A Gorgeous Vintage Glam Wedding: Michelle and Luc

While I sit here still inspired by the romance of Valentine’s Day, I am more than excited to bring you our first feature wedding of 2013! First of all, it’s obvious that this is one stylish couple! The old hollywood glam vibe that characterises these beautiful photos by Evan McMaster is a true testament to that. Let yourselves be taken away by the beauty of Luc & Michelle’s vintage-glam East Coast wedding.

A few words from the Bride: Luc and I were completely ready and happy to get married. We did everything backwards, first us, then along came our dog Rocco, then we had our first son Olivier and then our second son, Leo. At this point we had it all, a beautiful loving family. That’s when we realized we wanted to get married, for all the love we already had. What a great way to bring everyone who has supported us all along together.
Our main goal for our nuptials was for everyone to have a great time and to dance the night away. We kept it simple and true to us, which I think is really important for a couple planning a wedding. We made every single decision together or with each others opinions so we could both really enjoy the process and the day itself. I’m not saying it was easy; we didn’t agree on everything and we both had to let some things go that we wanted in order to make it work. As most brides, I had a vision that I wanted to execute in the best way possible and this is how I became a DIY bride.

Michelle’s advice: <<…to any bride willing to take on this crazy challenge: Make it about you AND your fiance. The men may not want to pick out flowers but they do want to be involved, have an opinion and feel important. Don’t sweat the small stuff. We made a list of the things that were most important to us at our wedding (food, music, photography, decor etc…) and we put more focus on those things and it made us feel much more relaxed for the big day!
Don’t be afraid to ask or to refuse help. Make sure you get the right people for the tasks that need getting done and don’t let just anyone do the things you want done a certain way.
Only take on challenges you are ready to tackle and finish with a smile, you want your wedding planning to be a great memory, not a job. Last but not least, stick to your budget!!! I can’t say it enough. I never budget anything else in my life but I added up every single penny we spent for our wedding and we never had any issues about our financials because we had agreed on what we wanted to spend. There are hundreds of wedding planning books that can help (yes, I had one… two actually!) and all brides should have one.
All in all our wedding was really everything we had dreamed of and much more. Our families and friends moved us like never before and it truly is an amazing thing to feel that much love in one room, all for us. Our wedding party made the whole day so much more fun and I would do the whole thing over again the exact same way even though some things didn’t go according to plan. It was perfect and we are so happy.>>

Venue: St. James Gate http://www.stjamesmoncton.com/stjamesgate/ at  Fox Creek Golf Club: http://www.foxcreekgolfclub.ca/front; Catering: St. James Gate;                         Bride’s Dress: Mori Lee http://www.morilee.com; Shoes:http://www.littleburgundyshoes.com
Bridesmaid dresses:Allure Bridal http://www.allurebridals.com/index.php?id=3&product_id=751; Hair and Makeup: Sereno Hair and Body Care                            Men’s Tuxedos & Shoes: http://www.mooresclothing.com/mor/index.jsp
Boutonnieres & Corsages: Pomp and Plumage:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/61449836/andersen-boutonniere-in-purple-feathers?ref=usr_faveitems; Photographer: Evan Mcmaster http://www.evanmcmaster.com
DJ: DJ Sonny D http://www.djsonnyd.com;                                                                          Host: Julien Dionne http://www.juliendionne.com
Nails: Tina Wedge http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nailtini-Nail-Bar/248097925217753?rf=226863610668467; Cake: Cake Box, Moncton, New Brunswick
Dessert tables and entrance decor: Lace and Twine: http://laceandtwine.com

The Perfect Union: Marrying Favours to your Favourite Cause with Favour Donations

A popular trend with wedding favours has been to replace the more traditional <<take home>> favour with donations to the bride and groom’s favourite charity in their guests’ honor. 

In honor of Movember (the month formally known as November), here is a fun DIY project which can be done easily to highlight your Favour Donations during your dessert course or at your dessert table.   This DIY project can be adapted to almost any cause…all you need is cardstock, a pair of scissors, a stamp and some ink.

Include a note card on each serving platter, or a framed note on an easel as the centerpiece to your dessert table, explaining that a gift has been made in honor of your wedding guests.  It will make a bold, thoughtful statement.

DIY PROJECT: Easy Fall Inspired Table Centerpieces

We’ve drawn inspiration from our friends at Ottawa’s The Flour Shoppe for a great idea for Fall inspired table centerpieces: spray painted pumpkins. This diy project is extremely easy and quick…all u need are some pumpkins and spray paint to match your colour scheme. Group a few together in different sizes or hollow them out and fill with water to transform into flower vases.

