Walking Down The Aisle To Mike: Seeing the look on his face, knowing how excited my Dad was to walk me down the aisle and seeing all our guests faces as I came toward everyone was pretty darn amazing!
Exchanging Our Vows: I spent months writing mine, re-writing and then the week of they just landed. I wrote them in the cute vow books I purchased for us online and we laughed and cried while exchanging our promises to each other.
Seeing My Toronto OCR Family: I definitely feel like I’ve fallen out of touch with my Toronto OCR family. It was bound to happen when I moved away. So having them all in one place, dancing and eating poutine together was really special for me!
Mike’s Parents Present: Ok so Mike’s parents got us this cup where you have to both drink out of it at the same time. There’s a story to go with it but needless to say, it makes for a good picture of me with a napkin tucked in my dress.
Sneaking Happy Glances with Kyla: My bestie Kyla lives in Victoria so I was so freaking excited to have her in Ottawa, and by my side and it’s evident by the number of happy glances we shared throughout the night that my photog was able to catch!
Hearing my Bridesmaids & Best Man Speeches: I can’t wait for our wedding video so I can re-listen to them but each one was meaningful, funny, sometimes didn’t make sense and just lovely. I know people hate speeches at weddings but it really is for the Bride & Groom 🙂
Garter Toss Magic Mike Moment: So I wasn’t going to do this because it can be quite tacky… but then I remembered Mike can dance, there may have been a perfect Magic Mike moment captured on film! I really hope my parent’s had already left at this point lol!
Dancing With My Grandmother: Dorothy Baldwin. My spirit animal. 99 and tearing up the dance floor. I will cherish this moment forever.
Dancing With My Girls: I grew up a dancer. You put a little tequila (or a lot) in me and you can’t get me off the dance floor.
The Last Hour On The Dance Floor: To those who stayed till the bitter end. You are the only ones (and the DJ) (& Evermore staff) that will remember what happened that night…. oh and there may be pictures… but it was pretty epic. We’ll just leave it at that.
Walking Down The AisleExchanging Our VowsToronto OCR FamilyMike’s Parents PresentExchanging Glances With KylaBridesmaid SpeechesMaid of Honour SpeechBest Man SpeechListening To SpeechesGarter TossDancing With My GrandmotherDancing with My GirlsWedding Dance Floor
Ok so this is obviously about our wedding day but here are the things that “went wrong” or wedding problems that no one really warned me about AND no one really noticed but me and Mike 🙂
Hopefully, if you’re planning a wedding you’ll know that something will “go wrong” but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. You get to marry your person and have a ton of fun with friends and family all in one place.
Don’t wear your hair down if it’s humid or rainy
If it rains early in the morning and it’s humid outside don’t wear your hair down. The curl will probably fall out no matter how much hairspray you use. I wasn’t a huge fan of my hair. I had pictured this image on Pinterest and then the real-life humidity killed my curls. My wedding planner even re-curled my hair at one point for pictures. I shouldn’t have done that, that was time I could’ve spent with friends and family. No one cared how my hair looked except me.
2. You cannot have all the photos you want!
I wanted so many more shots with my girls as we got ready but we had such limited time with our photographer before she had to leave to get to the venue and get detail shots of the decor. Although I had hair & makeup mapped out perfectly, hair took a bit longer than expected so we weren’t all ready until closer to the time that the photographer had to leave. We got great shots with champagne and then we said let’s leave other photos until the venue. However, by the time it was bridal party photos after the family shots we had a hard time rounding everyone up so we didn’t get a ton of shots. It just seemed very rushed trying to get every picture I wanted. The problems of an OCD bride 🙂 And we still got amazing shots I love I just had a long wish list!
3. Someone may steal decorations.
We rented these gold geometric terrariums (pictured below) from Capital Florist to intersperse with the old bottles on our welcome table. I think my wedding planner put them elsewhere because I can’t see them in the detail shots of our welcome table but at the end of the night as we were loading our guests on the shuttle bus to take them from Evermore to Kanata and someone mentioned one of our guests had three in her arms. Mike got out of our limo and had to go get them for our wedding planner to pack up at the end of the night. This guest said that at most weddings you get to go home with the centerpieces and assumed she could take them! In the morning we realized that one was still missing when returning the decorations so we still don’t know who took it. I even sent out an email to all guests asking nicely for it to be returned.
