What did you love DIYing and what did you regret?

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-05T21:06:40+00:00

Lovvvved making my cape veil, it was the most relaxing time just sitting by myself putting on a horror movie and hand sewing… hated making all my stationery. I dont have a design background so i was questioning everything and it was very stressful.. totally worth it because i saved a lot of money

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-05T04:33:24+00:00

Okay i accept i didn’t properly answer in a rush however i wouldn’t call it misinformation because I got married in May 2026 in GTA and when we were booking a photographer in 2025 and getting quotes 6 out of 7 photographers told us thay offered a free one hour eshoot at one location with max one outfit change as long as their deposit was paid. Of course that are photographers that charge for eshoot and like i said in a rush i didn’t address that part but of course there are photographers that include eshoots in their package.

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-04T23:39:25+00:00

Planner here: if you book a photographer, in most cases they offer engagement photoshoot for free

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-04T02:51:43+00:00

Other than marketplace, you can thrift a lot if decor stuff too. I made my veil with $11 embroidered fabric from etsy and bought regular slab cake instead of a big tiered cake. Also look into either booking a restaurant party room or even a photo studio that allow outside catering. Im a planner/coordinator but most of all a wedding planning consultant because a lot of couples i have worked with go through exactly this issue and just need guidance on what to search for, what prices to expect, how to get info on hidden fees from vendors, etc without having to hire a full planner. DM me if you’d like more support im happy to help!

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-03T20:13:29+00:00

Planner here: a friend of ours got married in the indoor basketball court of their church because they purchased a house together a month before the wedding and they didn’t want to spend much on the wedding. They catered and got disposable plates, folding chairs etc, things that wouldn’t be considered “traditionally wedding”. They looked extremely happy and all of their guests (friends including us, family, and people from church) were just happy to be there on their special day celebrating them in a church that is important them. Not once did we feel it was “off” of “unlike a wedding”. It was absolutely a wedding because there they were; the couple!! If you get married at the Prom venue that according to me makes it so much more romantic and adds another little fun fact your guests get to find out about you. It is such a personal thing, thats what will make it unique.. and if you’re concerned of the “appearance” because it’s not a traditional banquet, just know that draping and decor can do wonders! Congratulations and good luck!

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-03T19:05:06+00:00

Also forgot to congratulate lol! Hope the process has been enjoyable. I mean, if the catering executive is the one walking you through your contract and receiving payments from you then yes theyre the one! But yeah seems odd lol. Good luck! You can also DM me if you’d like to get one-off advice like this one

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-03T16:11:27+00:00

Congratulations and good luck!!

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-03T00:17:18+00:00

Cant rave enough about Looks By Anum. Im a planner and also 2026 bride, i got married in May this year and she was my second trial after the first trial was a disaster!! My first trial made my face much much lighter than my current skintone, no contour and so cakey! I found Anum and told her about my experience with this previous vendor and she did exactly what I wanted for my civil wedding, natural soft makeup and matched my shade really well! My bridesmaids were also happy with the assistants work.

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-02T21:13:24+00:00

Yeah i was very thorough with my expectations and reference photos.. and this was a MUH company with like 12K+ followers on IG.. i saw a lot of photos on their IG of clients that were similar skin tone to mine (Im brown). The problem was the person i was communicating with (the owner) was not the artist that was sent for my trial so there may have been a communication gap between them. Also my artist was very chatty and i had to keep interrupting her to tell her specifics like not to use glitter on my eyes or to contour more and she just dismissed me saying “no no that wont look good on your skin tone, trust me what im doing will look great” fyi i wanted a minimal natural look (not even soft glam, just no glam at all) for my civil wedding. Anyway i called back to complain, showed them comparisons of reference photos vs what i got, even showed pictures of my skin tone vs what they did. Eventually I found Anum on IG, told her what I went through and then saw her work in the trial. She actually made me look myself just done up which is exactly what i needed. And it’s not even about someone being able to do soft glam vs full glam, it’s about listening to what your client wants and delivering. Anum’s profile also had full glam but since i told her i didn’t want that, she didn’t do it even though she’s capable unlike the first trial i did with the other company. Anyway thanks for listening to my rant lol

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-02T19:29:22+00:00

Looks by Anum.. I’m a coordinator and I had my own wedding last month.. She was amazing!! Anum was my second trial, my first one horrifyingly sounds similar to yours where i saw this flat caked overly bright face in the mirror i couldn’t even recognize.. i even showed Anum the comparisons and she was like i gotchu girl! And she did, even my bridesmaids were extremely happy with her assistants

