It’s pretty amazing (+ romantic) to think you could spend four entire years with your soulmate and not even know it.  Four years at basketball games, field meets and passing casually in the hall.  That’s exactly the story these two sweeties share, having attended the same high school and meeting “officially” only after graduation.  It’s too cute for words, no?  And to celebrate their upcoming nuptials, they enlisted Kim James Photography to capture every last moment of engagement bliss in the world’s most stylish e-session. (Seriously.)  Click here for sooo much more.

 

From Kim James Photography… It was a chilly day in February when I met Megan and Andreas for their Engagement Session. We had a rare sunny winter day in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which made for a beautiful shoot. If you didn’t look closely you might have thought these were taken during the summer. Megan and Andreas looked gorgeous and remained so happy throughout the shoot despite the very cold temperature. You can truly feel the love these two have each other just from the photos.

Megan and Andreas attended the same high school, but didn’t really come to know each other until after graduation. They have been dating for the past few years and will be getting married this upcoming July. I have the honour of shooting their wedding. Can’t wait!

Photography: Kim James Photography | Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Garden party chic with the prettiest pops of color, this next little number from Jades Photography will simply make you smile. It’s impossible not to when uncovering all the layers of pretty waiting for you in this gallery. With its sweet DIY touches, sweet florals from Fresh View Events and a couple so darling you just want to hug them, how could you not grin from ear to ear? See it all here.

 

From the Bride… I always said our wedding style was going to be “garden party chic”. We wanted our wedding to be fun and casual, but still elegant. I’m a huge fan of colour so I knew right away that bright colours would be an important element in our day and I was obsessed with the ombre trend. I didn’t want everything to be too matching so we didn’t have specific “wedding colours”, but the recurring colours running throughout many of our design elements were navy and warm brights. My love of bright reds, fuschias, corals, oranges and pinks shone through from the beginning to the end in the men’s ties, the bridemaids’ shoes and the eye-catching bouquets–not to mention the show-stopping ombre dahlia curtain that provided the perfect backdrop for our heartfelt vows.

We decided early on that the most important elements to us were food and drink, and DIY décor. Funnily enough, I didn’t think flowers were too important to me, but looking back, the beautiful floral elements throughout were some of my favorite touches.

We did quite a few DIY projects for our wedding. My fiancé, sister, mom and mother-in-law were huge helps throughout the year.  My favorite was my “something blue” cross-stitch I made and sewed into the hem of my wedding gown with my fiance’s and my initials, and our wedding date. We made a ton of bright paper & ribbon signage, the dinner/drink/dessert menus, our table name flags, our escort cards all assembled on spray-painted gold frames, our “wish tree” which acted as our guest book, over 150 jars of homemade raspberry jam with cute fabric toppers, little washi-tape flags to go in our signature cocktails, great “hooray” and “thank you” banners for use in our photographs, and over 120 collected bottles, jars and vases for our mish-mash assortment of bud vases on every surface.

In the end, after all the planning, crafting, blog-reading and misty-eyed dreaming about how our day would turn out, our wedding day was the best day. We specifically had our celebrant make us take a moment to look out over the guests assembled and really reflect on those who were there for us, with us, to support us. That was a special moment, for sure. Thanks to our amazing vendors, the rest of the day fell into place as well, and my new husband and I were able to enjoy the most special day, filled with laughter and fun and love. The pictures tell the story… everyone is happy and smiling. That is what I remember when I think back to our wedding day.

Wedding Photography: Jades Photography | Assistant Photographer:  Chelsea Jean Photography | Ceremony Venue: Villa Marco Polo in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | Reception Venue: Victoria Golf Club in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | Event Planning: Blue Lily Events | Floral Design: Fresh View Events | Cinematography: Tom Wildey | Wedding Cake: Ooh La La Cupcakes | Wedding Invitations: Emily Armstrong from Starling Memory Design  | Wedding Dress: Ladybelle Bridal | Bride’s Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Makeup: Carly Flint

Lovely. Simply lovely. There is just no other way to describe this pretty-fest captured by Adrian Photography. With the most perfect of handcrafted details dancing alongside the most darling of couples, you would be hard pressed not to fall in love with every last image sitting pretty in this gallery. Which is precisely how I plan to spend the next few hours, care to join me?

 

From the Bride… When Ben and I sat down to conceptualize our wedding day, our intention was to host a weekend that was full of personalized, handcrafted details. We wanted to express our gratitude and love for those who traveled to celebrate with us and to commemorate our vows with one fantastic party.

As a part-time wedding planner and designer, I’m exposed to a plethora of amazing ideas on a daily basis. I felt it was important to pull from these inspirations; however, I wanted to ensure our wedding was a true depiction of us and not a carbon copy of another wedding. After tossing around a number of stylistic ideas, Ben and I quickly settled on our interpretation of a modern beach party. This was inspired by beautiful Okanagan Lake, the backdrop of our wedding day. We used a neutral palette, lots of greenery, and the occasional pops of gold and coral to tie in the landscape of BC’s wine country. Key DIY projects such as the (Jordan Ferney-inspired) marquee “Love” sign that sat in front of the head table, the string globes that hung over the dance floor, and the fabric backdrop photo booth created a fun and relaxed atmosphere for our guests to enjoy themselves and dance all night.

Perhaps the best testament to our months of planning was the reactions we received from our guests. In the weeks since our wedding, we’ve had friends and family share that they felt our wedding was the perfect reflection of “us” and that they could see Ben + Courtney in each hand-assembled detail. We couldn’t ask for a better compliment or a more perfect day.

Wedding Photography: Adrian Photography | Wedding Venue: Manteo Resort in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada | Officiant: Wayne Laurie | Wedding Design: C Star Events | Floral Design: Creations by Mom & Me | Catering:  Manteo Resort | DJ: DJ Super Dave | Wedding Invitations: Jessica Luch | Letterpress Printing: Modus | Wedding Dress + Shoes: J.Crew | Wedding Rings: 5th Avenue Jewelers | Bride’s Bracelete: Odette New York | Bride’s Sash: Amie Noel Designs |  Hair: Linda Sarchet | Makeup: Natalie Davis