Wellington Weddings 2019

TH

FOURTH EDITION 2019

OF

E

W E L L I N GT

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IM

TS

A DV E R T I S

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* CO M P L

Weddings

EN

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WELLINGTON

Let’s talk ABOUT THE

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O

TIMING is

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Rooted in love

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On Erin Tree Farm

a winter

WEDDING

Let it SNOW

1 Wellington Weddings 2019

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

7 Let It Snow

CASSANDRA & BROCK

12

Act Natural

18

Let 's Talk About the Dress

22

Engagement Photo Sessions

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ONE COUPLE’S ENGAGEMENT PHOTOSHOOT STORY

CAPTURING A LOVE STORY, ONE FRAME AT A TIME

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28

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32

Two hearts. One love.

39

Rooted in Love

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

A SUMMER WEDDING ON ERIN TREE FARM

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CASSANDRA & BROCK F E B RUAR Y 10, 2018

LET IT SNOW

By Kelly Waterhouse Photography by Chris Payne Photography

Most brides would see a snow storm on their wedding day as a bad thing, but for Cassandra O’Donnell (nee Chornoboy), freshly fallen snow was the absolute dream wedding backdrop for the day she married her longtime love, Brock O’Donnell. It’s almost as if she planned it.

“I really wanted snow,” Cassandra said, smiling at the memory. “I was praying for snow.”

“I kept telling her we were going to get a field full of brown mud,” Brock teased.

The forecast included weather warnings for the eve of their wedding, which whipped up cold winds and several centimetres of snow throughout the night. When the couple awoke on the morning of February 10, 2018, there was a landscape of white.

Cassandra’s prayers came true.

“WHEN I TOLD PEOPLE WE’RE GETTING MARRIED IN FEBRUARY, THEY ALWAYS ASKED IF WE WERE PLANNING A DESTINATION WEDDING. I SAID, ‘NO, IT’S A CANADIAN WINTER WEDDING’” - CASSANDRA

A blanket of white covered the fields of their farm in Guelph-Eramosa and would continue to fall that day, gracing the grounds of St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in nearby Oustic with a glimmer of white.

Picture perfect.

“When I told people we’re getting married in February, they always asked if we were planning a destination wedding,” she said, laughing. “I said, ‘no, it’s a Canadian winter wedding!’”

Raised a farm girl, Cassandra had no problem getting up early on her wedding day and setting to work shovelling the snow in the drive and creating a path out to the barn to make it possible for the wedding party to have photos taken on the rural property. It was important to the couple that the farm was central to their images, because it will be central to their lives.

“This farm has been in my family for five generations and it’s where we live together now,” Cassandra said. “It’s always been a part of my family.”

Agriculture is an important part of this couple’s history. Brock grew up in Fergus, but his grandfather’s farm was an important part of his upbringing. Cassandra grew up in various Wellington County 4-H clubs,

Wellington Weddings 2019 7

8 Wellington Weddings 2019

(which attributed to her wedding-ona-budget skills), and was raised on the family farm, which inspired her postsecondary education at the University of Guelph. Both she and Brock are presently members of Wellington County Junior Farmers too.

“I wanted pictures at the farm for sure and pictures with the cows,“ Cassandra said.

The pair wanted the photos to include the hay bales and hay wagon, which meant more shovelling, but the natural environment created authentic images of their friends having fun.

“It was very deep snow,” Cassandra recalled, laughing. “There was so much snow that we couldn’t open the gates for the cows.”

Getting the cows to cooperate in the photo session with Brock and Cassandra took some gentle bribery: a bucket of apples and a lot of patience. But the end result was exactly what they hoped for; fun and natural photos of the couple at home, living the life they want. And the deep snow? It didn’t faze this bride and groom one bit.

“I wanted our wedding in winter because I think it is a beautiful season and that made our wedding day unique. I was glad it was such a pretty day,” Cassandra said.

More photos were taken at Cassandra’s sister’s rural property down the road from the farm, which offered a forest setting.

St. Peter Church was also a significant setting.

“It meant a lot to be married there. I couldn’t have pictured myself getting married anywhere else,” Cassandra said.

“All my family have always gotten married in that church.”

Cassandra’s great grandfather, Thomas Joseph Hollis, donated the steeple bell to the congregation and was one of the workers who helped in the construction of the church. In present day, Cassandra’s mother is the organist there and mother and daughter are active in the Catholic Women’s League.

“The location of the church was ideal because it allowed all of our friends and family to be there and that was important to us,” Brock said of the 170 guests who attended the ceremony. He joked that he has a very large family.

“I was relieved when the church part was over because it’s hard to have everyone watching me,” he said.

He may have been nervous, but the couple agree the ceremony was beautiful.

Cassandra’s mother walked her down the aisle, creating a memorable mother-

“IT MEANT A LOT TO BE MARRIED THERE. I COULDN’T HAVE PICTURED MYSELF GETTING MARRIED ANYWHERE ELSE” - CASSANDRA

daughter moment. The couple enjoyed the traditions of their faith, including the lighting of the unity candle by their mothers and the service performed by their priest, Father Donald Sanvido.

While it was white and blistery outside, the inspiration to add a flair of colour and sophistication to the wedding came from the bride’s personal affection for peacock feathers, which became the accent accessory throughout the day. Juniper and Royal Purple were the colour themes for the event.

“Anywhere they could put peacock feathers we had them, mixed with homemade decorations. Everywhere there was décor, there were feathers,” Cassandra said, noting they were used in Eiffel vases for the table centrepieces, as décor for the church and even on the wedding cake.

It helped keep costs down for the couple, as Cassandra had amassed a nice collection of the colourful feathers and friends and family started to seek them out too.

Brock didn’t mind, because there was also a sentimental value in it for him.

“I remember my grandfather had peacocks roaming around on his property when I was growing up,” he said.

Abby Rose Floral Boutique in Fergus incorporated peacock feathers into the design of the wedding flowers, embellishing the beautiful bouquets for the bride and her bridesmaids, and the boutineers for the groom and groomsmen, as well as corsages for the mothers of the bride and groom.

For the bride, Abby Rose florists added a peacock broach that had been handed down to Cassandra by her late grandmother. A locket was also included, which held photos of her grandmother and also Cassandra’s cat, who passed shortly before the wedding.

The peacock colours influenced the bridal party of five ushers and bridesmaids too. The women wore the same shade of juniper, but selected individual dress styles to be unique. The groom and groomsmen rented suits from Broderick’s, in Fergus, with the juniper shade for their ties.

Other local shops were also used for this wedding. Cassandra’s rings came from Ron Wilkin Jewellers in Fergus.

The evening reception was held at nearby Ariss Valley Golf and Country Club, and the bridal party had fun decorating the venue. This is where Cassandra’s 4-H skills really came into play. From the centrepieces to the photo booth backdrop of painted doors to the old ladders painted white and decorated

Wellington Weddings 2019 9

fun.” with photos of the couple, they put effort But the couple enjoyed sharing the into every detail. planning and tasks.

“We did a lot of crafting, which is fine “Cassandra was not a bridezilla. She was because I enjoy it and it’s a good way to pretty chill about the whole experience. save money,” she explained. “We’re both But she was on the ball with everything,” very thrifty people, we work hard for our Brock said. “She was very organized. But money so we wouldn’t throw it away.” we were both pretty easy-going.”

Cassandra says she bought a lot of her Brock was responsible for picking the décor items online, including on popular evening’s menu and choice of venue too.

Facebook wedding groups.

