I have been meaning to do this since the day I returned from my honeymoon, but finally had some free time today to work on it. Here are all the things (and people!) that made my wedding day perfect.
My photographers were brilliant, fun, amazing.... I could go on and on. They are Kasia and Anna from Gucio Photography. I hired them about a year before the big day. They were the fourth photographers I had considered and I am thrilled I was able to book them. They also did an amazing engagement shoot, and I had them do a special boudoir session as a wedding gift for Jarod. Best. Photographers. Ever.
I had originally planned on having a floor length dress. I tried on one that was beautiful at a bridal store but it's price tag was about $1200.00. While I was considering it I popped in to a Betsey Johnson store one day with Jarod and my friend Stacey and I saw my dress. Someone said I should wear it as a wedding dress since I love polka dots. I laughed it off, and left. I kept thinking about that dress though, so a week or so later I went and picked it up (it was less than 1/2 the price of the other dress). The guy at the counter asked if it was for a special occasion. I told him yes, for a wedding. I don't think he realized it was for my wedding.
I spent a long time looking for the perfect pair of heels. I knew that they had to be non-leather since I'm vegan, so that was the first challenge. I also wasn't going to spend a fortune on them, although I briefly considered splurging on a $200.00 pair of beauties. Since my dress was short the shoes had to be amazing. I had a hard time deciding between red and white. My heart said red, but my head said white. I went with my heart and couldn't be happier with the final shoes. Tip: Try your wedding shoes on before the big day (which I did) and go for a walk in them (which I didn't do). I was a bit late for the ceremony because we had to figure out how to punch new holes in my straps so my shoes would stay on!
I bought my cute garter from the talented Inka Finland's Etsy shop. A button broke in shipping, so I stitched on a new blue button (something blue: check!). My sister's boyfriend ended up catching the garter... do I hear wedding bells?
I bought my beautiful birdcage veil from q g designs etsy shop. It was even customized with little beads that matched my wedding colours... the perfect touch! Bonus: the flower is removable!
Jarod's mom recommended the makeup artist Chrissy from Makeup Infusion because she worked with her, and then Chrissy recommended the hair stylist Vanessa. They were a perfect team and managed to crank out two moms, three bridesmaids and one bride with full hair and makeup in under three hours.
I had a custom order done for the three great bridesmaids' dresses. The were made by Jiminie of My black Dress on Etsy. She was really friendly and helpful, and even searched for the perfect fabric for me.
We had the ceremony and reception at the Scottish Cultural Centre in Vancouver, BC. It was a nice venue with a big stage. The managers were really helpful and answered several annoying e-mails from me quickly and kindly.
I wanted to display pictures of our relative's on their wedding days, so I printed them at the drug store and put them in simple white frames that I bought from IKEA. They were put out on the guestbook table and looked beautiful.
I designed and printed our wedding invitations and included RSVP postcards with each invite. I left one side blank and on the other side requested that the invitee write a note or draw a picture for us. We received some wonderful letters and adorable drawings. I put all of the RSVP's in a album I picked up from Michaels and displayed it on the guestbook table.
With my mom's help, I made each guest a magnetic button with their name on it to wear. I rented the button maker from Blim in Vancouver for a reasonable price. Sadly, the magnets I bought weren't very strong so the buttons didn't stay on very well. I should have used pin backs. I'll remember that for my next wedding (Joking!).
The band was amazing. I hired Blue Morris and he brought along two wonderful musicians, including a spectacular singer. Everyone loved the swing music and it made the day so much more perfect than a DJ would have. I highly recommend him.
The food, oh my gosh the food. I hardly had time to eat any, but from what I saw it was amazing! The brilliant Shanna from Out To Lunch Catering created an entirely vegan menu for us - even killer cupcakes! She also talked with the rental company (A&B Partytime Rentals) to make everything come together perfectly. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
One of the best ideas I had was to rent a photo-booth. It was so much fun and helped keep the guests entertained. Plus, it doubled as our favours. I put a box of props outside the booth to keep things interesting. I rented the photo-booth from Photobooth Vancouver and was really pleased with their service (I dealt with Angela and she was awesome). They were friendly and even let me design what would be printed on the bottom of each photo.
I handmade all of the flowers for the wedding using felt, wire, and buttons. It took a ton of work, even with a few helpers along the way, but it turned out great. My mom found white teapots at thrift stores to use as the base of the centerpieces, as well as doilies to go under them. Jarod's grandma bleached and starched all of them so they would be pretty. We also placed teacups full of candy around the centre pieces.
Incase my shoulders got chilly, I bought an adorable red shrug from Anthropologie. It has the cutest buttons on one shoulder.
I bought four beautiful purses off of Etsy. One for each of my bridesmaids as a thank you gift, and one for myself to keep my wedding day necessities in. They were made by the fabulous madebyhank.
I had Leigh-Ann of Freckled Nest make a custom guestbook for us. At the wedding I asked the guests to write their names on strips of paper and drop them in a jar, and then get their picture taken in the photo-booth. Later on I received a disk of all the pictures from the photo-booth, so I had them printed, matched up the names with the photo's and put them in the book! Phewph!
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