Modern elegance defines Jill & Devon’s vineyard wedding at Cedar Creek Estate Winery, which radiated a warm Tuscan-like ambiance. Created Lovely Events threaded touches of refined whimsy throughout their ultra-contemporary aesthetic with pressed florals and a blush-mauve color palette. A New Leaf Floral Design created organic movement with fresh arrangements while Sugar Sweet Cake Co took the aesthetic to new heights! Nadia Hung Photography captured modern love at its finest, see all the details at the full gallery!
From the Bride… From our fairytale engagement during a pandemic to planning a full wedding during multiple lockdowns and regulation changes, one thing remained constant and that was us wanting to get married no matter what. When Devon proposed while in Kelowna we knew we wanted to get married outdoors on a vineyard. We had multiple wine tastings across the Okanagan and knew right away when we found the one. CedarCreek Estate winery had a romantic tuscany meets modern elegance that paired a 50 year history of growing wine at a modern estate.
From there Jill went into full on planning mode. I knew because of Covid-19 there were delays in productions and at manufacturers. At the time in Winnipeg, MB (where I live) we were in a lockdown and all stores were completely closed. I was not even allowed inside any stores to try on dresses and I only had about one week to find the dress of my dreams in order for it to arrive on time for the wedding.
When searching for a dress I came across Pronovias which had designs that represented class and a timeless elegance. The specific gown that I ultimately fell in love with was the Vincenta Atelier Pronovias Wedding gown. What attracted me to the dress is how the Vincenta had a delicate sheer lace tattoo across the front bodice and a low open back. It was contemporary yet had flairs of vintage. Now that I found the dress, the next challenge was getting it to my home town of Winnipeg, MB as the line wasn’t carried by any local retailers. Not only that, we were in the middle of a pandemic lockdown which resulted in the inability to physically try on dresses at a store. I found a local store Bliss Bridal Winnipeg who allowed me to take home similar dresses to the Pronovias style to at least get an idea of what the dress may look like. In the end, I ordered the dress without ever trying on the exact gown. It was a risk I was willing to take because I am a girl that knows what I want and was confident that this was my perfect dress. Once it arrived, Bliss Bridal was amazing to work with to ensure it was altered without affecting the dresses integrity. I can look back on it now and laugh but purchasing a dress sight-unseen in the middle of a pandemic was a tad stressful! What was I thinking!
After finding my dream dress I knew I wanted to match this romantic Tuscan feel and incorporate that into the wedding theme. From day one I had always envisioned a romantic vineyard wedding with a variety of different blush tones to create a romantic elegance. Getting married at one of Canada’s most luxurious vineyards, Cedar Creek Estate Winery in Kelowna, B.C, was the perfect match. With the help of @createdlovelyevents we had our design board to be soft blush tones with simplistic design that was classy yet not over the top.
Devon went to Harry Rosen and got a custom made navy suit embroidered with the name “bud fox” inside with a reference to his favourite movie, Wall Street. With that he paired it with a timeless Cartier wedding band.
Some details of the wedding that @createdlovelyevents and I planned out was having the florals to be pressed onto the name cards and table numbers in an acrylic glass stand done by @bowie.mae which had to be my favourite detail of it all. I really like how @createdlovelyevents made everything flow nicely and match up.
We continued the theme of pressed florals and matched that with our amazing 3 tier lemon curd cake done by @sugarsweetcakeco. She beautifully continued that aethestic and theme to tie everything together. We also had our seating chart made out of acrylic boxes with florals inside of the boxes piled up one ontop of another. We always wanted to be unique and to have something that we hadn’t been done before.
My bridesmaid wore the exact same dress and dress colour of a soft mauve tone to match similar colour palettes from the bouquet. We went with a long floor length dress with an open back.
