Bailey’s Brides: wedding dress

Today I have a lovely post from a real bride! I love to share the experiences of a bride, her planning and memories and also her vendors! It is such a great way for local brides to see what they could be getting and what the cost would be!

Alicia and Patrick got married on March 19, 2011 at the gorgeous Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club in Coquitlam, BC. They had 204 guests attend the wedding and almost 20 children. The ceremony and reception were both located at Westwood and the over all cost of the wedding came up to approximately $30,000.00. The theme for the wedding was elegance and bling and this affair definitely lived up to its expectations. In a gorgeous venue with vaulted timber ceilings, the bride draped the tables with gorgeous linens, some gltiz and a little glam.

There were a ton of do it yourself touches to her wedding so she was able to get a head start on all the projects. As the bride describes “Every piece of bling, every blue ribbon and every table number holder was lovingly created by my fabulous maids (and man of honour).”

The bride goes on to say: The most important thing we wanted was for everyone to have an amazing time. That when people walked away they would say “That was an amazing wedding. Possibly the best one I’ve every been to.” Many of our guests were out of towners, so we wanted to have our ceremony and reception at the same place, and somewhere that was very ‘west coast’. We decided on Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club. It’s up in the mountains, with an amazing view. We had the ceremony downstairs, and the reception upstairs.

We splurged on a deluxe buffet, with a wide variety of vegetarian and meat-eater friendly dishes. We opted to use all the cold cuts and crackers between the ceremony and reception as an appetizer, which was a great idea as people were getting peckish.

Some of my family doesn’t drink, so we did our toasts with sparkling apple juice, and then we had complimentary wine throughout the meal and evening.

We had a candy buffet which was a huge hit – and a photo booth to keep people and kids busy while we took pictures. Everyone said the time passed too quickly before we sat down to dinner.

I sing in a semi-professional choir, and many of them came and sang for us during the ceremony. I also had a good friend sing the Ave Maria before supper. We passed on the DJ and hired a real band – Yes, a REAL band. Cease and Desist. They were AMAZING. The whole place was dancing until the wee hours of the morning”

Some of the personal touches that made this wedding so unique (and full of tears!!) was the fact that the husbands mother passed away 10 years ago so the bride and groom gave everyone in the wedding party, and on the Grooms mom's side a gold angel pin in her memory. The bride also got up and sang to her new husband "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson as a surprise before their first dance.

Alicia’s day was “the most magical day” she could have hoped for. She kept track of everything using Google docs and also had a notebook with her “To Do” list, and an area where she pasted fabulous ideas she came across. She suggests for future Brides to “get a notebook and keep it with you. There’s nothing worse than losing some great ideas because you wrote it on some loose paper and lost it. We had a wedding coordinator on the day of – money well spent”

The Bride and Groom “did everything from place cards to invitations to save the dates by hand – which took a ton of time, but saved a lot of money. We saved on flowers – my aunts did all the centre pieces and bridesmaids bouquets, and a good friend made my bouquets. Saved us a ton of money. We splurged on the band – and it was so worth it.”

Advice for the newlyweds. Alicia says “Embrace your bridezilla. This is a day for you and your man. I found myself tippy toeing to not go bridezilla and regret it in the end. I should have stood my ground and had things turn out my way” she also suggests “Try to keep your man involved – but don’t force him. He will share with you what he feels is important (and I can almost guarantee it won’t be the colour of the linens).”

Thank you for sharing your lovely wedding with Bailey's Brides Alicia and Patrick!

Ceremony venue: Westwood Plateau
Reception venue: same
Dress: Lisa's Bridal
Tuxedo: Moore's
Photographer: Winona Lee
Flowers: Family friend
Hair: East Vanity Parlour
Make-up: Jayna Marie
Invitations: Handmade by Alicia and her bridesmaids
Cake: Cupcakes from Clever Cupcakes
Decorations: Rose Chair Covers and Decor
Wedding Favors: Candy buffet by Alicia and her bridesmaids
Music for ceremony/reception: Elektra Women's Choir, Stephen Smith on Piano, cousin Wesley Wollin on Violin, reception was Cease and Desist
Transportation: n/a
Wedding planner/coordinator: The Bride

One of the biggest wedding trends right now is "rustic". It most likely stemmed from brides being more frugal about wedding planning. Cutting corners here and there by taking flowers from your garden for a natural looking bouquet, wood from a fallen tree to make stands and table numbers and backyards of family or old barns to escape the costs of venue fees. Its all a great idea.

The wedding industry has caught on though! and the big trend is barn weddings. I love them. Love. Love. Love them. Especially if the couple getting married is from a farm or the area and it has great personal meaning to them..how touching is that? Since industry has caught on though, the "rustic" wedding has exploded. Its everywhere and its gorgeous (but not nearly as inexpensive anymore).

This post is nothing but inspiration for those who are taking the route of having a barn wedding....rustic simply works in no better place then in a rustic barn after all.