“Brock wanted to pick the cake, the “We shopped around a lot for things napkin colours and he and I carried my liked black table cloths,” swatches everywhere,” Cassandra said, smiling Cassandra said. “My “I WANTED IT at his choice of banana wedding binder is TO BE PRETTY. cake with banana icing. ridiculous.”

I WANTED TO GET MARRIED “The hall looked One of the couple’s IN A CHURCH THAT WAS beautiful,” Brock said, fun ideas was to create SIGNIFICANT TO ME, noting the banquet “message in a bottle” THAT WAS IMPORTANT TO hall included canopy time capsules marked BOTH OF US drapes from the ceiling for five different AND TO HAVE A for an elegant effect. anniversary years: “Ariss Valley Golf and first, fifth, 10th, 25th Country Club was and 30th.

People awesome and did a were given small slips WHERE EVERYONE really nice job.” of paper to write HAD A GREAT TIME” He added, “The chef messages for each - CASSANDRA was amazing. We had milestone. prime rib served family “The bottles are style and chicken pretty full and I’m really served plated. It was cooked to perfection.” excited to open them,” Cassandra said.

Cassandra said, “Everyone was raving They both agree their friends and family about the food, but especially the beef.” were extremely helpful in the wedding “The party and the dinner was the best planning, including the creation of the part,” Brock said, laughing, noting it was wedding favours. good to relax with family and friends. “The “We created S’mores kits, with graham support of our friends and family was crackers, two marshmallows and pieces incredible. We are a very tight unit and of chocolate, for “S’more love for later,”” always have been.”

Cassandra said. “We had an assembly crew Brock and Cassandra made sure their here putting those together. It was a lot of

good party

10 Wellington Weddings 2019

wedding day embodied their shared values and personal history; their love for family, the traditions of their faith community and their deep agricultural roots. The significance of their day was made all the more special by the history of their connection to St. Peter Church. It was everything they hoped for.

“I wanted it to be pretty. I wanted to get married in a church that was significant to me, that was important to both of us and have a good party where everyone had a great time,” Cassandra said. “I loved it all. It made me sad when it was over because I wanted to do it all over again.”

On their first anniversary, Brock and Cassandra will open their time capsule and relive their special day together, and will continue to do so as the milestones come along. The memories of their Canadian winter wedding will keep them warm for years to come.

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ACT NATURAL ONE COUPLE’S ENGAGEMENT PHOTOSHOOT STORY

By Aryn Strickland Photography by Melissa Weber Photography

12 Wellington Weddings 2019

TARA & GRANT NOV EM B ER 1 0 , 2 0 1 8 When Belwood native Tara Weber (nee Tomson) imagined getting married, not only did she have a clear vision for her wedding but she knew where she wanted her engagement photos taken too.

Engagement photos are a must-do for most couples, with great care and attention to detail going into the photo-op. From high school Tara had ideas about what her engagement photos would look like.

Growing up in the Fergus-Elora area and attending Centre Wellington District High School, Tara and her friends would go for walks through the Elora Gorge year-round.

Later, when she met Grant, her husbandto-be, one of the couples’ first dates took place in the gorge.

When the couple decided to get their photos done, both said the Elora Gorge was the perfect place.

“It is such a beautiful place and people come from far and wide to go there,” said Grant.

He was more than happy with Tara’s visions for their photos. A licensed contractor with a passion for fishing, it was important to him to have their photos taken near the water.

“IT’S SUCH A

beautiful place

AND

PEOPLE COME FROM FAR AND WIDE TO GO THERE” - GRANT

Wellington Weddings 2019 13

So was keeping the experience in the family.

Grant’s sister Melissa Weber, of Melissa Weber Photography based out of Waterloo, was their photographer. Both say it made the photoshoot particularly special.

“I have seen her work over the years and I said ‘I am not getting an engagement photographer. I want you to do it,’” said Grant.

“It never felt awkward; she just kind of made us laugh a lot the whole time,” Tara added.

The Elora Gorge location worked well for Melissa because she had shot other sessions there. Still, Tara was able to show her a few hidden gems only a local would know.

In the mouth of the gorge near the bridge, there was one specific rock that Tara and her friends used to sit on that she wanted to make sure made it into their photos.

It also gave Grant a chance to share in the natural beauty with Tara.

“Because it was snowing that day, there was also this one spot in the gorge where it’s notorious for having ice coming all the way down the wall of rocks,” said Tara.

“I knew that it would be there and I wanted to make sure that we captured that because he’s never seen how that happens in the gorge in the winter time,” she added.

Grant also had ideas about what he

14 Wellington Weddings 2019

wanted his engagement photos to capture.

He proposed to Tara in the winter of 2017 during a trip to Queenston, overlooking the Niagara river.

“YOUR SELF-IMAGE IS A BIG THING THOUGH. IF YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE IN WHAT YOU ARE WEARING IT SHOWS IN YOUR

smile ...“ - GRANT

Grant wanted the engagement photos to reflect the engagement itself, to capture if not the moment, then the essence of the experience.

“I think a lot of couples take their engagement photos in the summer, which is all cool, but when we got engaged it was the winter. I think it’s kind of cool if you can

blend when they became engaged with engagement photos,” said Grant.

Melissa’s major input to the couple was to wear something comfortable, and in the cold weather, anything too dressy was pretty much out of the question in favour of lots of layers.

“Your self-image is a big thing though. If you feel more comfortable in what you are wearing it shows in your smile,” Grant said.

Feeling at ease for Tara meant taking Melissa and Grant to her other favourite place: the horse barn in Moffat where she keeps her quarter horses, Rocky and Bam. Tara’s father is a horse farrier. She was born into a “horse-oriented family,” grew up riding horses and spends every summer competing in barrel racing.

The horses’ presence in the photos became a symbol of Tara’s journey; a perfect addition to a milestone like an engagement.

“They are a big part of my life for sure and now our lives,” said Tara.

She has owned Rocky since he was five months old. She grew up riding him and he helped her win first place in Ontario for barrel racing when she was 18. Now in retirement, Rocky is the horse Grant rides when the couple goes riding.

Bam, on the other hand, is Tara’s current competition horse.

The picture of the couple with Tara’s horses took centre stage on their wedding website, while the pictures from inside the Elora Gorge were featured on the cover of their wedding invitations.

However, both said the photos have an emotional purpose as well as a practical one.

The couple now has a printed canvas engagement photo in their living room.

With spectacular, highly symbolic engagement photos, the pressure was on to create something special for wedding photos.

In the couple’s minds there was no better place than the natural beauty of the Rockwood Conservation Area. Tara had come to the park to canoe with friends back in high school.

The morning of the wedding on November 10, 2018, the couple took their wedding photos in Rockwood before heading to get married in Linwood.

Despite braving the cold weather once again, Tara and Grant agreed the breathtaking vistas in their wedding photos would complement their engagement

photos.

When the couple spoke to the magazine days before their nuptials, they were excited by the similarities and differences between their engagement and wedding photos.

“The one thing with the Elora photos at the time, we didn’t capture how Elora can be in the summertime with the river rushing and being fuller,” said Tara. “When we took our pictures there the river was down, whereas at the Rockwood conservation area it’s going to be beautiful because we literally have a quarry full of water behind us.”

Wellington Weddings 2019 15

IT’S VERY SPECIAL FOR ME TO HAVE THOSE PICTURES. IT MAKES ME

emotional

EVERY TIME I LOOK AT THEM ...

- TARA

They know the pictures will represent the day perfectly.

When a wedding is long over, it’s pictures that take a couple back to that moment and celebrate what is unique but also timeless about the ceremony.

Already Tara and Grant look back fondly on that time in the Elora Gorge with Tara’s horses and the moments before they were married.

