Katie and Chris first contacted me over a year ago about their Stanley Park wedding. They were panning a ceremony at Ferguson Point (one of the neatest views in Vancouver) and a garden-party-themed-cocktail-style-standing-reception at the Stanley Park Tea House. Katie and Chris met while attending the University of British Columbia, and shortly after graduation, got engaged and moved to Australia on a work visa. They recently turned from two years “down under” and were oh-so-ready to forsake the “fiance” title and become husband and wife.
Katie is a writer, so I’ll let a few of her words do the talking for this next bit…
“Our wedding is truly DIY. The bride’s father Fred is a carpenter and he made the arbour we’ll stand under during or ceremony out of cedar trees which are local to Vancouver Island. The bride’s mother Abby handcrafted over 100 paper flowers out of old books, handmade paper boxes with native seeds for our favours and handmade paper wrappings for mason jars. The groom’s mother Debbie sewed 130 feet of pennants which were hung from the tent, the chairs and used as title flags.
As the bride is a writer and the groom loves to read, there’s a literary theme to the wedding. Our guest books are type writers from Regional Assembly of Text and each of the 23 tables has a love quote from a different writer. Many of the paper decorations, including the flowers, have typewriter text or text from book; many of them are book pages.
The bride loves vintage. She’s wearing her grandmother’s pearls, which her grandfather purchased in 1957, and she’s wearing a headband from the Woolongabba Antique Market in Brisbane, Australia. The bride and groom just moved back home from Australia on August 6th after living there for two years. Pieces of Australia are present in their wedding, such as the shiraz served during the reception, the garter and of course the headband. Lastly, we’re so thrilled to have Lydia Hol perform at our wedding. Lydia is a Vancouver based folk singer who was a finalist in the CBC Searchlight project and is currently in the Peak FM Performance Project.”
[Now back to my words.] Katie and Chris’ day was so joyful. That’s the best word to describe these two. Katie has a smile that lights up a room and a voice so lovely it would calm any room. Joyfully calm. Peaceful. Chris is Katie’s perfect nerd. They are geeky together and you can “feel” the best friendship between them after only hanging out for one day. I’ve photographed many weddings at the Stanley Park Tea House but never before had I seen a standing reception set up outside! It was the coolest thing. Food was served appetizer style for the first portion of the evening with more “main course” food stations set up inside later on.
Most of all, I loved Katie and Chris’ style. Katie’s dress was very unique – playful, fun, bubbly. Her hairpiece was the cutest. Her red lipstick, perfect. Her blue shoes – a cute compliment to the blue bunting hung all throughout the ceremony and reception details. Katie and the bridesmaids pink and orange flowers popped against the blue bridesmaid gowns – but my favourite flowers have to be the big red ones on every table at the reception. This is a bride with awesome personal style. Many people would think “How can I have an orange and pink bouquet? With blue bridesmaid dresses? And then have all main decor flowers bright red?” Katie. And she killed it. So cheery!
Another detail I loved – for guests to see Katie and Chris kiss, they had to write a haiku and deliver it on the microphone.
(An ode to Katie’s incredible writing/poetry talent. She won a slam poetry contest in Australia last year.)
This idea made me all warm inside. Katie and Chris love literature, so their favourite love quotes were framed on every table. This one by Scott Fitzgerald is a favourite: “I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it’s these things I’d believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild assumptions that she wasn’t all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything.”
Doesn’t this look like a party you want to be at?! The sweetest.
Hair Stylist: Alex from Beauty Calls
Makeup Artist: Alysia from Beauty Calls
Wedding Gown: VII from Bella Sposa
Bridesmaids Dresses: Coralie Beatrix (Etsy)
Groomsmen Attire: Black and Lee
Florist: Flowerz
Venue/Caterer: Stanley Park Tea House
Event Rentals: A&B Rentals
Band: Lydia Hol
Dessert: Cupcakes
OOOH LOVE this one, Jaime! And completely agree with you — I was thinking, “How’d this girl pull off THOSE colors?” and then I read what you wrote. SO true! LOVE her style! (and the literary aspects…I mean, duh ;) )
Great location for a wedding and obviously a great day for all. You captured every moment of it beautifully. Nice job!