means but still want to help, be sure to give them lots of love on social & google! If you don’t live here in Victoria, then I hope that this post inspires you to think of a variety of businesses who are no doubt struggling right now and dealing with a whole lot of uncertainty. We could all use a little extra love right now, and I know as a small business family ourselves, we all say thank you.

So without further aideu, here are 10 local Victoria businesses that we want to show a little bit of love:

Agrius/Fol Epi (Yates)

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Open limited hours daily to provide their incredible bread, pastries, coffee, and sandwiches in a safe take out form while also offering a variety of house made gourmet grocery items and incredible meals for your fridge or freezer (duck confit, anyone?) They also have some of their amazing (hard to find) wine list available for purchase to take home. Who says you can’t still have a romantic date night? - Bonnie

Website - www.agriusrestaurant.com
Instagram - www.instagram.com/fol.epi/

Amelia Lee

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This is my favourite home store here in town, and I swear it’s like walking into your own pinterest shop. The owner, Khloe, has a heart of gold and impeccable taste. Their online shop is open and if a global pandemic isn’t the perfect excuse to treat yourself (or friend) to a new home “pick me up”, then I don’t know what is. They also have the most wonderful collection of baby goods, featuring many local suppliers, and so while celebrations may be on hold, sending a bit of love to a new mama (or mama to be) sounds like a great idea! Local delivery is free. - Barb

Website - www.shopamelialee.com
Instagram - www.instagram.com/amelialeeboutique/

Annex

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Amazing new boutique gym offering spin, barre, and strength classes. Even though they only opened their doors a few months ago, these amazing people were among the first to shut their doors to do their part, and from the get go froze all memberships to alleviate this cost for members while offering totally free daily live work outs on instagram for everyone! They truly believe in creating a supportive community and keeping everyone healthy. If you want to show them some love, they are still offering punch passes available for purchase on their website or app which can be used when their doors open up again. - Bonnie

Website - www.annexvictoria.com
Instagram - www.instagram.com/annexvictoria/

Bolen Books

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Finding yourself with all this extra time at home, and feeling like your excessive Netflix bingeing has hit its limit? Bolen’s is offering shopping via phone or online, and you can either have your purchases delivered or pick them up from their take out window. They have thousands of books, games, puzzles, and are an incredible family to boot! So consider getting your next book order local (and bonus: anything we can do to reduce the amount our postal workers have to do, is incredible). - Barb

Website - www.bolen.bc.ca
Instagram - www.instagram.com/bolenbooks/

Foo

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So many local restaurants are working hard to provide alternative options to going to the busy grocery stores and providing safe take out, giving us a bit of variety in our food options and taking the stress off cooking during a stressful time. This also keeps many hospitality workers employed in one of the hardest hit industries. Foo is one of these places, and they are working hard 7 days a week with slightly limited hours and a take out window on their patio to keep things distanced and outside. Plus, their food is super tasty! - Bonnie

Website - www.victoria.foofood.ca
Instagram - www.instagram.com/fooyyj/

Frontrunners

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This is actually my husbands store, so the shout out is slightly biased. But I am so proud of how they have been handling this! While their doors of all 3 locations are currently closed, they are taking orders via online orders, phone or even FaceTime! So whether it is a new pair of running shoes, nutritional, run shorts etc., they can help you. They are offering free local (contactless) delivery, and can’t wait to get back out there with the run clinics once this is all over. - Barb

Website - www.frontrunners.ca
Instagram - www.instagram.com/frontrunnersvic/

Hide + Seek Coffee

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This lovely husband and wife duo are working hard to keep all their customers caffeinated with the tastiest coffee through this weird time. They have a ‘coffee window’ open limited hours at their store front in Oak Bay, and are also offering online orders for beans with free neighbourhood delivery! Pick your tasting notes and they’ll pick out something delicious for you and bring it to your door - does it get any better? - Bonnie

Website - www.hideandseekcoffee.ca
Instagram - www.instagram.com/hideandseekcoffee/

Maaface Artistry

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I know I speak for many ladies when I say I’ll be running to get caught up on my favourite beauty regimens once personal services can open their doors again (I forgot what I looked like without lashes and nice nails… yikes). Laura at Maaface is doing everyone a solid and offering any kind of full lash set for the price of fill to get you back on track, and this is for literally anyone. Even if you aren’t an existing client. Or didn’t have lashes previously. She is just that amazing. You can also choose to pre-pay for your set (at fill price) so you can be added to the waitlist for preferred appointment times before the schedule opens up to everyone. Looking forward to some gorgeous lashes (and she is crazy talented!) - Bonnie

