Congrats Joanna & Stan - April 23, 2011!

Meeting Joanna was a total fluke! For those of you who don't know, Joanna is the genius and founder behind the ever popular Henkaa dresses, which seems to be the choice of dress for many of brides this season. I stumbled upon their Facebook page through a friend of all things lol. I originally contacted Joanna with hopes of having them sponsor their amazing dresses for the Onyx event I coordinated for the Odette Cancer Centre. Let`s just say it was the longest email EVER and not because I had a lot to say, rather I had no idea how to ask so they knew I was legit lol. My original plan was to just buy meters of fabric from Fabricland and draping it over the girls, but when I saw how versatile the Henkaa dresses were, I just knew it would complete the look. Once I hit the send button - I was pretty pessimistic, but the minute Joanna responded and graciously offered to help, I was in total shock and overjoyed. On a side note, this was the first time I met the groom before the bride because Joanna was in India, so Stan stepped in for her lol. He was such a nice and down to earth guy and I was so honored that he and their assistant Cindy attended to make sure the dresses were spot on!

Anyway, back to their wedding! Joanna mentioned in passing in one of our emails that she was getting married and was looking for a stylist, so of course I was all in for it. I actually didn`t hear back from her until April LOL, so when she asked if I were available, I was shocked AGAIN!

It was right around the time I was about to start teaching at Blo, so I asked Joanna to be a model and we can do her trial at the same time since we were short on time. I thought for sure she would say no because it wasn`t the most personal and she would be in front of strangers. However, she agreed to and that`s how we first met...3 weeks before her wedding :P Joanna and I had some fun conversations - I`m really not sure how she fit everything into her days. I can`t even tell you what an insane schedule she had :S Made me stressed for her! But she seemed quite composed. We decided on a second trial the week before her wedding just to make sure we tweeked the look so it was just right and then we were off to the races.

Saturday morning...what can I say...I was up at 3:15am to start the day. It was cold, windy and raining, really NOT the best weather to wake up to. Crystal and I made it to the hotel by 5:00am in Mississauga where the girls were still sleeping...let`s face it, any one of us would be too lol. I was extremely nervous because I really didn`t want to screw this up. Joanna and I have some mutual friends, some of which were previous brides, friends in the industry and upcoming brides...so I knew a lot of eyes would be on my work. Thank GOD everything worked out and her girls were happy! What a funny bunch they were. Laughter and tears...makes any day that much more special. I always knew that Jo was a caring person and even though her girls playfully teased her about being a push over, I am and was so appreciative that she agreed to be a part of Onyx and also for sharing this moment with me.

Joanna looked absolutely stunning in her Qi Pao (red Chinese dress) as she was doing the tea ceremony first. Though I did not get to see her in the actual wedding gown, I got a glimpse through Facebook lol and wow, just wow. The girls of course sported beautifully custom made pink Henkaa dresses!

To Joanna and Stan - I am so glad that we met and thank you for being so kind in your willingness to help me with my event. I was so happy to be a part of this and from I saw, it looked like everything turned out perfectly! You made it! lol. Hope you both get some time to just be together and finally take a well deserved and needed break. Wishing you all the best in your love as a married couple and continued success with Henkaa :) Looking forward to working with you both again!


What a perfect day it ended up being...the weather totally cleared up and the temperature sky rocketed up!