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: 

• Take an engagement honeymoon and enjoy the fact that you have decided to commit to one another (all this means is take a month or two before you start to really dig into the planning) 
• Let people know that you are taking the engagement honeymoon so that you don't get hit with a million ideas and advice from others 
• Try not to get in your head about body image - I didn't have time to get too focused on my body image for this because I had 3 weeks to find, buy and get my dress altered. Had I wished I was thinner? Truthfully yes, but the whole idea of going on a diet and exercise regime for ONE day of your life seems silly to me and besides, I was the way I was when he proposed so he clearly loved me the way I was. I find this a daily struggle not just because of the Wedding day but I worked really hard at trying to love myself and honestly when you put the right dress on you feel like a super model anyways! Enjoy it! 
• Sit down with each other and prioritize the things that are really important and meaningful to you - will you care 20 years down the road that they used green peppers instead of red in the salad? I can't even tell you what food was at our wedding all I know is that it was tapas and it was awesome. The details that Blair and I put into the wedding were all created by the two of us and meant a lot to US - no one else cared that the mulled wine was a funny joke from our engagement but we loved it and that's what mattered. 
• Set boundaries - this goes for cost, time spent planning and people invited - it is THE single most difficult part of the entire thing but for us, when we prioritized as above we knew that our immediate family and closest-would-do-anything-for-us friends needed to be there. 
• DO YOU. Who gets married on skates? Crazy right? People are going to judge you no matter what you do so you might as well enjoy yourself, have a laugh and love fiercely while you are on this planet. 

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 

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