As a wedding photographer, this gorgeous Bride has seen her fair share of weddings and had specific ideas about how to make her own day as perfect as could be. And with the help of friends and family, it was. From having her French grandmothers walk down the aisle as flower girls to the surprise tango first dance, this wedding is full of special moments you won’t want to miss. See each and every one, captured by Richelle Hunter Photography and Isabelle Courville, in The Vault!
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From The Bride…Simon and I met through a mutual friend from Colombia, who met Simon in Quebec, and me, at a bus stop in Peru! She brought us together during a night out with friends, and we haven’t been apart since! We were friends for six months when we finally realized that we were made for each other. And three years later, on a wonderful trip to California, Simon proposed to me during a photo session on a beautiful beach in Santa Barbara.
We started planning our wedding with the valued help of our wedding planner and dear friend Katayoun of Unikevent, who also ensured that the wedding day events ran smoothly. She was wonderful throughout the adventure and allowed us to focus on what was most important: enjoying our guests and every moment of that beautiful day.
As wedding photographer, I had lots of ideas for our own day, and it was a lot of fun to think about every little detail to get everything as we liked, and to make sure our guests have a pleasant time. Fortunately, Simon and I have similar tastes and also had the same vision for our wedding, We both like simple things and airy and bright spaces. The Pavillon de la Jamaïque was the perfect place to get married: a glass wall reception hall with pretty wooden beams and a beautiful weeping willow for our outdoor ceremony, all on a small island in the heart of Montreal.
The decorative elements were mainly based on the choice of our reception venue and included beautiful bouquets and centerpieces by Atelier Carmel, petals down the grassy aisle and colourful confetti (hand cut by my sister and Simon for our recessional!) and lots of calligraphy by my talented friend Joy of imaginejoy calligraphie. We named our tables after our favourite cities in California and chose Santa Barbara (of course!) for the honour table. I was keen to do many things by myself too. I created our invitations, menus and guestbook, and Simon and I did several DIY projects with the help of our relatives.
Our color palette was composed of soft, pale tones with colourful accents. Our bridal party wore blush, mint green, gray and white, and the hall’s decorative elements and bouquets also included tones of coral.
We were fortunate to have a lovely wedding cake made my matron of honour Anne-Laure, custom-made favours by a good friend of mine (owner at Evy Jo & Co.) and a little flash mob involving all our bridal party and guests, choreographed by my bridesmaids.
And the surprises didn’t stop there. In addition to having my sister as the officiant (she was fantastic!) and my talented friend Kim as the vocalist and guitarist (accompanied by my uncle on harmonica) for the ceremony, we were treated a special song just for us. Written to the tune of “Tant qu’on aura de l’amour” by Les Cowboys Fringuants, our family performed it live while a surprise video from our guests played on a screen. We were so moved!
Simon and I then surprised our guests with a tango as our first dance (after taking secret classes for a year and a half!). And because I sang a song on one of our first dates (which Simon says totally charmed him), I wanted to surprise him by singing one of his favorite songs while walking down the aisle with my father. It was very emotional and brought Simon to tears.
Since I’m originally from France and Simon is Québécois, our guests came from all different corners of the two continents, and it was very important to us that everyone mingled and had a good time together. I was very moved to have my mom, dad and sister by my side. Even my two grandmothers came all the way from France for the occasion, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to have them with me for this important day. They were part of our bridal party as “flower girls”, and they made their entry at the reception hall by dancing! It was just amazing to see them like that, and everyone is still talking about it!
Later in the evening, we gathered our guests outside for the cake cutting and champagne toast with sparklers. This moment – as well as the confetti toss at the end of the ceremony – was truly magical! Seeing all the people we love, surrounding us with their faces filled with happiness…We wanted to stop time!
It was a joy to relive the day and see the expressions on our friends and families’ faces, thanks to our lovely photos by Richelle Hunter and her husband Eric, as well as on our beautiful video made by the talented Isabelle Courville assisted by Jessica Desjardins.
The ambiance was just perfect, thanks to all of the surprises, the excellent team of A1Djs who set fire to the dance floor, and the presence of each one of our guests.
We cherish all of these beautiful memories with our loved ones, and we wholeheartedly thank our parents, family, friends and all those made our day so wonderful!
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Photography: Richelle Hunter Photography | Cinematography: Isabelle Courville | Event Design + Styling: Lisa Renault Photographie | Event Planning: Unikevent | Floral Design: Atelier Carmel | Wedding Dress: Valerio Luna | Rings: Collezioni di Vittorio | Catering: Las Olas | Makeup: Jenniloui Makeup Artist | Hair: Francesca Demers, Esthetique Spa McGill | Calligraphy: imaginejoy calligraphie | DJ: A1DJs | Favors: Evy Jo & Co. | Venue: Pavillon de la Jamaïque | Bridal Boutique: O’Scarlett | Bride’s Earrings:Zales | Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade | Desserts: Dolce & Gâteaux | Groom’s Attire: Brummell | Groom’s Shoes: Steve Madden | Invitations, Menu + Guest Book: Lisa Renault Photographie | Rentals: Sofa to Go
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