Our Wedding Day!

Excuse the lateness of this post (been married over two months now!), but I wanted to write this to remember the best. day. ever. :)

The whole wedding event started with our rehearsal on Friday at the venue (Mimico Cruising Club), and then dinner at Terroni's on Queen. Cam and I had our first date at Terroni's, so it was an unanimous decision to have the rehearsal dinner there and the restaurant blew our socks off- SO MUCH FOOD! It was great, even if we did have to worry about fitting into dresses and suits the next day!

Cam and I elected to spend the night before our wedding together at home, and I think it was great for both our nerves. I'm usually up all night before a big event but I remember sleeping fairly well! In the morning he ran around getting stuff ready at the venue and I picked up doughnuts for the late night food and coffee and snacks for the morning, and at 10:30am the hair dresser, makeup artist, my mom, and my girls all showed up for getting ready together! The guys would be getting ready at the venue. I would also love to give a shoutout to my hairdresser Alysse Morrison and my makeup artist Danielle Aarssen! I would recommend both of them in a heartbeat.

My dress was Allure 2716

Some of us are more casual about getting ready photos

We had a blast together while we all got pampered, drinking mimosas and eating lots of timbits and pizza! My friend Lisa also joined us, as she flew in from Fredericton for the wedding and it was great to have a chance to catch up! Plus she ended up being a huge help with setting up for photos! I love you Lis!

The photographer showed up around 2:30pm, just as I was getting my hair and makeup done. Then with everyone all spiffy we went down to my building's courtyard for photos. We called for an Uber right on time and got to the venue at around 5:10 for the 5:30 ceremony. Oh- and one funny aside- I forgot my veil! No one realized until I was already at the venue. But it wasn't a big deal. My bridesmaid just popped a hair comb I had remembered (that I was going to put in once the veil came off). The hair comb was actually more sentimental anyway so it all worked out!

The guys had spent all morning and afternoon setting everything up and they did an amazing job!! The ceremony spot and dining room looked perfect. We had our MCs control music for the ceremony and it went perfectly.

Our ceremony was very sweet and our officiant spent a lot of time working on something that reflected Cam and I. Apparently guests couldn't hear too much (mic had gone missing), but it wasn't very long! I thought I would cry (and maybe Cam would cry too), but I didn't find myself very emotional- just very happy! We did a ring warming ceremony- where our rings were passed among our guests to hold and think happy thoughts for our marriage. Our rings were both heirlooms and it was nice to share them with the families they came from. It ended up taking too long (too many happy thoughts, I guess!), so we skipped ahead a bit and did the signing of the license and even the first kiss before the ring exchange! I didn't have a Maid of Honour (too many amazing best friends...it's a good problem to have) so we surprised our moms by asking them to witness the marriage.

After the ceremony, guests went to cocktail hour and we did photos with family, with the wedding party, and of course, as a group. I LOVE our photos. I cannot recommend our photographer- Anthea Michel Photography- enough. The only snag is we had so much fun that we ended up running late! So dinner started about 15 minutes late. I felt really bad about making our guests wait, but those pictures were worth it ;). The clubhouse was totally on top of everything and as soon as we sat down dinner was served.

The "flower girls" and "ring bearer" all blew bubble from bubble guns down the aisle...in case you're wondering why my nephew has a gun :D

It rained all morning and after dinner, but was clear for the ceremony and photos!!

We ended up doing speeches during dinner, as I am not a huge fan of sitting and listening to long speeches after I eat. It actually worked really well! A speech or two was done as Cam and I were being served, so we had time to eat while listening, and then in between speeches we were able to visit all our guests individually to say hi. And also a huge shout to our MCs- Veronica and Mo, who kept everything running smoothly!!

Here are some shots of our venue and decor! Almost all the decor was DIY. I made paper cranes with everyone's names for place cards (the colour indicated your meal choice), and my friend's mom made a TON of coffee filter flowers for the tables. I also handmade the boutonnieres and most of the bouquet flowers. And I made the pinata!

The cranes had secret messages inside if anyone unfolded them :)

On the way to the venue ALL the numbers fell off the lanterns and my stepdad had to glue gun them all back on!

After dinner Cam and I made a quick speech thanking everyone for coming and then we busted the wedding pinata! I got it in my head that I wanted a pinata at our wedding, instead of a cake (I'm not a huge cake eater, and wedding cakes are so expensive!) and I made one a couple weeks before the wedding and stuffed it with candy and glow sticks. It was a huge hit, both literally and figuratively. I had the first turn, and then Cam went up and basically destroyed it. Then we let the kids take a few whacks at it while it was down. I saw more videos of the pinata on our guests' social media than I did the ceremony!!

After "cake" we had our first dance, which was a jazz song that we did the lindy hop to. We had been taking lessons, but unfortunately never had time to practice so we only remembered a couple of moves! But it made for some great photos and guests came and joined in half way through. Then I had my dance with my dad!

After that the band started up. Cam's one request through the whole planning process was that he wanted to put together the wedding band and play bass in it. We compromised and decided the band would play for an hour and then we'd switch to a pre-made playlist so we could dance together. The band was SUCH a hit, though, that I almost wish they had played longer! We had a little issue with sound for the playlist, but otherwise I'd say the DIY music went really well! There was always a good knot of people on the dance floor and the last of us ended up leaving at 1:30am! Of course, open bar, and a never-ended supply of light up party supplies doesn't hurt either.

Things that light up= instant hit with guests

Our late night food came out at 10:30 (when the band was transitioning to a playlist, so that timed out nicely to occupy people until music came back on). My dad had done a Costco run the day before for fruits, vegs, crackers, and cheese, and my mom and I had baked a bunch of types of cookies AND I bought a ridiculous amount of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Twas a good spread. I ended up leaving almost all the food behind for the club members to enjoy the next morning (the cookies definitely came home with me though!).

Overall, I think the only change I would have made to my day would to be to hire a Day Of Coordinator, just for all the little things that could have gone smoother, like our time for photos, and getting decor to the venue, and setting up the music. But overall, the day went really well and Cam and I both loved it and wouldn't change it!