4. You will not have time to talk to everyone
It will feel like you’re trying to fit way too much conversation into a single moment with people. Especially if you haven’t seen them in a while. And your wedding planner is being paid to keep you on a timeline so they will rush you around and that’s ok! Shout outs to Lauren for keeping my dress clean for a bit!
5. Some people will leave at random times
You may not get to say hi to everyone because they may leave before you get a chance to see them. They may have other engagements, puppies at home, a babysitter with the kids, etc. Just be thankful they came for any amount of time to celebrate your day!
6. If you have an open bar, there will always be that one guest or guests that have a little too much to drink.
Be prepared and have someone in your wedding party or family help ensure they get water, sit down and home safely.
7. You won’t get to eat the full meal you serve your guests
We had 1 bite of our beef before our photographer and videographer pulled us outside for couple shots because we were losing light fast. This time is usually called the golden hour and I was excited to get those shots but we had no sun at this point so we didn’t get the shots I had really wanted. You know that halo of glow behind your heads as you kiss!
You can see on Mike and I faces that we’re tired of taking photos (I won’t share any of those) and just wanted to be inside with our guests. My hair is also in a small knot cause it was so hot and sticking to my back. We still had fun (seen below) but yeah…
Tip: Have your venue pack a doggie bag up for you. You paid for the meal you should be able to eat it later.
8. A decoration rental may not work as expected
I rented this massive Love Marquis sign and as you can see the bottom of the E didn’t light up at night. We didn’t check it before we left the rental place because who would’ve thought to do that. Also, the rental company left it on the front porch of her house (not an actual business). We even had an electrician at our wedding who couldn’t fix it. It’s not a big deal but our vendor didn’t even offer us any sort of partial refund.
At the end of the day it was epic for photos during the day for our guests and even fun pictures at night. I’m so happy I got these shots with my Toronto girls 🙂
So as you can see nothing horrible happened. I don’t even mention the rain that happened all morning, causing our ceremony to be under the tent instead of in the garden because it was actually nice doing it out there. AND it didn’t rain at all by the time we arrived at the venue!
The “wedding problems” were so minuscule that when Mike and I woke up the next day we couldn’t actually believe how amazing the day had flowed, how much fun we and everybody had and just how epic the entire day was for us.
Stay tuned next week for my Top 10 Favorite Memories!
Our wedding photos are back and they are amazing. But of course, I’m biased. Here are all the details that made up the decor on our wedding day!
Welcome Area
Wedding Welcome Sign – here’s a link to the DIY post I shared on learning how to make these boards!
Instead of a guest list, we wanted to ask our guests to write down messages to read on our first anniversary. We’l keep them in the mason jar on a bookshelf until August 17, 2019!
In addition to the anniversary messages, I printed out a sign and rented a bucket for guests to give us our summer and winter bucket list ideas! We placed this beside the card box which I rented from my florist! The gifts & cards sign was the first wooden board I made. You can also see on the right of the below picture coffee bags as wedding favors. I also had a sign printed that read “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something brewed!”
I asked both sets of parents for wedding photos of their day and of our grandparents. We printed them off using Shoppers Drug Mart’s services and grabbed frames form Winners. In addition, my mom has been collecting antique bottles over the years so you can see them scattered all over the welcome table with white flowers.
Just inside the front doors of the venue is a beautiful old sideboard which we used for the cake and the cupcakes. I had a sign printed that read “All You Need is Love & a Cupcake”. Mike’s mom made vegan, gluten-free cupcakes and they were an amazing hit. We used my grandmother’s (my mom’s mom) cake stand which I was gifted many years ago after she passed, my turkey serving platter (all about repurposing) and then Mike’s mom bought 2 cupcake stands. They were a big hit and definitely all disappeared even before we cut the cake.
I purchased the cake topper on Etsy and our florist added flowers for an extra touch.
I made 2 other wooden boards for the ceremony area and rented easels from Rustic Rentals. Instead of programs that no one really cares to read or keep (except maybe your grandmother) I made a fun board letting everyone know the main purpose of why we were gathered (to party) and a Sit Where Your Heart Desires sign and a notice that the ceremony would be unplugged because I’m a fan of ceremony pictures where you don’t see all the guests with phones up in the air.