“It’s very special and for me to have those pictures, it makes me emotional every time I do look at them because they are beautiful,” said Tara.

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16 Wellington Weddings 2019

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LET’S TALK ABOUT THE DRESS SARAH & MACLEAN M AY 5 , 2018

By Kelly Waterhouse Photography by Daniel Dunlop Photography Forget tradition. Forget the white wedding gown. When Sarah Barber got married to Maclean Hann in her hometown, she knew she’d do it in style. Her style. The inspiration was Dior. The shade a midnight blue. And the backdrop? The beautiful, artistic village of Elora.

“I didn’t want a traditional wedding gown,” Sarah said. “I knew it wasn’t me.”

A fan of vintage attire, with a fondness for 1940s French fashion, Sarah went online in search of dress styles by renowned French designer Christian Dior. After looking through many images, she came upon a black cocktail dress, circa 1950, by Suzy Perette, a former New York City-based dress manufacturing company that created versions of

Parisian designs of that era, inspired by the House of Dior. True to the iconic Suzy Perette silhouette, the dress featured a cinched waist with a full skirt.

“I knew I needed someone to make the dress and I remembered Jacquelyn van Kampen from having seen pieces of her fashions at a gala show at the Elora Centre for the Arts,” Sarah said, remembering she specifically sought out the designer’s business card.

When she went to Jacquelyn’s Instagram account in search of samples of her work, she came across some posts of an artist’s collage group in Toronto. As fate would have it, that art group was started by Sarah when she was living in Toronto, but she left the group

five years ago when she moved back to her hometown. Jacquelyn joined the collage group shortly after and also, without having ever met, would later settle in Elora too. The women were now living just a few blocks apart. Serendipity.

“It felt like the stars aligned actually. The collage group, the card from the show in Elora,” Sarah said.

She took her Suzy Perette image to Jacquelyn for a consultation.

“I was pretty fresh out of school and actually, when we had our initial meeting, I told her I hadn’t done a wedding dress before … but I would do whatever it takes,”Jacquelyn said.

Sarah was thrilled. “I knew you could do it, I had faith in you.”

Jacquelyn graduated with a degree in industrial design from the Netherlands, but began her study in textiles when she moved to Toronto several years ago. She studied at a small fashion design school, where she learned to hone her skills.

“I DIDN’T WANT A TRADITIONAL WEDDING GOWN ...

I KNEW IT WASN’T

me

“

- SARAH

“They taught traditional methods of pattern drafting, fitting and sewing, so I had that really intense background of working with someone, one on one,” Jacquelyn said.

The fashion designer now works out of her private Elora studio, where she specializes in upcycled clothing with contemporary design and an online store, Studio Kampina.

“I sketched the dress out so I could get a few sketches of the details and showed them to Sarah to make sure

Wellington Weddings 2019 19

that we’re on the same page,” Jacquelyn said. “I took her measurements and started with a few muslin versions to get it to size.”

She adds, “Sarah was wonderful to work with! The process of making a custom garment can be very fluid. There’s lots of opportunities for adjustments, like where exactly the waistline hits and how fitted it should be and where. So with Sarah, we used the picture as a guideline and then I made the samples for her to fit. We figured out the exact details as we went along. It’s a great process because Sarah ended up having a lot of say throughout.”

Not many brides get the opportunity to work so closely with the creator of their wedding dress.

“That was my favourite part of the process, the collaboration and the experience of creating the dress together,” Sarah said.

She and Jacquelyn added personal touches to the original design, including velvet button details on the sleeves and

pockets, an absolute must for the bride.

“With this dress we stuck pretty close to the photograph,” Jacquelyn said. “The pockets were a fun addition though. I do like to include pockets in all the dresses I do, even the wedding dresses.”

The middle of the dress was to be tied with a velvet corset, creating a slimming look and a separation in the dress, that featured an empire waist look with a voluminous, circle skirt, to be further enhanced by a crinoline.

“The dress has almost a corset styled centre, without boning,” Jacquelyn said.

A black Dior-inspired dress wasn’t traditional wedding attire, and neither was Sarah’s choice of dress colour.

“Dark navy is my favourite colour,” she said. “Since black is traditionally worn at funerals, it didn’t feel appropriate for our wedding.”

Sarah searched far and wide for the fabric to make her wedding dress dream a reality.

Finally, she found her fabric online and ordered it direct from New York.

“I found a silk taffeta fabric by Ralph Lauren called Parisienne Nights,” Sarah explains. “It had a shimmer to it and it’s the darkest blue you can get before black.”

When the bundles of fabric arrived, the process to go from photo to creation was in full swing.

“IT’S IMPORTANT TO ME THAT THE MONEY STAYED WITHIN OUR TOWN

because WE HAVE BUSINESSES HERE AND WE’D RATHER SUPPORT OUR FRIENDS THAN A CORPORATE ENTITY” - SARAH

... I COULDN’T BELIEVE THAT THE DRESS I SAW IN THAT PHOTO WAS ON ME ... IT FIT ME PERFECTLY, IT WAS QUITE EMOTIONAL - SARAH

20 Wellington Weddings 2019

“I draw so much inspiration from the material itself,” Jacquelyn said. “This whole process is all about letting the fabric inspire and guide the design.”

But, she admits, with the material ordered in, it is also the anxious part. “You only get one chance to get it right.”

Jacquelyn got it right, in every detail.

“It took about four months. With wedding dresses they always take a long time and I wanted to make sure that Sarah was happy with everything throughout the process,” the designer said.

Happy is an understatement. Sarah recalls the moment she put on the completed dress for the first time.

“I was overwhelmed because I couldn’t believe that the dress I saw in that photo was on me,” she said. “It fit me perfectly. It was quite emotional.”

As someone who never had an idealized concept of her wedding day, much less a goal to be married, she had found both the right man to marry and would do so in the right dress.

“That dress felt like me,” Sarah said. “It was the right dress for the tone of the wedding, and it was comfortable. It was perfect. And really good to dance in.”

She laughed, adding, “The pockets came in handy when I was really nervous at the altar. I had Chapstick in there.”

The reaction to the midnight blue dress was exactly as Sarah expected.

“There was an immediate reaction by some people who were traditional and were surprised by it not being a white gown,” she said, noting that didn’t bother her at all. “People who knew us, who knew me, thought it was stunning and everybody was amazed that Jacquelyn had created it.”

But the opinion that mattered most on the wedding day was Maclean’s, and his reaction was exactly what Sarah hoped for.

“I loved the dress,” Maclean said. “It was the dress that I pictured Sarah wearing without ever having seen a picture of it. She had told me about it, and this was exactly what I thought it would be based on her style. It was exactly what I imagined she

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would wear.”

It matched beautifully with the black diamond engagement ring with champagne diamonds that Maclean had designed by Elora gemologist and jewellery designer Carla Drimmie, of Carla’s Fine Jewellery.

The couple would later select wedding rings from Ron Wilkin Jewellers in Fergus.

Sarah’s ring features champagne diamonds to complement the engagement ring.

Maclean and Sarah met in Elora three years ago and the community has become an important part of their life together.

Maclean moved to the area to work at the Elora Brewing Company. Sarah moved back to her hometown five years ago to pursue her dream of opening Honeychurch Lane, a retail boutique that features antiques, vintage treasures, upcycled furniture and home design accents. Recently, the couple opened Elora’s newest fine dining restaurant, The Evelyn, featuring French cuisine.

“THERE IS SO MUCH TALENT IN THIS TOWN, SO WHY LOOK

elsewhere

“

- SARAH

Getting married in Elora was as important to the couple as making sure they supported local businesses in the wedding plans.