Spotlight on Photographers: Spreading the Love for a Good Cause with Juna Photography

A couple of weeks ago we spread the word about 100 Moments of the Love, the wonderful event being put together in support of Vancouver charity Take a Hike,  by the very talented Vancouver based photographer Justin Morrison of Juna Photography.

Today, we are extremely happy to give you a sneak peak of Justin’s endeavours which have benefited this very worthy cause: http://www.junaphotography.com/blog/. To see more of Justin’s work go to www.junaphotography.com.

Write to us at admin@wildflowerweddingsblog.com to tell us about your charity event!

I am the Walrus!

When planning a DIY wedding and trying to check off the many items on your to-do list, there is no better way to kick off a weekend than randomly setting your sights on the perfect find while browsing your neighbourhood shops!  That’s exactly what happened to us when we stumbled into Walrus on a recent Saturday morning expedition, exploring our new Vancouver neighboorhood!

We were smitten as soon as we laid eyes on Shelley Hilliard’s the poetic neckalces, bracelets and rings.  This Heart Necklace is a beautiful gift idea, perfect for showing  your bridesmaids how much you appreciate all their hard work, kindness and generosity.

For grooms-to-be on a budget looking for the perfect wedding day present for their blushing bride, this necklace by Hilliard is sure to leave a lasting impression. If you are looking to splurge a bit more, the Evelyn Cuff is another unique and breathtaking piece by Hilliard that will serve as a fashionable reminder of your lasting commitment for years to come.

Spreading the Love in 100 Moments – Juna Photography

At WFW, we are simply head over heels for all the amazing photographers out there who can capture the beauty of love in a timeless and authentic photograph. And we are even more crazy about photographers who are willing to put their talents to use in supporting a worthy cause!

On this note, we are extremely excited to tell u about 100 Moments of Love, an amazing event being organized by Vancouver based photographer Justin Morrison, of Juna Photography, in support of local charity Take a Hike.  Justin’s goal will be to capture 100 real connections between people in love in one single day.

The event will be taking place on September 9th at Stanley Park’s Third Beach in Vancouver. Click here to join us for this event, and be one of Justin’s featured couples. We would LOVE for you to join us in spreading the love for Take a Hike!           

An Intimate Tuscan Affair: Dave & Dominique

We are super excited to share with you our first Wildflower feature wedding!  In keeping with our latest theme of vineyard inspired weddings, we thought there wouldn’t be a better location to kick things off with than Tuscany…after all, who doesn’t think of wine when they think of Italy. Dave & Dominique are two of the loveliest most down to earth people you could ever meet, and we think that their choice venue, The Lazy Olive, embodies just that with its abundance of natural beauty and rolling green hills.  Congratulations Dave & Dominique and thank you for sharing your beautifully romantic celebration with us!

Flower embelishment on shoes by Misun Bridal; Earings and Bracelet by Treasures 570

Bride’s dress Denia by La SPosa; Bridesmaids dresses by J Crew & Shoshanna

We love these high school sweethearts’ choice of locally produced olive oil as favours.  The olive oil (pictured above left) is produced by The Lazy Olive itself and is a wonderful take home momento for guests.  This choice was inspired by Dave & Dominique’s love for great food.  For a DIY touch to this romantic destination wedding, Dominique crafted the favour tags, as well as the menus and place cards…. great choices for DIY projects that fit into a suitcase!

The wine cork place card holders purchased on Etsy; by tigerlilly878.

A few words of advice from the bride:  “It’s hard to come up with words of advice since I think everyone’s vision for their wedding is so different!  For ours, we wanted the wedding to be small, intimate, romantic with a vintage look and feel.  Dave and I both share a passion for traveling, good food and good wine, and we wanted to incorporate that in our celebration.  We got engaged in Venice, so it was only fitting that we go back to Italy, a country that we love, to celebrate our union.  We chose The Lazy Olive in Asciano, Tuscany, because of its natural beauty, peaceful setting, and the fact that it was big enough to accommodate most of our guests for the week. 

For future brides and grooms, I offer the following advice: Have the wedding that you want to have (not the wedding that others expect you to have).  This will ensure that you have no regrets; Don’t forget what the day is about (sharing your love for each other with your closest friends and family);  Getting a wedding planner and/or day-of coordinator reduces so much stress and is worth every penny (and with the discounts they can get you, they often pay for themselves); Don’t sweat the small stuff, have fun and enjoy every minute of the day because it goes by so fast; Find ways to personalize your wedding so that it’s representative of both of you.  For example, we asked our string duo to learn one of our favourite rock songs (“Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey) to play at the end of our ceremony.  This song was especially appropriate considering we’d been together fourteen years before tying the knot.”

Credits: Photography: Cristiano Brizzi; Event Planning: Boutique Events