With Covid restrictions in B.C keep changing we had to make many changes throughout the last few months leading up to the wedding. From going to have one big head table to all of a sudden having to make 3 separate head table as the restrictions were only 6 max per table. We kind of decided early on that we wanted to make it happen no matter what got thrown at us. Even if it was just us and our immediate familys there. We really wanted to focus on what matters most which was to get married and show our love for one another.
Every aspect of our special day and the leadup to that moment surrounded a theme of events that we ensured we will never forget. The proposal included a surprise helicopter ride which dropped us off on top of a mountain in Kelowna, British Columbia where Devon proposed to Jill with a Tiffany blue oval engagement ring that Devon had picked out himself for Jill. After a photographer took many photos of the newly engaged couple on top of the mountain, the helicopter came back to pick us up and then it took us directly to a luxury spa, Sparkling Hill Resort, for several days of relaxation and what inevitably led to building anticipation of what our Dream wedding would look like.
Exactly a year later, to the date, we were married at CedarCreek Estate Winery. Not only is CedarCreek one of the leading wineries in the Okanagan Valley – twice winning Canada’s “Winery of the Year” award, but it also holds a special place to Devon and Jill as a bright light on the CedarCreek property can be seen directly across the Okanagan Lake from the groom’s family home. The bright light is reminiscent to Devon’s favourite book, the Great Gatsby, where the light across the lake signified Gatsby’s love for Daisy.
While much of the design was contemporary, we wanted to ensure there was a bit of old school romance, which included the first look only happening when the bride turned the corner and began walking down the aisle during a 3-piece orchestra performance of ‘A Thousand Years – Christina Perri’ performed by Olivia Walsh Trio. The rest of the night was purely magical, from taking pictures with baby fawns grazing behind us in the vineyard, to having our first dance under the stars and fairy lights. Looking back a year ago when we first started imagining what the day would look like, the night went beyond our expectations and gave us memories we will cherish forever.
Grooms Favourite Moment: Seeing my Bride come down the aisle and look directly at me with a smile, I knew at that moment I was the luckiest man in the world to call her my wife. My advice to any future groom is to cherish the moments of surprise.
Brides Favourite Moment: My favourite part of the night was dancing under the string lights and the stars on the rose garden outside on the CedarCreek property. We had our first dances there because of the restrictions making us do our dances outdoors. But looking back it was something I will always remember. Being able to do my first dance with Devon while everyone surrounded us looking down at us on the lawn while we just locked eyes and were focused only on us in that moment. Or also being able to get that special moment with my Dad, doing our father daughter dance and then having my brother who flew in all the way from Denmark who joined my mom and we danced as a family and were kind of relieved that wow we really pulled this off and made this happen and what a beautiful day this all really was. It felt great to be surrounded by family and friends. I’ll cherish these moments forever.
Jill’s Advice: There is so much stress and pressure leading up to a wedding for a Bride, whether that’s how you’re going to look, planning the perfect details, getting organized or writing your own vows. We tend to put pressure on ourselves to be perfect in every way. What always kept me grounded was reminding myself that at it’s core this day was about my now husband (Devon) and myself. It was about making a promise and celebrating our love and future together. As soon as I would remind myself of that, everything else seemed to melt away. Just focus on that and everything else will work out!
From florist, A New Leaf Design… When meeting via zoom with Jill and Devon we came up with a few descriptive words for how they wanted their flowers to look… natural, romantic, modern, soft loose garden style. There were elements of all of these from the modern acrylic seating chart florals, the loose garden style bouquet with flowing silk ribbon Jill carried, the romantic flower petals they stood on when saying their vows, and the natural organic reception florals. I incorporated hydrangea and creme brûlée phlox from my garden (late summer is the best time for that), the coveted quicksand wedding rose and the soft paper like petals of the brown lisianthus to name a few of the blooms we used. A colour palette of ivory, blush and mauve made for a perfect end of summer wedding.
Photography: Nadia Hung Photography | Event Design: Created Lovely Events | Floral Design: A New Leaf Floral Design | Reception Venue: Cedar Creek Winery