“Having a small business here you want to put your money back into your community,” Sarah said. “It’s important to me that the money stayed within our town because we have businesses here and we’d rather support our friends than a corporate entity.”

Maclean agreed. “Certainly the desire to not go through the rigmarole of traditional wedding planning, where you’re saddled with all these people latching on to a wedding and the costs start ballooning made us want to keep our plans local and

small. We cut out the middle man, so to speak.”

Drimmie Florist created the floral arrangements. Photographer Dan Dunlop captured the day in unique images. The Desert Rose Café catered the reception.

The Elora Brewing Company hosted family at the rehearsal party the night prior to the wedding. Local DJ Spencer Shewen, artistic director and manager of Riverfest Elora, kept the party going well into the night.

“There is so much talent in this town, so why look elsewhere?” Sarah said.

In the heart of the village, the Elora Legion provided the perfect venue for both the wedding and the party to follow.

“I didn’t want to walk down the aisle.

I just wanted a party,” Sarah said, adding one of the special pieces of their wedding was having her niece, Jacoba BarberRozema act as the officiant. “Ours was a very personal wedding because of so many people we know and love being involved.”

“Going against the status quo is what we did for the whole wedding,” Maclean said, proudly.

Among the guests at the reception that night, Jacquelyn enjoyed the experience of watching the joy of her client, who after months of collaboration was now a good friend, wearing the dress they envisioned together. Her creation.

“You make something for someone and you don’t often get to see them in it, but this dress connected me to Sarah and our community and I got to attend the wedding and got to experience it,” Jacquelyn said.

“I was so excited to see her and she looked so beautiful. I was just so happy for her that she loved the dress and looked good in it, and that she was comfortable in what she was wearing on this very special day.”

Centred around community, this wedding was exactly as this bride and groom intended: an authentic representation of their relationship and their future, deeply rooted in the town they call home. And oh, that dress. Sarah wore it well.



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Wellington Weddings 2019 21

ENGAGEMENT PHOTO SESSIONS:

CAPTURING A LOVE STORY, ONE FRAME AT A TIME.

By Kelly Waterhouse Photography by ME Photography There are many chapters to a love story.

While the wedding day is the highlight that celebrates the union of two hearts, the engagement is a celebration of the moment when two lives make the decision to become one. Two important life moments linked to one monumental occasion. Each chapter deserves its own photo session.

“Engagement sessions give a couple a sense of what their wedding day will feel like and a connection to the photographers who will spend a bulk of the day with them on their wedding day,” said Rhonda Spindley, one half of the husband and wife duo behind Me Photography in Fergus. They include an engagement photo session as part of their wedding photography package.

“The number one positive reason we have included engagement sessions is it gives us an opportunity to work together with the couple in advance of the wedding day. That’s our primary goal,” said Clinton Spindley. “We’re looking to spend between eight to 12 hours with a couple in total, on their wedding day. We have to be able to get along with the couple, in the sense of personalities jiving. An engagement session helps determine that.”

Rhonda adds, “We want to have a relationship with them because we want to get the best emotions out of them for the photos in the initial session and on their

22 Wellington Weddings 2019

wedding day. ” It begins with an invitation for the clients to meet the photographers.

“We bring people in to sit down with us, to get a sense of our work and style, and talk about their wedding plans,” Clinton said.

“We have to get a sense of their imaging needs and know if there are any custom elements to it.”

ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS GIVE A COUPLE A SENSE OF WHAT THE WEDDING DAY WILL FEEL LIKE ...

- RHONDA

They said this time helps them answer some common questions and concerns that couples have, everything from what to wear to what to expect, to how many images they can expect from the session.

That one is an easy answer.

“We have no idea how many images they’ll get,” Clinton explains. “We need to photograph and sample out what gets the best emotions, see what is their stamina for being photographed. I’m assessing how long

they can do it and it’s an experience. These sessions are tailor fitted for the client and we’re capturing what we can during that comfort time.”

For the rest of the typical questions, Me Photography offers clients a sheet; “How to prepare for your photo session.” It includes simple tips like drinking water to stay hydrated, suggestions to coordinate attire, and of course, if you bring the dog along, make sure you have a handler to keep the dog entertained during the photos that won’t include your four-legged friend.

Rhonda estimates an engagement photo session is approximately an hour and a half, depending on the comfort level of the couple.

“We have them moving and doing things, so the time goes by quite quickly,” she said.

“We work to make it fun.

They agree that working with a couple in an engagement photo session helps get a sense of the couple’s personalities, but it also helps to prepare the bride and groom for the expectations of their photo session on the wedding day. It helps make a sometimes stressful day feel more smooth and relaxed.

“The wedding day isn’t a photo event.

It’s an event with photos taking place,” said Clinton. It’s that awareness that guides the way he and Rhonda photograph a wedding.

“We don’t want to be in the way of the guests while their loved ones are getting married. We also don’t want to keep the couple from their guests. That’s not acceptable to us,” he said.

Ten years in the business, Clinton and Rhonda know that their time with a couple on their wedding day is limited, so they have developed a strategy and style for photographing weddings - and the engagement session is the perfect introduction.

“Most couples have never had professional photos done, so to add that to the stress and demands for their wedding day is a lot to ask. Engagement sessions give them the chance to do this before their wedding day, giving them the chance to get comfortable being photographed when they aren’t all dressed up.”

It starts with the ideal setting.

“Weddings are centred around a location that may not have significance to them beyond the wedding venue, so with engagement sessions, we often try to include a setting that is personal to them,” she said, noting this helps build a personal connection between the photographer and the client. She enjoys when clients choose locations such as family farms or a place of significance to the couple, but also likes it when they include personal things, such as a family pet or an antique car or their pickup truck, something that speaks to who they are as a couple.

“When it comes to the location, it’s more important to me that it be important to you,” Rhonda said.

Clinton agrees, “We want to alleviate any concerns and photograph them where they are comfortable in a place that speaks to them.”

But if a couple is unsure of a setting, that’s okay too, because Me Photography has

several preferred locations to recommend.

Making a couple feel comfortable in front of the lens is key, but getting the best images is always the focus.

“We tailor fit the trial run,” Clinton said.

“We’ll try some scenarios and the couple will be comfortable with the pose and there are others who won’t be comfortable, so we learn what works. In an engagement session, we’re exploring different ideas with them.”

“THE WEDDING DAY ISN’T A PHOTO EVENT. IT’S AN

event

WITH PHOTOS TAKING PLACE” - CLINTON

He adds, “We’re feeling them out and they’re feeling us out and it gives us a chance to work together.”

This is where Me Photography’s experience comes in and the trust between client and photographer is solidified.

“Specific to our style, we do a semi-pose style which involves movement. We base everything off the hinge concept,” Clinton explains. “Think of the hinge that connects a pair of doors. That’s how we explain it. This allows us to teach the couple how to semi-

pose in several scenarios.”

This concept helps couples learn how to turn their bodies for the camera and distribute their weight in a way that is flattering and balanced.

“Semi-posing in advance helps the couple so that when it comes to the wedding day we can compress the photo time,” Clinton said. “Our clients appreciate this because they haven’t had this experience before.

What we do helps make things run smoothly on the wedding day.”

By keeping the engagement sessions relaxed and casual in a familiar atmosphere, the couple ultimately feels less pressure on their wedding day, creating beautiful, authentic photographs to last a lifetime.

“Couples end up with photos they can use leading up to the wedding, and we’ve seen these images being used in a lot of ways on the date,” Rhonda said.

