Wedding Planner Weds at National Art Centre
What happens when a wedding planner ties the knot? Fiercely fabulous things, my dears. Just take Toast Special Events' own art museum "I do." It's filled to the gills with classic black and white style, and thank to Union Eleven + Cooper Street we get to swoon every. last. bit. Happy Tuesday!
From the Bride (Toast Special Events)... I stopped counting after I reached 200 weddings. And after living vicariously through my clients for years, this wedding planner was now getting married! But what did this all mean to me? Would I feel like a bride on my wedding day? Or would it be another day at work.
So I decided to throw caution to the wind and plan a celebration, a family reunion where everyone would feel 20 on the dance floor again. My fiancé and I tossed anything traditional out the window and began to plan our Friday wedding around the “guest experience”. The scene would be set with a ceremony across the street from my parent’s country estate and a reception at the National Art Center in a gorgeous white tent on the Roof Top Terrace accompanied with views of the Chateau Laurier, Parliament Hill and historic Train Station.
We had a champagne hour and a duet of Opera Singers to compliment the ceremony, a European Cigar Lounge with a late-night Cigar & Liquor Pairing, an A La Minute Espresso Bar with a cute Barista, custom tuxedo attire for the reception servers, a Montreal Entertainer/DJ with a lighting crew and dancers; ending the weekend with a traditional Croatian Pig Roast. This left us with a weekend festival of events and a 34 page itinerary gushing with details about the details.
Being untraditional, Adam and I had a first look before the ceremony and took a few private moments to sign the register with our closest friends and family. This gave us the chance for the nervous excitement to pass so that we could truly relax and enjoy our ceremony.
Believe it or not, our only traditional aspect; the receiving line, was the most emotional part of the day. I think I cried more then, than during our ceremony. To see everyone was the most humbling experience, knowing all these people were here just for us and no other reason.
It all went so fast, it felt like a dream and before I knew it there I was waiting behind closed doors with my new husband for our grand entrance. I gave our DJ/MC carte blanche to do whatever he wanted, and boy what a grand entrance it was! Every single one of our guests was on the dance floor, all 160 pairs of hands high in the air all hyped up and ready for us to make our way onto the dance floor. One guest turned to her partner and said “OMG are we in the Great Gatsby movie?!?!?”. And the music didn’t stop. We danced between each dinner course and through the evening. That’s right, no speeches! Just a simple brief thank you and acknowledgement of our well-travelled European guests.
That September day couldn’t have been more perfect. I remember telling myself over and over again, “Elise, you need to live in the moment”. Since my wedding, there hasn’t been a day that goes by where I haven’t looked back on our wedding day. All the stars aligned and those moments left me with memories to last me a lifetime.
So I decided to throw caution to the wind and plan a celebration, a family reunion where everyone would feel 20 on the dance floor again. My fiancé and I tossed anything traditional out the window and began to plan our Friday wedding around the “guest experience”. The scene would be set with a ceremony across the street from my parent’s country estate and a reception at the National Art Center in a gorgeous white tent on the Roof Top Terrace accompanied with views of the Chateau Laurier, Parliament Hill and historic Train Station.
We had a champagne hour and a duet of Opera Singers to compliment the ceremony, a European Cigar Lounge with a late-night Cigar & Liquor Pairing, an A La Minute Espresso Bar with a cute Barista, custom tuxedo attire for the reception servers, a Montreal Entertainer/DJ with a lighting crew and dancers; ending the weekend with a traditional Croatian Pig Roast. This left us with a weekend festival of events and a 34 page itinerary gushing with details about the details.
Being untraditional, Adam and I had a first look before the ceremony and took a few private moments to sign the register with our closest friends and family. This gave us the chance for the nervous excitement to pass so that we could truly relax and enjoy our ceremony.
Believe it or not, our only traditional aspect; the receiving line, was the most emotional part of the day. I think I cried more then, than during our ceremony. To see everyone was the most humbling experience, knowing all these people were here just for us and no other reason.
It all went so fast, it felt like a dream and before I knew it there I was waiting behind closed doors with my new husband for our grand entrance. I gave our DJ/MC carte blanche to do whatever he wanted, and boy what a grand entrance it was! Every single one of our guests was on the dance floor, all 160 pairs of hands high in the air all hyped up and ready for us to make our way onto the dance floor. One guest turned to her partner and said “OMG are we in the Great Gatsby movie?!?!?”. And the music didn’t stop. We danced between each dinner course and through the evening. That’s right, no speeches! Just a simple brief thank you and acknowledgement of our well-travelled European guests.
That September day couldn’t have been more perfect. I remember telling myself over and over again, “Elise, you need to live in the moment”. Since my wedding, there hasn’t been a day that goes by where I haven’t looked back on our wedding day. All the stars aligned and those moments left me with memories to last me a lifetime.