Flowers
I wanted the florals to feel garden party-esque. I incorporated a lot of greenery and kept the colour palette fairly neutral with elegant white and blush tones. All of the various wedding spaces were tied together with the consistency in the floral arrangements – all accented by gold details and candles.
The Wedding Party Fashion
I wanted the bridesmaid dresses to exude the same elegance, modernity and simplicity as my wedding dress. It just so happened that
Monique Lhullier also designs some beautiful bridesmaid dresses. I gave my bridesmaids 3 style options and 3 color options, I really wanted the bridesmaids to love what they were wearing. I loved the mismatched style, but everything felt pulled together with the repetition of the same coluors and fabrics. The groomsmen opted for a classic black tuxedo with a shawl lapel, matching the grooms attire.
Ceremony
The ceremony was very emotional and personal, there wasn’t a dry eye in the audience. We opted to write our own vows, because we wanted to speak from the heart to one another, which was extremely special and meaningful to both of us. The two readings we chose “Blessings for a Marriage” and “The Art of Marriage” really spoke to us and our values. We realize that marriage is hard work and requires sacrifice and compromise. We wanted the readings to speak to both the work and rewards of marriage, acknowledging that we are committing ourselves to working hard to build a happy and healthy marriage.
Entertainment
The wedding entertainment began with a string quartet for the wedding ceremony. I loved the classical element of having a live string quartet and ended up putting a personal touch on the music. The quartet learned how to play the song Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros, which I walked down the aisle to. During the cocktail hour, we had an amazing guitar duo that played a mix of songs – Italian, latin and acoustic versions of classic rock and pop songs. They were the hit of the party! They continued to play throughout the dinner, which really helped created an amazing, intimate ambiance.
Food
We wanted the wedding food to feel authentically Tuscan. Simplistic courses where the fresh, seasonal ingredients became the star of the show. We offered a risotto course to start and then gave guests the choice of two pasta dishes and two main courses. The cocktail hour was filled with an incredible spread of Tuscan meats and cheeses and a selection of canapes. Our signature cocktails included the classic Aperol Spritz and Negroni. For the wedding cake, we opted for a traditional Millefoglie Italian wedding cake with fresh berries. The cake was light, fresh and handmade by the Villa’s chef Mario right before we cut it.
Photographer
Photography was one of my most important decisions when it came to my wedding planning experience. It was extremely important to me to be able to look back at our wedding photos and have them evoke a feeling that would transport me back to each moment captured. I wanted to find a photographer that could successfully mix the fine art and documentarian style. I can’t say enough about our photographer
Jason Harris. He is so exceptionally talented at capturing natural, intimate moments that tell a multi-dimensional story. He has such a relaxed approach, yet he effortlessly captures such incredible, candid, personal moments. His approach put everyone at ease, which really allowed everyone to put their authentic selves forward. We trusted him fully to capture the essence of our wedding without a lot of disruption or interruption for staged photography and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the results. Our friends and family all agree that the photos captured bring us all back to the moments we shared and the love and joy we experienced. It’s exactly what we wanted.
Videographer
I immediately fell in love with
Angelo’s work when I came across his website. His emotional storytelling and cinematography style moved me, and I knew he would do an incredible job capturing and telling the story of our wedding. He was such a pleasure to work with on the day and his work perfectly captured the essence and intense emotion of our wedding on film. It was amazing to see his point of view come together in even just a short 3-minute video. Anecdotally, so many friends reached out to say how incredibly moving his film was – random co-workers of our friends got teary eyed and even the in-laws of my maid of honor chimed in on how beautiful his wedding film was.
Advice
My biggest piece of advice is to truly not sweat the small stuff. It’s tough to get out of the weeds of wedding planning, especially if you have a type A personality, however your wedding experience is truly made by the friends and family who partake in your special day and of course the food, drinks and dance party. No one will notice or think about the granular details, except for you!
My second piece of advice is don’t compromise your vision. This is truly YOUR day. Too many times during the planning process I was considering the opinion of others and allowing that to influence my vision. Be considerate, but be authentic to yourself and what you want. You only get to have your wedding day once. I have no regrets because I truly look back on my wedding and can say this is exactly what I wanted.
{Watch the Film}