Tuscan Inspired Wedding at Chateau Laurier

We are so excited to feature our very own lead planner Brittany’s wedding which was recently on the front page of Style Me Pretty!

Wherever she ventures, Brittany always carried a touch of Italy in her heart, and her wedding day was a true testament to this. The fusion of her love for Tuscany's charm and the pursuit of life's exquisite pleasures permeated every aspect of the event. From the beautifully whitewashed wooden furniture to the enchanting floral arrangements, linen textiles, and meticulously crafted invitations, every detail reflected a sense of romance and sophistication. The imported tableware added an authentic European touch, leaving the guests with a feeling of being transported to the heart of Italy.

We collaborated tirelessly with Brittany and Pollen Nation to carefully select the precise floral ingredients for her arrangements, aiming for an abundant display of delicate, lace-like textured blooms. Her vision encompassed an array of Queen Anne's Lace, Astilbe, Heather, and freshly cut Savila Lace Hydrangeas. These unique flowers were not readily available from flower farms, so they were skillfully foraged from gardens, adding a touch of exclusivity to the arrangements. The resulting designs featured fluffy, airy compositions that resembled the organic act of strolling through one's own garden and hand-picking blooms, foliage, and vines along the way. It was a beautiful amalgamation of seasonal flowers, deliberately crafted to capture a perfectly imperfect aesthetic.

In a heartfelt tribute to their beloved companion, Lenny, Brittany and Scott commissioned a talented sketch artist from Wish Tree Invitations to craft a charming illustration of their cherished puppy. This endearing portrayal of Lenny became an integral part of their special day, adorning their cocktail napkins and embodying his presence in spirit. It was a touching gesture that allowed them to honor their furry friend and infuse their wedding celebration with a sense of warmth and love.

Brittany firmly embraces the philosophy of indulging in life's luxuries, cherishing each moment and sparing no expense in the pursuit of joy. This mindset permeates every aspect of her life, including her profound love for fashion, evident in her meticulously selected attire and accessories for the day. From her exquisite Miu Miu clutch and elegant Manolo Blahnik heels to the meticulously engraved ring boxes, every detail has been carefully chosen to align with the storyline of her special day. Brittany's wardrobe changes throughout the evening further exemplify her passion for fashion and her desire to curate a memorable experience for herself and her guests.

Venue: @fairmontlaurier Coordination: @toast.events Photography: @laceandluce Cinematography: @upnorthweddingfilms

Floral: @wearepollennation

Decor: @wedecor_tm

Decor: @joesprophouse

Tabletop Dinnerware: @simplybeautifuldecor

Cake: @thegirlwiththemostcakeottawa

DJ: @rayray_oxygen_entertainment Hair: @showponyhair

Makeup: @onefinebeauty

Invitations: @wishtree_invites Wedding Attire: @galialahav

INDUSTRIAL WEDDING FEATURED ON STYLE ME PRETTY

Ass seen on Style Me Pretty

Our bride and groom found a way to beautifully blend their South Asian heritage with their North American upbringing. Through food, traditions, and outfits they were able to celebrate their culture while incorporating a modern romantic design aesthetic.  Toast Events planned and designed the dreamy day, while Maison Anthea filled it with lush, romantic blooms.  The love and joy of the day radiate in imagery captured by Stephanie Mason & Co., visit the full gallery by clicking the image above to see it all.

Before I design a space, I like to create a story in my mind for my main characters- the client, and watch that narrative come to life in my imagination and transfer it to my canvas; which was this gorgeous industrial space. When envisioning Tasnia and Evan's wedding design I knew right away that to honor the beauty of the architecture, we wanted to enhance the rustic disposition of the building while creating an elevated and intimate environment lush with wild floral elements. Because our space was cavernous we specifically chose to centralize the floral elements to floating hoops of branch work and strategically placed blooms so that our design looked like the building had been abandoned and nature simply took over and beautified the space. For this, I crafted a floral recipe to include natural elements such as Smoke Bush, Raspberry Bush, wild vines, etc which couldn't necessarily be purchased from a wholesaler or flower farm. This required our carefully chosen florist to physically forage from the forest to obtain the wild foliage to create that effortless natural aspect of a design I had envisioned. I specified that the florist add blooms in clusters so that it mimicked a rose bush we could see growing in our backyards. The aim was to embody and embrace imperfection. These hoop elements created the ambiance and provided the eye with a central place to gaze upon which created a feeling of intimacy in such a large space. While 90% of our budget was spent suspended, our next design challenge was creating warmth in a cold industrial space. For this, we lit hundreds of candles on all our reception tables in beautiful striped eclectic glassware vessels that transformed the flame of a single candle into a million rays of light which filled the room with a glow illuminating guests' faces and in turn amplifying the ability for our photographer to capture human expression & celebration throughout the evening. We also reused many ceremony florals in the reception space maximizing the overall aesthetic and budget.

