Save the Date!!

Save The Date Kyle & Lynzie from Mark Hiebert on Vimeo.

:: Save the Date ::

This is our stunning 'Save the Date' video. We really hope you like it, and please comment and let us know that you do!

On Sunday, we had the honour of recording this video, as well as having some of our  Engagement Photos taken, at the same time. The whole experience was really fun! Mark Hiebert (EPIC Videography)  and Kathy Harder (Soul Pix) work extremely well together, and we really had a fun afternoon with them!

A bit of background on how this idea came about. Kyle and I had dinner with Mark last Friday night, and over a delicious meal, we discussed ideas and plans to help promote the wedding and our sponsors. One of the things that struck me about Mark, is his attention to detail and his avid imagination to create the impossible. He had a brilliant idea to promote the wedding through a video blog, highlighting our sponsors in 60-90 second videos, and explaining what they are doing for the wedding, who they are and why they have decided to be apart of our wedding.

So... on Sunday we got started! We have less than 4 months to our wedding, and we have a lot of work to do! Our first video, explains the concept behind a sponsored wedding... if you have not seen it, click on the page link... the second video is a new venture for Mark. A 'Save the Date' video. In recent wedding history, the idea came about, brilliantly, to let your potential guests know about your wedding in advance. Typically, this is done for weddings that will happen within 12-18 months, but as this is a new concept, Mark decided to try it out on us. It has taken flight, and we are thrilled with its outcome! I guess all I need to do now, is collect the email addresses for all our potential guests, and send it out!

We also decided that bringing our photographer, Kathy Harder, along to the shoot would be taking care of more than one thing at a time. Kathy was able to bounce ideas off Mark, and photograph the entire experience. We were able to record her Soul Pix video, and it will be our first, when it is ready for posting! If you are one of our Facebook Fans, you will see some of the photos she captured, on that page. As well, our wedding website also has a few. These will grow, as our sponsor base grows. Her work is stunning and we are very privileged to have her working alongside us! If you are on Facebook, you can also become a fan of Soul Pix, by following her website link on our webpage.

Something that might be crossing your mind, yet you do not want to ask, or bother to ask... What kind of publicity and advertisement is being given to the vendors that are sponsoring the wedding. Well, along with our wedding favors will come a gift bag, with the business cards of all of our sponsors and what they have done in regards to sponsorship. Each of our sponsors have been listed on our website, and are blogged about here, including the process of selection and decision to have them apart of our wedding. Beyond that, most of them know that the sky is the limit.

We are attempting to work alongside a media program, and to be showcased in both local and national wedding magazines. We are also attempting to be seen by a newspaper as 'newsworthy' in a lifestyle or 'human interest' piece. And lastly, we are looking to have a radio station join our efforts in promoting our sponsors, by getting to know us as a couple, and highlighting the quirky things about us! Lastly, we wouldn't mind if anyone wanted to be apart of our ceremony or reception in a media format. We have a very unique story, my (Lynzie) sheltered and somewhat innocent past coupled with Kyle's effeminate nature and worldly past; brought together by God and woven together to create a three strand chord of purity in love. We really hope that the nature of our story, will grasp the hearts of people and be seen as a relatable and heart warming story.

That said, please continue to follow us, our journey, and ultimately our Enchanted and Elegant Wedding!

Please Welcome...

A New Sponsor!

Please do me the honor of introducing a new sponsor to our Wedding... Epic Videography! (www. epic-videography.com) is run and owned by Mark Hiebert, and last night I got an email from him... Now I knew a little about who he was, as Kyle and I had met him back in January at a wedding show that we went to. He was really nice, and really interested in us as a couple... and strangely enough, I remember saying that he was pretty positive that our wedding would be beautiful because we were gorgeous people... (not letting that go to my head! promise!) and that we were really relatable and personable... and who wouldn't want to be apart of our wedding, I mean really! (kidding!!! kind of...)

