Nic and Cass's wedding in Ottawa, Ontario

The story of our wedding

Nic and I tied the knot on June 14th 2024. We had a very intimate wedding at the Farmhouse, Strathmere ON. Our guestlist was curated, only 42 of our nearest and dearest to celebrate the big day. I enjoyed having a small wedding, because it meant being able to spend quality time with each guest. Our theme was timeless, elegant and romantic, the heritage farmhouse was the perfect setting for this vision! Our florist was Carla from Love in Bloom, she used blush pink tones and the main flower was Peonies. I opted for a small posy bouquet, so as not to hide my dress. She also designed beautiful florals for our arbor, as well as compote centerpieces, bud vases, boutonnieres and accent florals for the welcome sign. Makeup and hair for myself and my 6 bridesmaids was completed by Shannon Doyle, and her team. We had a blast getting ready with these seasoned artists. Shannon executed my requested look flawlessly: Old Hollywood Glam, soft waves and a glam makeup. Everything held the entire day and evening. Our officiant was Brigitte Samson, she won best officiant in Ottawa at least twice including in 2024. She made the ceremony extremely moving, and personal. She has a very well organized method to accomplish this: she met us one on one for a 1.5h meeting, asking us interview style questions to really get to know us. She conducted our ceremony in French, as we are all French.Rings were purchased at La Maison d'Or in Ottawa, we were always well received. They listened to our respective tastes and provided multiple stunning options within our price range. Nicolas chose a white gold ring with dinosaur bone fossil inlay. I chose a white gold ring with an emerald cut diamond. Ceremony music was a string duet (violin and cello) from Duo D'Amore. This particular vendor, albeit perhaps a frivolous choice, REALLY made the ceremony in my opinion. Having this musical duo completely elevated the romance and elegance. My guests are still raving about the beauty of this musical ensemble. They also played our garden cocktail hour following the ceremony. For jewelry, I opted for the delicate handmade pieces from Sarah Walsh (Ontario). I chose three hair pins, Fleur drop earrings, and matching necklace and bracelet with Swarovski Pearls. This jewelry was the perfect accent with my dress, again, not crowding it but elevating the look. I purchased my dress at Fairy Dreams Bridal Ottawa. They have a lovely collection, carrying multiple different brands and designers with the price ranging from 2k-10k. My dress is Heaven by Suzanne Neville. Shoes were Bella Belle, highly recommend for their elegance and comfort. My husband got his custom made grey linen suit from Third Son in Ottawa, who also dressed all our groomsmen. They also provided custom ordered pants, dress shirts, ties, bowties and suspenders. Everything was very high quality materials, with alterations included. We chose a almond infused white wedding cake with buttercream icing. It was styled as a semi-naked cake, and garnished with fresh berries and babies breath. We booked Quality Entertainment for our reception music (diner and dancefloor). Our DJ kept all our guests dancing all night by queuing songs that met our requests, as well as our demographics. Very well done! We took dancing lessons to prepare a fully choreographed first dance with Alana (Dance with Alana is the business name). We had a blast taking 4 lessons with her in the two months leading up to the big day, this allowed us to have some fun, and a nice bonding activity during an otherwise chaotic time (planning a wedding, doctorate studies and both working full time was a lot lol).