In early September, Emilie and Nick brought their friends and families from across Canada (Vancouver to Quebec) to Waupoos, Prince Edward County to celebrate their wedding. This sweet couple prioritized sustainability, bilingualism and elegance throughout their wedding day. (Read more on how they did this in their story below.) This winery wedding accented the beauty of minimalism and the very classy ivory and green color and it couldn’t have fit their personalities and vision any more perfect.
How did you meet?
We were introduced 8 years ago by a sneaky friend of mine who worked with Nick and decided we should meet. After a workout, we went for ice cream and, without telling me, she had invited Nick to meet us there. Not my best look post-workout, but he didn’t seem to mind and asked me to dinner.
What is your proposal story?
My family has a beautiful property on a lake near Mont-Tremblant, that we love to spend time at with friends and family. One weekend, we were there with some of our closest friends, for what I thought was another regular weekend at the lake. Nick brought fireworks, which was normal, and he built an outdoor bar, also normal, but all were to distract me from what he had set up for sun set. While the sun went down and painted a beautiful periwinkle-colored sky, Nick led me to the dock where he had set up a beautiful candle lit table with photos of our dating journey, and, with shaking hands and a heightened awareness of the spaces between the boards on the dock, he took out the beautiful ring we had designed together, and asked me to marry him. And I said “oui!”
Tell us a little a bit about your wedding (your vision, color, style, and location choices).
We wanted a classic and elegant outdoor wedding, but also wanted it to feel comfortable and fun. As for colors, we wanted to look out and see fresh greens, crisp whites, moody blues and light greys. We chose Prince Edward County because it is halfway between where we each grew up (Montreal, QC and London, ON).
Tell us about your attire choices.
For my dress, I wanted something that I could feel comfortable in all day long, with a classic feel and a simple style. I found exactly that and loved how I felt every minute I wore the dress. My bridesmaids all wore a beautiful, lavender grey that fit beautifully with our color choices. For Nick, he knew he wanted to be different than his groomsmen, so we found a very classic, light grey suit that contrasted beautifully with the groomsmen in black suits.
What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?
Our main focus for our wedding was that we wanted our guests to have a good time and for it to feel like we were hosting everyone at our event. For me, that meant a wedding by the water and all the little details that felt like us, and for Nick, the focus was on the music and the atmosphere. We also decided that photos of our day were important to us, so wanted to make sure we invested in finding the right photographers. And we are so happy that we did. Two Cheeks Studio Photography exceeded all our expectations and captured our day perfectly. Something else that we cared a lot about was having a zero waste wedding with a focus on sourcing local products. In order to do so, we talked to many vendors about their ability to help us achieve this, and chose products that were all locally sourced. This may have meant that we spent a little bit more than we could have on our wedding, but for us, it was worth it. In order to also make sure our wedding was carbon-neutral, we planted enough trees to compensate for everyone traveling to be with us on our day. We planted 100 beautiful trees.
What were your favorite parts of the day?
There were so many beautiful moments throughout the day that made it so special. Some of our favorite ones include: taking a moment for just the two of us during the “first look” photos; getting to spend time with our entire wedding party at County Cider down the street from our venue after photos and before the ceremony; giving a speech together to introduce our wedding party to all our guests by sharing why they are so important to us; taking a moment to look out at the room and realize that all the people we love are in one room together; having my brother marry us and use the perfect amount of aerospace-themed jokes; our mother-son and father-daughter dances to our parents’ favorite songs; and dancing the night away with all our friends, family and with glow sticks in our hands.
Tell us about your wedding flowers.
Our flowers were a perfect detail. FloraLora Flowers created the most beautiful flower garland for the wooden arch my brother made, the perfect wild flower bouquets for me and my gals in my color palette with seasonal, locally grown flowers from their flower farm in PEC, and bursting arrangements for the tables and the venue décor.
Please describe any DIY, handmade, or personal details.
My brother is a very talented carpenter and so we asked him to make the details we needed to bring our vision to life. He made beautiful end grain wood coasters that we had our calligrapher write E&N 1.9.19 (September 1st, 2019) on and give to all the guests. Mathieu also made our wooden arch by the water for the ceremony, as well as all the signs on the lawn and in the tent. It was such a special touch to have so many handmade pieces.
Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?
One very special moment for me and my mom was when she gave me the hair clip that she made with pieces of lace from her wedding dress. Her beautiful creation was the perfect addition to my simple look and one of the most special gifts I have ever received. I also felt so honored to be given one of Nick’s grandmother’s broaches to wear on my bouquet by his aunt. I did not get to meet Grandma Chapman, and was so happy that she was with us on our day.
Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?
I think our best advice is to have fun and communicate throughout the planning process. Make it your favorite day in the way that feels special to you both so that it feels effortless on the day.