A Sun-Soaked Summer Wedding at Banff Springs in Canada
I think many engaged couples go into wedding planning with a vision of exactly how they want their wedding to be, even down to the details. That was not us! Ultimately, we came to think of our wedding as a version of us on our best day and that became our grounding vision. From there, we knew we wanted to get married in a place with a lot of natural beauty an intimate group of people we care about, AND a really killer band. The rest fell into place.
every so often, Tim and I will plan a full date day/night that is filled with all of our favorite activities and (most importantly!!) each other. We’ve come to refer to these date days as Jenna/Tim days and they are our absolute favorite days. For our proposal, Tim planned the ultimate Jenna/Tim day! It started with a New York Times crossword in bed and ended with dinner at our favorite restaurant and had a whole lot in between
The dress was from Sareh Nouri. It is their “Narcissus” gown with some customization to soften the sweetheart neckline and add buttons down the back. Some might argue too simple - but that has always been my style. I also loved my veil; it had a very delicate beaded border that was subtle but caught the light in a beautiful way! It was from Toni Federici
Tim’s tux is the shawl collar tux from Hugo Boss. It doesn’t have a style name that I know of. We got it about two weeks before the wedding 😂 he was originally planning to wear a tux he had already, but then we saw this one and both liked it
A champagne pass following the ceremony kicked off the wedding, with passed canapes and a full bar offering on the lawn overlooking the mountain views. Dinner was a three-course plated dinner served in the iconic Mt Stephen Hall. Signature cocktails included the Wildflower (the hotel's signature cocktail) for the groom, which is a purple gin-based martini. The bride opted for a fresh passion fruit Aperol spritz.
The overall feel of the florals is romantic and chic. A heavy focus on white and cream blooms with accents of greenery. The shape of the arrangements is organic yet classic. The two chandeliers in Mt Stephen Hall were covered in greenery still allowing the glow of the lights to shine through as the sun went down. Fall For Florals utilized classic wedding blooms like ranunculus, garden roses, sweet peas, and delphiniums. Pillar candles
The wedding cake was a simple and classic two-tier cake by Pretty Sweet Bakeshop in Calgary. Jenna and Tim opted for a maple-flavored cake as a nod to their Canadian wedding!
Songs - Tim is a huge music lover; he is constantly listening to music and loves to play guitar and record his own music in his free time. So, needless to say, he ran point on selecting the band for the wedding and all of the songs. Our first dance was “Quitting You” by the Arkells, who were a fitting choice as a very popular Canadian band and the first concert Tim and I ever went to together. But the highlight of our whole wedding weekend was Tim getting on stage with the band during our reception and performing “Sweet Child O’ Mine” on his guitar! The moment we started wedding planning (and probably even before that), he knew he wanted to play something for me. So I got to watch him practice it to perfection in the months leading up and then absolutely crush it on stage. It will always be an incredible highlight in our relationship and was quite the fun surprise for our guests!
Tim and I are so thrilled with how everything about our wedding turned out and so I need to mention that none of it (and I mean NONE!) would have been possible without our incredible wedding planner. Shout out to Moments by Madeleine! Only by having a wedding did I learn that wedding planning is probably one of the harder jobs out there - it requires huge levels of production (from strokes decision-making down to minute detail), but also involves incredibly heightened emotions of couples and their families. Madeleine made it all happen excellently and with the most positive attitude - I really can’t say enough great things about her work.
