Wedding Vendors
Venue: Family Backyard
Getting Ready Location - Hers: Nottawasaga Inn Resort
Makeup: Jessica Calleja Makeup
Officiant: Dominic - Wedding Officiant Canada
Wedding Dress: Helen’s Bridal
Suit: Moores Clothing for Men
Flowers: Mid Valley Gardens
Entertainment: Hoop You - Hoop and Fire Hoop Shows
Backyard Wedding - Beeton, ON
Like most couples getting married in 2020, Brittany and Stefano had a very different vision for what their wedding would look. They were planning a banquet hall wedding with hundreds of guests in attendance to celebrate their big day, but then the pandemic hit and plans had to change. While many couples chose to postpone their wedding, Brittany and Stefano pressed on and quickly put together an absolutely magical backyard wedding on Stefano’s family property. Not wanting to exclude any of their closest family and friends due to the wedding size restrictions, they had a clever plan - a two part wedding on the same day. The first half of the day, the lunch wedding, included the ceremony, to which immediate family members were invited to, while the second half, the dinner wedding, was for their closest friends, who they knew would be ready to celebrate late into the evening. There were so many components to coordinate on the day, so many vendors, so many guests, yet Brittany and Stefano managed to throw an epic socially distanced wedding without the help of wedding planners. An impressive feat!
Bride Getting Ready
Brittany got ready at the Nottawasaga Inn Resort surrounded by all the special ladies in her life: her daughter, Kim, her mom, and her bridesmaids. With so many ladies getting ready with Brittany that morning, Brittany wanted to make sure her daughter also felt special on this day and was included in the getting ready photos. Kim’s lively and cheerful personality made this task not only easy, but so much fun as she fit right in with all the gals. The vibe was so easy going and happy that morning, with everyone actively chatting away while Jessica Calleja did a gorgeous job with everyone’s makeup. The ladies helped each other get dressed and put the finishing touches on their matching bridesmaids looks, while Kim got her own special outfit for the day, with a white flower girl dress, a fluffy pink coat, and a tiara, of course. The special bond that Brittany and Kim share was just so special to capture- Kim was so happy and excited that her mom was marrying Stefano that she couldn’t stop running around in excitement, smiling, and giggling away. But the best part though was seeing everyone’s reactions to Brittany’s bridal look. Brittany’s mom struggled to hold back tears as she helped her put on her wedding dress, while Kim was all over Brittany with all the hugs and kisses. And once the dress was on, the reactions of the bridesmaids were priceless as Brittany stepped out onto the patio for the big reveal, showing off her stunning dress, and who could blame them, she looked absolutely stunning!
Groom Getting Ready
While the ladies were in full getting ready mode when we arrived that morning, the guys were still outside setting up Stefano’s family property for the wedding, but with all hands on deck, they finished up with time to spare. With nothing else to do now but celebrate, out came the drinks, food, and all the jokes, even Stefano’s dad and grandpa joined in. Once it came time to actually get ready, the guys needed some help as their ties and pocket squares proved to be a bit challenging and would simply not cooperate. Stefano’s dad and godfather helped the guys with their ties and pocket squares while his mom styled his hair, but once everyone was dressed and ready to go, they looked oh so dapper and ready to get Stefano married.
Ceremony
Stefano’s family home is situated on a picturesque property, so finding the perfect spot for their backyard ceremony was easy. The outdoor ceremony was held right in front of a pond, with a rustic wooden wedding arch from Mid Valley Gardens, tall rushes, bright yellow flowers, and tall trees and woods serving as the ceremony backdrop - it couldn’t be anymore perfect and romantic. Stefano was beaming as he walked down the aisle accompanied by his mom, but as he took his place at the front you could see all the emotions flooding in. Since the walk from the home to the ceremony space is rather long, Brittany wanted Stefano’s first look at her to be when she was just about to walk down the aisle. As Brittany approached, Stefano turned around with a big deep inhale to steady his nerves, and there was Brittany, herself doing her best to not cry as her dad walked her down the aisle. If any of the guests managed to hold back their tears by this point, I highly doubt there was a dry eye by the end of the ceremony as Kim’s outpour of emotion when Brittany and Stefano said their I do’s and offered Kim her very own ring was the sweetest and most touching part of the day.
Portraits
I don’t know if we’ve ever laughed as hard during wedding party photos as we did at Brittany and Stefano’s wedding. This group was full of character and welcomed all our prompts and direction with so much enthusiasm and laughter that it resulted in the most epic and hysterical wedding party photos, the perfect representation of everyone’s fun personalities. When it came time for the couple portraits, everywhere we looked was the perfect spot for a portrait. We were in paradise. We had pond reflections to play with, wild flowers and birch forests to compose with, and a fun, silly, and gorgeous newlywed couple to go along with all of our ideas.
Reception
The socially distanced tented reception was held in two parts, a lunch portion and a dinner portion, but to ensure none of the guests missed out on any of the festivities, both parts featured a mouth-watering sit-down meal, plenty of speeches, and beautiful first dances. The guests were also treated to a surprise hoola hoop and fire hoop performance by the insanely talented ladies of Hoop You, leaving everyone oo-ing and awe-ing the entire time. The whole wedding really was so joyous and full of energy that the day just flew by and the next thing we knew it was time to pack up. Brittany and Stefano, thank you so much for having us be a part of such a special day, and a special thank you to Kim as well, who not only welcomed us with open arms but also took the best polaroid photo of us. We drove home that night with our hearts full. Thank you thank you!
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