After 20 years together (16 of them living together as common-law), David and I decided to celebrate our anniversary on Saturday, September 24th by getting married. When we first decided to finally (legally) tie the knot, we thought we would just have a civil ceremony at City Hall, and find a country club or something to that effect that could host our small reception afterward. While researching this option I stumbled across the Toronto Wedding Chapel. After I checked out the website, David and I discussed our budget and looked at the various packages available. First off, I was incredibly grateful that the pricing structure was listed on the website. I looked at so many country clubs and other smaller wedding venues, and only about 15% had their fees listed. I understand that this price that I'm looking at here will not be the actual cost. We booked the "Two Hearts" package, and after we added all the extras, we paid well over the starting price of $3000. But when you're first trying to figure out what you want for your ceremony and reception, and you're looking for a ballpark of what this thing will cost you, seeing actual numbers on the screen are a godsend. After choosing the 'Two Hearts' package, I sent off an email to make sure that our date and preferred time slot was available. Obviously it was. After that, we booked an appointment and went to discuss the package and our options. I know, it doesn't look like much from the outside. David and I were questioning our decision about this place when we first walked up to it. However, the inside definitely makes up for how simple the exterior is. With everything in life, you have to weigh the pros and cons and decide if the choice is worth it. One of the pictures from the TWC website. After speaking with Lara, we decided to go ahead and book our wedding. The inside was pretty, elegant, and looked perfect to host our small wedding. Since we had to go all or nothing so we wouldn't offend anyone, we decided ours would only include our immediate family members - all told, we had 18 guests. At the initial meeting we discussed colours, what kind of food, flowers, etc. My mind was definitely at ease once I left, as they would take care of almost everything. Pretty much all David and I had to do was get our license, clothing, and the music. When I say they take care of everything, I mean everything! Once we signed our contract and paid our deposit, we really didn't hear much until about two weeks before the date of the ceremony. To be honest, by this point I was starting to panic a little. Would everything be okay? How would it look? What are we supposed to do? With larger weddings at churches and the like there is a rehearsal so that everyone knows what's going on. That is not the case here. That's okay with us, as we live in Oshawa and I really didn't want to drive an hour into Toronto for a fifteen minute walkthrough just to turn around and drive back. Plus, that was a really busy couple of weeks at work and I really wouldn't have been able to find the time to go. I didn't need to worry. Katherine called about a week and a half before and confirmed the colours, the guest list, the food, cake, decorations, pretty much everything I was stressing about. And when we walked in and got our first look at the space, it was magic. Everything was perfection. She had chosen the perfect colours and everything looked wonderful. Katherine had even planned for a maid of honor - I didn't have one, and she forgot to ask, so she planned for one just in case. This is the attention to detail that you receive at the TWC. The officiant came up to see me before the ceremony, to find out a little about David and myself, so she could make the ceremony more personal. She did a wonderful job. After we signed the register, we went outside and took some pictures (we had a photographer for an hour included in the price!) while the crew set up the tables and food. When we got back inside, everything was set up for our dinner. The food (we chose Italian) was so good! So much better than I expected. We enjoyed penne, lasagne, veal cutlets, and a salad. Red and white wine was also served, along with champagne. Unfortunately, dessert was only cake, fruit, and some cookies my mother-in-law brought. I would have preferred to also have some pastries and coffee, but truthfully, since everything else was so good, that is definitely something I can let go! While we were discussing the menu, I totally forgot about my mother-in-law's cheese allergy. I know, I'm terrible. If it makes you feel any better, I also forgot to mention my own allergy to pineapple (which was on the fruit plate, so I couldn't touch that). However, when Katherine found out that Mary couldn't eat anything but the salad, she first offered to run across to St. Louis Bar & Grill and get her some chicken wings (we all found that hilarious!), and when Mary said she was okay, and not to worry about her, Katherine went and got her some grilled meat! No one was going hungry at my wedding, thanks to Katherine! I only have two gripes. The first is the parking situation. This is totally out of TWC's hands, since they are right in downtown Toronto (off Yonge, just south of Eglinton). There was one parking spot for us, thank goodness, but our guests had to park on adjacent side streets. There is no space for them to create parking, so it's not really anything that can be changed, but I am putting it out there. We did inform our guests and emailed out maps with available parking areas about two weeks before so that everyone would be aware and prepared. Finally, I just want to comment on the photographer. Firstly, as I mentioned, we had a photographer included in our package for one hour. That was incredible, because in less than a week after our event, we received almost 300 pictures! Unfortunately, a number of the pictures were either pixelated or blurry, which was disappointing. There were also a large number of pictures taken of the flowers, tables, decorations, etc., where I would have preferred fewer of those and more of the guests. That being said - I want to repeat that we received almost 300 pictures! That is amazing. And to get them within a week is pretty incredible. Although I was disappointed with some of them, on the whole, I am extremely pleased with the photographer and the photos we received. So there you have it! I found a fantastic little gem of a wedding chapel in downtown Toronto. For an incredible price, you can have the small-scale wedding of your dreams - I know I did! Review also posted to Yelp - click here.
