How are the winners determined?

The WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards ™ recognizes the top local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ are awarded solely based on the reviews from over 1.2 million newlyweds. Awards are determined by a combination of four factors: Overall rating (quality), total number of reviews (quantity), review performance from 2011 (recency), and consistency of reviews from year to year (consistency). This year’s recipients represent the top 5% of WeddingWire’s vendor community, across all service categories and all regions throughout the US and Canada.

We are chuffed about the glowing reviews that brides have taken the time to write about us in Wedding Wire. We also appreciate the endorsements from our fellow wedding vendors. We know you have many options for wedding dresses, and we are pleased that you have chosen us. Thank you!

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Dear Young Engaged Couples:

If you’re engaged to be married in the next 6 months (in 2012) and are under 21 then we have an amazing opportunity for you to be on a new wedding TV show!

We’re looking for engaged teenagers and young adults of all ethnic backgrounds and from all walks of life (with at least one person 19 and under).

Every budget level is acceptable:
- Do It Yourself wedding
- Theme wedding
- Backyard small wedding
- Large extended family wedding
- Traditional or Wildly Unique
- Glamorous or Country Style
- Home catered or Wedding hall

If you have a big bright personality with a family to match, we’d love to hear from you! Email us at youngnmarried@gmail.com.

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Photographer: Elizabeth In Love

The Brides’ Project isn’t just about wedding dresses, it’s about stories and connections between brides and families and the community at large. We want to share this wonderful story behind these beautiful photos, it’s the best explanation for why we love our little corner of the wedding industry:

I found my dress at The Brides’ Project 15 minutes before you closed. I had tried on a bunch of dresses and was about to give up when one of your volunteers said “why not just try it” about a dress that I had been eyeing but should have been 3 sizes too small. For whatever reason it ended up fitting and I knew it was the one. My bridesmaids, my mom and I had SO much fun shopping since they could be in the room with me. It was the most fun we had in a full day of shopping. One of your volunteers also pulled a veil for me and it was perfect on the first try. They definitely have an eye for what works. I am so happy to be returning my dress so that someone else can love it on their special day.

I’m very happy to have found my dress at The Brides’ Project since I knew the profits were going to many cancer charities. Having had purchased from The Brides Project became even more meaningful to me about 3 months before my wedding when I was diagnosed with a bone tumour. There were a couple weeks that we weren’t absolutely sure what kind it was. Thankfully after surgery it was determined to be benign, and for 2.5 months post major surgery I was non-weight bearing. I started walking 2 weeks before my wedding and with hard work, an amazing medical team and a lot of support, I was able to walk down the aisle and dance the night away without crutches.

Thank you for everything!!! I have recommended The Brides Project to everyone I know.

Marion

For many more photos of the dress, visit Marion’s photographer’s website, Elizabeth in Love.

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Helen and Vanessa

Well, we try to describe it as best we can on our “For Brides … What to Expect” page, but it’s even better to get the perspective from a client.  Especially a client with a camera!

Lizz came armed and ready with the bride… her sister Monica.    We’re happy to report that neither were sent to the boiler room, and we had a terrific time helping Monica say “YES!” to her beautiful Brides’ Project dress.

Read more here!

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Canadians have a rich history of volunteering and community involvement. With 12.5 million of them dedicating their time across Canada, volunteers are creating positive change on many fronts – community health care, sports and recreation, heritage and arts, environmental protection & advocacy, disaster relief, international development, and volunteer firefighting – the list is endless. The work of volunteers is essential to maintaining resilient communities at home and around the world.

National Volunteer Week (NVW) pays tribute to the millions of Canadian volunteers who graciously donate their time and energy. This year’s 68th annual NVW takes place the week of April 10 to 16. It is Canada’s largest celebration of volunteers, volunteerism, and civic participation.

National Volunteer Week was first proclaimed in 1943 as an initiative to draw the public’s attention to the vital contribution of women to the war effort on the home front. In the late 1960s, the focus was revived and broadened to include all community volunteers.

The Brides’ Project is run by volunteers who want to make a difference in the community — not just the local community, but the wedding industry as a whole, drawing people’s attention to social consciousness and away from the message of conspicuous expenditure. We will help you find a dress you will both love and can afford. Sometimes that match takes time and patience, but when it does happen knowing that the dress profit is donated to cancer charities, you can bet it makes everyone feel good — not just the volunteer but the buyer, too.

Volunteering is a win-win situation. It’s not about working without pay, it is about being rewarded in other ways that have nothing to do with money. As part of National Volunteer Week, Volunteer Canada has produced videos about volunteerism in English and French. Take a few minutes and discover what volunteering can do for you.

