Colorful Mid-Summer Wedding in British Columbia
Nothing speaks to me quite like color and I'm pretty sure this Bride and Groom are on the same page. Their mid-summer wedding is filled to the brim with colorful florals by Clare Day Flowers, Bridesmaids in bright hues and overall, a day beautifully captured by Stephanie Koo Photography. See even more right here in the full gallery.
From the Bride... Our mid-summer fairytale themed wedding took place on August 10th, 2013, on a beautiful sunny day in Victoria, British Columbia.
On the morning of the big day, the bridesmaids and I gathered in the stunning Dream Suite located at the Inn at Laurel Point. With its expansive deck overlooking the Victoria Harbour, this suite was the perfect location to enjoy a relaxing morning of pampering courtesy of Sharon Rai's Hair & Makeup Artistry. We all wore colorful, matching handmade silk cotton robes from India, which made for wonderful photographs on the terrace.
Our flower girls had their hair adorned with wreaths of vine, pale roses and wispy tendrils, designed by Clare Day Flowers. They wore matching pink dresses and in the morning before the wedding, I painted their little toenails light pink. The bridesmaids wore four different shades of long, flowing dresses in various shades of pink, blush and coral, and their accessories were mixed to enhance their individual dresses and features. They also each wore bracelets from Tiffany & Co., as their gift for being my bridesmaids. Their bouquets consisted of a beautiful array of roses in the same soft, summery shades as their dresses. I chose my mother as my Maid of Honor, which was a very special component to the day. We have always been so close and it only seemed fitting that she stand beside me on such a memorable day.
The groom and the groomsmen wore gray suits from Vera Wang and simple yet elegant cream rose boutonnieres. Our ring bearer wore a mini version of the same boutonniere.
In my hair I wore a decorative comb made up of hundreds of crystals. I also wore crystal drop earrings and a crystal drop necklace by Adriana Orsini and a one-of-a-kind crystal bracelet. My dress, fit for a princess with its embellished bodice and full tulle skirt, was by Monique Lhuillier, purchased at Bisou Bridal in Vancouver, B.C. My shoes were sparkly white peep-toe Jimmy Choos and to complete my wedding day look, I wore a silk tulle cathedral length veil by Bisou Bridal.
The ceremony took place at the First Metropolitan United Church. The beautiful old church organ takes center stage in this quaint yet beautiful cathedral-style venue. The church pews were decorated with floral aisle markers and the aisle was sprinkled with rose petals in shades of pinks and cream. Following the ceremony, guests were given paper cones full of rose petals to shower us as we came down the church steps outside. I handmade the paper cones from pages taken from vintage fairytale books, such as Cinderella, Beauty & the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, and more.
Our wedding portraits were taken in the Japanese Gardens located at the Inn at Laurel Point. These meticulously maintained gardens are located against the backdrop of the Harbour and include a reflection pond, waterfall, and gorgeous trees, shrubs and flowers in every direction. This stunning location provided a romantic setting for our photographs that appeared straight from the pages of a fairytale.
The reception took place at the historic Union Club of British Columbia, a French Renaissance style building located at the Inner Harbour waterfront. Gold chiavari chairs accented the heritage dining room with its plentiful windows, ornate ceiling and large marble fireplaces flanking both sides of the room. Vines and flowers were draped along the mantles of the fireplaces and soft pink uplighting was strategically placed throughout the room to enhance the romantic candlelight effect.
The tables were adorned with white Bellagio design linens and decorated with lush, vibrant floral arrangements consisting of roses, vine and raspberry foliage; additionally, the guest tables were illuminated with plenty of pink mercury glass candle holders in various sizes, and the head table with an array of crystal taper candle holders that sparkled in the candlelight. Pocket-folded napkins held homemade menus on sparkly white paper with a pink rose motif; the place-cards were also homemade, with each guest's name accented with a glittery butterfly in shades of either silver, pink or gold. The table names were on display in ornate silver and crystal frames and took their inspiration from fairytale themes such as "Prince Charming's Castle," "A Kingdom Far, Far Away," "Cinderella's Coach," etc.
The wedding cake, made by Tiers of Joy, was four tiers high and was decorated with delicate handmade cream flowers with silver leaves, placed to look as if they were cascading down from the top of the cake. At the top of the cake sat a silver and white castle. At the left side of the base of the cake was a silver and crystal Cinderella carriage frame engraved with the words "The Shoe Fit" and holding a photograph from our engagement session. At the right side of the base of the cake was a floral arrangement held in a hand-painted sparkly silver milk glass shoe, as an homage to Cinderella's glass slipper, and with a red-sole bottom as a wink to Christian Louboutin.
