I don't know if you Montreal ladies are still checking this board, but I wanted to give you some updates. I went to Yuki bakery, and as you said Music, it was amazing! we bought three different cupckaes and then a full size cake for a birthday dinner, and they were all wonderful. Everyone else said so too. I just emailed her to set up a meeting.
We also went to Patisserie de Gascogne, and while their stuff may be good, it was WAY over priced. Something along the lines of $400 minimum for a cake, and you are only able to choose from 10 different styles or so. (We may just go back for the free cake tasting though
I think we have decided to skip fresh flowers since they are so expensive and we'd rather spend our money elsewhere. My mom and I are exploring handmade alternatives.
I emailed two caterers last week and have yet to hear from them. You'd think they want my business right? I don't know. This area is what I'm most concerned about since guests need to eat and we're not very close to getting that taken care of. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
As far as a photographer, why not check out mine? She's young and fun and I love just chatting with her at our meetings. The disclaimer would be that she's based near Burlington, VT. I had booked her when I thought we were still going to have the wedding down there, but when I told her we were moving it to Montreal, she was like "No big deal! We'll figure it out." She is so laid back, I love her. Anyway, for basically the whole day (before the ceremony, during, and at the reception), plus a DVD (or two?) of all the photos (which I can then do whatever I want with), and unlimited photos throughout the day, she is charging me $750. I know I got a deal because she was just starting out, but I can't imagine her prices have skyrocketed in the last two months. She also offers an album for like $100, but I told her I wasn't sure yet, so she said we'd just figure that out later. I'm going to pay for her gas to drive up and back (~$50), a hotel room overnight, and then some money for meals (she's already eating at the wedding). I'm thinking it'll be an extra $150 or so, for a total of about $1000. Plus, if you're getting married in SJSR, things might be cheaper there; hotels, food, etc. I liked her especially because she's laid back and we are not people that like having our pictures taken, and she said she didn't do many "posed" pictures. Anyway, I'll stop now, I just think she's awesome!
www.ellenrossphotography.comAnd Kellykins, we thought we had a DJ (acquaintance) locked down, but then didn't hear from him. So we are back to square one too. It's funny what you said, because my fiance was like, "How hard can it be? It's Montreal, everyone's a DJ." Which might be tru, but like you said, there aren't a lot of recommendations on the web. I found my venue online through a message board (Parc Jean Drapeau), and I found suggestions for caterers, but that's about it. This board was sort of my last resort, but it doesn't seem to get much traffic.
Hope some of this helped!