From the bride... We met on bumble, turns out dating apps do work! The proposal was perfectly us, we woke up one Saturday morning and got ready to go get a coffee from one of the coffee shops around us, that's our Saturday tradition so nothing felt out of the ordinary. He was definitely acting weird though, and after we got our coffee insisted that we keep walking towards a sandwich shop a few kilometers away which felt strange given the time and the fact that we both got pastries with our coffee but I went with it. Eventually, we found ourselves walking through Confederation Park which is where we would always meet up after work when we started dating and have always called it our park. He asked me to sit down on one of the park benches for a minute and suddenly he was down on one knee! I was so surprised that instead of saying yes, I shouted out "No", because I couldn't believe that this was really happening. I said yes eventually after the shock wore off of course. I really wanted the wedding to feel very soft, and romantic, with a bit of an indoor-outdoor feel. The color palette was very neutral with greens, beiges, and whites, our wedding was right in the middle of summer and I wanted to keep things feeling as light and breezy as possible. My family is from Bangladesh and my husband is half Indian so we wanted to blend our South Asian heritage with our North American upbringing and lifestyle. The main ways that we did that was through food, we had an incredible Indian buffet catered by the East India Company; the music, we asked our DJ to play a mix of English and South Asian music; and lastly, through our outfits, both my husband and I wore traditional South Asian outfits with me in a lehenga and my husband in a sherwani. The bridesmaids also all wore saris. The florals and greenery played a large role in the design elements of our wedding. Our florist, Maison Anthea did an incredible job, my bridesmaids and I carried bouquets made up of white and blue roses as well as dahlias. We had a beautiful asymmetrical altar which had a variety of greenery, smokebush, and large cream and blush roses, the altar was moved into the reception area after the ceremony as a backdrop to our sweetheart table. We also had four massive greenery and floral halos hanging from the ceiling in the reception areas that included the same florals. The actual ceremony itself was very special. I really wanted the ceremony to be personal to us our relationship. Our officiant, Evelyn Hope from All My Tomorrow's Officiant, crafted a beautiful ceremony that focused entirely on our journey together, what we love most about each other, and what we hope for in our next chapter. We were also able to include a few of our family members that were close to our hearts in the ceremony, my Grandma came up and did a reading in our native language which was incredibly special, we also had my husband's parents each do a reading as well. We also included a garland exchange as part of the ceremony which is a part of our South Asian culture which both of our mothers helped with. All in all, the ceremony was just really special. Another unexpectedly special moment was our first look photos. My husband and I were on the fence about whether we cared to do that or not but our photographer, Stephanie Mason & Co., really encouraged us to do it so we went ahead with it and it really was so nice to see each other all dressed up and have that one special, quiet moment together before the craziness of the wedding continued. The photos in general ended up really being the only time that both of us got to spend one on one time with each other and talk a little so that was really special too!

Our wedding was on July 29th so we knew it was going to be very hot so we had an ice cream truck from the Merry Dairy one of our local ice cream shops come after dinner. There Merry Dairy is also both my and my husband's favorite ice cream shop. It was a huge hit with all of the guests! It was really important to me to wear a traditional South Asian outfit for my wedding, its what I always envisioned myself wearing. I chose a lehenga which is an outfit made up of a full-bodied, floor-length skirt, a cropped blouse, and a long scarf that is typically worn as a veil for weddings. I bought the dress from a store in Markham, Ontario called Dulhan, it was the first store that I went into and I immediately fell in love with my lehenga. It was white net fabric, fully embroidered with little white flowers, pearly beads, and crystals. I also wore traditional South Asian jewelry with a heavy collar necklace, earrings with white stones and navy beads as well as a tikka which is a dangly headpiece worn in your middle part. Because my outfit was so big and ornate, for shoes I kept it simple and comfortable with some white leather block-heel sandals. My husband was debating between a suit and a sherwani, but as soon as he put on a sherwani he was sold! A sherwani is like a longer coat sale garment worn with thin, tapered pants. His was from a store in the GTA called XXXX. It was a navy jacquard fabric, with large gold buttons, a gold embroidered collar, and cuffs. The pants were white linen pants. To finish off his look he wore a pair of cognac loafers from Harry Rosen. The one wedding advice that I've been giving all my friends is: get a wedding planner. Having Elise Schmitz from Toast Events plan our wedding was the single greatest wedding planning decision that we made and the best part is, that's really the only wedding planning decision that we had to make. Having a wedding planner made it so that my husband and I could pick the fun stuff like having an ice cream truck but not have to worry about all of the little details. A wedding planner takes all the stress out of the wedding, they have the best recommendations for vendors, and are able to really execute your vision in a way that would be impossible to do if you don't plan weddings as a full time job! And it's so nice to have someone with a wealth of knowledge about weddings at your disposal.