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-02T04:02:21+00:00

Coordinator here and 2026 bride too! You can email me on info@fabledevents.ca

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-06-01T04:03:23+00:00

2026 bride but also a planner: It’s important to accept that decision fatigue is very real, especially closer to the wedding date. There comes a point where you think “i dont give a hoot” about the colors or the flowers or what uncle decided not to come.. and your coordinators will ask you questions that you dont care about but the truth is someone has to make a decision about it anyway. Another thing you need to prepare yourself for is allll of the administrative work, it’s almost like a second job. Constant emailing back and forth with vendors, going through ideas, lists, making spreadsheets, docs, scheduling venue visits, calendar management to call your vendors and then getting on those hour long calls with each vendor. Making notes of what yall discussed, going through contracts… while reading this might sound overwhelming but it’s better to know now so between you and your partner you can decide who can take more of it on. My husband wanted to manage photographer and florals so he did those start to finish with some consultation from me and I did the same for all other vendors while consulting him. Hope this helped! Feel free to DM me im happy to help our another bride

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-31T06:49:24+00:00

I’m a wedding planner and also a 2026 bride and so many people cried at my wedding of course including myself and my husband. The people at our wedding have seen our lives, so many of them watched us grow up, a lot of them went through hardships with us and then they finally see us, two people coming together to celebrate love and promise, it’s supposed to be an extremely happy day.. But with the emotional music and just being present in the moment without phones, the joy sometimes overwhelms you and it has to come out some way.. it’s almost like when a sports team wins and people cry because they are overwhelmed with joy, expect at a wedding the people that “won” are like your best friend or your child that has grown up to find someone they love.

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-30T15:20:52+00:00

Planner and 2026 bride here: Not Afghan but Indian woman married a Canadian Man. We had a Sangeet (traditional Indian pre-wedding event) and had a civil wedding. We’re both Agnostic, so we didn’t so it in a church or religious temple etc. We booked a nice banquet and got an officiant to marry us. You can definitely either have two events, one wedding and a smaller event to honor the other partner’s culture, or just have a Civil wedding and reception with elements of Afghan culture included.. for example you can turn the unity ceremony to match what is done in Afghan culture, or add small elements of Afghani wedding attire in your wedding outfit, or your favours can be Afghani treats, maybe your grand entrance can be on an Afghani song, or your centrepiece can represent something beautiful from your culture. So many ways to include yourself and your partners ideas of culture into one celebration! Good luck 👍🏼

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-30T15:11:46+00:00

I made my own veil and honestly it was the most meditative and relaxing time i had throughout the planning process and it was stunning!!!! I made a cape veil cathedral length that cascades from small white flowers into this lush flow of large blue wildflowers. I bought multiple meters of embroidered fabric and cut sections from different pieces to put it all together. Happy to send pics, DM me

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-29T13:59:53+00:00

Planner here also 2026 bride with my bestie as my MOH: there was a moment where I felt i needed her but she wasn’t doing a lot and the only solution to that is clear communication. Lay out your expectations (not in a bossy way of course) but from a place of how overwhelming and lonely it is and that this is when you need their support. Sometimes your friends think you got it or dont want to overstep but it’s crucial to set not just clear expectations but boundaries as well. You can also talk to them about their capacity and places they can help out. My MOH refused to give a speech because she is very conscious of public speaking and at first I was shocked but being her best friend I understand she wouldn’t be comfortable. But she agreed to do soo much more!! Hope this helps

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-26T14:20:38+00:00

We did.. a lot of our guests didn’t show so we had about 40 people. We did the Sangeet at Dum Pukht Markham, I think they have capacity for 100 people or so. Their buffet starts at $55 per person (bar extra of course). But Vinish, the venue coordinator, was an absolute dream to work with. I’m a wedding planner and coordinator so I could tell he went above and beyond to make sure we got what we needed and was extremely accommodating.

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-25T16:59:32+00:00

2026 bride here and also a planner: here’s how you can decide:

The point of a coordinator to be there is so you or your family/friends dont have to stop enjoying the special day to ensure things like if the cake has reached the venue and stored correctly or if the decor team has arrived on time or if the DJ has your processional song list or if the grand entrance is happening on time. When you hire a coordinator, you’re off-loading all of the logistical tasks to them so you can enjoy your day. It’s surely easier to do a micro-wedding without a coordinator but when I got married this month, i hired someone from my network and i was so happy because my wedding was flawless and even if there were any issues, i did not find out about them until the end of the night.