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Back in September I purchased a P&G Sample box (see what else I received here) from Wagjag and Tide Pods Free & Gentle was one of the samples I received. They only sent one pod, so although I would have liked to test out one load of towels for the softness quotient and one load of whites for the stain-fighting aspect, I had to choose only one. I went with the towels because I figured I would be able to easily judge the difference between what came out of my dryer and what was already in the linen closet. For reference purposes, I'll let you know that I washed the towels in cold water (as I do with my regular detergent) and I did use my usual fabric softener sheets in the dryer. My usual brands are Purex and Gain, respectively. Before I get into my analysis, here's what this product can do according to P&G: The towels were clean, soft and fresh, but was the difference really enough to justify the price? With most things, there are pros and cons. The Tide Pods are pre-measured and easy to pop into the drum of your washing machine. You don't have to worry about spills, liquid detergent gunking all over the lids or powder leaving a layer of dust on everything in your laundry room. You won't use too much or too little - that problem has been solved for you. My towels came out just as clean and soft as ever, so Tide delivers on the promise of clean. There's no heavy scent - in fact there's no scent at all, but I find that the detergents I use rarely have a lasting scent anyway. I rely on my fabric softener to take care of that job. As for the pre-measured pods - I prefer to use as much or as little as I feel I need. Sometimes I'm only doing a small, quick load, and using a pod seems like it may be a waste to me. Since it does the job, let's take a look at the economics for a moment. Times are tough and saving a few pennies on something you have to buy and use on a regular basis matters to me. As I mentioned previously, my regular detergent is Purex. It offers 96 loads at about 13 cents a load. Let's say it's been a really dirty month (which rarely happens in this house full of couch potatoes) and I used double portions of detergent every time I did a load and only got 48 loads out of that particular bottle. That would average out to 27 cents a load. That's not going to happen, and the truth of our usage is probably somewhere in-between. Tide Pods Free & Gentle offers 72 loads at about 36 cents per load. What you're paying for here is convenience. It's the same reason a bag of chips costs more at the gas station than at the grocery store. If you prefer this format and are willing to pay the price, you will definitely get clean clothes. You may also be concerned with allergies, in which case this may be an option for you, but this product is also available in a liquid form which equals out to about the same cost per load as the pods (unless you're buying the small bottle and using extra, then the cost is shocking: almost 60 cents a load!) Found you a fantastic $2.00 off coupon courtesy of the coupon sherpa! My final word is that this product does what it says, but I am not willing to pay anything extra for it. I would recommend it to those who have allergies and don't mind paying a premium for their detergent. Product Rating: 4 smiles out of 5 Product Website: www.pg.com Product Type: laundry detergent Would I purchase?: no Would I recommend?: *yes - see final word All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product(s). The product was received as a sample (I paid for shipping). The subject of this blog entry has no expectation of a review, favorable or otherwise.
Yesterday I posted about the sample pack I got from P&G through WagJag. I decided to start with last night's dishes and the Cascade Platinum Pacs sample. I usually use the Finish Powerball Tabs in my dishwasher. Yesterday I decided to dive right in and give these a trial by fire, since we had pasta for dinner and the sauce tends to get all over the place and there are times when I have to re-wash dishes after they've come out of the dishwasher. Did I mention that I am not a pre-rinser or pre-soaker? I'm not. I toss them in there at the end of the day and hope for the best. According to Cascade's website, here is a description of this product: I received the 'Fresh Burst' Scent. I sniffed the pac and it did smell pretty fresh. Not overbearing and perfumey, just nice. I popped it in with no pre-wash and let the little dishwasher elves work their magic. I got home from work today and peeked into the dishwasher to see if there was any difference from what I usually see. You know what? There was! I was truly surprised to see a few differences from what I normally get. First off, it was so shiny inside my dishwasher. I guess this stuff works really well on stainless steel... I kinda want to smear it all over the outside of my appliances to see if I can get them that shiny on the outside! Secondly, I did not have to pick one speck of dried, crusty food off of any utensil, dish or pan. That was a pleasant change. I saved the best for last: There was no gross film on the bottom of my glasses! Every bloody time I empty the dishwasher there's a little dried pool of yuck on the bottom of each and every glass that was sitting in my top rack. Every one. So annoying and gross and sometimes I have to re-wash them because there is too much to clean off with a paper towel. That did not happen with this load. I don't know if that was a fluke (I'm glad they sent me two sample pacs, tonight I'll use the second and see if I get the same result), but this stuff really, really seems to work! Just to be fair and impartial, I usually try to post something I didn't like, but I can't think of one thing. I was really, really pleased with the results and will absolutely be switching from my usual brand to the Cascade Platinum. Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: www.cascadeclean.com Product Type: automatic dishwasher detergent Would I purchase?: absolutely Would I recommend?: absolutely All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product(s). The product was received as a sample (I paid for shipping). The subject of this blog entry has no expectation of a review, favorable or otherwise.
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