Our reception was held at The Pines Restaurant and we couldn't have asked for anything better. That is a BEAUTIFUL restaurant with delicious food, tasty drinks, and wonderful, friendly staff. I highly recommend going here for an event or even breakfast by lake (it's amazing, trust me). We had such a great time and rumour has it that all guests in attendance were blown away by how laid back our wedding was. Everyone was happy and had a super fun time. We certainly got what we were aiming for. Laid back was the whole feel of the day, from getting ready in the morning all the way to last call, speeches were short and filled with more heart than any speech I've ever heard (Thank you sooooo much to Mr. & Mrs. Babe, Mother, and new Dad!).
We had a great MC, Matty Bobatty, who kept our laid back feel going strong. We had some great tributes done by the beautiful and talented Jooree (we heart you!) and Q put together a little slideshow of the two of us, which included a mildly embarrassing photo of myself posing like a muscle beach wannabe. It was awesome! Our dinner was delicious: spinach and sun dried tomato salad with goat cheese and a poppyseed vinaigrette, brie stuffed chicken with veggies and rice, and a heavenly New York cheesecake with berries. Mmmmm good!
Our decor was clean and minimal as we wanted the beauty of the restaurant to stand out (which it did). Our entrance table housed our guest book: a calendar for our guests to sign on their birthday and also to mark other important dates for us to remember; our seating chart: a multi-photo frame with each numbered table displayed over a watermark of some beautiful fabric we scanned; as well as some of our engagement photos, candles and flowers. We decided to do a donation to the SPCA as our wedding favours instead of a little knick knack trinket or something of the like, we wanted to support that organization. We love animals. Like.....a lot. :)
Q and I sat at a sweetheart table in lieu of a long head table (the table wasn't big enough for us AND the wedding party, hahaha!). I really enjoyed that, Q and I had a chance to sit together and talk, watch everyone enjoy the company surrounding them, a bit of we time amidst the chaos. Our wedding wine glasses were a surprise find at Anthropologie by Seestor, and that little polar bear there, that's our cake topper (purchased locally in Jasper). It wouldn't sit on the cake as you can see (below) by the mound of blackberries on top of it!
Our guests dining tables had cluster centrepieces. A mixture of mason jars and skinny vases, warm little candles nestled in-between them all, topped off with our table numbers: simple wooden frames (Michaels) that we burned the edges and the numeral into, holding a particular animal track. That was the fun part: the animal track kissing game! We aren't major fans of the glass clinking, so we decided that each table had a track and each guest had to work as a team to figure it out. Once they felt they had the correct animal, that's when they clinked their glasses (we still had that for the traditionalists) and one person stood up and announced their answer. I held the key and if they were correct, Q and I would smooch. 5 out of 7 tables answered correctly. Huzzah!
Q gave himself a challenge for our music and projector system. We didn't have a DJ or anything like that, we only had the iPad and the necessary equipment to show a slideshow presentation (read: projector and screen). Q ran everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, through the iPad: music (with playlists for each portion of the night on the DJ app), the tribute from Jooree, and his slideshow. Interested in doing something similar? Shoot me an email and Q will tell it like it is with that tech stuff. We provided all of our own gear, save for the projector (borrowed from work) and screen (provided by The Pines). It was a lot to pack into the car but well worth it!
Our wedding cake was absolutely delicious: baked cheesecake with blackberries on top. AMAZING! You see that cute couple in the middle down there? That's Bashmore and her man S.Eng, they were the "lucky" ones to catch the garter and bouquet. I say "lucky" because they are hardcore, they did not mess around, they were getting those things and they didn't care who was in their way. They won!
To sum it up, our day was superb, perfect and absolutely stunning. It was like a dream that I never wanted to wake from. Q, I love you with all my heart, with every ounce of my 5'4" frame, you are my light and my true love, and we had a f***ing wicked wedding day!
*SIDE NOTE! Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary to the Babes! We share the same wedding date, and to have their marriage recognized as well, we had everyone clink for kisses throughout dinner for them. Coincidently enough their wedding song popped up during the dance time. How's that for romance? :)
Best. Day. Ever.
xoxo