Website - www.maaface.com
Instagram - www.instagram.com/maaface.artistry/

Marta Cafe

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If you haven’t been to Marta Cafe yet, then as soon as we are allowed to share a coffee together again, you need to get there STAT! Local girls, Ellie & Nikita have created their own little slice of parisian paradise, and this neighbourhood cafe delivers. It is one of my favourite spots to meet a friend (or catch up on some emails) over a delicious croissant & latte. They are currently closed, but are selling Gift Cards (email them at info@martacafeandpantry.com) for future visits. Every bit of cash flow they can get helps, so let’s help keep them alive! - Barb

Website -www.martacafeandpantry.com
Instagram -www.instagram.com/martacafeandpantry/

Twist of Fate

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Talk about adapting! This local event bartending company has launched a Curbside Cocktail program, and I couldn't be more for it. I love me a good cocktail, and let’s be honest: a plain ol’ G&T just isn’t cutting it these days. They offer contactless delivery twice a week, and bring you the mixture, garnish & instructions. All you have to do is supply the booze & glass. I can tell you from personal experience, they are damn good, and will definitely make your day better. - Barb

Website - www.twistvictoria.com
Instagram - www.instagram.com/twistvictoria/

FKE Living, Office TalkBarb WalkerMarch 31, 2020wedding planning victoria, wedding planner victoria, Victoria, Support local, Small businessComment

Year in Review: 2019

One of my favourite traditions to kick off the new year is to sit down with a big cup of coffee, and write this post. Taking the time to look over the year that was, always gives me an incredible amount of perspective, and I am so grateful for that. 2019 was a great year, but it was also a tough year for me in some ways (I like to keep it real on here). With 7 weddings, it was the quietest season I’ve had in a long time, something which really made me stop, take a good deep look at what was going on, and figure out where I wanted FKE to go. I’m chalking the quietness up to a few things, which I’m not going to really get into here, but it made me realize how much I truly love what I do, and re-fueled my passion for planning & FKE. At the beginning of 2019, I really focused my energy on putting out as much as I wanted to get back (whether via social media, networking, creative work etc.), and I am so SO excited to say that re-focusing worked! 2020 is going to be the busiest year I’ve ever had, and with the expansion of our team (made possible because of this growth), I can’t wait to see what opportunities this next year brings!

With all this being said, 2019 was also a great year! Those 7 couples were the BOMB, and I fell even more in love with being a parent. Our family had lots of fun little adventures, and both FKE & Heyday have achieved some big milestones. In January, I headed down to Seattle for a couple days of planning for C&J, and also made my way up Island to Denman Island for a 2020 wedding site visit. So basically: lots of solo time in the car and lots of podcasts haha! I also collaborated with an insanely talented crew of ladies on a shoot with the Fairmont Empress. I wanted to do something in their space that felt fresh, modern yet still utterly romantic, and it was so fun to get to stretch the creative muscles a bit.

February & March brought classic winter coziness. We embraced the rare snow days with Maddie, had lots of fun family time, and headed to Vancouver with friends to rock our bodies (get it?! lol!) with Justin Timberlake. In April, we headed up to Tofino with our besties for our annual Easter weekend getaway. It was 4 straight days of beach walks, hot tubbing, good food, and Maddie hangs. So yeah, pretty great.

In May, we kicked off our wedding season with a fun one! J&A got married at the gorgeous View Estate, and it was a day time celebration that included 4 dress changes! It was also extra fun to see their wedding featured in the media down in Mexico, and to have played a role in a wedding that received so much attention down there! I also got to celebrate my 2nd Mothers Day in May with Maddie & my own wonderful Mom.

June is when things got a wee bit crazy… Maddie & I tagged along with Nick to Whistler while he raced the Whistler Half Marathon, S&J had a beautiful day full of colour and love, A&A had the most gorgeous backdrop for their wedding, and we celebrated our friends engagement on a rooftop.

The rest of the summer was a blur. We travelled down to Seattle for an oceanside celebration that had challenged me as a planner (planning a wedding in another country is no easy feat you guys) yet the end result blew me away and made me so proud of what our team can accomplish. We hung out in a lavender field, a gorgeous garden, and took in some of Vancouver Island’s most beautiful views. We announced the addition of Bonnie to the FKE team, something that I have been working towards for years and am SO excited about! Adding another planner to this little company of mine means so many different things, and I cant wait for you to all get to know her better. I also took an overnight trip back up to Whistler to start the planning of a 2020 wedding. Phew! Exhausted just writing all this! lol!

