A very good morning to you,
Yesterday I featured a library-set engagement shoot of a lovely couple from Toronto, Starly & Ryan. Well now you have their super-lovely wedding for your viewing pleasure too.
Captured by Aron Goss of Calculated Style Photography he said about the day “Starly and Ryan’s wedding day was a lot like the two of them—full of love, laughter, and lots of joy. Sharing their special day with their many friends and family, Starly and Ryan finally made it official after almost a decade together.
A rather neat coincidence of Starly and Ryan’s special day, was the visit from a somewhat extraordinary guest…March 19th brought us what is known as the ‘Supermoon’—a unique event, where the full moon is closer to the Earth than it has been in over two decades. It is described as rare, beautiful, and near perfect…. A lot like the love shared between Starly and Ryan. I can’t think of a more perfect symbol to have made its appearance on such a significant day in their lives. Talk about having the universe of your side!”
Starly explained the details behind the wedding “We wanted the wedding to be elegant and beautiful, but most importantly, we wanted all the major elements of the wedding to reflect our own personalities. As well, due to our shorter engagement period (i.e. 6 months), we wanted the planning to be as effortless, efficient and straightforward as possible.”
DIY Details
The wedding invitations, programs and seating cards were purchased from a line of kits called the “BRIDES Collection” made by Gartner Studios and available through Michaels in Canada. I printed and assembled the invitations, programs and seating cards myself with help from the groom and friends. These products all turned out really well, and we received many compliments on them. No one could tell that these were DIY elements. In lieu of wedding favors or bombonieres, we made a donation to the Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation, and they provided printed cards for each place setting with a personalized “thank you” message. The cards saved us time, helped to convey our gratitude to our guests, looked elegant, and made us happy to know that the donation was going towards helping cancer patients.
Great advice
In general, try not to spend money on things because you’re expected to or solely because it’s tradition. Prioritize the wedding elements that are important to you and that you’re willing to spend more money on, and identify those items, which you feel you can bemore frugal with. Don’t be afraid to say “no” or to ask vendors for a discount. I think our biggest key to success in terms of staying within the budget was selecting vendors that we could trust and that we selected based on strong referrals and past performance. These vendors tended to be well experienced, dependable, provided realistic estimates, and were keen to help us reach all of our wedding goals, both in terms of our vision and budget. When the cost of certain elements was too high, we were able to work collaboratively with many of our vendors to make substitutions or modifications that were less expensive without sacrificing the style that we wanted for our wedding.
The best bits
The groom and I made most of the wedding decisions together, and we were extremely pleased that we were able to add our personal touch to almost every element of the wedding from the music to the flowers to the cake and my wedding dress. We felt that the wedding really reflected our personalities, and that it was evident to our guests!
Final thoughts
Although we had a shorter engagement, we were able to keep an even pace and spread the work out through the wedding planning period. We had most of the wedding preparations completed a few days before the wedding. This turned out to be crucial, since I became ill with food poisoning the day before the wedding and could not do anything! Luckily because we were well prepared, there wasn’t much left to do at that point and I could afford to take a much needed sick day. I’m so glad to report that my bout of illness did not have any significant impact the wedding day!
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Such brilliant advice from Starly and great to hear how they planned their perfect day, in what is a relatively short time. Thanks so much to Aron of Calculated Style Photography for submitting to me, and sending great vibes for a lifetime of happiness to the lovely Starly and Ryan.
You can find out more about Calculated Style Photography by visiting their site here.
Michelle x
Submitted via Two Bright Lights
Love the venue and the dress! Great advice, and I admire them for being honest!