Erika & Michael - September 7, 2019

Is your destination wedding here in Vancouver and you need help? Our couple, Erika & Michael, currently live in Australia. Over the course of one year, we helped plan their wedding through phone calls, text messages, and meetings with Erika’s friends and family who reside here in Vancouver.

Erika, a Vancouver native, had been a student in Australia when she had met her now husband Michael. The couple live in Australia but decided to have a destination wedding in Erika’s home country. With the help of her best friend and maid of honour, they booked the beautiful Cecil Green. From this point, we started planning everything together, including telling the couple what Cecil Green looked like in real life!

We met Erika and her mom in early October of 2018 for the first time. This would be the last time we would see Erika in person, but certainly not the last time we communicated! We scheduled regular chats for late Saturday evening (in Vancouver) to coordinate with early Sunday mornings (in Australia). With the help of some 3:00 a.m. emails and early morning texts, we always made it work! Flash forward to September 2019, and this beautiful wedding all came together.

MORNING

The ladies got ready at the Shangri-La hotel with the beauty team led by Jasmine Hoffman. The gents got pampered at the JD Barbershop which offers cuts, shaves and some very fine scotch.

Christine Pienaar snapped some beautiful moments including the fun champagne toasts with the girls. You can almost hear Erika’s infectious laughter through the photo! See the post on Christine’s beautiful website. https://christinepienaarphotography.com/gallery/erika-michael/

The bride and groom had their first look above the Shangri-La marketplace. From there, the wedding party jumped into a Luxury life limo and headed to Jericho beach. I have to give the groom and his groomsmen credit. Landing only 2 days prior, and being told to go from downtown Vancouver, to the West End (and not West Vancouver!), and then to an area called UBC, they figured it out! Vancouver can be tricky!

AFTERNOON

As photos took place, our team alongside Scholars Catering, Angela and Gabriel, Liza Child Calligraphy and Vancouver Chivairi chairs began to transform the terrace.

Musical Occasions set the tone with classical music. Erica Enns of Young, Hip and Married prepared for the ceremony. The arch you see was completely custom. Eventually it was taken apart to decorate the patio even further for the reception.

All the vintage pieces and furniture are items from Past pieces. The lounge space was on the lawn for the ceremony and cocktail hour, then moved into the house upstairs for the evening.

The ceremony was followed by a traditional Tea ceremony in the solarium.

EVENING

Erika wanted there to be a sea of flowers, and Angela and Gabriel made that happen! They were STACKED! The aisle for the ceremony was designed to be broken down to become the centerpieces for the table. We reused the arch pieces, and placed them along the ledge of the patio with the pampas grass soaring high! To achieve the Tuscan-like feel that Erika wanted, we provided a beautiful Dove grey linen from Lonsdale Event Rentals, pillar candles, clear chargers with gold beads, gold chairs from Vancouver chiavari chairs, and stationary and signage all from Liza Child Calligraphy.

Angela & Gabriel provided greenery on the string lights above the guest tables. The glow cascaded over the guests as the sun went down.

A plated dinner service was served by Scholars Catering, the in-house catering team of Cecil green.

PARTY TIME

Just before Erika walked down the aisle, her and her girls decided they needed a pump up jam. The girls played Toxic by Brittney Speaks at full blast. As I check on the guys, I catch the groom Michael and notice his boutonniere was a little crooked. As I straighten his boutonniere to the sweet serenade of Brittney Spears, he burst out laughing and says “I just love her!”

Beats were kept all night by our pal Brent aka DJ Bfad! The couple had a choreographed first dance which included spins and lifts! The final song of the night was “I Want It That Way” by none other than the Backstreet Boys. This is a memory I will remember forever.