********** GIVEAWAY GOING ON NOW THROUGH JULY 2nd!!! ***********
Don’t forget your chance to enter to win! Clay Bouquet is giving away a $25 gift certificate to her store! Just check out Clay Bouquet‘s shop and report back by leaving a comment here and sharing what you would choose if you won the prize!
Entries will be accepted through Monday, July 2nd at 11:59 p.m. PST. Winner is selected at random and announced on Facebook on July 3rd. Good luck!
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Hilary was born and raised in a sheltered Jewish suburb of Toronto. She comes from a very tight-knit family and a very large, supportive group of friends, most of which she’s had since high school. Hilary works as a creative associate and graphic designer, so attention to detail is a big part of her personality, which definitely helped shape her wedding plans. She was specific about her wedding details and had a clear vision of how her day should be. She is an active social media queen, which is how she found The Wedding Yentas, a helpful resource for her plans.
After a very successful JDate match-up, Josh and I shared a relationship of lots of laughter and love. Within weeks we knew that we were soul mates. We talked a lot about our future, marriage, and kids, but Josh completely caught me off guard when he proposed.
Josh and I always exchange a few emails during the work week, so I didn’t think much when he forwarded me an email from his cousin, who lived in Los Angeles, saying that she was going to be in Toronto the following weekend attending an industry conference, and asked if we wanted to meet up for drinks at her hotel that Friday night. After some Googling, I noticed that her hotel was in a great part of the city, so I suggested a couple of great bars we should take her to. He quickly turned down all of my suggestions, saying we should play it by ear and see what his cousin’s schedule was like. I thought nothing of it.
That Friday night, Josh took me for a nice dinner, and then we went downtown to his cousin’s hotel to meet up with her. After a glass of wine at the hotel bar, Josh excused himself to call his cousin to see what was taking her so long. He returned with a room key, and said that she apologizes for being late, and we should just head upstairs to her suite and help ourselves to the mini bar until she returns. She had already gotten the key from the concierge. Again, I thought nothing of it.
Jeremy Clay Photography
He guided me upstairs to the room, and when I walk into the suite, there were roses and candles everywhere. Before I could even comprehend what was going on, I turned around and to see Josh down on his knee, with a ring in hand. I was completely shocked. After several minutes of rejoicing and happy tears, I remembered to ask what happened to his cousin. She was in L.A. the entire time! It was such an elaborate scheme.
I’ve since gotten married (newlyweds for a handful of weeks!) and can now reflect back on the wedding planning and big day. After Josh proposed in April 2011, our social calendar went out the window, and our (or, more specifically, my) time became dedicated to wedding planning. No task was easy to complete, and no vendor was an easy hire. It took 15 venue tours, 10 florist interviews, three invitation designers, 12 wedding gown boutiques, and two trips to Manhattan to plan our wedding. It was a combination of my crazy attention to detail, general Jewish neurosis, and sensitivity to costs that caused such indecision.
After planning every tiny detail of our big day, many things did not go as planned. The lighting was off, the flowers weren’t pink enough, and the chuppah was not what I asked for. But it didn’t matter. It was a completely magical, beautiful day. We had the absolute best time, our friends & family are still calling and complimenting us on such a beautiful wedding. At the end of the day, I got to marry my best friend and soul mate, and I am so excited to start our life together.
Carly Eskin has been attending weddings all of her life. She has been a bridesmaid, bridal shower organizer, and even coordinated her best friend’s nuptials. As far as weddings go, she loves creative venues, pretty color palettes, dancing the Hora, and busting her moves to Sly and the Family Stone’s “We Are Family”, even if she isn’t part of the family. Her dislikes include mosquitos at outdoor venues, the redundancy of “Please RSVP”, and being the only unmarried woman forced to go and catch the bouquet while Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” is playing. Carly is a native Angeleno. She writes, works, watches bad (aka amazing) television, and is obsessed with her niece and nephew. She is currently single and looking for her tall, chubby, bearded beshert, so help a girl out.
