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Traci and Andrew's Squamish wedding

12/15/2017

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After Kaitlin and Dane's wedding at Cheakamus Centre in June, I was really excited to go back and coordinate Traci and Andrew's wedding. In fact, Traci and Andrew contacted me through a referral from Kaitlin (thanks again for that!).  I can't stress how important referrals are to me, not just for business reasons, but also because it means that the clients are really appreciating the job that I am doing for them.  

Unlike the first time I was at Cheakamus Centre though, this wedding day ended up having some rain which unfortunately meant that we had to move the ceremony spot to the back up plan.  It keeps everything and everyone covered and dry but at least it is outside to still get the west coast feel.  I have to say that the sound of the rain on the trees was pretty amazing.  Traci and Andrew did a first look earlier in the day and even though they needed to use umbrellas, they were troopers and the professional photos from Melissa Baker of Bake Photography are amazing.  Thankfully, after the ceremony the rain stopped (in fact right about dinner time there was blue sky... of course!) and they could do their family photos outside to take advantage of the natural backdrop that the venue provides.  

The couple, along with their family, took advantage of being able to rent out the venue on the Friday night and did all of the decor set up that night.  On Saturday, the only thing that needed to be put out were the flowers from Billies Flower House and the cutting cake and cupcakes from Sweet Jeanie's Cake Co.  As you can see from above, the flowers were gorgeous although that's not surprising from Alanna and her team at Billies.  They completely transformed the ceremony arch with their arrangements (which we then used for the head table during the reception) and some blush pink fabric provided by Traci's mom.  I was so in love with the look I didn't want to take it down! 
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The ceremony music was provided by a string quartet from V & G Entertainment and the ceremony was officiated by Michele Davidson from Modern Celebrant.  If you are looking for a fun, meaningful ceremony that celebrates who you are as a couple and gets the guests involved please check out a celebrant.  It means that you have some (or maybe quite a bit) of work to do beforehand in regards to providing the information the celebrant needs to write the ceremony but to me the end result is always worth it.  It is so meaningful and I guarantee that your family and friends will most likely even learn something new about you both. And, isn't the entire wedding about celebrating your story anyway?  

One very important thing to remember after choosing your wedding date is to check out if there are any major celebrations or events (other than your wedding :) of course) happening in the area that could affect traffic and your guests or vendors from arriving on time.  In this case, the Gran Fondo, a bike race from downtown Vancouver to Whistler was happening on this date and it shuts down all lanes of the Sea to Sky Highway northbound for varying parts of the day.  When your venue is along this route it can cause a few problems but Traci and Andrew made sure to inform all of their guests well in advance and the vendors took a lot of precautions as well.  Whenever I'm doing a wedding in Squamish I'm lucky enough to get to stay with my parents so I left their house that day as soon as the highway had some partial openings.  I knew I would arrive much earlier than needed but I'd much rather be safe than sorry... plus, I got the opportunity to do some Instagram stories and respond to emails.  Neither of those things do I typically get to do on a wedding day!  

The guests all made it in time for the ceremony and the weather even started cooperating for family photo time.  The guests enjoyed cocktail hour with passed hors d'ouevres, more music from V & G and games rented from Bespoke Decor. Guests then moved into the main reception area where Man About Town played the night away.  

If you have any questions about the vendors involved or want some more information feel free to contact me!  

Happy planning, 
​Sara

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Linda and Alex's Vancouver wedding

12/1/2017

6 Comments

 
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I met Linda and Alex in January 2016 after they found me through one of the local wedding Facebook pages.  They were looking to get married in the summer of 2017 and we we were going to plan it all together.  

The first order of business was finding a venue that fit the guest count and of course the budget.  I'll have an upcoming blog post on the importance of this so watch for it! We went for a few site visits and they ended up deciding upon Marine Drive Golf Club.  Alex's uncle is a member there so they were able to get a member discount (this is not something available at all venues but it's a great perk... doesn't hurt to ask if any of your friends and family are members anywhere!).  This venue also had the option to have the ceremony and reception in one place and an indoor option for the ceremony in case of bad weather.  The date was in late July so rain isn't something you want to think about and we ended up having such a beautiful summer in Vancouver.. until we got to July 22nd!  After weeks of sunshine, I arrived at the venue at noon and it was raining.  The staff quickly pulled the chairs undercover so we could keep things dry and see what happened over the next few hours until we had to make the ultimate decision.  Thankfully, the rain went away, the patio quickly dried and the decorator was able to set up.  

The first look was a bit of a different story.  It was happening at VanDusen Gardens during the time that it was raining.  Holy smokes though... make sure to check out Joanna Moss Photography to see the amazing photos they were able to get.  It included ducking in and out of cover but the way Linda and Alex were looking at each other you would have no clue that the weather was slightly less than ideal.  Rather than the rain, all I heard about when they were back was how much fun they had with Joanna as well as their videographers from Capture Productions.  

The decorator, Wanda, is a friend of Linda's and owns Decor Haus Events and provided both decor and flowers.  She also arranged for the personalized dance floor vinyl wrap which really finished the room off.  

BU Letters provided the five foot LOVE marquee letters which were such a hit throughout the night.  They were great ceremony decor but then as it started to get darker they were the perfect backdrop for photos.  Inside, Dang Good Booths provided another great backdrop and fun props with their photobooth and prints for guests to take home.  

This was such a fun wedding to plan.  In the middle of it, Linda and Alex added a new baby girl to their family to go along with her older sister.  Who can say no to a meeting with an adorable baby involved?! The day of the wedding was just as great as we imagined (we didn't let that rain get us down... plus check out the clouds in the photo above... they were so cool!) and I got to hang with some really great vendors.  We had so much fun during the day and at dinner and I can't tell you how awesome it is to have a job where you get to spend your time laughing and smiling the whole time.  

If you have any questions about any of the vendors or want some more information please feel free to contact me.  

Happy planning, 
​Sara
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    Creating more that just a party. Planning celebrations for a lifetime.  Wedding and event planner in Vancouver, BC .

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