Tell us a little about yourselves!
Owen and I have been together for 6.5 years, we were reintroduced by a friend of ours but spent our toddler years at the same nursery. We could not be more thankful our paths crossed again as young adults, we were best friends for two years before we started dating and no one really knows when we made the switch from friends to a relationship.
Owen is an emergency nurse and I am a tattoo artist, a random pair we know, but we both get great perks from the other's job. I think Owen gets a better deal though, free tattoos for life. Anyways we’ve loved each other for many years now and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
I had always had a vision of an old church, I love the way they photograph, we searched all over Vancouver and actually had a different one booked. Everything was set and ready to go to the reception venue, church - all of it.
A month before the wedding our good friend opened the restaurant Noble at the Hills, and pretty quickly convinced us to change the wedding and have it there. So we did. We switched the reception venue to Noble however, still didn’t have a church. My mom was actually the one who found the church we got married in, and it was perfect. It is a old tiny little church and perfectly down to the number fit our guests. Some would say it was meant to be.
How many guests did you have?
We had 107 guests!
What was your budget?
Our budget was a little loose, I think over all we spent around 35 thousand Canadian dollars
Tell us about your outfits.
Molly (bride) I found my dress at a local Vancouver dress shop called Lovenote. Everything is handmade in Vancouver and I loved that. I bought it the first day we went dress shopping. I tried the dresses on at Lovenote, went to another store and went back to Lovenote later that day and bought the Laudae dress. I wanted something timeless but unique, I was very inspired by a Vivienne Westwood dress that I had seen, I loved the draping. I wanted sleeves for the ceremony so we ended up taking sleeves from another dress and adding it to mine. My sister also grabbed a silk belt from another dress and we used that for the neck scarf. I wanted my look to be timeless and elegant with a bit of edge.
For the ceremony I wore draping sleeves and a long cathedral length veil to match the timeless vibe of the church. I took the sleeves off for the reception to show off my tattoos and wore the dress strapless with the neck scarf. Owen and I decided for our wedding bands to get emeralds instead of diamonds, we both love green and Mays birthstone is emerald, so we thought it was a nice touch to incorporate to the rings.
I (Owen) got a custom tuxedo made at Indochino. I had our wedding date and initials embroidered into the inside of my suit jacket. My shoes were the brand Mezlan, they are a patent leather cap toe Oxford which I think matched the tux perfectly. I wore my grandfather's cufflinks and purchased a gold and emerald watch to match my wedding band. I got a self tie bow tie as well because I love the look of the untied bow when dancing at the reception.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
Owen and I wanted our ceremony to feel very personal, we wrote our own vows and had our favourite music playing while guests were arriving. We wanted the ceremony to feel cozy and intimate. The church was a huge factor in that because it was so small it felt like we weren’t in this vast space, but instead just with our people. We just wanted it to feel like us.
For the reception we wanted it to feel as natural and fun as possible. We decided against a sit down dinner and to go for the cocktail pass around reception. We wanted everyone to be able to mingle and hangout with whomever they wanted, instead of feeling stuck at a table. We decided on classic Italian dishes to be passed around. Everyone was well fed, was able to sit if they wanted however, it made us feel like we could interact with all of our guests naturally. We wanted it to have less structure and feel more like a hangout and party with our closest friends and family, than a scheduled event.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
A lot of the elements were inspired by the late 80’s and early 90’s weddings, as well as vintage dinner parties. I wanted lots of wild florals and colour, and sterling silver plate wear and trays, to give that classic dinner party feel.
I love food and wanted the food to be a big part of the styling and décor, we had butter mountains, Brussels sprout chains, pear candle holders, apples in the florals; I wanted the food to be used as art.
We also incorporated a lot of bows too. I made a heart sign inspired by the classic wedding photos of the couple in a heart frame for our welcome sign made of a bunch of blue bows. We wanted the florals to be sculptural so we had a marble stand with a bunch of indigo hydrangeas and blue bows on the patio to look like a monochrome art piece. I wanted everything to feel unique and fun and our florist and designer Brittany Shmyr absolutely nailed it.
Music is also something that is extremely important to us. We spent hours on the playlists for the wedding. We love the 60’s and 70’s so we had a lot of nostalgic music playing at the ceremony and reception. We also wanted the dance floor to be crazy, so we worked very hard at making a playlist that was unique but also had the party element that we wanted.
Any tips for couples getting married?
Do what you want to do, make it feel like yourselves. Invite who you want to invite, your wedding can be anything you want it to be, it does not have to be traditional if you don’t want it to. Don’t feel pressured to do things you don’t want to do, it’s your wedding people will get over it.
On the day stick with your partner the whole day so you have the same memories as each other and experience the same things. Take time for yourselves when you can despite people wanting to pull you in a million directions.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
Yes! Keely Rae, our photographer and her assistant were unreal. They captured our day so perfectly, we got a super 8 video done for our wedding and it could not have turned out better. We love all the film photos, they capture the essence of the day exactly how I imagined. We are so thankful!
Nicola Jane, our wedding planner, we could not have done it without her, she made sure the structured things that were happening happened, not a single person had to worry, we were fed and taken care of which you forget to do on a busy wedding day sometimes. Working with her before the wedding eased my mind in a way you would not believe. Nicola and Brittany Shmyr, our florist, are great friends, so them working together as a team is next level, I trust them with my life.
Photographer & Super 8 Film: Keely Rae @keelyrae_photography | Planning: Nicola Jane @nicolajanepyo | Flora & Styling: Brittany Shmyr @brittanyshmyr | Ceremony Location: Christ Church, Surrey, BC | Reception Location: Noble at the Hills @nobleatthehills | Makeup: by the Bride | Hair: Caitlin McLean@beautybycait_ | Cake: Rowyn Lavalle @sweetiesbyro | Stationery: by the Bride | DJ: Jeremy Baker @jeremybaker | Dress: Laudae @laudaebride from Lovenote @lovenotebride | Suit: Indochino @indochino | Veil: Marry Bridal US from Etsy @marrybridalus | Sleeves & Neck Scarf: Aesling @aeslingbride | Engagement & Wedding Rings: Vancouver Diamonds @vancouverdiamonds | Shoes: (Molly) Badgley Mischka @badgleymischka & (Owen) Mezlan | Earrings: Kara Yoo @karayoo | Wedding Party Attire: Anthropologie @anthropologie