One of our favourite spaces in Ottawa is the Horticulture Building at Landsdowne Live. With concrete floors, floor to ceiling windows an subtle wood elements, this space provides a blank canvas for any style of event.

We started planning and designing Kathryn + David’s wedding back in 2016. Their overall vision was to have a relaxed atmosphere that encouraged their guests to mix & mingle, peruse food stations, play a few larger then life games like Jenga and simply have fun. No assigned seating, bar always open and only a few speeches.

With this in mind we created an experience which revolved around an un-traditional seating layout, minimalistic floral details with an emphasis on sleek modern furniture and a mexican taco food truck station. All this being said- their wedding was a hit!

PHOTOS: AMY PINDER

DECOR & FLORALS: WEDECOR

CATERING: MY CATERING GROUP

VENUE: HORTICULTURE BUILDING

Comment

I always say it's all in the details, but there are those who decorate like a fabric bomb literally exploded in the reception room. Don't shake your head like you don't know what I'm talking about. It's almost like they have a mathematical equation that goes something like this:

Chair covers + Chair Bands + Crystal Broach + Satin linen + Sheer Lace Overlay + Satin Table Runner. And that's just the basic foundation. Then they add.... Gold Charger Plate, Bow-tie Napkin with a Crystal Napkin Ring + Personal Table Menue + Place Card + Bonbonierre + a bedazzled mirror with a cylinder vase with glue gunned crystals........ and in that vase there are water beads and a tinny little florescent light glowing from within............ Then the ceiling swag fairy came and went to town.....

Layers upon layers of decor which will overwhelm your guest into a blur. The biggest and most costly mistake you can make is definitely within your decor budget, because it can start to look tacky reeeaaallllll fast.

My number one piece of advice, "Don't waste your money on trying to have everything while cheaping out along the way. Sacrifice, re-evaluate your priorities and shift the dollars you would have spent on mediocrity towards a larger element that will leave your guests with a lasting impression."

I'll give you a few examples, and if your a client reading this, you might have already heard this story. Back in the day when ghost chairs were only coming out of Toronto with a price tag of $20 per chair, I had a client who just simply had to have them, but couldn't make it work within her budget. So I said "No problem, we'll trick them!". We ordered 1/3 ghost chairs and 2/3 white flip chairs. We used the ghost chairs at square tables and the flips at round tables and strategically laid out our floor plan accordingly. A few months later I heard back from my newlyweds and they said every single guest thought that they were sitting on ghost chairs... they raved about it endlessly. Keep in mind we're talking 2010 when the thought of mixing table types weren't even a design thought in anyone's mind. - I'm actually pretty proud that I hit that before the curve :)

That's just one example of how I design to be budget conscious with intention. In case your curious, here is where we think you should spend your money.