Anyway, I gave him a call today, as his email had said to contact him soon. Delightfully, he said that meeting us was refreshing and he had hoped that we would decide to use him as our videographer... Then when he saw our site, he said he then hoped we would let him sponsor us! And of course this is a HUGE  YES!!! This is a great addition, with his talent and expertese! To brag on him a little... not only is he sponsoring our wedding, but he's going a little above the norm, and going to help us put together a promotion video (keep watch for that in the next few weeks!) to send out to other potential sponsors! And ironically, I had been hoping to do this myself this week... talk about a great blessing!

So this weekend, we are getting together to put, said video, together! How exciting! We really believe in Mark as a videographer... we have seen his work, and his talent is remarkable! Feel free to check out his site, and I am sure that he will have a copy of the video online when its done too... all said, keep posted :)

On another note, I didn't realize that the response for this would begin to pick up so quickly. It is exciting that this is the case, and I have to remember to check all of our potential contact pages. If I could change anything, I would make all of our contact sites link up to one account and I could answer them daily... this is not the case though, so I have to work with what I have. Not that its hard, but I realized last night that I had missed a few communication messages. I have heard from a few companies, through our site that I didn't know had tried to contact us... to highlight, if you have ever heard of Elisabeth Schalla Photography, you would know that they are a wonderful prestigious photography company. If you have not, feel free to check them on on their website: www.elisabethschallaphotography.com ...Well, I was ecstatic to find them, and seeing their interest in becoming involved with our Wedding. Fortunately we already have a great, new 'up and coming' photographer sponsoring our wedding,  by the name of Kathy Harder from Soul Pix Photography (www.soulpixphotography.com). We are thrilled to be working with Kathy, and we really trust her. She knows exactly what we are looking for in regards to our photos, and she is working with up beforehand to get a better feel for us as a couple before our grand 'I do' day! So we won't be switching photographers anytime soon... 

If you are wondering...

Needs for the Wedding, but subject to change:

- Tuxedo Rentals for the groom and groomsmen, and father of the bride and groom.

- Rehearsal Dinner Location

- Ceremony location

- Reception hall (if the Heritage centre does not end up working out)

- Florist for all flower arrangements

- Invitation (photographs and construction)

- Cakery for the wedding cake

- Wedding Favors - we know what we want, but we have not constructed it yet, and don't know where to get some of the things we need for them.

- Transportation

- bridal shoes

- Mother of the Bride and Groom dresses.

Needs in regards to Sponsorship publicity:

- Magazine - we would love a magazine to chronicle the stages of planning a sponsored wedding. A story that people can follow, from one issue to the next, as a human interest story. 

- Newspaper - to announce our engagement and up coming wedding, and the websites that we have, to publicize the companies that we have sponsoring our wedding. As well as write a few stories on us, regarding the planning of, and execution of the wedding.

- Local/National News - to do a story on us. Something that creates a human interest story. Our story is one that locals can relate to, in the journey to plan out life, start a new life, and have a beautiful Wedding.

- Radio - to be there on the day of the wedding, publicizing the Sponsors, and televising the wedding. To help people to relate to us as our Wedding progresses throughout the weeks leading up to, as well as the day of the Wedding. To get behind us and help to promote our Sponsors.

Anyway... if thats enough for you to read for today... then thats enough for me to say!! ha ha. Its been a full on day today, planning, organizing and calling... tomorrow, look for contact with potential publicity outlets!!! IF you have any questions on what we are doing, please feel free to utilize this site, as well as our website, and facebook fan page, and twitter, to contact us! We look forward to hearing from you!

love love,

Lynzie

Today... not much of a day...

So today was  a bit of a hit and miss... but I did get a bit of 'internal organization' done... I meant to highlight some of the other companies that are sponsoring us, but I think I will end up doing that tomorrow. My 'to do' list for tomorrow includes in random order, but is not limited to, the following :) ...

1. Finish our websites and be satisfied that they are excellent (until they need updating)

2. Re-vamp our proposal and send it out to every company that could and is on the list of possibilities for sponsoring the wedding.

3. Call Imagine Magazine and Weddings in Winnipeg regarding write ups.

4. Call Weddingbells.ca and other wedding magazines regarding possibilities of featuring stories.

5. personal stuff  'to do' list.

