You know that saying “It takes a village to raise child”?
Well I think the same can be said about a wedding! I am so so so thankful for everyone involved in making our ideas come alive. There are so many benefits to collaborating and I think i know it even more now that I have experienced it on a greater scale.
Something that I found helpful in planning our wedding was having ideas and certain looks in mind before I met up with my vendors. That way you can share your thoughts and the look you are going for and then leave room for them to offer their suggestions and ideas to create something you are both proud of. One of the main resources I used was Pinterest (Obvi) and boy was it helpful.
For those who feel it’s a bit too mainstream or trendy right now and will therefore not step foot in it, you are going to majorly miss out on some great inspiration. The way I see it, there is nothing new under the sun and to think that you can come up with every single idea yourself without it every being repeated is a bit unrealistic. For example, I know another bride who is getting married soon and we have the same taste in just about everything! Wedding colours, decor theme and yes, even our dress! But because we are two different people with different backgrounds, a totally different group of family and friends and of course different grooms(hehe) our weddings will differ so much! The details of a wedding are so much fun and bring a great deal of excitement to a wedding, but it’s really the people who make it come alive.
So don’t be afraid to pull inspiration from other people’s great idea’s because if you like it, then that means it will do a great job reflecting who you are!
Now, onto the list of the talented people I worked with:
{Make up}
Natasha Batke
I’ve known Natasha for over 5 years and am so thrilled that she was my make-up artist. I can’t even say how happy I was with her work. Getting your make up done by someone else can be a bit nerve-wrecking because you are never sure how it will turn out and might be left feeling like you would rather have done it yourself. This was one of my fears! However, I felt very confident with Natasha’s skills and after the trial run, I was put at complete ease with the result. I used images for the look I was going for and she was able to pull from that and offer advice on ways to make my unique beauty stand out. Highly recommended.
{Photography}
Andrea Ball McAllister
Mine and Andrea’s family go way back together when we were just little ones. Years later, we ended up at the same church and even went to school together for a few years. Although Andrea was in my younger brother Joshua’s class, I have many a great memories with Andrea including but not limited to picking blueberry’s at Onninks Blueberry Farm with our siblings which included more laughing and silliness than it did working! Shhh don’t tell 😉 Since then, our lives took us separate ways but I kept a watchful eye on her blossoming photography business. She did a stinkin’ fantastic job on our engagement photo’s and did not fail to repeat that when it came to our wedding photo’s. We loved having Andrea and her 2nd shooter Natalie shoot our wedding and would (and have!) highly recommend her for your special occasion.
{Graphic Design}
Sarah Mejia
I have known Sarah for more of my life than not. Like Andrea, she also was in my brothers class, attended our church(Her dad is the pastor!) and took part in those blueberry picking days! (Side note- My brother Joshua is married to her younger sister Amy..one of my bridesmaids. I know a messy web i’m weaving.) Sarah is the talented designer behind our wedding invitations and was a complete pleasure to work with. We met up at Starbucks and I showed her my invitation concept and the overall look I was going for and we excitedly jumped from idea to idea. It really helps to work with people who have similar interests as you because you will find that it makes it much easier trying to rely what you are looking for. I also highly recommend Sarah for any of your designing needs!
{Hair}
Tessa Suderman
While she isn’t looking to advertise for bridal hair, Tessa has been my regular hair dresser for a couple of years and I have known her for even longer. She also goes to my church and I am good friends with her family. I feel as though everyone in Abbotsford knows of her respected hair skills and either goes to her or knows someone who does! She’s awesome 🙂
{Ceremony Location}
Warren and I desperately wanted to have an outdoor wedding but after looking at all our options, we decided to have a stress-free indoor ceremony. We chose this church for a couple of reasons. One being that Joshua and Amy got married there last year and I thought it was cute and two being that the wood pews and vaulted wood panelled ceilings lended itself to our wedding theme. If it couldn’t be outdoors, at least it could be charming!
They were really nice to work with and I think it’s one of the better options in Abbotsford for a charming, indoor ceremony that can seat about 500!
{Reception Location}
After viewing the Old Clayburn Village hall for the third time, Warren, his parents and I sat down for coffee and decided to switch gears rather quickly. It looked as though trying to cut down our reception list from 180 to 100 to fit the max. person capacity was just not possible without it feeling like most of the people we loved weren’t there. We then drove to the Matsqui Community Hall to check it out and although it was closed, we were able to take a peak through the windows and spot the hardwood floors, wainscoting and stage. Deeming it cute enough from what we could see and large enough for our needs, we decided to book it as soon as possible. Sure, the heritage features at Old Clayburn hall made me completely giddy and even the wall colour matched our colour scheme but in the end we weren’t willing to sacrifice having the people we loved not there for a seemingly perfect venue.
Matsqui Community hall allowed for us to have all the people we loved there and was even a better option financially! Plus, with some creative vision and lots of DIY decor we were able to transform it into something very special and unique.
{Catering}
One of the three options for caterers at Matsqui Community Hall, we were very happy with Klassic Catering! When I met with Cheryl, I shared with her our vision and budget and she was able to work within that to make it happen. Although I didn’t get to eat much of the food (what bride usually does?!), I heard that it was just fabulous! Jealous- I chose those Samosas intentionally as they are one of my favs!
{Wedding Cake}
Cynthia is my friend Jacey’s mom and I appreciate her sooo much! Not only did she bake our cake but she offered her lace curtains and burlap table runners from her daughter’s wedding last August for us to use. I had started collecting lace table cloth’s as soon as we were engaged to use on our banquet style tables but if it wasn’t for Cynthia, I’m not sure I would have been able to pull it all off! I’ve had a lot of questions from other bride-to-be’s about these table staples and if they are available for others to use. Cynthia will gladly speak with you regarding renting them for your own special occasion. Just click her name above the cake photo and it will direct you to her Facebook profile where you can send her a message.
I hope you enjoyed getting to know a bit about the wonderful people who were behind making our wedding such a success!
Due to the amount of projects I took on for our wedding, I will be doing one post per project, highlighting the how-to along with the final result.
Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or thoughts please leave a comment- I would love to talk with my readers!
One of a Kind 
it was a beautiful wedding kindrel!