September brought a bit of a change of focus. 3 of us stole our best friend away and flew her down to Santa Barbara, for what can only be described as the best girls weekend ever. Insanely good food (The Lark blew my mind), delicious wine, and beach time. Back in Canada, we packed up the car and drove back to Whistler for a weekend with good good friends. The kids jumped in puddles, we came across a bear (terrifying when with children, fyi) , and played in snow at the top of the mountain. I also helped the VIWIA plan a fun night that focused on a great conversation about how vendors can work better together. Super grateful for that opportunity!

At the start of October, my all time favourite wedding (other than my own of course) took place. Our best friends got married! I was beyond honoured to stand as the Maid of Honour, and Bonnie took the reigns on the day, allowing me to be fully present. I honestly can’t wait to share more of this day! So much love was in that room, and we are all so happy for the new married couple!

Later that month, the fam & I headed down to our happy place, Maui, for our annual time in the sun. Man I love it there.

In November, Bonnie & I were treated to an amazing little getaway at the Long Beach Lodge Resort in Tofino! We have 2 weddings in Tofino in 2020, so getting to spend a bit more time in the town, explore the gorgeous Long Beach Lodge, and connect with other planners was fantastic! Come December, holiday season was in full force, and I’m still recovering from it haha! Nick & I escaped to Calistoga for an extended long weekend after he raced the Sacramento Marthon, and had 5 days just the 2 of us. It was weird. But also great. Mostly great ;) Later in the month, we had breakfast with Santa, celebrated Maddie’s 2nd birthday, and we also made the team expansion over at Heyday official with a new team shoot.

Wow. As I mentioned earlier, this post of mine gives me so much perspective on the year, and I am incredibly grateful for the full year I just had. 2020 is the start of a new decade, and with that, I can’t wait to see what it has in store. Happy New Year everyone!

xo
Barb

Office TalkBarb WalkerJanuary 2, 2020wedding planning victoria, wedding planner victoria, Destination wedding planner, year in review, French Kiss Events, Victoria Event Planning, victoria wedding planning Comment

Currently Inspired by: Edition 18

Colour, colour & more colour! With the days getting warmer (amazing!!!!), and the summer wedding season basically upon us, we are loving all the colour that we are seeing pop up in our feeds. And when we say colour, we don't mean bright or bold (although that can be really fun too). Instead, we mean taking a palette, and "stretching" it a little. So, whether it's infusing some pale peach and darker shades of pink into that blush/natural look, or playing with tone on tone in the greys, blues or purples, there are so many ways to give your palette just a bit more depth through colour. So, without further adieu, here are some fun colour inspired design elements we are currently loving!

Coloured Napkins on Coloured Linens
No need to shy away from colour! Many people choose to keep either their linens or napkins a neutral, but we love using different tones of the same colour at our table settings these days.

Tassels & Pom Poms
There is nothing that says it's a party like tassels and pom poms! Using either of these as subtle accents is a quick and easy way to show that you really care about the little details.

Mix & Match Stationary Colours
Try using different coloured paper from your colour palette to incorporate the wedding decor into your design right from the beginning!

Office TalkBarb WalkerMay 15, 2018wedding planner victoria, wedding planning victoria, wedding designer, wedding design, Victoria Event Planning, victoria wedding plannerComment

Planning Tips: Beyond the Wedding Cake

Dessert. One of our favourite parts of wedding planning (cake tasting anyone?!). These days though, there are so many different sweet treat options that you can consider, and many of our couples are opting out of a traditional cake altogether. We know everyone loves a slice of good old wedding cake, but there is so much more to the wedding dessert world than wedding cake! And if you love cake as much as we do, then there are so many different styles of wedding cakes to consider (head on over to this cake dedicated pinterest board to get inspired!). So today, we wanted to share a few of our favourite cake styles as well as some other dessert trends for you to drool over...

Wedding Cake Trends

Naked Cakes

Metallic Cakes

Ombre Cakes

Drip Cakes

Photography: Lou O'brien / Cake: Ideas in Icing — Photography: Lou O'brien / Cake: Ideas in Icing

Photography: Loredana La Rocca / Cake: Ebru's Kitchen

Donut Walls
Is there anything more fun? This idea is not only delicious but creates a beautiful backdrop perfect for a photo-op.

Krispy Kreme Donuts / Photography: lilelements — Krispy Kreme Donuts / Photography: lilelements

Milk & Cookies
This is sure to be a crowd pleaser at the end of the night (whether you are a "dunker" or not)!

