S+D O'Born Room National Art Centre Wedding

I first met Sarah about a year before her wedding as she was preparing to leave and move to England with her fiance. Planning a wedding while being away left Sarah feeling a little overwhelmed, and so she sought our help to ensure her wedding was designed and executed seamlessly. Planning her wedding was truly effortless. In our initial consultation she said:

““I love everything you do, so even if you tell me to put my bridesmaids in white dresses- i’ll do it!!”. ”

— Sarah

Music to my ears! And so we began to tour spaces for her minimalistic monochromatic wedding. Sarah chose the perfect venue, the O’Born Room at the National Art Centre- my current favourite space to design in. With such a gorgeous blank canvas with endless natural light it was easy to envision, design and choose vendors for Sarah’s wedding.

Our mood board boasted fresh crisp colours with my signature touch of acrylic furnishings, invitations and table stationary. I went as far as designing and building acrylic charger platforms that allowed for a gorgeous pave of florals to be seen through them.

During her time abroad, Sarah gave us complete trust and allowed us to guide her through the wedding planning process without question. I mention this because it’s important to understand that a wedding materializes in it’s own time. Should you try and rush the process- chances are you’ll be making decisions too far in advance, where in reality- I can guarantee you’ll be changing your mind closer to the wedding date.

About %80 of our clientele is what I like to call “reverse destination brides”. Meaning, they now live abroad and are planning their wedding back in Ottawa. It’s also not uncommon for us to officially meet out brides the day before their wedding. Crazy right?!?

This all goes to show, when you trust your planner and vendors to do what they do best- magic happens and expectations are exceeded.

So without further ado- Sarah & Darien’s gorgeous wedding bellow.

Enjoy:)

Planning & Design: Elise Toast Events

Photographer: Photography by Emma

Florist: We Are Pollen Nation

Invitations & Stationary: Milestone Paper Co

S+A AT LE BELVEDERE

When you walk onsite it's like a wave of calm slowly sinks in, and this planner is legit relaxed. The view is something I can't really describe. Le Belvedere is like a secluded Muskoka resort, better yet- something you'de see on the cover of a B.C tourism magazine. But I'm not there for the ambiance. I'm there for the exclusivity, five star service, world class cuisine, on-pointe amenities, guest accommodations and well, truth be told, Jessica. That's right, Jessica. The powerhouse  that has made Le Belvedere what it is today. Working in tandem with her is an absolute pleasure. She is one of a few I consider to be a top notch professional.

This past long weekend I had the pleasure of coordinating 2 weddings, one oh which was Sarah & Andrew's wedding at Le Belvedere. This couple melts my heart right down to the core- and for 24hrs I felt like family. 

Now I can't take ANY credit for styling Sarah's wedding, although I wish I could ;) This was all the amazing work of Rebel Petal. If you followed us on Snap Chat (eliseschmitz) last Saturday, you would have been privy to a video walk-through of the space decked out. We also posted pictures in stages to showcase the thought behind this gorgeous design. 

So let me break it down for you. Sarah had no idea what to expect. She provided Michelle & Gary aka "mastermind-florists-taking-over-the world" with her vision, color palette, budget and told Michelle to surprise her. 

Michelle got to work a dreamed up a three stage design concept. She highlighted each estate table with three completely different centerpieces as seen bellow.  

ESTATE TABLE ONE: Long garlands of Sallal and Eucalyptus leaves adorned with mercury vases w/  posy of creamed spray roses

ESTATE TABLE TWO:  Tall Hydrangea centerpieces with cascading Ivy 

ESTATE TABLE THREE: Low pedestal arrangements with Hydrangea, cascading ivy with peach and ivory roses.  

This cake is so dreamy. With Tulips in July and the sweet sent of strung Jasmine, I was LITERALLY in heaven people. FYI Jasmine in the floral world is RARE like a blue moon. First time I've ever had real Jasmine on this scale in over 500 weddings.

Now drift your eyes to the right-hand side of the page. The horseshoe...... I just died. The special attention Sarah's sister and Maid of Honor Jessica took in painting these in the "right" tone of gold......I stole one. I full on popped one in my purse and I'm hanging it on top of my front door. (for the record, there was one at my place-setting... I'm so not a shady wedding planner)

Cascading Ivy and Jasmine in this 10ft tall entrance piece. I love first impressions, especially when this is what you see when you first walk in the reception. 

And last but not least a video of our beloved couple on their wedding day by Up North Wedding Films. 

DREAM TEAM

Planning & Coordination: Elise Schmitz, Madison Kelly & Intern Allie Darwin
Venue: Le Belvedere
Floral Design: Rebel Petal
Cake: Take Another Bite
Hair Stylists: Salon Silk
Makeup Artist: Sarah Clayton
Wedding Video: Up North Wedding Films
DJ: Chris Lunardi
Solo Singer: Ryan Tansley
Officiant: Dr Alan Viau
Photography: Union 11, Derrek
Transportation: East Coast Limousines
Stationary: Ink Blossom

NATALIE & SHANE June 27th 2015 -Shaw Center-

Although it's November, the wedding season isn't over just quite yet! But at the season comes to an end, we finally start seeing gorgeous photography trickling in. So lets take a time machine and hop back to spring with the lovely Natalie & Shane. 

Wedding Planner: Toast Events

Photographer: Photolux

Videographer: Photo & Films by Eduardo

Florist: Full Bloom

Linens & Rentals: Mastermind Events 

Rentals: Creative Edge

Retals: Lou Lou Lounge

Stationary: The Paper Studio

Band: Eric Eggleston

Piano Soloist: Eddie Bimm

Hair: Show Pony

Makeup: Ottawa Makeup Artists

Transportation: Elite Limousine 

Dj: David Atherton

Ceremony: Basilica

Reception: The Shawn Center Trillium Ballroom

Audio: Wall Sound

Cake: The Girl With The Most Cake

AS COOL AS A CUCUMBER

I'm a people person, and it's blows me away how I always manage to  luck-out with amazing clients. If you can believe it Annaliese and John were our 296th wedding...

" We worked with Elise (of Toast Events) to coordinate our May 2015 wedding at the Museum of Nature. From the very first e-mail, Elise was prompt, professional and an absolute pleasure to work with; we knew we were in good hands!

Her advice was always en-pointe and her experience in the industry was invaluable to us as we navigated the world of wedding vendors and décor. When the big day finally rolled around, we were relaxed knowing Elise had a handle on everything, all we needed to do was show-up. The venue looked stunning, the vendors/guests/wedding party knew where they needed to be and through-out it all Elise was cool as a cucumber, keeping everyone calm.

Elise’s bubbly personality and attention to detail are a big part of what makes her so good at what she does. From noticing and removing two guests (read wedding-crashers) who didn't quite 'fit in', to having pins on hand to fix my bustle on the fly, or stopping traffic so we could get the perfect photo, if you are looking for someone who goes above and beyond to make your wedding day absolutely perfect, I would not hesitate to recommend Elise!

- John & Annaliese Cassidy [May 9th, 2015 - Museum of Nature] "