From Inspiration to Reality…
Some of you might remember this gorgeous inspiration board that was done by one of our readers, Jennifer, for a past Inspiration Board Contest…
Well lucky for us, Jennifer sent me a picture of her real life wedding board. And, it is insanely close to her the one she designed for inspiration. Just goes to show how very helpful these boards are in pulling all of your many loves, into one cohesive look and style!
Here is Jennifer’s real wedding…
How beautiful is this wedding??? Please look at those gorgeous centerpieces. And the color palette…is completely stunning!Jennifer has been sweet enough to share with us the elements that really made her wedding unique. Ten details that made their affair so special.
From Jennifer…
It was on a Sunday afternoon! We wanted our wedding to have a laid back, jazzy, breezy feeling… what better way to do that then have it on a summer Sunday afternoon when the atmosphere is relaxed and everyone is in a good mood.
The all in one venue, Hart House at the University of Toronto. This gothic building in the middle of downtown Toronto is truly a hidden gem. It has beautiful architecture, an enclosed courtyard for the ceremony, a tent perfect for the cocktail hour, and stunning rooms indoors for the reception.
The florals. This is one area where we truly let the professional have free reign. We picked our florist (www.freshflorals.com) as his work was extremely creative and we knew he could capture the architectural + Asian + contemporary look we were going for. We came up with some broad ideas together, like the “rolling waves of grasses and white flowers” scheme for the centrepieces, but really let our florist push the limit, even creating a huge floral boa for the 14’ modernist metal statue at the ceremony site.
Moo favour tags. I’ve used the moo (www.moo.com) mini cards before for my business cards and thought they would be perfect to use as tags for our favours. I uploaded 200 different photos of our childhood, proms, families etc. and on the back added a message that said Thank You in both English and Taglog (my native Filipino language).
My home-dyed blue crinoline – a very easy and fun idea I found on the Knot message boards.
The bamboo arch, fashioned out of 3 bamboo ladders, 1000 capiz shells, and fishing wire was a time consuming DIY project. It turned out great though and helped add an Asian flair to the otherwise “Hogwarts-esque” reception room.
Music music everywhere! Our wedding was organized like three “Acts” of a play so we wanted the appropriate soundtrack for each Act. For the ceremony, we had a string trio who played both classical pieces like Pachabel’s Canon and contemporary music like “If You Leave” from the movie Pretty In Pink. The next Act was the cocktail hour where we had two Filipino guitarists play a mix of English and Filipino songs. Finally, the reception had a jazz trio who kept the event hopping with the sounds of Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, and other standards.
The Veil & Cord ceremony. In traditional Spanish, Mexican, and Filipino wedding ceremonies, sponsors (typically married relatives of the couple) place a veil and cord on the shoulders of the bride and groom. The veil symbolizes the care and protection of one another and the cord symbolizes the infinite bond between the couple. We explained the significance of the ceremony in our program for those guests not familiar with it.
Oshibori are wet hand towels served hot or cold and are typically used in Japanese restaurants. Since we were having an outdoor ceremony, I thought they would be a little surprise for my guests – a great way to refresh before they headed over to the tent for cocktails. I ordered mine in a peach-mango scent from www.theoshiboricompany.com and donated the towels to a shelter afterwards.
My husband Sean and I decided to put our creative talents to good use and created a “card house”. Using real balsa wood, we created a modernist house complete with plexiglass walls, miniature staircase, cantilevered roof, and of course a slot for the cards from our guests.
both look stunning. congratulations to jennifer for pulling it off! btw, does anyone know where her shoes are from - they're exactly what i'm looking for.
Love the centerpieces. I'd love to see a bigger photo. What kind of flowers did she use?
Gorgeous!!! She looks like she used cymbidium orchids (the green ones), but I can't tell what the white ones are because the pictures aren't large enough. I agree with the previous post, those shoes are great and they are something I have also been looking for.
love her real wedding even more than her inspiration board - congratulations!
Thanks for the comments ladies!
Deanna - the shoes were from www.cutesyshoes.com
Jen - the centrepieces were a mix of white dahlias, spray roses, and hydrangeas, in a series of bud vases. The vases had a tai leaf wrapped inside and the arrangements were connected by long blades of steel grass. Some of the grasses actually had a single green mini mum (you can see one in the menu photo) pierced on the end of the blade. Labour intesive but the effect was beautiful!
Jennifer, did you get married at Hart House? I'm booked there for next fall! Did you have a good experience with the venue?
thanks so much for the shoe info jennifer!
Congratulations Jennifer! What a beautiful wedding!
What an incredible wedding! Do you have more pics? I'd love to see a shot of the arch and the card house (sounds too cute for words). :) Love the Filipino touches woven throughout.
Trish, you can see the card house here:
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And the arch here:
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I think I want to live in your card house! lol. And the arch is awesome, kudos to you for having the patience to DIY it. :)
Where did you get that picture in your inspiration board of that dress? It is sooo pretty.