The Belle Arte Workshop is both a workshop and creative retreat running from November 18 – 21st, 2015 and will be hosted at the prestigious and breathtaking Shangri-La Hotel Paris, one of my favourite hotels in the world, and truly a “palace” in the city.  The hotel is actually contained in the actual former palace of Roland Bonaparte, the grand-nephew of Napoleon.  Steeped with history and details, it is the perfect backdrop for assembling an intimate group of 20 wedding professionals from around the world.

Registration is now open, and  if you are a wedding planner, designer or stylist, or even an aspiring wedding professional, this workshop is a both a luxe and detail-focused experience that you mustn’t miss.  I hope you will join me there!

-Cynthia

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Easy DIY Smores Activity Station

For our homemade Smores station, the setup is quite simple!   All you need is a ceramic vessel ( we used a rectangular plant pot approximately 9″ long x 4″ deep x 4″ high.  You will want to add a base of non-flammable materials to the bottom of the pot- this could be small rocks, glass beads, pebbles etc. (we used crushed glass from the floral design aisle at our local craft store).

Fill your vessel 2/3 full with your base material above – this is what your fuel for roasting the marshmallows will be sitting in, so it doesn’t really matter what you use as long as it is non-flammable and allows for your fuel below to be nestled safely inside the vessel.

For the “roasting” element, we added one or two cans of Sterno (these are little cans of fuel gel that are often used in catering applications for heating chafing dishes, and also for camping when you need to cook food in the great outdoors!) Sterno is inexpensive and easy to find at places like Walmart, Canadian Tire etc.  Just follow the instructions on your can for how to open and ignite a flame, and nestle the can into your crushed glass in your ceramic vessel.  Make sure that when lit, the flame does not exceed the height of the vessel the cans of fuel are placed in. The nice thing about Sterno is that even the smallest cans will last a few hours!

To get your Smore station setup – all you have to do is place marshmallows on skewers and stand these in a vase.  Next, add your chocolate and graham crackers on plates in small vessels next to your marshmallow skewers.  Once you are ready to roast, just grab a marshmallow skewer and gently roast it by running it carefully over the Sterno can’s flame. Ensure that you evenly rotate the skewer to get a nice charred colour all the way around, and to make sure that your marshmallow is just gooey enough to make your smore! If your marshmallow catches the flames and is burning directly, just gently blow on it to extinguish the flame. This is common-sense, but always keep your flame supervised, and always have an adult present if any children are roasting marshmallows.  We recommend having a standard kitchen fire extinguisher handy in case of any flame that were to get out of hand.
Happy Roasting!

Images by Laura Jane Photography.  Smore signage by Laura K Invitations.

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The stationery was a formal letterpress invitation with gold foil script by Paper & Poste.
The golf club is very cozy, warm and intimate.  Our goal was to play up the natural features of the decor and setting, simply adding to it with an abundance of lush ivory florals, crystal hurricanes and votives, velvet pillows provided by the bride, a custom settee for the headtable, and a warm glow all around.

Thank you so much to Fuscia Designs for setting a beautiful room with their trademark lush floral arrangements and to 5ive 15ifteen Photo Co. for the gorgeous images as always!

The post Stephanie & Kevin | A Cozy Fall Wedding at Oviinbyrd Golf Club | Muskoka appeared first on Fine Art Wedding Planner Toronto | Cynthia Martyn Events | Toronto Wedding Planner.

How fun to have this staged at an outdoor or tented wedding, or right outside your venue as guests arrive for cocktails?   Check out this new take on the mobile photo booth HERE.

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