July 15th, 2017 was the wedding day of M & A at the UBC Botanical Gardens. Before the ceremony, the bride and groom had a First Look at Queen Elizabeth Park, then moved to Nitobe Gardens for the bridal party portraits. The outdoor wedding was conducted under a custom-made chuppah to reflect the bride’s Jewish heritage, although no other religious aspect was present in the ceremony. Afterwards, they walked back down the aisle as husband and wife through a field of bubbles blown by the guests.
The couple chose gold and mint green as their wedding colours. A was a true DIY bride, putting every detail of her vision into the wedding, such as a photo collage for the gift table, and a display case of the couple’s best memories together. In similar fashion, nearly everything not accomplished personally by the bride and groom was done by friends and family, who really came through for the couple to make the day perfect – and, in doing so, made it even better with the knowledge of their willingness to go the extra distance for M and A. An additional factor which made the day extra-special was the fact that the would-have-been Maid of Honour went into labour during the reception, more than vindicating her decision not to accept the position!
The stepfather of the bride was the Master of Ceremonies and when speeches rolled around, he kicked them off with his own, followed by other friends and family members of the couples, A’s father definitely hit all the right points with his, in which he produced a handmade Father’s Day card she’d made him, and which he had been saving, chocolate bars and all, for several years. Afterwards, couple and guests danced to music provided by Ozzie from Hot Wax.
While videography was by the bride’s father, other vendors included Don MacGregor of MacGregor Studios (photography), Dutchman Caterers, Niki Trading (florals), and of course ThistleBEA, who provided our Just A Day day-of coordination service.