A candy buffet with candy in shades of pinks and corals was on display in a variety of glass apothecary jars with homemade labels attached with ribbon printed with the words "and they lived happily ever after..." in gold script. An ornate frame held a poem that encouraged guests to help themselves to bags full of candy as a thank-you for attending our wedding. The candy bags were stamped in pink ink with the words "happily ever after."
The gift/guestbook table had an ornate frame with a sign that said "be our guest," inspired by Beauty & the Beast, encouraging guests to sign our guestbook. The card-box was entirely homemade and consisted of stacked books that were hollowed out and painted pink to match the color scheme. The edging of the books was decorated with pink pearls and the opening at the top with pages taken from the same fairytale books from which the petal toss cones were made. A single coral rose was placed on display inside a glass cloche as a further homage to Beauty & the Beast and our overall fairytale wedding theme. The linens for the gift/guestbook table, candy buffet table and cake table were lovingly sewn by my grandmother out of sparkly pinkish/gold material, which I thought was a very thoughtful, personal touch to the decor.
We shared our first dance as husband and wife to the song "Some Day My Prince Will Come" and at the end of the night, we experienced a sparkler-lit farewell from our guests as we rode off into the night in a horse-drawn carriage - the perfect end to our fairytale wedding.
I spent many months putting together all the details of our wedding day, with a large part of the inspiration derived simply from endless daydreaming and envisioning our version of the perfect day. With our colors, I knew that I wanted a summery but still elegant and feminine palette to work with, and the pinks, blushes and corals suited my needs perfectly. For the fairytale theme, my husband has always been my prince charming and it seemed very fitting of us - and especially my own personality - to embrace a princess-style wedding, but I wanted to execute it in a way that showed attention to the details of the theme, but still maintained a sense of sophistication without any one element being 'overdone.' Since I worked on many of the detailed projects myself, we were able to put more money into other areas of the wedding, such as serving our guests an amazing meal, giving our wedding party extra special thank-you gifts, and hiring an exceptionally talented photographer (Stephanie Koo) to capture the day for us. We also had the pleasure of working with Paper Heart Films to capture our day on video.
We were very grateful that everything came together as it did for our wedding and it truly was our version of a perfect, fairytale day. Following the wedding, we spent a beautiful honeymoon in Lake Como, Italy, a gift from my mother, and now we are enjoying our first year of marriage as we live "happily ever after."
On the morning of the big day, the bridesmaids and I gathered in the stunning Dream Suite located at the Inn at Laurel Point. With its expansive deck overlooking the Victoria Harbour, this suite was the perfect location to enjoy a relaxing morning of pampering courtesy of Sharon Rai's Hair & Makeup Artistry. We all wore colorful, matching handmade silk cotton robes from India, which made for wonderful photographs on the terrace.
Our flower girls had their hair adorned with wreaths of vine, pale roses and wispy tendrils, designed by Clare Day Flowers. They wore matching pink dresses and in the morning before the wedding, I painted their little toenails light pink. The bridesmaids wore four different shades of long, flowing dresses in various shades of pink, blush and coral, and their accessories were mixed to enhance their individual dresses and features. They also each wore bracelets from Tiffany & Co., as their gift for being my bridesmaids. Their bouquets consisted of a beautiful array of roses in the same soft, summery shades as their dresses. I chose my mother as my Maid of Honor, which was a very special component to the day. We have always been so close and it only seemed fitting that she stand beside me on such a memorable day.
The groom and the groomsmen wore gray suits from Vera Wang and simple yet elegant cream rose boutonnieres. Our ring bearer wore a mini version of the same boutonniere.
In my hair I wore a decorative comb made up of hundreds of crystals. I also wore crystal drop earrings and a crystal drop necklace by Adriana Orsini and a one-of-a-kind crystal bracelet. My dress, fit for a princess with its embellished bodice and full tulle skirt, was by Monique Lhuillier, purchased at Bisou Bridal in Vancouver, B.C. My shoes were sparkly white peep-toe Jimmy Choos and to complete my wedding day look, I wore a silk tulle cathedral length veil by Bisou Bridal.
The ceremony took place at the First Metropolitan United Church. The beautiful old church organ takes center stage in this quaint yet beautiful cathedral-style venue. The church pews were decorated with floral aisle markers and the aisle was sprinkled with rose petals in shades of pinks and cream. Following the ceremony, guests were given paper cones full of rose petals to shower us as we came down the church steps outside. I handmade the paper cones from pages taken from vintage fairytale books, such as Cinderella, Beauty & the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, and more.