Seeing clients making use of their engagement images in creative ways is part of the fun for Clinton and Rhonda, who get to see their work enjoyed by many.

These images have been used for Save the Date notices, wedding invitations and engagement announcements, wedding websites, social media posts, Buck’n Doe tickets and games, wine labels for the reception party and personal décor touches at the wedding venue.

That is the fundamental goal of engagement photo sessions: to create a beautiful gallery of professional images that are casual with a romantic feel, and also useful in the events leading up to the wedding day. But it’s also about building trust with the photographers who will tell your story with their photos. Capturing the moment when two lives make the decision to become one. One very special chapter in an epic love story.



Wellington Weddings 2019 23

BRIDAL SHOPPING 101

FALLING IN LOVE IS EASY, FINDING THE DRESS IS THE HARD PART!

YOUR The process involved in finding a wedding gown is unlike any other.

A bride must make a decision at least six months in advance to ensure she walks down the aisle in her dream gown. The search, however, can take months, and most will begin making appointments at various salons a year before the nuptials take place.

The experience is predicated on a number of factors — factors that are unique to each person.

Celebrating this individuality is what Lidia’s Brides does best. By stocking an exquisite collection of designer styles in a size range that is inclusive to all, Lidia’s believes anyone can have a fairytale YES moment.

SILHOUETTES EXPLAINED

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Sheath — Narrow shape, flowing straight down from neckline to hem.

WHAT IS MY BRIDAL SIZE?

Each design house has its own measurement scale. Unfortunately, these sizes can connote a negative body image as a “bridal” size is anywhere from two to four sizes smaller than everyday clothing. Please, don’t be discouraged! Lidia’s Brides is committed to stocking sample gowns for everyone in all the latest trends.

WHAT STYLE SHOULD I PICK? Throw out the rule book and choose what you feel best in. That’s it!

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24 Wellington Weddings 2019

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Wellington Weddings 2019 25

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Wellington Weddings 2019 27

A PICTURE PERFECT WEDDING:

A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER’S BACKYARD WEDDING CHANTEL & MICHAEL J U N E 9 , 2018

By Aryn Strickland Photography by Whitney Heard Photography

As a professional wedding photographer, Chantel Hasson (nee Dirksen) knew what to look for when she planned her wedding last summer to the love of her life, Guelph firefighter Michael Hasson.

Over her seven-year career, Chantel has been to countless weddings. When it came time to plan her own, she already had a clear theme in mind.

“It was easy to plan because it gave me a vision by going to so many different weddings and seeing all the different themes and the colours,” she said.

What stood out in her mind most prominently was a colour-scheme and the quality of light she wanted to achieve on the day. Both helped influence many of the couple’s other decisions surrounding their ceremony.

“There was a lot of white and greenery and gold that tied everything in,” she said.

From there, Chantel decided on the theme of romantic, elegant country chic.

One photographer’s work in particular stole Chantel’s imagination: Whitney Heard Photography. Chantel stumbled across Heard, a fine art photographer based out of Toronto, and her work in the discovery feed on Instagram.

28 Wellington Weddings 2019

The photographer’s use of both film and digital captured Chantel’s attention right away.

“I fell in love with her work because film photography is such a dying art but it is starting to make a comeback,” Chantel said.

WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SUPER SPECIAL TO GET MARRIED IN A PLACE THAT WE WOULD BE AT FOREVER - CHANTEL

“A really good photographer can shoot both film and digital. Film picks up certain textures that digital just can’t,” she added.

Whitney Heard’s portfolio commonly uses beautiful green hues and has a light and airy quality that Chantel wanted for her wedding pictures.

But if the photographer was not going to be local, Chantel and Michael wanted to keep the list of vendors and companies for

the rest of the wedding as local as possible.

That list too came easily from Chantel’s knowledge of the local wedding scene.

“I actually picked out a list of vendors that I knew I wanted to work with before we even got engaged,” Chantel said.

When picking a venue, the couple looked no further than their own two-acre backyard.

The couple purchased the property, 10-minutes outside of Fergus on Highway 6, in March, 2018. It was their first home together and according to both, it will also be their last.

“When we bought our property, we knew it was our forever home,” said Chantel, “We thought it would be super special to get married in a place that we would be at forever.”

The property was designed in 1979 by the head of the Guelph horticultural society at the time, and her husband.

It still boasts beautiful winding pathways, and flower gardens designed by the original owner, but the couple had to “Secret Garden” the spirit back into it to get the property ready for their nuptials.

“We had to touch up the flowerbeds, we had to do a lot of work with that. But other

than that, the gardens were already there.

We just had to make them look pretty again,” said Michael.

The wedding took place on June 9, 2018 when the trees and lawn were at their lushest, under a canopy of maple trees in their backyard Chantel describes as heartshaped in formation.

The area was decorated with natural wood folding garden chairs and greenery from the property made up some of the decorative bouquets.

“I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND

a day-of coordinator IT’S JUST ONE LESS THING THAT BRIDES HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT” - CHANTEL

Groupings of old antique windows left over from a friend’s home renovation were given new life with calligraphy work done

by Creations By Korga, based out of Ariss.

The company also provided decorated chalkboard signs directing guests to the backyard and out of the house and then later to the reception.

Coordinator Emily Stirrzinger of Seraphina Weddings and Events out of Guelph helped make sure everything ran smoothly.

“They helped just solidify our timeline and then any special requests that we had like asking that our guests refrain from going in the house and staying in the backyard,” said Chantel.

The tables and chairs, linens, cups and napkins came from Guelph Tent and Event Rentals, one of the vendors on Chantel’s original list.

“The owner’s name is Laura, she’s amazing. I had dealt with her at weddings I had done locally so I knew ... she’s just really sweet and accommodating,” said Chantel.

When it was time for the wedding cocktail hour, Seraphina Weddings brought out all of the food and drinks for cocktail hour in the backyard. “[The company] kind of alleviated the stress from both sets of parents trying to run around and get everything ready to go so that was nice,” agreed Michael.

And if there is one piece of wisdom Chantel and Michael would pass on to other couples for their big day, it would be to set aside some room in the budget for this stress reliever.

Wellington Weddings 2019 29

“I would highly recommend a day-of coordinator; it’s just one less thing that brides have to worry about,” said Chantel.

And what bride, photographer or not, could resist a bit of fairytale magic?

While their families and friends mingled at cocktail hour, Chantel and Michael went to get wedding photos in front of a 1960s fire truck courtesy of the Guelph Fire Service before being whisked away for photos on an actual horsedrawn carriage.

Michael’s aunt and uncle own a horse and carriage business that can be hired for events.

Following the ceremony, the couple took a breather by taking a ride out to the field for pictures.

“The alone time you get after because everything is so quick. It’s nice to get in the buggy and kind of just catch your breath for a minute.

Although there is a wedding there you just have that moment,” said Michael.

In keeping with the country chic theme, the reception took place 200 feet from the ceremony in a sheep barn on the couple’s property. The inside walls were exposed steel and wood, giving the room a rustic feel. Still, the couple was not deterred.

“A couple of people thought we were crazy because it was quite a lot of work, but it was worth it because it was our own,” said Chantel.

With the help of Cobblestone Creations in Ariss, the space was softened with chandeliers, sheer canopies, fairy lights and green garland.

The couple even stuck to theme in their choice of menu. T & M BBQ Catering Ltd. out of Palmerston was on site with two six-foot barbeques. Guests had the option of grilled steak or chicken with a baked potato, hot vegetables and Caesar salad; just like a really good homecooked, country meal.