For reserved seating signs I had made little tags to hang on the back of chairs. We were supposed to be outside in the garden area so our direct family would have been on wooden chairs as well. Because it rained in the morning they set the ceremony up inside the white tent and gave our family really comfy couches. My wedding planner simply leaned them up against the pillows which looked nice.
Behind this row, we set up picture frames of our grandparents that have passed.
The stunner in the white tent was a huge Love Marquis sign. While it looked great during the day, the bottom of the E didn’t light up. We should have tested it before leaving the rental company but in the end, it wasn’t a huge deal. Made for some creative photos at night! I’m not linking the vendor as she wasn’t the greatest to deal with and didn’t provide us with any sort of refund for the E not working.
Reception Area
We used the tables, chair & linens from Evermore.
I rented wooden table numbers from Lux Event Rentals. And our florist used Eucalyptus and Italian Ruscus for our greenery garlands. Evermore interspersed battery powered candles on the tables for when it got dark out and it was just simply beautiful to me.
I designed the Menu using Canva and had them printed them with Vistaprint. I had the place cards printed with Minted.com and Mike and I made the wooden place card holders. It was a lot of sanding one weekend and my hand definitely did not enjoy that task.
Evermore has a beautiful banner hanging on one wall of the barn that is just stunning. I also asked them to place the other candles around the barn on the outside walls for lighting that you can see in the picture below.
Also we can’t forget how amazing the chandeliers are at this venue. The simplicity and elegance of this venue was everything I wanted.
I made the Dance Floor Rules sign inspired by a board I saw on Pinterest and my mom supplied the wicker basket and flip flops we had purchased from Old Navy.
Last but not least, I borrowed a small Bar Marquis sign from Jenny (Mike’s Best Man – Darren’s Wife) for the bar top. It light up the night and could be seen by all our party friends who could be found here (or the dance floor) for the remainder of the night.
I hope you enjoyed seeing the details of our day. A lot of Pinterest scrolling, planning, making, renting and purchasing went it so it’s nice to have a way to remember it all here on the blog!
For other brides-to-be if you’re looking for a routine to take care of yourself the week leading up to your wedding here are the things I have planned to take care of myself.
Top 10 Wedding Week Self-Care Ideas
Water Consumption: I’ll be drinking 3 – 4 L of water per day
Acupuncture: For stress and liver support
Beauty Appointments: Hair, Eyelashes, Eyebrows and Mani / Pedi
Epsom Salt Baths: As many times as I can fit them in
Workouts: Consistent cardio at the gym, a few resistance workouts, running but no crazy leg days after Monday. I don’t want to worry about waddling down the aisle on the big day.
Scandinavian Spa: We’re going to Le Nordik the morning before the wedding to enjoy the baths, have a bite to eat and sit back and bask in the sun if the rain decides to hold off.
Quiet Morning Routine: Lemon Water, Meditation, Journaling, and Reading
Healthy Food: We’re not buying groceries this week so lots of healthy restaurants or takeout.
Summer Bucket List Fun: We’re even going to a drive-in movie Monday night to enjoy the end of summer as we’re off on a 3-week honeymoon after the wedding.
My last DIY project before the wedding is complete! Wanna learn how to make your own DIY Table Seating Chart using an old door? Follow along for all the steps to complete this project…
So I watched this tutorial put on by a local Ottawa calligrapher, Becca Courtice to learn how:
I downloaded a trial of Adobe Illustrator as instructed in Becca’s video and did layouts on 8 artboards to get a general sense of how much space I had in each window pane. Printed them out and taped them up beside the windowpane to draw guidelines with the chalk marker. It worked out that each guideline for the text was exactly 2 inches apart. You can see Table 5 above in the top image still has guidelines.
I only made a few mistakes here and there or hated how the calligraphy for the word Table was turning out. I’d use a bit of rubbing alcohol on a paper towel, rub it off and then scrape the rest of the paint residue off with the straight razor.
I simply used a paper towel to wipe off the chalk guidelines once the text was complete!
Absolutely in love with the finished product and can’t wait to see how it looks at the venue!
Are you making your own Table Seating Chart for your wedding? or hiring someone to do it for you?