S'more Station
This is perfect for an outdoor west coast wedding! Guaranteed to be a mess, but totally worth it.

Macaron Towers
Not only are they picture perfect, these french delicacies are super tasty and nice and light after a big wedding feast.

Ice Cream Bar
Everyone loves ice cream so why not treat your guests to an ice cream station!? Perfect for a hot summer wedding day.

Source: Style Me Pretty / Photography: Ruth Eileen

"Cheese" Cake
And finally for the couples with more of a savoury tooth.. consider an incredible "cheese" cake that will impress and delight your guests all night.

Planning TipsBarb WalkerMay 8, 2017wedding cake, wedding dessert, donut wall, macarons, wedding cheesecake, planning tips, wedding planning victoriaComment

Real Wedding: Heather & Gaven

If you asked me to sum up Heather & Gaven's wedding in one word, it would hands down, without a doubt, have to be FUN! This beautiful young couple (& their wedding party) was filled with an abundance of energy, and the celebratory mood of the day was not lost on any one of the guests. The wedding was overflowing with southern charm (Heather hails from Oklahoma) and a west coast ease (Gaven is from Victoria), and highlighted the couples fun loving nature to a tee.

After meeting in University down in Oklahoma, and falling head over heels in love, Heather & Gaven first met with me in the summer of 2015. The combination of Hatley Castle & The Beach House for their wedding venues allowed them to have the best of both worlds, Glamour & West Coast beauty, and I loved working with them on designing their dream day. Heather L O V E S pink, and pretty soon, we realized we had an un-official "50 shades of pink" theme running through the wedding. Subtle pink ombre touches, through the bridesmaids bouquets, reception tables, and paper goods, made their appearance, and modern elegant touches kept the design feeling sophisticated. The beautiful images, captured by the wickedly talented Luke Liable, are oozing with the energy that was present that day, and they still put a huge smile on my face!

**Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the complete list of all the kick ass vendors that helped make this day so incredible! All photos courtesy of Luke Liable Photography, and video courtesy of Paper Heart Films.

Planning/Design - French Kiss Events
Photography - Luke Liable Photography
Videography - Paper Heart Films
Ceremony Venue - Hatley Castle
Reception Venue - The Beach House
Floral Design - Verbena Floral Design
Beauty - Erin Bradley
Cake - Passion for Cakes
Ceremony Music - Opus String Trio
DJ - DJ Pro

Our Sister Company: Heyday Events

It has been just over a year now since the launch of our sister company, Heyday Events, and I am STOKED to be finally sharing a bit more about it over here on the blog! If you are in the wedding industry on Vancouver Island, you may have heard about Heyday, and we are all so appreciative of the amazing support that this wonderful community has given us so far! I thought it was about time though that I introduced Heyday formally, and shared with you what it is all about!

Heyday Events is a "Day-of Coordination" specialty company, meaning "day-of" is all that it does, and it does it right! Day of Coordination is an invaluable planning service that has been around for a long long time, but its title is often very misleading. Day of Coordination is so much more than help on just the day. A day-of coordinator typically becomes involved in the planning 1-2 months prior, helping the couple tie up any loose ends, put together timelines, and take on final confirmations with the vendors. It is the perfect service for those couples who are super excited to take on the planning themselves, but don't want to "work" their wedding. Or, for those couples who really see the value in having a professional on the day, but don't have the budget for a full service planner.

From 2010 - 2015, Day-of Coordination was a service that we offered at FKE, and we loved being able to help couples bring all their hard work and planning to life! In 2015 I decided to remove this service from FKE and focus solely on a Full Service/luxury planning experience for our couples. I see such value and importance in a really good Day-Of service though, and wanted to continue to offer that to couples in BC, hence the idea of Heyday was born! A company that would become known for stellar day-of coordination, and would also be a place for planners to learn, grow and become even more involved in the wedding industry. The team of "heyday makers" that we have is absolutely incredible, and all of the planners come from a great background in events. It has been such a pleasure working with them, providing guidance when needed, and seeing them work alongside some wickedly cool couples! Last season, we tested the waters (success!), and this upcoming wedding season, we are going full force! We have a lot of awesome weddings lined up for Heyday, and still have some weekends available this summer. SO.... if you, or someone you know, needs a bit of extra help pulling things together, or is at the point of wedding planning where they realize that yes, it IS a good idea to have a planner, check out Heyday Events, and give the girls a shout!