If you’ve been thinking about volunteering some of your time this year to a cause that’s near and dear to you, check out Volunteer Canada’s “I Want To Volunteer” section to find a volunteer centre in your community.

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For more details, visit the website and submit your name and information!

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You can purchase tickets in 1 of 3 ways:

• Click Here for more information and a ticket form
• Call 416-260-8465
• Click Here to purchase online

For more information please visit www.newbeginningsprogram.ca.

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A week ago our Bride Army of chic volunteers strutted and sashayed for the cameras in boots to promote the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life event that’s happening in two weeks: June 11.

Why boots? Because we’d LOVE to give cancer the BOOT! Photographer Dean Oros has a preview of the pictures he shot in Dundas Square, check them out here:

Dean Oros Photography: An Army of Brides: Giving Cancer the Boot in Downtown Toronto… a behind the scenes peek.

Meanwhile, CTV was there, too! You might’ve seen a clip of us on the 6pm news that day (Thursday, May 20). We also got on page 6 of the weekend issue of Metro. (Click on the link above to view larger.)

The Brides’ Project is a proud supporter of the Relay For Life event: we’ve got two teams relaying all night long. You can join us, or sponsor us!

For more information about our teams and how you can take part, please visit our previous post:

Relay for Life: Our Second Quarter Focus

See you at the track!

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As the “Tweeter” for The Brides’ Project, I see wedding-related tweets all the time, but I try and keep an eye out for the ones that are most relevant to the kind of experience brides expect at our shop. I watch for wedding resources that are budget-friendly, eco-friendly, practical, creative, and philanthropic. We also often get brides who are planning destination weddings, or smaller weddings with fewer than 100 people, so I look out for tips for those types of events.

One such online resource that I’ve found on Twitter which is helpful in the smaller-wedding department is IntimateWeddings.com. (Clicking on the graphic above will also take you to their site.) They wrote about us last June, and the articles they continue to post are very useful. Intimate Weddings consider ‘intimate’ to mean 75 weddings guests or fewer (“small is beautiful”), but you may find the weddings they feature to be inspiring or helpful in overall planning regardless of guest numbers.

Check out their wedding feature list. It’s a U.S.-based site but (Christina is from Windsor) some of these are Canadian weddings, so I’ve linked to the (currently 3) Canadian ones in Ontario and BC as there is a vendor list at the bottom of each feature. If you’re also planning an intimate wedding at these locations, that vendor list can come in very handy. (Not to mention the part of the feature which covers how each bride handled some of the tricky situations involved with planning an intimate wedding, such as paring down the guest list. As we all know, dealing with the invitations can be a source of anxiety!)

At Home Wedding in LA
A Wedding Aboard a Trolley
A Destination Wedding in New York City
California Restaurant Wedding
At-home Military Wedding
Swanky Bistro Wedding
Wine Country Backyard Wedding
$2,000 New York Wedding
Petite Paris Wedding
Boutique Hotel Wedding in Boston
Elegant Restaurant Wedding in Texas
Mansion Wedding in CT
At-home Wedding in NY
Beach Wedding in Mexico
B & B Wedding in North Carolina
A Forest Wedding in California
Military Inn Wedding in PA
L’il Church Wedding in Oregon
$5,000 Winter Wedding
Beach Wedding in NC
Romantic Inn Wedding in PA
Cottage Wedding in the Muskokas
Mountain Wedding in BC
DIY Wedding
Art Nouveau DIY Wedding in California
Backyard DIY Wedding
Artsy Las Vegas DIY Wedding
Backyard Wedding in Dallas
California Destination Wedding
Chicago Lakefront Wedding
Inn Wedding in Maine
Texas Country Club Wedding
Beach Destination Wedding in Mexico
Restaurant Wedding in Minnesota
Delightful California Garden Wedding
Texas Outdoor Wedding
Texas Beach Wedding
Winter Wedding in California
Garden Wedding on Vancouver Island
BC Wilderness Wedding

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I had to post this link since it’s January after all, when post-Christmas dollars need to be stretched a little further!

If you are a savvy shopper who loves a bargain, be sure to visit www.shoestringshopping.com which is full of information on current warehouse sales, factory outlets, and more.  Sign up to receive their weekly newsletter which will keep you “in the know” on upcoming sales.  If you live in or around the GTA/Toronto area, you will definitely uncover great new places to shop and save while you do so.

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But who knows, maybe some of the disasters there will provide inspiration for creative cupcake favours for your wedding–?

If wedding planning is getting you down or if you need an online escape from your winter blues, check out Cakewrecks or this charmingly optimistic website called 1000 Awesome Things. It will put a smile on your face!

