doily wallpaper

Ok, I don't care what anyone says, or if this site is in Swedish and I can't read it - this doily wallpaper is just plain pretty! {from Intrade}

growing old together

The Paper Nerd was MIA on Friday due to all of the award show hub-bub! But I just wanted to share this quirky wedding invitation - it's clever, romantic...and pretty hilarious. Wouldn't you laugh out loud if you received these in the mail from a loved one? Enjoy!

{invitations found here via A Cup of Jo}

CEP Star Award...yay!

Yippee! As Melanie mentioned this morning, we are honoured to have won the Canadian Event Perspective Magazine's Star Award for 'Best Wedding Under $75,000'! Friday's gala dinner was a wonderful awards show and we met so many fantastic and supportive people in the event community. See the above pics from last night...including a photo of our name as our nomination was called...however just as I took a picture, I realized that the photo onscreen wasn't our event at all! Oops! Ah well. It just kind of made everything a bit more entertaining!

Stacey Wyatt from CEP Magazine mentioned in her speech last night that the event industry can sometimes seem frivolous, especially in tough economic times. But that it's important to remember that life is made up of moments - some that are meant to be celebrated and always remembered. Creating a spectacular and beautiful event that will forever be remembered as a special moment in someone's life really is quite an important role - and not so frivolous afterall. I loved this thought.

best wedding in canada!

Woah nelly! Last night at the Canadian Event Industry Awards, inBloom won the top prize for Best Wedding Under $75, 000 for our wedding at McMichael's Art Gallery. That means, as of right now, the Leamen/McLuckie Wedding is the BEST wedding under $75,000 in Canada. We're so excited and thankful to the judging panel for appreciating our work so much!! Here's some quick photos of our acceptance speech (for which Shayna Bloomer FINALLY had her chance to thank the academy)...stay tuned for some more photos of our awards night...

simple nature-inspired chuppahs

I've had my eye on some simple, birch pole chuppahs for a while - here are some of my favs! I have to say simple chuppah structures are not an easy find. But the best news of all is that inBloom can provide birch chuppahs for our Jewish clientele's wedding decor. And even if it's not for a Jewish ceremony, I think they'd certainly just make a beautiful wedding canopy for anyone! {pic above is from Brooklyn Bride}

{from Style Me Pretty}

These aren't birch, but they are also made from trees poles - nice and simple

Another chuppah made from tree posts {sadly, I lost the link for this pic - if anyone knows, please let me know}

How cute is this hand-held chuppah on sticks!! {from Belathee Photography via A Practical Wedding}

Hung between trees, I couldn't resist posting this lace/doily chuppah. Imagine if the whole top was made of little doilies strung together? That's it, we're doing it! {pic above from A Practical Wedding}

i heart the new 'original'

For the Canadian Event Industry Awards this Friday I was having a bit of a conundrum with what to wear. I seem to have collected a lot of business-casual wear that isn't cocktail appropriate, or everything is geared toward a sunny summer wedding. It occurred to me that, considering I live in Toronto - and 3/4 of the year is cold, wet, rainy or snowy - I should probably have more 'appropriate weather' dresses since its always a struggle trying to figure out what kind of sweater/shawl to wear, what kind of winter heels look good with a summer dress, how many layers I can hide underneath for warmth that won't be noticeable...

So walking along Queen Street, I'd gone through the usual stores but nothing stood out to me. Call me crazy, but I just don't want to look like I'm a 16 year old going to prom. Then I noticed that FX - my old dress shop staple turned unpredictable of late - has been taken over and wonderfully re-vamped by its original owner, Donna, into a new dress shop called....Original {note the website is still under construction but there should be something up soon}! This might just be my new favorite place to be! They have added a fab shoe store to the lower level with some great purses and a fantastically fun dress shop upstairs where I found the perfect solution to my dress problem above, in a retro style that I love and accented by my favoritist thing of all...buttons! Hooray!

