A lovely couple, one red canoe, an open field and some pretty rad vendors makes for one pretty darn awesome post to cap off the end of the week. Stephanie and Brandon wanted to celebrate their first year anniversary, so they treated themselves to a memorable photoshoot involving a group of creative professionals. A fabulous idea. Photos are by WhiteWood Studios and Paper Deer Photography. You’ll also see a behind-the-scenes video just after the photos. Enjoy and happy thanksgiving weekend :)
And here’s the behind the scenes video from Jody Hill of WhiteWood Studios & second shooter, Jeff Myers.
Photography: Jenna Hill of WhiteWood Studios and Jayme Ford of Paper Deer Photography
Behind scenes video shot & edited by Jody Hill of WhiteWood Studios
Second shooter for video: Jeff Myers (no website)
Makeup: Jenny Mckinney:
Props: all thrifted!
Location: Vernon, BC
Model Stephanie: Love it Again
Today one of our featured vendors, Lisa of We Connect Wedding Planning shares her own personal wedding. I love when I get a chance to share the weddings of vendors because it’s always nice to see how their weddings turn out after planning numerous other weddings for happy couples. Lisa and Dario married in beautiful Fernie, BC chosing a pretty palette of blue and white. Wait till you see the cakes..they’re absolutely divine.
Being a wedding planner for 7 years gave me plenty of time to gather ideas. Our priorities were; beautiful, meaningful ceremony, fun games for our guests, delicious Argentine food, gorgeous flowers and decor (as a planner I had to have this ;-), magical & secret helicopter getaway, and it all had to be at my parents stunning ranch near Fernie, BC. Oh and NO rain! Not too much to ask right? Well we got everything we wanted except for the rain.
Our story begins in early summer 2007 shortly after Dario moved to Canada from Argentina. The very first time we met, Dario’s english was limited and he found out about my families travels to the Dominican Republic, he got excited that I might know some spanish. As he rattled off spanish at me he soon discovered that I had VERY limited spanish.
Our love story does not begin there though. At a party I threw at my parents Ranch in July 2007 I discovered Dario’s keen interest in guns. He kept finding Dad’s guns around the house and would pick them up and check them out. I have always said “someday Dad I want you to teach me how to shot and how to hunt”. But someday kept slipping through my fingers. Discovering Dario’s interest in guns and learning how to hunt, I had a “partner” to learn with. Before hunting season opened in September Dario came to the ranch to target practice. Over the fall he came many times to shoot and then out hunting together. Our friendship grew and soon I was driving back and forth to Calgary on a regular basis.
Our ceremony was absolutely magical. Being hosted at my parents ranch was incredibley special for both Dario and I. Our love story began there and so saying “I do” overlooking the creek that flows through our ranch and surround by our closest family and friends was a beautiful moment. Near the end of the ceremony, a light and almost magical mist started, almost as if someone was spritzing the air. Having Dario’s family there from Argentina and especially his grandpa, Abelo Pedro, was such a blessing. Our second favorite moment was surprising our guests with a helicopter good-bye.
As a wedding planner and a lover of wedding blogs like Style Me Pretty and Wedding Obsession gathering ideas and a vision for the decor was SUPER fun! Finally after seven years of planning out the details of clients wedding, it was my turn to create the wedding of our dreams. With blue as our color, I knew finding blue flowers in the right tone would be difficult so decided on primarily white flowers with blue and white ceramic vases. I scoured Calgary for ceramic vases of all shapes and sizes. The color did not matter, because I spray painted them three different shades of blue. I love the romance of peonies, so they became the star of the flower show, complemented by dahlias, hydrangaes, garden roses, and lisianthus. Our wedding date was on the tail end of the peony season and start of the dahlia season, so getting the exact mix of flowers I wanted became a joint effort between The Green Petal in Fernie and Creative Edge Flowers in Calgary – I would not settle for less.
Dario is from Argentina, so it was very important to us to bring elements of Argentina cuisine and decor details into our wedding. We chose the blue and white colors of the Argentine flag. We wanted a garden party style wedding with a less formal reception. Tables were setup with a combination of mix-and-mingle cocktail tables and long family style tables to sit at. Patio umbrellas, a fishing boat filled with drinks, and wine barrels were scattered around to add to the atmosphere. Our reception food was the closest we could get the an Argentina asado; bbq’d beef with delicious chimichurri sauce, pork and chicken kabobs, churizo sausage, and spicy shrimp. Fresh made chimichurri sauce, an Argentine classic, finished off the steak perfectly. All this meat was accompanied with delicious empanadas handmade by Dario’s mom Virginia, vibrant veggie skewers, boconocci & prosciutto skewers, broccoli salad, and basil bits.
