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Monday
Feb042013

we'll collect moments

the first glimpse, as you turn the corner and see her standing there in wedding white, and she looks at you with those eyes alight... there is no moment to compare to this one fleeting second.


mr & mrs cole wed on a blustery winter's eve, as last year turned into this new one.  a beginning of something beautiful, expanding.  

ceremony/reception:  arcadian loft

floral/decor:  patchouli floral love & design

music/party:  michael coombs

gown: beckers bridal

jewelry: lulu frost for jcrew

her shoes: badgley mischka

groom's attire:  tello clothiers

his shoes:  salvatore ferragamo

bridesmaid dress:  jcrew

bestman: tello clothiers

hairpieces & bridesmaid bracelet: april takacs

stationary: paper ideas

furniture: divine furniture rentals

 

Monday
Jan212013

summer lovin'

only a frew frames for now... the beautiful wedding of ashley & james will be revealed in an upcoming wedding magazine.   

the backdrop for ashley & james' wedding was a ski hill in collingwood, a quiet place to enjoy all through the seasons...  the entire story coming soon.  worth the wait.  xo

Monday
Dec172012

mcmichael gallery wedding

the scent of pine needles under bare feet in a wedding gown... the sweetest thing.  to be yourself on your wedding day, an honest, yet sometimes forgotten thing.  to be yourself.  not what the bridal magazines tell you, not what your aunt-in-law tells you, but what you feel to be true. weddings. notions on weddings. on what it means to marry, to plan, to host, to be a bride, to be a groom. "it's her day"  dispel the myths, the preconceived ideas, and be true to yourself, to each other, to us.

in a heavily marketed society, we crave honesty, truth, real truths, earthy honest truths. the wedding celebration is a sacred and very old tradition. it's not just an excuse to have a huge party with no speeches. no, to long boring speeches... yes, to heartfelt, honest, well-written speeches that open up our hearts and allow us to know each other anew. to learn more. to dig deeper and to fall in love again, all over.

let us celebrate, let us live like tom thomson, "humbly but passionately with the wild"

jon & adina wed in the pines, the birch trees, under a flood of sunshine with their parents under the chuppah this summer at the mcmichael canadian art collection.  an art gallery featuring the work of canadian artists, most notably tom thomson and the group of seven.  we wandered through the grounds, discovering at every turn incredible scultpures, and my favourite, thomson's original cabin.  the mcmichael is truly a magnificent backdrop to celebrate humbly but passionately with the wild.

* did you know?  the mcmichael collection grew out of the dream of two people: Robert (1921-2003) and Signe (1921-2007) who were married in 1949 and worked together at Robert McMichaels Studios... a wedding photography business in toronto? in 1954 they built a four-room log house using salvaged pioneer hand-hewn logs and fieldstone on their ten acres of wooded land in kleinburg.  the following year, they purchased Montreal River, a small oil sketch by Lawren Harris.  by the early 1960's their personal collection had grown to the point where thousands of people a year were asking to see the art collection.  by 1965 the couple had donated 194 works of art, the buildings and the land to the province of ontario.  the collection continued to grow with their support for many years.  the gallery is a national treasure honouring canada's cultural heritage.  if you have never been... now is the time.

(from the city archives.  pictured above is the studio of Robert McMichaels.  the glass storefront with three portraits hanging in the window)   

Tuesday
Nov272012

langdon hall wedding

From the Bride… We wanted to create a wedding day that felt like us and celebrated our family in as many ways as possible. It was important that we had a relaxed but elegant venue to host our guests and provide them with outstanding food and drink. After visiting many other venues, we knew as soon as we drove up the road to Langdon Hall that we had found the place we wanted to celebrate our marriage with loved ones. They had the most incredible food, and the staff was unbelievably warm and welcoming.After we had the perfect venue, I worked on creating as many personal details to share with guests as possible. Our favors were jars of honey made from the bee hives at the family cottage. We also tied a recipe to the jar from my husband’s grandmother for her famous baklava treats filled with honey. We had photos of us growing up, along with many of our wedding guests, pinned to vintage frames for guests to share stories about. We shared our favorite cocktails as our featured his and her drinks. We had a Polaroid camera booth with props to have guests interact with and take photos of one another for our guest book. Our sweets table included our favorite flavors and sweets, as well as pastries made by my grandmother and my husband’s grandmother.

I knew from the beginning I wanted to keep the décor to a palette of soft pink, white and gold with a vintage glamour theme. I created many of the pieces myself, from the pink and gold bunting in the trees to the hand-painted pinwheels that fanned our dessert table. I also worked with some incredible Etsy vendors to help me create as many customized pieces as possible without overwhelming the space. I rented vintage pieces to bring a sense of charm and whimsy that I felt the venue lent itself to. Our amazing wedding planner helped bring everything together for us and oversaw the entire day. We were relaxed from start to finish, and I can only attribute this to their incredible professionalism and attention to detail.

The parts of the wedding I treasure the most will be the memories we created with our family and friends. The thoughtful, sweet and laugh-until-you-cry wedding “speeches” from loved ones, the quiet moments with my new husband, playing croquet with my wedding party, taking picture of guests with their plastic mustaches and the dancing with our best friends until our feet hurt — then raiding the flip flop basket to keep going. These will be the moments we remember the most and we know are truly once-in-a-lifetime.

Wedding Photography: Rebecca Wood / Ceremony: Knox’s Galt Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, Ontario / Reception + Catering: Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario / Event Design, Planning + DJ: The Event Firm / Floral Design: A Dutch Mill Flower Shop / Wedding Cake + Pastries: The Cake Box + The Grandmothers of the Bride & Groom / Candy Table: LOL Candy / Wedding Invitations: Love the Design / Wedding Program + Paper Printing: Adore Paper & Design / String Quartet: Leith Quartet (leithquartet@gmail.com) / Vintage Rentals: Hazlitt Vintage Rental / Favors: DIY by the Bride’s Grandmother / Décor: Etsy + DIY / Wedding Dress: Olivia Couture via Kleinfeld Bridal / Bride’s Veil:Kleinfeld Bridal / Bride’s Shoes: Valentino / Bride’s Jewelry: Anzie / Bride’s Hair + Makeup: Nicole Richards / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: French Connection / Bridesmaids’ Necklaces: Kate Spade / Groom’s Attire: Tom Ford + Prada

as featured on Style Me Pretty. xo