This evening on the blog we head to the City of London, in Ontario, Canada, where Shandi and Tyler said 'I do" in a sweet and whimsical summer wedding with delicate pink accents, captured by, NovaMarkina Photography. We caught up with the happy couple to chat all about their big day and their love story and here is what they had to say.
Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
I wanted to go with an enchanted whimsical theme. Dusty Rose, Navy Blue, Gold and a lot of Greenery was the color palette for the day. We got married at a Golf Course, but had most our photos taken at another Venue - Fernwood Hills, where the tress were large and lush making my theme come to life.
Let's talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
For the ceremony space, I always knew I wanted an arbor to get married under, so we lucked out when our decorated told us had previously made a beautiful wooden one. We added beautiful dusty rose draping down one side, with a large floral arrangement in the corner of the other. Lining the aisle of the ceremony were lanterns, wooden stumps with baby's breath arrangements, and wooden slabs with a trio of candles. Our reception space was round tables for our guests. Tyler and I sat at a sweetheart table, and our bridal party sat on long tables on either side of the sweetheart table. We had a sheer ivory backdrop behind us, with a swoop of dusty rose behind Tyler and I and two other swoops of ivory behind our bridal party. There was also a chandler about Tyler and I. The head table was covered in candles, and our sweetheart table had a large cascading floral arrangement. The tables had a gold lace overlay tying it all together nicely.The guest tables had a beautiful floral centerpiece in a nice dark wooden box my father made. The tables had ivory linens and ivory napkins. They had three mercury gold votives per table. Each meal marker card was made by me.The lobby had our guest signing table under a beautiful chandler the venue has. It also had a central fireplace, beach our wedding is in June and I didn't want the heat from turning the fireplace on, our decorated wrapped it in different sized candles. Our guest seating chart, and memory table were also in the lobby. Our favors were three gems per place setting each with a note telling our guests to donate to a charity. We had chosen five charities that were close to us and had jars in the lobby for them to place their gems in - each gem representing a dollar. I felt this made it interactive for the guests and allowing them to choose a charity that was maybe close to them.
What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
Florals were a huge part of the day, we incorporated them in our bridal bouquets, table centerpieces, ceremony backdrop, corsages, and boutonnieres, floral crown for the junior bridesmaid. We wanted a whimsy feel to them - not structured and I was so happy with how they turned out, everything I imaged and more.
Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
We had a photo booth for our guests after dinner.Some of my favorite parts were seeing Tyler during our first look, this allowed us to have a moment just to ourselves. We got a lot of backlash from our family about this - but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.We had sparklers for our bridal party after dinner - this is one our my favorite photos. I had two maid of honors, and they decided to do their speech together. They incorporated our (my girlfriends and I) love for Taylor Swift and made their speech into a song of advice going along to Taylor Swift Songs -it was amazing. Getting all our friends and family into one space though was my absolute favorite. It never happens and to see everyone getting along and having a good time made my heart so full.
Let's talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
I always had known I wanted a A-Style dress. Choosing my dress was one of the most difficult things for me. I tried on so many different styles and started feeling very overwhelmed. I took a little bit of a break, went back to my pinterest board that I created for dressing when I got engaged, I found a dress I had pinned and sourced out its location. I went to the bridal store and tried it on, and knew it was the dress for me.
How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.
We while we were in high school. We attended a party where we had a mutual friend and hit it off. Two months later we were dating. Tyler took me and my niece pumpkin picking over thanksgiving holidays where we met up with his sister and her boyfriend. After searching for the perfect pumpkin, Tyler said "what about this one", I kicked it and saw the what it said and started crying immediately, my niece on the other hand said "not that one, it has writing on it" completely clueless. Tyler got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of our lives together. His sister and her boyfriend got it all on video, he even had another pumpkin that said yes. He really did think of everything.
What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
The most anticipated moment was getting to see Tyler during our First Look. We had been together for 10.5 years when we got married and seeing him when we turned around was like I was going on our first date all over again. Butterfly's in my stomach. I am so happy we got to have the moment with just us two of us.
Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you'd like to share with other couples planning their day?
Marriage Advice: Do not stress the small things. Make sure you take time for each other, even when life gets busy, make time for one another. Wedding Planning Advice: Do not stress the small things, no one will notice if everything isn't going as planned. Hire a Wedding Planner to take the stress off of you during the planning process and for the day of.
MEET THE TEAM:
Photography: NovaMarkina Photography
Floral Designer: Springhill Flowers
Event Planner: Twelfth Night Events
Studio Venue: Fernwood Hills
Reception Venue: FireRock Golf Club
Design and Decor: To Suit Your Fancy
Cake Designer: Grandma’s Oven Bakery & Cakes Inc.
DJ: DJ Alpha
Tuxedo and Mens Attire: Moores Clothing for Men
Bridesmaid Dresses: Azazie
Dress Store: Mori Lee Madeline Gardner
Dress Store: Garber’s Bridal