So thats it. I highly doubt that I will get it all done, but its worth a shot... and I know that I will be writing on that success too...

Oh, by the way... we heard back from the Niverville Heritage Centre and they would like a little demographic information if they are going to sponsor our reception. Things like, the amount of people that will see the publicity, the age demographic and more... so we are working on that too... The sooner we know more about the magazines, then we will be able to get back to them.

I am praying that this works out... its all going well so far, but there is so much to do! If anyone has any suggestions on who to ask for certain aspects of the wedding, please feel free to shoot them my way... Either in a comment, or on any of our web pages... there are a number of ways of getting a hold of us :)

peace out for the night friends... love love.

Tuesday...

Today has been interesting... I think I have been on the phone all morning... at its almost 3pm... I forgot to mention a few things in yesterdays blog, that I should have... Especially because they are regarding our current sponsors...

I have to say that for the most part, living in a small town, has its advantages for smaller companies. We have only had to propose to one company so far. And that is the Reception Venue. The companies we have already sponsoring our wedding, were done through word of mouth...

"by Dre" - Jewelry by design - is a wonderful and unique, new jewelry company, here in Niverville. Andrea is her name, and she has a few displays in salons, and also has open house parties... if you host one, there are great benefits for you... I have to say I have had the privilege of being apart of 2 of her parties... having been hosted by my 'to be' sisters-in-law, and seen Andrea's handy work. She is a beautiful designer and very talented! She will be making pieces designed specifically to match the outfits for the Mother's of the Bride and Groom, as well as the Flower Girl, and Sisters of the Groom. Although the jewelry for the Bride and Bridesmaids was previously purchased, it is not complete, so Andrea is helping to bring it to the next level, by adding a little more detail and 'Bling'. I am really looking forward to working along side her to make the final details of the wedding very lush!

There are a few other companies, that I am sure you can see, on our website... www.mywedding.com/kyleandlynzie and as time passes a little more, there will be more to our pages than there currently is. Please be patient, if you want to know more, I will get to it... I am just writing as I have the time, and feel to share...

Until later :) xxx

Another Week begins...

So its Monday Morning... I just got up and had brekky and although I should hurry up and get ready for the day, I feel the need to say a little something here. I have been uncertain of how to write some of the things that have happened in regards to our wedding... mostly because they are so exciting and something inside, probably God, is telling me to just write it... or I wont. Maybe if I wrote every time I felt the urge to, I would actually get my book finished. Who knows. ha ha!

Anyway, what I am trying to say, I guess, is that a number of things have happened since Kyle and I decided to have a sponsored wedding, and I really hope that in explaining them, and how we felt about their process, will help you.

If you are a 'fan' of ours, on Facebook, you would know that we have posted photos from our 'Possible Venue: The Niverville Heritage Centre'... Well, Kyle and I stayed up late, a few weeks ago, and wrote out a very lengthy and formal Business proposal to the Niverville Heritage Centre, explaining the ins and outs of what a Sponsored Wedding, is all about. (I will attach a copy of the proposal that we wrote, after this post.)

When writing out a proposal like that, I have to say, BE PREPARED, its a lot of work if you have never written anything like it before. The best advice I think I can give is to write out a proposal that you can use as a template proposal. What I mean by this is that when you are trying to have a Sponsored Wedding, you will write out a number of proposals, and present to a number of different companies. Don't be surprised if you hear a 'no'... or at least thats what I have been told... in all honesty, I have not heard that word yet. There have been some skeptical moments, but most companies are sincerely interested in, and want to be apart of this. If you are looking online for some frame of reference about whether or not to have a sponsored wedding, forget what people say, and do what works for you. There are a number of pages and articles out there that will tell you that 'people are not interested in attending a Sponsored Wedding' or that 'a Sponsored Wedding goes against Wedding protocol'. Honestly, if you are tasteful and work with your companies, its not hard to keep the advertisement to an outside and minimum, while still giving them what you have promised... publicity.

Now back to the Niverville Heritage Centre...

