1/7/2019 1 Comment How to have a SURPRISE wedding!![]() It's hard to believe that it was two years ago since our wedding day! I feel like so many major life events have happened since then. I love our wedding story so much that I just can't help but sit back and reminisce. We were engaged at the Eiffel Tower in Paris (I know, swoon right?) and since we were working in Europe at the time we thought we would enjoy our engagement and think about the planning when we got back home later that summer. (I highly recommend taking an engagement honeymoon period). So when we returned we were asked all the questions - WHERE and WHEN? We figured a beach wedding since we live at the most beautiful beach in the fresh water world. The planning started....and so did the stress. The costs alone began to wake me up at night never mind people's opinions and issues. If you know me you know that I don't handle stress and social drama very well AT ALL. So, we kind of cooled off on the planning and at the end of November that year we went to a hockey game with our friends who had recently gotten married in the traditional style - it was a gorgeous wedding honestly I'd never seen so many beautiful flowers and people in my life. But, the whole experience (I was in the wedding) felt like a lot of overwhelm for my personal mental health. So, as we enjoyed our evening with our friends on the drive home we started to brainstorm ways in which we could save a ton of money and still have the wedding we wanted. And that night way past midnight, we decided that we were going to have a surprise wedding. Meaning that no one would know that it was a wedding until they got there! Now, this was super tricky because I tell my best friends and my sister like everything. Like what I had for breakfast to how many foils the hairstylist used. So Blair was obviously hesitant that I could keep this a secret (spoiler alert I did tell SOME people out of necessity - wedding officiant (duh) hairdresser, wedding dress seamstress, caterer, manicure lady, flower boutique - I mean come on a girl has to squeal excitedly to a few people ok?) So we started planning furiously, making calls, staying up super late every night after work cleaning and prepping the house. Oh ya, I guess I should tell you that we decided to have our wedding in our backyard on our home made skating rink. Oh and I guess I should ALSO tell you that this is where Blair and I really started. We had dated previously and grown apart for various reasons but when we reconnected it was because he had built a home made skating rink and needed someone to test it out. I grew up as a figure skater and I LOVE skating so I was in. I mean my DREAM as a young kid and teenager was to have my OWN personal skating rink (Have you ever watched the movie The Cutting Edge???) So truthfully, the rest is history. Like how could I not fall in love with a man who makes his own home made rink? Right so back to the wedding planning - we did it all the two of us! We pulled strings with caterers, I tried on and bought my wedding dress alone - which sounds kinda sad but it wasn't really because I Skyped my best friend who lives in Switzerland because I obv needed SOMEONE and I knew she wasn't going to spill the beans to anyone over here. We sent out invitations to our close family and friends to come to a winter skating "Engagement" party. We also told our families that we were having family photo's taken at 3pm and only had the photographer for one hour so that they would be sure to show up on that date and time (This was only a part lie because we DID have a photographer and we DID get photos taken). We had our wedding rings designed and made by the very talented Sasha Oda of Archerade whom I have known since I was 6 so that was super special. My best friend in the whole world Jin, (who lives in Switzerland) wasn't able to be there but we were able to borrow the white benches for seating that her husband built and used for their own weddings (long story - needs another blog post) so that was also super special and felt like in a way they could be there with us. She also sent us the spices that we used to make our Mulled Wine for the toast in the ceremony. (In Paris when Blair proposed, it was so hot out that I jokingly said that the red wine we were drinking under the Eiffel Tower seemed like Mulled Wine.) Our flowers were put together by the gorgeous Leuk in Collingwood - funny side story - my bouquet was made by a girl who has now become one of my besties and we didn't know each other back then! The seat we used for our signing table was one of Blair's collection of "The original 6" hockey arenas - the one we used was the Montreal Canadians. (My favourite team is the Maple Leafs and Blair's is the Ottawa Senators so we agreed that Montreal would be a good meetinthemiddle.) Blair literally woke up every night at like 2 - 3 am the nights before the wedding to make sure that the ice was just perfect - if you know him you know how he takes on these personal challenges and takes them SERIOUSLY and in the middle of the night is when it is the coldest and best ice making weather. I mean this skating rink on the morning of our wedding looked like GLASS. It was perfect. Did we feel badly not being able to invite every single person that we know and love? Yes, of course we did. Did we think that they would understand? We sure hoped so. We wanted to buy a house and have a honeymoon with the money that we could have spent on a wedding (flash forward we DID those things!) So, we hoped that people we love and care for and who love and care for us would see the bigger picture and appreciate where we were coming from. To be honest, we only got a few sideways glances and grumpy sentiments- for the most part 99% of our responses were pure happiness for OUR pure love and happiness. So, as people arrived they saw the sign that said "Welcome to our Wedding...Yes, Wedding! Surprise!" And the best part is that our wonderful photographer Kate of Visual Roots was able to capture their faces when they read the sign! Not even my own mother or sister knew! They were shocked, I mean jaw hit the floor shocked! Oh ya and I forgot to tell you - we got married wearing our skates (I almost ate it coming down the stairs in them too which would have meant an entirely different spin on this recollection for sure!) Honestly, it was the most magical and special day of my life (before our baby was born obv) and because the two of us planned it right down to the fine details TOGETHER. At 11pm night before we were sitting on the same couch writing our vows on clipboards from one of my old classrooms and giggling that his was on green paper and mine on pink. The whole thing was just so so so special to us. So here are MY personal tips on how to plan a wedding:
I hope you enjoyed this little recollection of our wedding day! I know I do every single time I share this story. With gratitude, Lindsay
1 Comment
Kim
1/16/2019 03:01:54 pm
I still remember the joy I felt when you told us that you’d gotten married and your beautiful wedding album. Your advice is spot on.
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