Vendors: 

Photography: Stephanie Mason & Co. / @stephaniemasonandco / www.stephaniemasonandco.com 

Event Planning & Design: Toast Events / @toast.events / www.toastevents.ca

Florals: Maison Anthea / @maisonanthea / www.maisonanthea.ca

Venue: Horticulture Building 

Make Up: One Fine Beauty / @onefinebeauty / www.onefinebeauty.com 

Hair: June & Flora Hair / @juneandflora / www.juneandflora.com

Rentals: Lavish Events Ottawa / @lavisheventsottawa 

Invitations: Invitation Studio / @invitationstudio / www.theinvitationstudio.ca

Wedding Dress: Dulhan / @dulhanbymischief

Entertainment: Primetime Entertainment 

Officiant: All My Tomorrow’s Officiant / @allmytomorrows.ottawa / www.allmytomorrows.ca

Catering: East India Company /@eastindiacomanyrestaurants / www.eastindiaco.com

Food Truck: The Merry Dairy / @themerrydairy / www.themerrydairy.com  

TIPS FOR GREAT GETTNG READY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY

What is the number one things brides almost always overlook on their wedding day? It’s the thing you would least likely expect, but makes a huge impact when you look back through your photographs.

It’s the getting ready location.

I know it seems small and insignificant, but location and tidiness is key to keeping your photography looking great throughout the day. In my opinion there is nothing worse for a photographer than arriving onsite to what might look like a bomb just went off - empty dishes and mimosas from brunch scattered about, a gazillion overnight bags tossed around, misc clothing laying about + the people +the makeup team etc. Chaos! And trust me, it will show in your pictures. Some photographers will do their best to tidy up- but the more they occupy their time with being your maid, the less time they have to get those great getting ready shots. So here are some key tips to making sure your setting yourself up for success. But before we get into all that, the first thing to consider is choosing your getting ready location.

Photography by Laura Kelly Photography

Location Location Location

I always suggest a hotel suite that has a kitchenette/dinning area, a sitting area and a separate bedroom space. This gives you multiple areas for photography and also allows you to order-in brunch and your beauty team can come right to you. This also means there is no rushing around the day before to clean the whole house or grocery shop for brunch the next day.

My Favourite Ottawa Hotel Suites:

Andaz - Large Suite

Le Germain - The Prestige Suite

Chateau Laurier -Presidential Suite or Executive Suite

*** If you live in or have friends that live in a condo building, another option would be to consider checking if you can rent a furnished suite for the day.

Prep Talk

You gotta lay the groundwork. At your dinner rehearsal, reminding your girls of how the day will progress is so so important. This way they fully understand the time constraints and how their actions can affect the overall flow of the day ie: tardiness, forgetfulness etc. Actually, a mini printed timeline with tips would be super helpful. Here is a list of helpful tips i’ve provided brides before:

• It is very important for all bridesmaids to arrive 15 mins before the suggested arrival time. This provides a small buffer period for everyone to get organized before your beauty team begins.

• Bring only one overnight bag and place it in the bedroom once you arrive

• Steam and hang your dresses the night before

• Don’t forget to bring a comfy pair of shoes for dancing

• Have a small’ish purse with all your immediately necessary items you want to carry with you throughout the day.

Photography by Ali & Batoul

Grown Up Babysitter

I know this sound silly, but as a bride, to truly enjoy your day, you shouldn’t be running after your bridal party to keep them on time and in check. Instead, delegate morning tasks to your Maid of Honour such as:

Preparing morning snacks

Making Mimosas

Ensuring endless coffee available

Keeping the getting ready space clean and tidy

Assisting the beauty team with set-up once they arrive

Ensuring there is a steamer for the brides dress

Gathering any items the bride would like photographed for her details (veil, shoes, perfume, invitations, gifts)

Keeping all the girls on-time throughout the beauty process

 

CONSISTENCY

It's always nice to have getting ready robes available for more cohesive images during your getting ready photography.

Photography by: Photography by Emma

TIME CHECK 

30 mins before your photographer or videographer is due to arrive, your Maid of Honour should grab whomever is not in a hair or makeup chair, to tidy and clean all areas to ensure you don't have any clutter which can be seen in photos. I’ve personally gone as far as removing artwork. I know, I know….it’s soooo bad…but if a bright neon blue poppy painted in the 90’s in a speckled gold frame doesn’t flow with your wedding vibe- guaranteed I’m taking it down! You’ll thank me later:) Mind you- I’m not always onsite while your getting ready.

Photography by Laura Kelly Photography

The 5 Minute Rule

If there is anytime in a day where you will loose time, it’s while your getting ready. I have this rule. For every person with you getting ready, you will be 5 min late. Let do the math together:

1 bride + 4 bridesmaids + Mother of the Bride + Junior Bridesmaid = 7ppl x 5min = you will be late by 35 mins

Options

With all this being said, it’s important to be prepared. If you feel like you need additional assistance to plan and coordinate and keep you on time during the morning, you may want to ask your planner if she can provide you with a dedicated attendant to ensure everything runs smoothly and you want for nothing! ;)

xo Elise