Advice for future brides/grooms-to-be
Get the help you need to really enjoy the wedding planning process, whether a close friend, your mom, or a wedding planner. The planning process can be very fun, and it is all for one day that goes by in a blink. If you hate the planning process and get all stressed out, you with have a hard time enjoying your wedding day. I also highly recommend an amazing photographer and videographer. We nearly did not hire a videographer because of budget considerations, but we are so very happy we made the decision to spend a little extra on our video.
Lisa’s currently offering Wedding Obsession readers $250 off of We Connect’s services for any 2013 event booked by December 31, 2012. (Based on availability. Travel fees may apply). She plans in both Fernie (BC) and Calgary (AB).
Wedding Planning: We Connect Wedding Planning
Photographer: 6:8 Photography
Videographer: Nic Genovese
Flowers: The Green Petal and Creative Edge Flowers
Venue: Northfork Meadows
Hair: Sparrow for Hair
Rentals: Sandor Rentals and Patti’s Party & Tent Rental
Transportation: Big Horn Helicopters
Dress: Ruby Woo Wedding Couture Inc
Cake: The Cake Box
A sweet engagement session captured by lisa kwan images. Bowen and Cindy met during their first year at the University of Western Ontario and have been dating for 13 years, so it was fitting that they shot the session where they first met.
How did Bowen propose?
Under the starry sky by the beach in Mayan Riveira in Mexico. It was Fall 2010 and he surprised me with a weekend getaway. After a long and relaxed dinner on a private boat, we watched the sunset until the stars came out. As we head back to the shore, he took me for a stroll on the private beach. He had tea lights arranged which lit up the steps towards the beach. It was very dark….in the middle of darkness, there laid a lit up bottle with a message inside—a hand drawn picture of us holding hands (his proposal “let’s walk together”) He proposed — down on one knee — and until today, it’s still a mystery on how he managed to get everything arranged. Life with him is always full of surprises!!!
What will be the theme or color inspiration for your upcoming wedding?
Lavender is our theme color. Our inspiration comes from the French Country decor with a rustic feel….we used dried lavender stalks as our centerpieces…filled them in mason jars tied with a twine. Everything is DIY. Simple and elegant.
// images: lisa kwan images
Good morning! Meet today’s lovely couple, Sara and Brendan who met at her sister’s wedding as both were in the wedding party. Both wanted a classic wedding, opting for loads of sparkle and a chic palette of silver, black and white. A timeless combination, this added some light to an otherwise dark theatre wedding venue. It goes to show you how a little sparkle can go a long way. Photos are by Lauren Hannah Photography. Enjoy!
Favorite wedding moment:
So hard to just pick one, but I would say my favorite moment would be the first time I saw Brendan. I loved that we waited to see one another until I walked down the aisle. It made the moment so real and made me confident that I was making the best decision of my life.
What was your wedding inspiration for the decor?
Truthfully, my mom, mother in law and I just started playing around with different ideas until we found the look I was going for. I wanted the wedding look to be modern, chic and classy. The black, white & silver look is timeless and just really worked well in our venue. Since the ceremony and reception were both in dimly lit theatres we added crystals and over sized glass diamonds to catch the light and really just bling up the venue’s.
Advice for future brides/grooms?
My advice is likely advice that most brides/grooms have heard before. Non the less, make sure you stop to enjoy your wedding day. This is your one day to really live it up while you enjoy friends and family. Before you know it you’ve said I do, cut the cake, and left the reception to start your lives together. One other piece of advice would be to look at booking a videographer for the day, soooo worth it. The day goes so fast and it was wonderful to be able to look at the video and relive the day.
Ceremony Venue: Princess Theatre
Reception Venue: Trans Alta Barns
Bridal Gown: Bridal Debut
Caterer: Sawmill Steakhouse
Photographer: Lauren Hannah Photography
Videographer: Erin Camponi Videographer
Cake: Style Cakes
Tuxedos: Derks
Hair & Makeup: Russo Innovative Hair Design
