It’s officially November and Ilo Photo is presenting us with something to fall for. This wholesome home made wedding was dreamed up by the bride who deserves a round of applause for balancing rustic elements with perfect feminine touches. From the happy hues in The Flower Shed arrangements to unexpected touches of candy and lemons, this wedding is sure to warm your heart. Cozy up with some cider and enjoy the full gallery here.
Click here for the FULL wedding!
From the Bride… I’d like to say that the inspiration for the wedding came from the love shared between Steve and I, but that would be lying. The inspiration came from, yes, of course, the dress! Once I saw my dress while doing some late-night online shopping, I knew a rustic-romantic theme was what I was going for. Since the venue had already been booked, I was lucky that its hardwood floors, log beams and cozy warm feel captured the look I was trying to create. Then the decorating began! Basically the moment the ring hit my finger, I began planning this portion of the wedding and knew pretty much instantly that the color scheme would be gray and yellow. Because the colors weren’t girlie, it was easy to get Steve on board with them. Mason jars and burlap were a necessity, and for the romantic side, lace, tons of candlelight and long silk tablecloths were a must. To bring in the yellow, it was my wonderful maid of honor who suggested the fresh, bright look of lemons for the centerpieces, which worked out perfectly and cheaply! And yes, I did skip using a decorator and used my mom’s great decorating sense instead. I don’t know that this saved that much money in the end, but it definitely made it more personalized.
Steve and I both decided very early on that we wanted to have a more casual look to the wedding since neither of us are very fancy people. So it was no surprise that the groom and groomsmen sported gray Chuck Taylors down the aisle, which turned out to be one of my favorite touches of the wedding, and the groomsmen appreciated the comfort they supplied for the day. Of course I must talk about one of the most important details for the day and one which I reserved a large portion of the budget for: photography! We cannot say enough about Ilo Photo. This couple’s photography team captured our wedding in a way we would have never expected, but which turned out to be exactly what we wanted. I thank them for encouraging us to do the “first look” photos and recommend that everyone do this. I was so special to share that moment with close friends and family. It took the pressure off the walk down the aisle without taking away from the moment.
Another thing we did that I never thought we would do was write or own vows, and wow, was I glad we did. It made the ceremony far more personal, and it was exciting to hear what we had secretly written about each other. After the ceremony, we enjoyed an amazing dinner by This Old Barn while being entertained by our best man’s and maid of honor’s speeches and a wonderful, tear-jerking slide show put together by my mom. We continued on into the night, snacking from the candy bar, sipping drinks out of mason jars and dancing our hearts out the DJ genius that is Stellar Productions. It really was the most amazing day and fulfilled every dream I had since I was a little girl, and better yet, I get to keep my prince at the end.
Wedding Photography: Ilo Photo / Wedding Venue: Chippewa Park in Thunder Bay, Ontario / Floral Design: The Flower Shed / Catering: This Old Barn / Bartenders: StarTenders / Music: Stellar Music Productions / Reception Rentals: A to Z Rentals / Wedding Dress: Wtoo “Jasmine” / Salon: Karma Style / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J.Crew / Men’s Attire: J.B. Evans