{Please don't judge my icky hair and winter white complexion...just focus on the delicious dress!}

the one where phoebe and mike get married

I always remembered from years ago (how do the years pass by this fast?!), the cute alley-way snowstorm wedding that Phoebe and Mike had on Friends. And practicing my magic on a few more screengrabs, I finally was able to capture some scenes of the decor! Again, I find myself drawn to mismatched (yet somehow matching) chairs and decor - strategically placed, of course! The hanging lanterns and the icicle tree is pretty too. I love the rough city vibe of this old winter wedding - I guess it's truly considered vintage now!

the white tree - it's purty!

cute mismatched chairs!

And also, can you believe, but I still like Rachel's bridesmaid dress even after all these years! The others's dresses...not so much!

Canadian Event Industry Award Nominee: inBloom Event Design!

Weeeeee! Our first official nomination! Not that all the praise and accolades our parents gave us didn't count...but this is very exciting indeedy. inBloom Event Design has been nominated for a Canadian Event Industry Award in the category of 'Best Wedding Under $75,000' and we'll find out this Friday if we have won! The event we were nominated for was none other than Julia + Iain's marigold and pewter autumn wedding that took place at McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario. Go Bloomers!

gorgeous and flowy...

...designs by Barbara Munsel. They look like they could float away!
Happy Spring and I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

happy birthday craig!

And...happy birthday to my beau. He's one of the funniest people I know!! Need I say more?

Wooden Sticks Wedding Show

inBloom has been asked by Wooden Sticks, located in Uxbridge, to decorate their tented wedding pavilion for their 1st Annual "How to Plan a Wedding" Show. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous there - just take a look at the pics above! We can't wait to sink our teeth into decorating the tent - it's like a blank canvas ready for our imaginations to take over. We're thinking something very natural, green and branchy. Come and check it out on April 5th at 11am - 5pm. There's going to be a fashion show, amazing speakers, and some tasty treats. And of course, yours truly will be there too! {Pics above from Wooden Sticks.}

wedding hairs

Now that all my wedding accessories are coming in I've gotten a bit obsessed with finding hair-dos for both my weddings. Since my Israel wedding will be on a beach in ridiculously hot and humid August Israeli weather I would like to have my hair up and out of the way. But I've always sort of disliked the whole up-do thing after a horrific prom hair experience poor Melanie Bloomer had in Grade 12 {If you must know - think Aunt Hettie on Road to Avonlea!} But then I started getting inspired to have a big, messy, bouffant for my Practice Wedding also thanks to that Tim Burton wedding dance Chelsea Hightower and Mark did on So You Think You Can Dance that I posted about not so long ago! So here are some looks I'm pondering...any thoughts?

These are for beachy ridiculously HOT Israel:


And I only can find these two for my Practice Wedding...sigh...but I do really love this first one so it might be ok afterall!

maple syrup adventures

Last week, myself, my friend Aliya and her lovely visitors from France went on a maple syrup adventure at Bruce's Mill in Stouffville (they hold weddings here too!). We pounded back shots of 100% homemade maple syrup, had some pancakes, some maple fudge and candies (oy, I feel bloated just remembering it!) and got a lovely little tour by Santa Claus and ZZ Top. Apparently, this is what they do on their off season. I was inspired by the lovely tin buckets on the trees catching the sap - us 'Bloomers really do love our galvanized pails.

Aliya and I with Bud, the bud

Checking out the sap buckets - I fancy Guillaume's rainbow scarf.

Real pioneers are boilin' the water off the maple syrup - did you know that the reason why pioneers spent so much time on maple syrup is because they didn't make salt in Ontario, and so they used maple syrup to preserve all their meats? yummy!

There was this llama there too. Take a look at how pretty her blue eyes are!

more wedding fancies

It really feels like everything is starting to fall into place! Last week I received my Mini Flapper hairpiece and now this week my bracelet and earrings were finally ready! Thanks to one of my fave stops on Queen Street, Claude from The Beadery agreed to make some gorgeous jewelery for me! I'm in love with what he's done! I can't believe I still have to wait 5 months to wear the jewelery, the shoes, my hairpiece, my dress AND my vogue cheek!

For a recap...here is what I'm wearing for the Israel wedding!

{These shoes will be worn for both of my weddings and then probably for the next 10 years following!}

{My You, Me, and Dupree wedding dress - currently being made and promise will post as soon as I have something to show!}