Kyle and I presented to a wonderful woman named Debbie Hiebert. I went in with anticipation, and Kyle was a ball of fire. It was fun, but had my nerves on end. I mean, at this stage, we had only secured a few of our sponsors, but that was simply though word of mouth. If you present to local, smaller, and 'up and coming' companies, you may not need to have a proposal written out, simply having coffee with their owners, or the managers, can result in sponsorship. That said, when Kyle and I presented to the Heritage Centre, it was our first busniess proposal. My recommendation, and the recommendation that I got from event co-ordinator friends, is that focusing on what you will do for them, rather than what they will do for you... is key. Its not about making your wedding grand (although to you it is!), its about what you can do to promote their company.

The Niverville Heritage Centre has a few new aspects to it that most people are unaware of... For you locals reading, did you know that they have outdoor weddings?? Last year they had only one, and it was their first, but that's only because their gardens weren't where they were suppose to be due to the wetness of spring and summer in Manitoba in 2009. This year, 2010, they have major plans to make it large, full of colour, have a gazebo, and a little bridge over a brooke... As its winter still, they have not begun these touches, but plan to have them ready before Kyle and I tie the knot on July 12, 2010. This is something we intent to showcase as apart of our wedding.

So... when we went in to meet with Debbie Hiebert, we discussed this, as well as the trade off of publicity for them. Now I currently do not have any set magazines or newspaper articles, but I do have a couple in mind that we will present to, in hopes of them doing a feature on us, our concept/idea, and the execution of it for our wedding day. In the end, after explaining the nature of a sponsored wedding, Debbie was quite enthused by the idea, and told us that she would present our idea to the owner of the building, as she is one of the event co-ordinator's for the centre.

All in all, despite all the nerves, it went over well. We were excited and are still awaiting an answer and where to go from here... and hoping and praying that they will like our idea, and want to be promoted by us...

Now, the sponsor letter we used... feel free to copy and use it as you please... like I said in one of my previous blogs, everything we do for our sponsored wedding, we would like to make free for anyone else to use... and I found no templates for sponsor letters that I could use... so if you like ours, take it! There is no copy right on it.

Good luck, God Bless, and thanks for reading todays entry!!

Lynzie xx

The Niverville Heritage Centre Sponsorship Proposal Letter:

Kyle and Lynzie: The Wedding

To the attention of Mrs. Debbie Hiebert and fellow directors,

We are seeking sponsorship in exchange for publicity and advertisement for our July wedding. We, Kyle Friesen and Lynzie Causton, believe that we will be able to start a new life together, without the financial burdens that life will inevitably bring our way.

Concept.

The basis for sponsorship is conceived in the notion that the wedding will be commercialized. Advertisement and publicity are on offer, with the possibility of reaching beyond the Manitoba and Canadian borders. By commercializing the wedding, we are offering humanity the opportunity to personalize with our wedding, and the companies involved in creating it.

How this works.

A Sponsor will donate services based on availability, function and need. Advertisement and publicity will be based off of the amount of sponsorship that is received. Currently, our exclusive sponsors are:

1. Hair by Kyle: Bride and Groom, Groomsmen

2. Michelle’s, Hair by Design: Bridesmaids, Flowergirl, Mothers of the Bride the Groom

3. Beauty From the Inside Out: Make-up for the bridal party

4. Tiffany Teneille ...simply esthetics: Nails for the bridal party

5. Jewelry by ‘Dre: Jewelry for the flower girl, Mothers of the Bride and the Groom

6. Sweet Serendipity Cakes: Wedding Cake

7. Soul Pix Photography: Photography

As we are proposing, we would like to request the Niverville Heritage Centre as our exclusive sponsor for our Wedding Reception. Other possible contending reception venues are, but not limited to, the following: ‘The Gates on Roblin’, ‘Terrace Fifty-five: Food and Wine’, ‘The Evergreen Village’, and the ‘Fort Garry Hotel’.