And later in the evening, the couple had the Groovy Grilled Cheese Truck from Fergus drive out to the venue for a midnight snack.

“It was unbelievable, people loved it,” said Michael.

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From everything the couple learned hosting a wedding on their property, their biggest piece of advice for couples in the midst of planning is to remember to take a pause and enjoy the chaos of the day.

“That will never happen again; only a wedding can bring that many people together, everyone’s life is so busy ... it’s hard to get people together nowadays, everyone has plans or excuses or whatever, but that’s one day where all those people don’t bail,” said Michael.

“When I will be in the kitchen, and it looks into our backyard, or if we are out cutting the grass or doing yard work it just brings back all of those really awesome memories,” said Chantel.

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www.tmcatering.com Wellington Weddings 2019 31

TWO HEARTS. ONE LOVE. TIMING IS EVERYTHING. KERRY & TED AUGUST 12, 2018

By Kelly Waterhouse Photography by ME Photography Need a reason to believe in second chances? Need a reason to believe in true love? Meet Ted Smith and Kerry Daly and you’ll believe. Timing is everything.

It’s a classic story. A shy boy, named Ted Smith, has a crush on a high school senior, but doesn’t dare show it, believing she is out of his league. That same girl, Kerry Daly, has her eye on him, attracted to the redheaded jock, the one who never says a word to her despite their common friend circles. But he’s a grade behind her, which is eons in high school, so while Kerry is intrigued by what she perceives as his arrogance and good looks, she doesn’t pursue Ted. Not a word.

Not a single lingering look or a note passed in the hallways of Centennial CVI in Guelph.

“I thought he was really cute in high

32 Wellington Weddings 2019

school. He had red hair. But I thought he was so conceited. He seemed just so full of himself. I think it was just because he didn’t talk to me,” Kerry said, noting that her best friend dated Ted’s best friend for four years.

“WE HAD EYES ON EACH OTHER, BUT WE DIDN’T KNOW IT UNTIL 30 YEARS LATER” - TED

“But every time there was a party and his friends would come, I’d be looking around thinking, ‘I wonder if Ted came with them.’

He never did,” she said, adding she always wished he would. “I think he thought I was out of his league and it wasn’t true at all.”

Ted is still amused by her perception that he was arrogant.

“It was shyness. I was shy,” he explains. “I am very much an introvert.”

That timid nature was met with the intimidation factor that Kerry lived in a large estate home in Guelph, along the Speed River.

“In high school I looked at her and thought, ‘she’s kind of cute but, she’s way too rich so she wouldn’t want me. She’s out of my league,’” he recalled.

But through the years, he admits he tried to find out about her status through old high school friends and her relatives.

“When I first got married I went to a cabinet maker, and it was her first cousin. I would always ask what his cousin Kerry was

up too,” he said, adding with a smile, “I had a lot of furniture made there.”

Kerry kept tabs on Ted too.

“I saw in the newspaper when he graduated from university and thought, ‘he’s an accountant so he’s probably still a snob,’” she said laughing at the memory.

“We had eyes on each other, but we didn’t know it until 30 years later,” said Ted. Life happened. Both of them went on with their lives and careers. Kerry was married briefly and moved away, but returned to her roots in Guelph. Ted had also been married and raised two boys, but was also divorced and settled in nearby Belwood.

Five years ago, Sascha Vettor, a mutual high school friend aware of Ted and Kerry’s single status, set the inevitable in motion.

But it took about two years for her to persuade this pair to take the first step.

“She kept bugging him,” Kerry said. “I told her I would go on a blind date, but he had to ask me first.”

Sascha finally convinced Ted. He found out that Kerry worked at the collision reporting centre in Guelph. As luck would have it, someone put a dent in Ted’s truck and didn’t claim responsibility.

“It was a little ding in my truck… something I would normally just go get fixed and not bother with, but I thought, I know what I can do. I’ll go report it and get a sticker,” Ted said, grinning. He clearly remembers it was Friday, May 30, 2014 at 4pm.

“I opened the door to the office and she was standing there smiling,” he recalls. “And it was like love at first sight.”

Kerry said she couldn’t stop smiling. She tried hard to play it cool but was flustered and took a very long time to process his claim. Ted said it was likely the longest

report she ever filed. The pair still laughs about it.

“He gave me his number and said, ‘make sure you use it,’” Kerry said, adding they were still behaving like teenagers, shy and nervous.

“I called Sascha and asked, ‘Kerry was hard to read. Has she said anything to you?’”

Ted said.

“IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO FIND THE ONE YOU’RE

meant to be with

“

- TED

It’s a good thing Ted took the initiative to offer his phone number, because a date was set. The following Tuesday, Kerry drove to Belwood and they went for a long walk along the trails. Wednesday night they had a dinner date. The pair have been together in love ever since.

“Sparks were flying. It was instant. I have never felt anything like it before,” Ted said.

“It was just instant. I knew that this was the one for me. She’s my long lost soulmate that I needed in my life.”

Kerry wholeheartedly agrees. “It was definitely meant to be,” she said.

Ted said his love for Kerry taught him an important lesson: “It’s never too late to find the one you’re meant to be with.”

Three years from the time they reconnected, he began planning his proposal. True to his nature, he went straight to the heart of the matter.

“Kerry loves hearts. People are always bringing her things they find that are heart shaped. So, I went on the hunt for a heartshaped diamond,” Ted said.

He went to Ron Wilkin Jewellers in Fergus and enlisted the help of Paul Brinkman. It took some time, but Paul was able to find exactly what Ted envisioned.

“In the scroll work of the engagement ring, I had half of a heart on either side of the diamond, which symbolized our two halves coming together,” Ted explained. “I want everything on the ring to symbolize our relationship.”

The day Ted picked up the ring, he admits he was so overjoyed with it, he couldn’t hold on to it. The anticipation was too much.

He wasn’t home long before he had a plan, but something in his behaviour triggered Kerry’s suspicion. Something was up and she knew it.

“I said, ‘let’s go out and watch the sunset,’” Ted recalls.

He walked out to the back of their property to a site where he had built Kerry a garden with a pond the summer before.

“He never had time to go out there and sit with me and I knew right away he was

Wellington Weddings 2019 33

proposing,” Kerry said. She admits she was so nervous, she kept delaying. “He even called me inside the house on my mobile phone to say ‘come on.’”

Kerry still laughs looking back at how anxious she was, not to mention a little embarrassed to be in her gardening clothes.

“I yelled out the window, “‘Ted Smith, you better not be proposing to me! I’ve got rubber boots on and a sweat shirt and I look terrible. You had better not be proposing.’”

To get her to come outside, Ted insisted he was not proposing.

“I was just so scared. I kept thinking I can’t get married again, I’m obviously not very good at it! Even though I was totally committed to Ted, I was scared,” she said.

She kept telling him not to joke around about this matter and teased him that he better have a ring for all this fuss. It makes them both laugh to remember the moment, because for all her anxiety, Ted insists Kerry was adorable.

In the garden next to the pond, Ted knelt down and held out the ring and asked, “Will you marry me?”

“I know I said yes right away, but I couldn’t see the ring because I was crying, I was just so nervous,” Kerry said. “Then I saw it and realized that this was a heart shaped diamond ring.”

She added, “He put a lot of thought into that ring.”

The couple put a lot of thought into the wedding bands too. Ted had inherited his mother’s wedding rings, white gold settings on a yellow gold band. It had been years since he looked at them, but when the couple took them out of storage to consider repurposing them, they were amazed to find the wedding band had heart shaped settings in it.

“There was our theme, two hearts meet as one in the setting of my mother’s ring,” Ted said. His mother passed away in 2013, the same year as Kerry’s father.

