A WEDDING...AND TWITTER...

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Yes indeed, these are very much connected...in my life at the moment anyway.

When I was a newbie at twitter 18 months ago, I, like many people was very sceptical of the power and punch of only 140 characters that look like morse code at times.  During the first couple of months of my twitter initiation, I garnered followers and became a follower,  primarily of decorators and designers, some from across the pond in fact. I also made sure that I followed tweeps from Ottawa who were not necessarily connected in any way to my business or interests. And this is where my story gets impressive.

I am a MOB...Mother of the Bride,  very soon to be a MIL.. Mother in law.

In early February, our eldest daughter Michelle is getting married to her fabulous guy Jordan.
They got engaged at Christmas a year ago and as you can imagine, the wedding prep has consumed many hours since then. We quickly narrowed down the venue where the ceremony and reception will take place and signed on the dotted line... PHEW ...we sighed...at least that's out of the way!!!

National Gallery of Canada...Great Hall

...... but hold on, we need a caterer, photographer, florist, cake, DJ, bridal gown, bridesmaids dresses...and the list goes on.

This is where twitter made a grand entrance. I had, back at the time of the engagement, been on twitter for 6 months. I was tweeting on a daily basis...keeping in touch, reading tweep's blogs and gaining a fairly good idea who I was chatting with. It suddenly occurred to me, that this networking was tantamount to research, fact finding...very useful when searching for vendors for a wedding.  I was already tweeting with local florists, and photographers, some who I had already met through tweetups. I started to follow local bridal salons, cupcake vendors, travel agents. I was able to have 140 character chats with people who could help get our wedding preparations underway. Many of my twitter connections helped Michelle and I navigate the sometimes turbulent waters of wedding preparation .....with nary a ripple.

With only a few weeks left to go before the wedding, I thought it appropriate to express my heartfelt  THANK YOU'S to the vendors I met through TWITTER who will have ensured that Michelle's and Jordan's wedding day is a delightful experience for them and our guests to enjoy and cherish.


Michelle VandenBosch aka @mvpetals on twitter.... our wedding florist. I had worked with Michelle V, a year ago last September when she volunteered her services to make my home pretty for a house tour we were participating in. Michelle V. met with Michelle and I, she then drew up some plans, showed us some pics and ran with it. I KNOW, our wedding will be made that much more glorious, by Michelle Vs floral designs placed strategically throughout the Great hall.

Michelle Vandenbosch

Next up... Charlene Burnside Photography. Charlene and I met on twitter, but we also met IRL (twitter lingo for "in real life")... She later approached me to ask if we would like engagement photos of Michelle and Jordan as she was looking to expand her portfolio. No problemo. She did a fantastic job...in fact Michelle and Jordan used more of Charlene's photos on their wedding website....a huge hit with our guests.  You can tweet with Charlene on twitter at @CharleneBside.

Charlene Burnside Photography

The wedding photographer was a no brainer. Michelle VandenBosch and Barb Cameron,  are also twitter friends and have a history of sharing their individual talents at the the same weddings. Barb, who was named 'Top Inspirational Wedding Photographer in Canada' and has also been published in several Wedding magaizines, came very highly recommended, by Michelle V. The deal was sealed after I met Barb for lunch...passed all of her information onto the bride and groom and they agreed that Barb was the wedding photographer for them. I am so looking forward to viewing Barb's  fabulous proofs of the wedding. Tweet Barb at @cameronphotos 

Barbara Ann Studios

THE BRIDAL GOWN...one of the most important and top secret elements at a wedding. Michelle and her bridesmaids had spent a couple of weekends, including one inToronto, looking for the perfect wedding gown and bridesmaids dresses. I am now a twitter follower of @WithLove_Bridal.  Michelle found her PERFECT gown, with expert assistance from the owners, Dana and Becky at With Love Bridal. In fact the bridesmaids also found their very unique and 'WILL wear again after the wedding' dresses at the boutique as well.

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What would a wedding be without cocktails. And when I say cocktails, I mean a signature, one- of- a- kind cocktail designed by yet another twitter friend...non other than Dee Brun... Cocktail Diva. Yep, this award winning, author of Libations of Life, a Girls Guide to Life One Cocktail at a Time,  and a regular guest on Steven and Chris on CBC, has designed a cocktail for the wedding...but it's a secret ssshhhh! Ohhhh spectacular cocktail... I will truly enjoy you after the ceremony. Tweet Dee at @cocktaildeeva

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...and to top it off...the wedding cake, except there is not going to be a wedding cake per se as we are going to enjoy the new trend...cupcakes, in several mouthwatering, scrumptious flavours.  Sending a huge sweet thank you to Little Cakes Cupcakes, ... otherwise known on twitter as  @ _LittleCakes,  yet another tweep from Ottawa who I had been following and got to meet IRL when Michelle and I did a cupcake tasting. Doesn't this look deeeelish?  Can't wait...

Little Cakes Cupcakes

Finally, the Honeymoon. Michelle and Jordan wanted to register their honeymoon as a wedding gift. It's a brilliant idea for the bride, groom and guests alike. It takes the guess work out of the wedding gift selection and also allows the guests a chance to participate in the finale of the wedding. For Michelle and Jordan, the expense of their dream honeymoon after paying for some of the wedding, was alleviated. My go to twitter source for this was  Sheila Gallant Halloran at Vision 2000...or @Sheila_gh  on twitter. She immediately got in touch with Michelle and Jordan and set them up with one of her associates
Denise Gushue ... @NZescapes who managed all of the honeymoon registry and the honeymoon details.

Sheila Gallant Halloran vision2000.ca

Before I sign off....I cannot say Thank You enough to all you fabulous vendors I got to know through TWITTER. The wedding day countdown has begun in ernest, and with ALL your expert help, the months leading up to the big day have been a pleasure...truly a pleasure.  Mucho Hugs!!!
   
If you are a sceptic, wondering about the value of twitter, this is a small sample of how this SM dynamo has helped me in a monumental way.