A MEMORABLE DAY
Jessica and Alex dreamed of a large and yet intimate wedding surrounded by all their loved ones. We came up with some unique and thoughtful details to make sure guests knew they were well taken care of and put a lot of effort in to support that goal. Every aspect of the wedding from the floor plan with dance floor in the centre to an operatic duet and choreographed first dance (while singing!), J&A’s day was packed with fun surprises for everyone.
Keep scrolling down to see pictures and read more!
OUR KEY PRIORITIES
When we work with our couples, we try to get to know them on a personal level. What are their hobbies? What unites them as a couple? Who are their guests and what would appeal to their demographic? With Jessica and Alex, it was easy to have endless conversations and figure out their personalities. The sweetest caring couple! It was all about guest experience for them and a lot of wow factor!
We narrowed things down to a few components:
J&A cherish personal connections and care deeply. Carving out the time to mingle with their guests was key to keeping everyone happy! We did this by including time after the Ceremony and Tea Ceremony for pictures and including Toasting Tables as part of their reception to make sure they were able to reach everyone.
Honouring their families was always top of mind. The Tea Ceremony is such a wonderful time for this as it’s all about honour and appreciation. It also creates a smaller, intimate setting amidst the other larger scale wedding events of the day. J&A are very close to their parents so although they had a wedding party (3 Bridesmaids and 3 Groomsmen), we deciding to include their parents at their Head Table along with the Maid of Honour and Best Man. The rest of the Wedding Party sat at other tables along with their partners and families.
J&A at heart are performers. They met through Jessica having a background in Opera and Alex accompanying on the organ at their church. It was special to have their ceremony in their parish where they met. J&A also surprised their guests, entering into the reception in a grand way with an OPERATIC DUET! And they are very good! Later in the evening, they had their choreographed First Dance during which they also sang… and it was a favourite Disney of mine from Tangled! Lots of exclamations with all of these!! It was definitely a first for Keepsake to be part of Opera performances, singing during a First Dance and all the dynamic lighting effects and settings, head sets, trusts, colours and all.
There were so many other little details we put into their wedding day as we really wanted to personalize everything. This led to a very cohesive effect and guest experience and what a great end result!
FOCAL POINTS
For the second part of the day, we had a few focal points to add extra personalization and wow factors. It was fun figuring out how to really bring things together to create a unified design plan and flow to the day both with the timeline and aesthetically. The design process was elevated with the Living Design Decor team creating custom pieces. A pleasure working with such professionals!
Here are a few of the areas that brought a lot of focus to the reception:
This wedding was all about experience and when the reception doors opened, J&A wanted guests to feel close to them. With just over 220 guests, it can be hard to make that happen. With a mixture of round and long tables of different sizes, we created dynamic tablescapes.
On the tables, we had a different design plan for round and long tables for guests to enjoy. The round tables at the JW Marriott at Parq are unique with a bronzed effect and so we made the decision to leave them unclothed(!). Paired with long tables in custom linens, it was so much fun to mix and match. Added to that we included plenty of candlelight both high and low, textured linens on the long tables, custom flower vessels and the gorgeous colours from the florals.
The floor plan itself was something a little different too. We placed the dance floor right in the centre of the room and then had the mixture of tables all around it. That way, we kept guests close to all the action with a great view of everything going on. The Head Table was easily accessible by guests to come up and give their congratulations and J&A also felt connected to everyone.
We hate seeing wedding favours get left behind but not so at this wedding! They were crowd pleasers. We had Sugarfina rose boxes with our custom logo for the adults and for the kids, A.Elizabeth Cakes made little piggy sugar cookies in honour of the Year of the Pig with J&A’s initials imprinted to celebrate them.
A big factor came from Jessica and Alex’s names done in calligraphy from Jenna at Our Vows. We had created the graphic for their letterpress invitations and then used it throughout everything to tie it all together, colour and all. We used it with: invitations, dance floor, bar wrap, welcome sign, seating chart, plus a 6’ cut-out by Box Not Box at the entranceway to the reception!
The Double Bar Wrap in the Foyer was a huge standout. Instyle Floor Wraps did a great job with this plus the dance floor vinyl wrap.
With a large guest count it can be challenging to contain multiple elements into the main ballroom. We did our very best with the spacing and were able to place a lounge setup inside behind the DJ table. That way the guests who felt like mingling but not dancing at the end of the night could still be close to all the action.
The Wedding Cake was a fun one for me as J&A left it in my hands! It was fully a surprise for them on the wedding day and they had no clue what to expect. A little bit scary making sure it was perfect and thankfully, they loved it! A.Elizabeth designed it with a clear tier in the middle, and we put in a secret message that you would only see if you knew to look. It read “A match made through music”, stemming from how J&A met through their musical backgrounds. Our original plans centred heavily around music and performance and we eventually swayed away from some of those outright details and settled for more subtle ones so I wanted to include a nod to their love of music in a space just for them. Gives me all the feels!
It was such a pleasure working with Jessica and Alex on bringing their wedding dreams together. Thrilled with the results and after getting to know them on such a deeper level, could not be happier to have played a role in their special day!
Thank you to our vendor partners
Photography by Lori Miles
Videography by Grey House Visuals
Ceremony Venue Sts Peter & Paul Parish
Reception Venue JW Marriott at Parq Vancouver
Decor Styling & Florals Living Design Decor
Wedding Cake & Cookie Favours A.Elizabeth Cakes
Hair & Makeup Anita Lee & The Helmet Salon Team
Wedding Gown Vera Wang from Blush Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses Birdy Grey
Invitations & Calligraphy Name Sign Our Vows
Dance Floor Wrap Instyle Floor Wraps
Dance Lessons JC Dance Studio
Photobooth TapSnap
Name Sign Box Not Box
Rental Arch Blushing Rentals
Candy Box Favours Sugarfina
Wedding Planning by Mel of Keepsake Events