“We swear they conspired to get us together,” Kerry said.

Once again, Paul at Ron Wilkin Jewellers put his talent to work, creating a set of wedding rings that not only incorporated Ted’s mother’s ring settings, but also matched the intricate scroll work of the newly created heart-shaped engagement ring to create a wedding band. For Ted’s band, he found one that had hearts intertwined. Having also inherited his grandmother’s engagement ring, he had her diamond embedded into his wedding ring. The symbolism of the two heart halves coming together to make a whole remained a theme of the designs.

“Paul was great to deal with. He did great work,” Ted said. “You know, you take your parents jewellery and it sits in a jewellery box

34 Wellington Weddings 2019

because it’s out of style. But I repurposed the wedding setting and the engagement diamond so it now lives on with us.”

The love of family and each other made the wedding planning quite relaxed. Instead of a wedding party, Ted’s sons, Gregory and Brendan were the witnesses, and Kerry’s young nephew acted as ring bearer.

Paying homage to Ted’s Scottish heritage, they all wore kilts. And to add authenticity to the event, Ted wore his grandmother’s Farquharson lapel pin, the family clan, that includes a Claymore sword. Kerry preferred

an understated look, something that she would feel authentic in that was beautiful but simple. She didn’t want a traditional wedding gown or to carry a floral bouquet, but instead opted for a white dress and elegant shoes, both purchased online. A perfect fit. A happy bride. A price tag under $200.

“It was pretty and simple and that’s all I wanted,” she said.

To compliment the look, Kerry booked freelance hair and makeup artist Courtney Kossaro, of Fergus, which the bride insists

kept the day relaxed and stress-free.

As much as the day was about their official union, Ted and Kerry wanted it to be a day of celebration with the family and close friends, including friends from their high school days.

“We brought together people who were supportive of our journey together,” Ted said. “We asked for no gifts because their presence was their gift.”

Kerry put together a special thank you gift for each of the families in attendence, created with items that supported local shops, including chocolate hearts from I Love Chocolate in Fergus and The Breadalbane’s Apple Cider Vinaigrette salad dressing, and a bottle of vodka from Grand Spirits Distillery in Grand Valley. For amusement, Kerry tossed in matchboxes engraved with the couple’s names. The children who attended were given a special gift package too.

“This event was about our family and friends and we wanted to say ‘thank you,’” Kerry said, noting the guests were surprised by the gesture, which further added to the sentiment of the night.

With a guest list of 38 people and a desire to create an intimate atmosphere, they headed to the Elora Mill, which was still under construction at the time.

“We knew that because the mill was owned by the Pearle Hospitality group, and we knew the quality of all the other places they own, we thought why not? Let’s set an appointment,” Kerry said. “We saw nothing but mock-ups. And I know from experience that mock-ups are nothing like what it turns out to be, but again, it’s Pearle group and I’m thinking, they’ve done it right for all these other places that I love, and I just love the old stone and that it was going to be in the Penstock Lounge in the main building.”

A week before the wedding, with construction nearing completion, Ted and Kerry got to see their wedding venue and it was beyond their expectations. Kerry said she cried, so moved by the elegance of the Elora Mill.

“I loved everything. As soon as you walk in it is elegant and you come down the stone stairs that are built into the stone wall. It was absolutely stunning,” Kerry said. “And the stove pipe bar in the Penstock Lounge, with the metal and stonework, something that both Ted and I like, it was just so beautiful.”

The wedding arrangements were stressfree, Kerry said, because the Elora Mill’s special events consultant Sara Scott took care of the details, from the room set-up and menus to the arranging of a wedding officiant.

“The mill took care of everything. When I walked in, everything was set up. It was perfect. We didn’t have to decorate

because everything surrounding it is just so beautiful,” Kerry said.

Dinner, which included an appetizer, choice of three entrées and a dessert, was served in the grand solarium overlooking the rushing waters of the Grand River and the geographical landmark known as the Tooth of Time.

THIS EVENT WAS ABOUT OUR

family & friends - KERRY

“We had dinner overlooking the river and it was gorgeous,” Kerry said. “The food was incredible. Such attention to detail. We loved it.”

The space offered the ideal intimate setting for the couple’s vision for the dinner with their guests.

“It wasn’t a typical wedding with a head table and groups of smaller tables,” Ted explained. “We had one long table, so we all sat together like a family, like a family reunion.”

The table was decorated with 30 mercury glass candle holders and flowers from Drimmie Florists in Elora. Kerry hired the locally renowned florists because she was eager to support a local business and introduce their quality and skill to the mill.

She is glad she did.

“Anna Drimmie is spectacular,” Kerry said.

“Honestly, if I spent 20 minutes at Drimmie’s, I’d be surprised. She knew exactly what I wanted, because I knew what I liked.”

The flowers were delivered to the mill

and were laid out when Kerry arrived.

“The flowers were just gorgeous, all muted colours, so beautiful,” Kerry said.

“She incorporated thistles in the boutineers and the floral arrangements.”

Guests stood for the casual Sunday ceremony that was, in Ted’s words, “short and sweet.” There were no speeches, just a simple thank you from the couple to the people that spent the day with them.

“We were at the fireplace when we did our vows and everyone stood around us.

It was so nice,” Kerry said. “We had the solarium area for dinner, and the bar area offered lots of room for people to gather and mingle while we had photos done.”

“It was 4 o’clock hors d’oeuvres, 5 o’clock wedding vows, dinner was at 5:30pm,” he said, adding there was no reception. The evening was an intimate gathering and was over by approximately 10pm. “The Elora Mill was first class.”

Capturing the sentiment of the event were husband and wife photographers Clinton and Rhonda Spindley, owners of ME Photography in Fergus.

“What I like, looking back on the photos, is the way our photographers took candid photos of people at our wedding,” Ted said. “Clinton captured exactly what I was thinking, what I was feeling about the day, and to me that is the sign of a great photographer. The photography is very much about people enjoying the night and not just focused on us, and that’s different.”

Their images reflect the family atmosphere of the occasion and the romantic connection of the bride and groom, with the stunning background of the Elora Mill.

“They captured a lot of moments for us, that’s for sure,” Kerry said. “Me Photography did a great job. It was just so beautiful. It was perfect. It was a perfect day.”

Ted agreed. “It’s one of those days you never want to end.”

Looking back on the wedding, the pair is excited for the future that lies ahead, as husband and wife.

“He texts me several times a day to tell me he loves me. And he makes me laugh,” Kerry said. “I think it comes with maturity. We appreciate each other so much, and I always make sure I tell Ted how much I appreciate him, for all that he does and says.”

Ted agrees.

“We appreciate everything that we have together,” he said.

Looking back, asked if he would have done anything different, Ted replied, “Found her sooner. Asked her out sooner.”

It’s never too late to find the one you’re meant to be with. Timing is everything.

 Wellington Weddings 2019 35

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ROOTED IN LOVE A SUMMER WEDDING ON ERIN TREE FARM NICOLLE & MIKE JULY 21, 2018

By Aryn Strickland Photography by Pink Pineapple Photography

Wellington Weddings 2019 39

Sometimes when you know, you just know. That goes for relationships but for one Erin couple, Nicolle (nee Weston) and Mike Magill, it was true of their wedding venue too.

Having both grown up in Erin, Nicolle and Mike moved in similar circles for years. They knew each other from a distance before they became a couple.

“Our families have mutual friends because it’s a small town. I had a big crush on Mike for a long time before we got to know each other, just in passing,” Nicolle said.

Nicolle jokes that she knew long before they started dating that she would marry Mike one day.