Our wedding portraits were taken in the Japanese Gardens located at the Inn at Laurel Point. These meticulously maintained gardens are located against the backdrop of the Harbour and include a reflection pond, waterfall, and gorgeous trees, shrubs and flowers in every direction. This stunning location provided a romantic setting for our photographs that appeared straight from the pages of a fairytale.
The reception took place at the historic Union Club of British Columbia, a French Renaissance style building located at the Inner Harbour waterfront. Gold chiavari chairs accented the heritage dining room with its plentiful windows, ornate ceiling and large marble fireplaces flanking both sides of the room. Vines and flowers were draped along the mantles of the fireplaces and soft pink uplighting was strategically placed throughout the room to enhance the romantic candlelight effect.
The tables were adorned with white Bellagio design linens and decorated with lush, vibrant floral arrangements consisting of roses, vine and raspberry foliage; additionally, the guest tables were illuminated with plenty of pink mercury glass candle holders in various sizes, and the head table with an array of crystal taper candle holders that sparkled in the candlelight. Pocket-folded napkins held homemade menus on sparkly white paper with a pink rose motif; the place-cards were also homemade, with each guest's name accented with a glittery butterfly in shades of either silver, pink or gold. The table names were on display in ornate silver and crystal frames and took their inspiration from fairytale themes such as "Prince Charming's Castle," "A Kingdom Far, Far Away," "Cinderella's Coach," etc.
The wedding cake, made by Tiers of Joy, was four tiers high and was decorated with delicate handmade cream flowers with silver leaves, placed to look as if they were cascading down from the top of the cake. At the top of the cake sat a silver and white castle. At the left side of the base of the cake was a silver and crystal Cinderella carriage frame engraved with the words "The Shoe Fit" and holding a photograph from our engagement session. At the right side of the base of the cake was a floral arrangement held in a hand-painted sparkly silver milk glass shoe, as an homage to Cinderella's glass slipper, and with a red-sole bottom as a wink to Christian Louboutin.
A candy buffet with candy in shades of pinks and corals was on display in a variety of glass apothecary jars with homemade labels attached with ribbon printed with the words "and they lived happily ever after..." in gold script. An ornate frame held a poem that encouraged guests to help themselves to bags full of candy as a thank-you for attending our wedding. The candy bags were stamped in pink ink with the words "happily ever after."
The gift/guestbook table had an ornate frame with a sign that said "be our guest," inspired by Beauty & the Beast, encouraging guests to sign our guestbook. The card-box was entirely homemade and consisted of stacked books that were hollowed out and painted pink to match the color scheme. The edging of the books was decorated with pink pearls and the opening at the top with pages taken from the same fairytale books from which the petal toss cones were made. A single coral rose was placed on display inside a glass cloche as a further homage to Beauty & the Beast and our overall fairytale wedding theme. The linens for the gift/guestbook table, candy buffet table and cake table were lovingly sewn by my grandmother out of sparkly pinkish/gold material, which I thought was a very thoughtful, personal touch to the decor.
We shared our first dance as husband and wife to the song "Some Day My Prince Will Come" and at the end of the night, we experienced a sparkler-lit farewell from our guests as we rode off into the night in a horse-drawn carriage - the perfect end to our fairytale wedding.
I spent many months putting together all the details of our wedding day, with a large part of the inspiration derived simply from endless daydreaming and envisioning our version of the perfect day. With our colors, I knew that I wanted a summery but still elegant and feminine palette to work with, and the pinks, blushes and corals suited my needs perfectly. For the fairytale theme, my husband has always been my prince charming and it seemed very fitting of us - and especially my own personality - to embrace a princess-style wedding, but I wanted to execute it in a way that showed attention to the details of the theme, but still maintained a sense of sophistication without any one element being 'overdone.' Since I worked on many of the detailed projects myself, we were able to put more money into other areas of the wedding, such as serving our guests an amazing meal, giving our wedding party extra special thank-you gifts, and hiring an exceptionally talented photographer (Stephanie Koo) to capture the day for us. We also had the pleasure of working with Paper Heart Films to capture our day on video.
We were very grateful that everything came together as it did for our wedding and it truly was our version of a perfect, fairytale day. Following the wedding, we spent a beautiful honeymoon in Lake Como, Italy, a gift from my mother, and now we are enjoying our first year of marriage as we live "happily ever after."