Blog
Wedding Traditions, Explained
Keep the wedding traditions, change them, or skip them alltogether A quick note before we begin: I am a white wedding coordinator based in Vancouver, Canada whose own family wedding traditions are relatively mainstream, and I don’t come from any particular cultural or religious background that has played a part in my family's wedding experiences. The perspective of this article comes from years of coordinating weddings for couples with many different traditions, cultures, religions, and family dynamics, not from personal lived experience. My goal here isn’t to explain to you the meaning behind these traditions or to tell you whether you should include them. Instead, I hope to give you thoughtful questions to ask while you’re planning your wedding so...
Debt Free Honeymoon
My Hustle for the Honeymoon challenge I’ve been dreaming about a big family trip, but with rising costs and tight budgets, saving up feels impossible. That’s when I remembered my debt free honeymoon and thought: what if I could fund an epic getaway - or even parts of a wedding - using only side gigs? That’s how the Hustle for the Honeymoon Challenge started. This isn’t just about me. I want to challenge you to hustle for your dream honeymoon, wedding, or both, without relying on your 9-5 paycheck. Let’s make these special moments possible while keeping our finances stress-free. For my honeymoon, my husband and I started at Disney (on the way to a cousin’s wedding), then went to...
Our Top 5 Vancouver Wedding Venues of 2025
When it comes to planning a wedding in Vancouver, one of the biggest decisions you’ll make is choosing your venue. There are so many stunning Vancouver wedding venues, but after coordinating dozens of weddings in 2025, our team at ThistleBEA has a few clear favourites as we wrap up the year. What makes these venues stand out for us isn’t just the location or the food (though both are amazing); it’s the teams behind them. Our favourite Vancouver wedding venues have remarkably low staff turnover, especially in their event managers. That kind of consistency is rare in the industry and makes a huge difference for couples and coordinators alike. Here are our top 5 Vancouver wedding venues of 2025 and...
The First Five Steps When Planning Your Wedding
Wedding Planning Tips Straight From the Pros When you start planning your wedding, it can feel totally overwhelming. You’re staring at this huge picture of your dream day and trying to break it down into something manageable. Plus, you’re getting a million opinions from friends and family, and those never-ending questions like, “When are you getting married?” or “Where’s the venue?”. Chill out, Aunt Linda, we just got engaged ten minutes ago. You're going to need some wedding planning tips. To help you cut through the noise and get moving, here are ThistleBEA’s top 5 wedding planning tips to stop the paralysis and get you excited about your day. Step One: Talk About Your Wedding Day Dreams My favourite wedding...
The Top 10 Items You Need in Your Wedding Day Emergency Kit
Not everyone needs a coordinator, but everyone needs a wedding day emergency kit This post contains affiliate links through Capital One Shopping, which means we are earning money for posting about these items. This being said, all opinions are our own and we were writing about the wedding day emergency kit before they even approached us. When it comes to your wedding, preparation is everything. You’ve spent months (maybe years) planning the perfect day, but even the best timelines and checklists can’t prevent every little hiccup. That’s where your wedding day emergency kit comes in. We've written about the wedding day emergency kit before, but these are our stand out, need to haves on a wedding day. Think of it...
Wedding Funding from Parents: How to Stay in Control
Set those wedding funding boundaries early! Weddings are expensive AF, and having the wedding you want doesn’t always come easily. Before you ask your parents to help fund your big day, it’s crucial that you and your partner set clear wedding funding boundaries. Align Your Vision and Boundaries First Before approaching your parents about financial support, sit down together and get fully aligned on your wedding vision and what you expect from their contribution. If there’s a chance your parents will fund a significant portion of the wedding, ask yourselves: What boundaries do we want to set? Money talks, and often, when parents cover most of the cost, they expect to have some say in how the wedding unfolds. Decide...
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ThistleBEA’s planners share their weddings, their tips, and ideas on how to keep your wedding affrodable