Office TalkBarb WalkerFebruary 27, 2017Heyday Events, Victoria Wedding, victoria wedding planner, Victoria Wedding Planning, victoria bc wedding planner, wedding planner victoria, wedding planning victoria, day of coordinationComment

Currently Inspired by: Edition 03

Happy Friday everyone!!! It's been a ridiculously cold week here in Victoria, but the weather man says that this cold spell we've been having is about to end (sort of...), and so I've decided that is worth celebrating with a cocktail tonight! Since the new year, we have been full on design mode, and 2017 inspiration has been oozing out from everywhere. Some new trends are definitely appearing, and we are finding ourselves drawn to some new things, which is always fun. Here are just a few of the things that are currently inspiring us.

Patterned Napkins
Textiles are a beautiful way to add personality to a tablescape, and a patterned napkin feels fresh and unexpected.

Modern Bouquets
We are still as obsessed as ever with organic styled bouquets, but these modern, clean lined and elegant bouquets had us at hello. Sophistication at its best.

Blue
Pantone may have dubbed green the colour of the year (which we will not argue with), but one hue has become a stand out for our 2017 weddings: Blue. It's everywhere, and whether via textiles, glassware, or styling accents, we can't get enough!

Office Talk, Planning TipsBarb WalkerJanuary 13, 2017wedding planning victoria, Wedding Planning, Victoria Event Planning, Victoria Wedding, victoria wedding planner, Victoria Wedding Planning, victoria bc wedding planner, wedding planner victoria, wedding designer, wedding design, 2017 wedding trends, patterned napkins, modern bouquetsComment

Currently Inspired by: Edition 2

This month the festive parties and snow are definitely inspiring our admiration for luxurious textiles and dreaming of far away tropical places. Without further ado here are this month's currently inspired by items.

Velvet Textiles
I am loving this timeless classic lately. Velvet is such a subtle texture, but makes a bold impact and dresses up any room.

Minimalist Signage
Sometimes less is more! And I am digging this simple and modern look on signage.

Tropical Eclectic
So, this one may have to do with our undying love of Hawaii, or the fact that we’ve been hit with a winter blast the past couple of weeks that is super rare. Either way, the eclectic surfer/tropical design vibes have been hitting me hard lately.

The Rainbow Effect
If done properly this look is so stunning! Whether it's as simple as multicoloured glassware or as bold as different chair colours, we are loving this effect (not to mention the velvet chairs here too...)

Planning TipsBarb WalkerDecember 15, 2016wedding planning victoria, Victoria Wedding Planning, wedding planner, Wedding Planning, Victoria Event Planning, Victoria Wedding, victoria bc wedding planner, West Coast wedding inspirationComment

Our Guilty Pleasures: Edition 1

Things are starting to get very festive around the FKE office! We may or may not be distracted by picking out our favourite holiday Spotify playlists, and chatting about the best Christmas movies... But don't worry, we still manage to get work done! All of this chit chat though, inspired us to create a monthly blog post of our favourite things of the moment!

On Our Playlists:

Barb's obsession

Paula's pick

Laura's fav

Favourites on the Re-watch List

Paula's fav

Barb's winner

Laura's pick

Festive Cocktails of Choice

Bailey's & Coffee for Laura

White Russian for Barb

Rum & Eggnog for Paula

What are your current favs? Leave a comment below!
xo Paula

ps - is anyone else as obsessed with this video as we are?

Office TalkBarb WalkerDecember 1, 2016Victoria Event Planning, Victoria Wedding, victoria wedding planner, Victoria Wedding Planning, Wedding Planning, wedding planning victoria, Behind the ScenesComment

Real Wedding: Jess & Allan

On a bright and sunny day last April, these two lovebirds made it official. And can we talk about client love for a second? From the very first email I received from Jess, I knew that these guys would be special. Not only are they completely head over heels in love with each other, but they genuinely could not WAIT to be married! And isn't that really what it is all about? Working with them on the planning and design of their perfect day was such a treat, and I honestly cannot say enough about how grateful I am to have such wonderful couples to work with.

This was the first wedding of the 2016 wedding season for us, and let's just say we kicked the season off on the right foot! We were after a soft, romantic and relaxed celebration, and the rustic yet chic Church & State Winery was the perfect backdrop for us. We took inspiration from the natural elements found throughout the dramatic space, and integrated the soft colour palette with industrial statements and warm lighting, to create a vibe that was perfectly in keeping with the couples welcoming personalties. And then there was the party. The Broken Strings absolutely killed it on the dance floor, and yes, even had the Bride up on stage performing a rap with them at the end of the night. An unforgettable evening for sure!!

**Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the complete list of all the kick ass vendors that helped make this day so incredible! All photos courtesy of AMERIS.