We Really 'Love the Design!'

Last year, one of our favourite couples called their wedding off, just 3 weeks before the big day.

Naturally, everyone was devastated, and for all the reasons you can imagine. However, I'm so happy to report that they went away from the experience, went to therapy, worked hard on their relationship and... 11 months later, married each other in what had to be one of the most unique, moving and powerful ceremonies we've ever witnessed. More on that to come... but first, I thought I'd share a bit of their story through the stationery...

When it came time to let their friends and family know they were "really going to do this," we turned (again) to our friend Christine Flynn at Love the Design to design a Save-the-New-Date announcement. She worked with the couple and came up with the wonderful list of things (above) about their relationship and even poke a little fun at the "almost" wedding that didn't happen the year before. I hope you can read all the details, because some are downright hilarious.

When it came time to send out the second wedding invitation, our bride was lamenting that she really loved her first one and couldn't imagine anything that could improve upon it. That's when I suggested we send out the EXACT same invitation, only this time, with the original date crossed off and the new one 'handwritten' in over it. And that's exactly what we did; Christine made the changes, they went off to the letterpressers and voilà: the guests got a slightly modified version of the original invitation! 

I gather the response was tremendous (it's always encouraging when something has it's intended effect) and the stationery totally set the tone of what was to come. Wait till you see the photos from this one... a true Happily Ever After story, if ever there was one...

Bold and Beautiful at the RCM

It's always so gratifying to see months and months of planning and dreaming come to life... and even more exciting when it becomes immortalized in print! We were thrilled to see the wedding of Lauren and Jim at the Royal Conservatory of Music appear in the current issue of WedLuxe Magazine, featuring every bold and brave decision our colour-loving clients made. Seriously... how many brides do you think choose red chairs for their weddings?!! We were a match made in heaven. Scroll down to see some of these glorious details...

Event designer and florist Lidia Tacconelli went to town with this riot of colour. When Lauren presented us with her ombre concept, Lidia took it and ran... Check out the gradual changing of colour of the flowers moving down the shelves on the left of this photo. She did the same with the flowers going up the aisle in the church too.

I love the layering you can see in this photo: the vintage, moiré silk ribbon on top of a custom taffeta coral runner, which in turn, lay on a soft pink (yes, it's pink) lace runner. Notice the four different candle holders in the foreground too and then the custom lucite trough holding the flowers.

The place card table had gradating rings of carnations... I think Lidia said there were close to 900 of them, fitting together to have the place cards sitting atop. In the detail shot, you can see one of the illustrations that Jeff Jackson did for us. 

A hundred years ago, when I was a student at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Jeff was a GOD in the world of illustration... when Lauren told me he is married to her cousin, I knew we had to take full and shameful advantage of that relationship! He illustrated the anemones that we used in the invitations, menus, place cards, as well as the table numbers, the "Lauren + Jim' crest and the best piece of all: the map showing all the important places pertaining to this wedding and their lives... including the dog park where Jim had proposed months before. You can see more of Jeff's work here.

Finally, we finished off the night (and the ombre look) with the cake. You will see that Bobbette & Belle even gradated the colours of the filling between layers. It was a mouthwatering combination buttercream AND cream cheese icing. People went bananas... now I can't have them put anything else in to their cakes!!

The happy couple... A very special thanks must go to Lauren, her mom and sister for being so open, receptive and enthusiastic about everything we suggested. It was a true collaboration and I loved every moment of working together. And special, special thanks to Anthony Manieri from 5ive15ifteen Photo Company for preserving the memories so beautifully for as all with  the gorgeous photographs.

Pick up a copy of WedLuxe on newsstands now or click here to read the online version of Lauren and Jim's story.