Benefits for you

Advertisement and publicity, on a local and global scale, are among the benefits to be received by the Niverville Heritage Centre. It is only recently that the notion of a sponsored wedding has come about. Yet, as the idea is growing, and more people are becoming aware of the necessities and requirements for a successful wedding; research on the sponsorship subject, although personalized, remains limited. Rather than explaining how ‘simply beautiful’ the wedding was, a sponsored wedding publicizes the companies’ involvement in the making of the event. Recently, we have found that the amount of people interested in a sponsored wedding is increasing, and therefore wedding hopefuls are doing more in-depth research. This proposes the idea that, as a pioneer in the quest for a successful sponsored wedding, companies involved in our wedding, will be on the forefront of changing wedding mindsets and culture; giving them a unique opportunity to be globally sought after, and a locals first choice.

Timing and Commitment

The commitment we are asking for, consists of ‘pre’ and ‘day of’ requests, involving a detailed amount of co-ordination between exclusive in-house and other sponsoring parties. We are aiming for a reception of 150 people, arriving between 6:00-6:30pm to a cocktail hour, consisting of (but not limited to), a *Juice Fountain a *Fresh Fruit Platter and *Fresh Vegetables and Dip finishing at 7:00pm. Us, the bride and groom, would be arriving at 6:45pm, post wedding photos, for a sit down dinner at 7pm. Each table will host 8-10 people, and be donned with *wedding linens, dish and dinnerware, centre pieces, table labels and 2 bottles of wine (1 red, 1 white). Dinner will consist of (but is not limited to), the *Pork Tenderloin dinner entre, served alongside a delicious *Spinach salad, the *garlic mashed potatoes, and *steamed broccoli; followed by a fruity *Trifle desert (and our own Wedding Cake). During the dinner meal, to save on time given to dancing, we will have the speeches. Once the meal is finished, the rest of the evening will consist of music, dancing and a continuously flowing *juice fountain.

Services Sponsored

1. Rain back-up plan – in the unfortunate circumstance of rain, the ceremony will be hosted in the Atrium.

2. Décor, with permission to bring in outside sponsored décor.

3. White chair covers for all chairs.

4. Sound System

5. Corkage fee, and ‘late night snack’, Wine Service Fee.

6. Juice Fountain of refreshing fruit

7. Appetizer platters

a. Fresh Vegetables and Dip

b. Fresh fruit platter

8. Dinner Entrees

a. Pork Tenderloin

b. Spinach Salad

c. Garlic Mashed Potatoes

d. Steamed Broccoli

e. Mixed Fruit Triffle

9. Children’s Meals

Services Provided

In gratitude for the services sponsored, a payment total, consisting of a maximum of half of the total reception cost, will be paid. This will include the gratuity of 15%.

Background: Our story

Our story is very unique and inspiring, and begins on the other side of the world, down under. As fate would have it, before we even met, there were a number of opportunities where we should have met, yet didn't. In all circumstances considered, even if we had met at those times, our story would have remained as unique as a rose growing out of the frigid Manitoba snow on a -40 degree day with a wind chill of -50. As we have now announced our 'until my dying day' proclamation, and will perform said ceremony on July 12th 2010 (our 2 year anniversary, might I add), we have only recently moved to Niverville, formerly students on limited work visas from the other side of the world; we remain in a position of complete reliance on HIS family and friends. Although Kyle is an international hairstylist and will continue to dazzle Manitobians with his 'cut, curl and dye'- stylings, I(Lynzie) remain in a position of job-uncertainty. I might add at this stage that I am from mild-weathered-Vancouver, and it is truly LOVE, that has brought me here. I whole-heartedly believe that we are capable of having a gold medal wedding for the fact that with no house, no car, no confirmed employment, nothing other than what fits into two 50lb bags that have traveled the Pacific Ocean and to the very center of Canada; as a completely celibate couple we are determined to have a stunning wedding, and expose humanity to a style of wedding that has unlikely been seen or heard of before.

Thank you for taking the time, and putting the energy, into helping us create an unforgettable wedding.

Appreciatively ,

Kyle Friesen and Lynzie Causton

---

* Items containing this symbol are found in the Niverville Heritage Centre Wedding Package 2010.