The opportunity finally arose when Mike walked in to The Busholme Inn in town where Nicolle was working at the time.

“Two of the girls that worked here with me got me to work up the courage to get him a beer and try to break the ice,” said Nicolle.

Ten years later, Mike and Nicolle own the inn where it all began. They have a fiveyear-old daughter, Mikki.

All that was left was to make Nicolle’s premonition come true. It was time to start planning a wedding.

In lieu of a theme, Nicolle and Mike’s vision for the wedding was a fun and relaxed celebration family and friends could enjoy with an easily accessible location.

“We had 200 people at our wedding, so making sure everyone could come that we wanted was important,” said Nicolle.

She knew she wanted to have the reception in a barn and it led the couple to put down a deposit on a venue in the tri-cities area.

But with the majority of their guests from Erin, it just didn’t feel right.

Around that time, two new members joined Mike’s baseball team, the owners of Elliott Tree Farm, a sprawling 100 acreproperty five-minutes outside Hillsburgh.

When they heard about Mike and Nicolle’s dream wedding, they told him to come and check out the tree farm as a venue instead.

40 Wellington Weddings 2019

“It had everything we were looking for,” said Mike.

The tree farm, owned and operated by the family has a heritage barn perfect

THE DOORS WERE OPEN BEHIND AND YOU GOT THIS BEAUTIFUL VIEW OF THE HORSES AND THE STARS AND THE TREES AT NIGHT - NICOLLE

for Nicolles’ envisioned rustic wedding reception, large swaths of forest and tree groves, a pond, horse paddocks, an airplane hanger and an authentic 200-year-old logger’s cabin.

It was the perfect place to have a relaxed, home grown party.

For the groomsmen and other men in the wedding party, keeping things relaxed translated into an organized baseball game the morning of the wedding.

While Mike and the guys were playing some ball, Nicolle and the bridal party were having their hair and makeup done (by Beauty Bar On Main in Grand Valley, and Taylor Green Makeup Artistry respectively.)

The couple’s daughter Mikki really got the star treatment and stole the show as the flower girl.

“She loved everything about it; she loved getting her hair done, when she walked down the aisle she was dancing throwing the flowers. Then when I was coming down the aisle after, she kind of realized, she started picking them back up,” said Nicolle.

The standing ceremony took place in a forest clearing shouldered by old oak and maple trees, under an arbour gifted from friend and local florist Krystal Young of Snowberry Botanicals.

“I had my mom and my dad walk me down the aisle and my family is just sappy. We were so emotional and ugly crying. Mikki came running back and it was funny and kind of made the rest of the whole walk easy, because not that it was hard, it was just so emotional.”

Nicolle and Mike wanted to make sure that even those who had passed were not forgotten and were represented on their special day.

It was part of what the couple says was most meaningful about the celebration.

Mike’s sister passed away 10 years ago and his 13-year-old niece, Cadence, lives outside of Erin so it was important to the couple to have her in the wedding party as Nicolle’s junior bridesmaid.

“Having her there for me was very special because I never got to meet his sister,” said Nicolle.

She had also lost an adoptive brother so it meant a lot to her that a group of his friends and his biological parents made it for the wedding.

Afterwards, the wedding party moved

to the heritage barn where Mike, an experienced carpenter, had built a stage out of materials from Timber Mart in Hillsburgh.

The barn offered a great space for the couple’s guests to dance against the dramatic backdrop of the horse paddock and open fields that lay just past the barn’s open doors.

“The doors were open behind and you got this beautiful view of the horses and the stars and the trees at night,” explained Nicolle.

The couple also brought in touches of their own business, The Busholme, through restaurant chefs catering the event and waitresses bartending inside the barn.

Wellington Weddings 2019 41

Good Lot Farmstead Brewing Co., a local brewery from the Erin area and supplier at The Busholme, donated beer to the couple for their event.

“We did an open bar because with that many people, those people support us all the time so it was kind of like a gift back, like ‘thank you for coming.’ And the Good Lot donated a lot of beer to us as a gift for us,” Nicolle said.

Still, the bar ended up running out of liquor before 9pm and both Nicolle and Mike say that’s when the support of family and friends really came in handy.

One pair in particular, Tracey Wallace-Brown and daughter Danae helped save the day. The mother-daughter team run a local company called AAA Events in Erin.

“They made sure everything flowed the way we wanted,” said Mike.

Although Tracey and Danae were invited as guests, two weeks before the wedding they stepped up and told Nicolle they would help organize the event.

The pair restocked the bar, provided a lot of the décor and helped with the scheduling and set up.

“They worked the whole day; they didn’t stop so that was huge for us,” said Nicolle.

The party lasted into the wee hours of the night with a large crowd still gathered on the barn floor dancing, enough to catch Nicolle and her brother, Nolan as they crowd surfed.

“It was my brother’s idea and we just went for it. The Beastie Boys were just our favourite band growing up so Nolan put on [(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)],” said Nicolle.

42 Wellington Weddings 2019

Shortly afterwards, a party bus owned by friends of the couple, shuttled people home while those camping over went back to their RVs and tents for the night.

It was small things like the camp out and time-flexibility that made Elliott Tree Farm the perfect venue for Nicolle and Mike’s wedding.

“I know probably everyone says this, but it was the best wedding location and the best wedding,” said Nicolle.

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Wellington Weddings 2019 45

WELLINGTON WEDDINGS 2019 We hope you have enjoyed our fourth edition of Wellington Weddings, a magazine that celebrates the journey of love leading to the most important day in a couple’s new life together. From popping the question to the exchange of the promise of forever, we share personal, local stories that we hope will inspire others to make their wedding day everything they dream of, no matter what the dream. Best of all, everything they need to make their wedding wishes come true can be found right here in Wellington County.

One of the threads that runs through each and every story in this edition of Wellington Weddings is the importance of community and an emphasis on supporting local businesses. For us, this is one of the greatest rewards of our publication. We see couples valuing the service and convenience that only local businesses can provide, from caterers and venues, photographers and florists, to hair and make-up stylists, and the all-important wedding attire. There is a legacy of family-run businesses and

46 Wellington Weddings 2019

community relationships that are the fabric of our towns. We are reminded time and again that small-town service is second to none. It’s more than just convenience. It’s about home. This commitment to support our hometown shops and small businesses that warms our hearts.

As we continue to grow this publication we’re excited to see the growth of the wedding industry in our region. The support of our advertisers has enabled us to create a truly local resource for wedding businesses.

We hope we’ve made your wedding planning easier too.

With the re-opening of the Elora Mill Hotel and Spa, one of the most prestigious wedding venues in the province is now in our midst. People from beyond our region are experiencing the character and charm of this exquisite location set alongside the raw beauty of the Grand River and into the Elora Gorge.

It’s natural to those of us who call Wellington County home to appreciate the beauty of our diverse landscapes.

This publication reflects that, from the farm fields to the heritage ruins inside the Grand River Conversation Authority’s Rockwood Conservation Area, to the main street of our towns to the forest canopy of a tree farm. Whatever your wedding dreams, they can come true here. This is a special place to exchange vows, to bring loved ones together and to begin the next adventure of a couple’s life together. There really is “no place like home.”

As always, the heart of Wellington Weddings is the stories you share with us.

We are grateful to the couples who are featured in this edition. Amazing couples.

Unique stories. Big love. If you have a unique wedding story with a local twist, we’d love to hear from you. We’re open to new trends, cherished traditions, totallyout-there nuptials and romantically creative engagement stories.

Send your ideas to: kwaterhouse@wellingtonadvertiser.com



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