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http://www.fightback.ca/campaign.html

“Fight” – 2 Minutes 40 Seconds
“Scars” – 30 Seconds
“Nurse” – 30 Seconds

You can also view the first video larger on the CCS’s channel in YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crXaLu9Ecmg

The print, radio, and online campaign pieces can also be found at the campaign page. Or click on the screenshot below to go directly to the site.

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So many people have inquired about my time in India in 2008-9, what it was like as a volunteer… and the struggles faced by the wonderful people in the country.  As much as I posted tongue in cheek reports, it was truly overwhelming to see such abject poverty, and feel relatively powerless to help.  One of the most meaningful things I left behind was my lovely 1-speed red bicycle that I used every morning at 5:30am to tour the small tribal villages.  I left it with a coworker, and it made the difference of his daughter being able to attend school.  Free education is great… only if you can get there.  And this bicycle means a far brighter future for his lovely daughter.  Perhaps more importantly… empowerment.

One of my amazing colleagues through CUSO-VSO worked in a neighbouring state, in the same conditions, and for a very similar organization.  However, I have to hand it to her… she has followed up and found a way to help.  Buy a goat!  It’s only $20.  It’s a sustainable way to help rural Indian families avoid corrupt money-lenders during periods of little to no income, gain independance and feed their families.

You have to see the video she put together… it’s funny, outrageous, explicit… but at the end of the day, it just gets my goat… and hopefully many for those we both saw abroad and want to help.  Please be warned, the video contains very explicit language, but you can always turn off the volume and just get a peek into our experiences overseas with the beautiful people of India.

Check it out… GIVE A GOAT!

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YANKEE LADY YACHT CHARTERS provides two beautiful yachts for wedding ceremonies and receptions in the Toronto Harbour.  Having hosted weddings for over 26 years, Yankee Lady is a venue that provides personalized, professional and friendly service to each and every client.  We’re here to make you feel special on your very special day!  Available April through November.

Check out our website www.yankeelady.ca for more pictures and information.  Or call/email Jill at jill@yankeelady.ca 416-868-0000 for an information package or to book an appointment to tour the ships.

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A big thanks to Diana Nguyen for donating her gorgeous Sara Cassidy dress this week!  It’s a stunning size 4 with a drop waist… all the rage these days.  Doesn’t she look happy and beautiful!

Diana also owns The Wedding Shoppe which is an online store with an office based in London, Ontario.  They sell over 2000 items ranging from affordable wedding favours, invitations, decor, wedding day accessories (e.g., ring pillows, garters, toasting glasses, etc.) and attendants’ gifts. They ship all over Canada at very reasonable shipping rates and have been pleasing brides and grooms since 2008.

Diana Nguyen, Owner
The Wedding Shoppe (website)
Tel:   (519) 457-6446  (London, ON)
Toll Free:  1-888-857-6446  (outside London area)
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. EST

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We received another “good karma” dress over Labour Day Weekend from a lovely woman named Jodi, whose recent wedding at Palais Royale — judging from the photos — exuded good karma! Click on either image above to see more of the dress in action.

The dress is an ivory San Patrick Baltico in a size 14. A description:

Dupioni silk strapless gown with ruching at bust line. Slim fit through waistline with slight gather along side of slim skirt. Beaded lace applique accents.

It won’t last long in the shop — make an appointment if you’d like to try it on!

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Congratulations! You have received a perfect 5-star rating on Project Wedding! Your clients love the impeccable quality and service that you provide, and we are excited to award you with this elite distinction.

See more reviews of The Brides’ Project on Project Wedding.

Thank you for providing an unparalleled quality of service, and congratulations again on this rare honor!

Sincerely,
Joseph Wong, Margaret Wong, and Srinivas Panguluri
Founders of Project Wedding
www.projectwedding.com

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Heather of HRM Photography has done a marvellous job of shooting Karen & Barry’s wedding at the Distillery District — the cute factor is off the charts! While the Distillery District itself is a very popular place to shoot wedding photos, choosing Balzac’s Coffee as a wedding venue is a novel idea.

Without further ado, check out the post: Karen & Barry, May 30th, 2009

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At The Brides’ Project we love it when we get to see photos of the brides wearing The Brides’ Project dresses on their big day… after all, dresses on the hangers just aren’t the same: they’re waiting for their debut, they need the wedding to come to life!

Thanks to Kat over at Rock ‘n Roll Bride, we got to see one of our dresses come to life on Algonquin Island in June. The gorgeous photos are by Tara McMullen, and Kat‘s truly got a rockin’ wedding blog — check them both out!

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2009/06/nautical-but-nice/

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