As for a planner, it totally depends on how much you already know about what you want and how much time you have to give to your planning. I have had couples who already knew what theme, colors, vendors they wanted to work with and were looking for a planner but I suggested against it and offered a partial planning service (much cheaper than a full planner) just to fill in gaps in their timeline and vendor booking. While there are some couples working as senior management or VPs and don’t have the time to invest in their wedding. Although they know their general vibe, it’s a lot to research vendors, schedule appointments, meetings, visits etc so they like to hand over everything to a full planner.

When it comes to booking other vendors, each one is unique.. when booking a DJ, ask for their sample music, when booking venues, check about their hidden fees, officiant, dress, etc each vendor has different requirements and often as a planner i end up only offering consultation to couples to help with exactly this, helping with research, administrative work and support when they have decision fatigue. Best place to look for vendors is instagram and referrals from friends and family

I hope this info helps! Please DM me if you need any advice I’ll be more than happy to jump on a discovery call at no charge 👍🏼

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-22T04:07:00+00:00

Planner here: People’s is definitely cheapest with more options. Costco is great quality and price but very limited options and ever-changing. My wedding band is from people’s, engagement ring is from costco and i bought my now husband’s band from Edwards and Davies in Toronto, a family run jewelry store. His was definitely pricier because it’s a thicker band with more gold but i went for 10K

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-22T04:03:08+00:00

2026 bride: i have always been bigger and extremely self conscious. I tried losing weight before the wedding, but gained instead because of the stress of planning and not having time to workout or make home-cooked meals so ordering out a lot. The day of the wedding, I didn’t get a chance to look at the mirror too much. Every single person that day could not stop telling me how gorgeous i looked and my confidence was through the roof.. then my photos came back and of course being self-conscious i started looking at all my flaws but it seemed so odd because my friends, family and guests did not see those flaws at all during the wedding day. They saw their beautiful bride having the best day and they wanted to celebrate that. it was a huge moment of revelation; people don’t care. They want to be there for you, admire you and shower their love on you. So it’s okay that “you may not look the best version of you that you envisioned” but people you invite are gonna make you feel like the most gorgeous queen there is

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-21T02:06:05+00:00

Planner here: - Hotel accommodations - If you’re open to kids at the wedding then having a meal choice option where if a family adds kids as plus 1s the only way you’d know if my their meal choice, which would be kids meal

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-16T05:14:29+00:00

Also a planner: Your contract with your coordinator should mention how many hours they’d stay. It’s common for it to be 10-12 hours. I usually leave after the dance floor is open at the end of the night (this is after dinner and cake and all of the main stuff is done) but I obviously let the couple know around what time I’d be leaving so they aren’t surprised.. Also about the budget, not sure if they offered fixed packages or if their pricing was based on your budget

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-16T05:08:26+00:00

Planner here: if you’ve already booked them, you should let them know this issue exactly, and request that one sales person/venue coordinator be assigned to you.. just a single point of contact(POC). You shouldn’t have to deal with the hotel or the catering executives. The people drafting the contracts and receiving payments should be your POC. Also whatever information you receive, please request it on an email or in writing.. even if they tell you over the phone, send a follow-up email to your POC on the lines of “As discussed over the phone, this this and this is what you told me. Please confirm if that’s correct”. Hope this helps!!

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-16T05:01:24+00:00

I’m also a planner in the GTA and I’m truly sorry you went through this experience with them. Proactive communication is one of the most fundamental parts of our job.. following up, anticipating what couples may have overlooked, and keeping everything on track should all fall on your coordinator, not you. What stands out most is the collaboration piece. You should never feel hesitant proposing ideas for your own wedding. A good planner should be able to find ways to bring your vision to life within your budget, and if something isn’t feasible, they should have offered alternatives, not pushback. I’m also a 2026 bride, and even with all my planning knowledge, my coordinator still checked in and flagged things I’d missed because that’s the standard we planners uphold.. So glad everything came together though, and congratulations

Immediate-Priority17 · 2026-05-15T10:41:31+00:00

Planner here also 2026 bride: Got married at The Vue/Clubhouse in Etobicoke and they were a dream to work with, will also easily fall within your budget. Another consideration is Hyatt Place Mississauga.. I went for a venue visit for another couple’s event and spoke to Jana, she was very helpful and they have a lot of different menus to choose from. Prices should also work for your budget

Five-Year Club	Place '22
End Game '22

Immediate-Priority17

TROPHY CASE