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Weddings

About

Located in Tofino, British Columbia, Rare Earth is a company that specializes in making your big day extra special by handling every little detail to create fantastic weddings and other special events. Owner and principal planner Zoe Baillie specializes in Tofino or Ucluelet weddings, knowing the area well and creating weddings that suit your personalities and the surroundings.

Services offered

Rare Earth offers couples the following wedding services:

  • Day-of coordination
  • Full planning
  • Partial planning
  • Hourly consultations
  • Venue selection

Other services

Rare Earth is also available for:

  • Elopements
  • Family reunions
  • Anniversary parties
  • Bachelor/Bachelorette parties
  • Birthday parties
  • Holiday parties
  • Conferences
  • Staff retreats
  • Fundraising events
  • Product launches
  • Company holiday parties

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Frequently asked questions

What wedding events do you provide services for?

Ceremony
Reception
Rehearsal dinner

What wedding planning services do you offer?

Budget analysis
Day-of coordination
Event design
Full planning
Guest list creation
Partial planning
Timelines
To-do lists
Vendor referrals

What types of weddings do you accommodate?

Civil
Cultural
Destination
Double weddings
Eco-friendly
Military
Non-religious
Religious

How many planners are on your team?

3

What is the starting price for day-of wedding coordination?

$1,350

What is the starting price for partial wedding planning?

$1,550

What is the starting price for full wedding planning?

$2,550

Do you offer an hourly rate?

Yes

What is the hourly rate?

$150
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Any other questions?

Reviews for Rare Earth

We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
4.8 out of 5 rating
4.8 out of 5 rating
17 reviews
97% recommend it
  • Quality of service
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Value
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    4.9 out of 5 rating
Becca
Becca C. Sent on 29/09/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Best day ever

There are not enough words to express how amazing my experience working with Rare Earth was! They had originally been recommended to me by a friend who got married in Tofino the summer of 2022, who had nothing but good things to say about her experience as well. The entire team made the whole year of planning leading up the wedding as stress free as possible (talking me down from many stress induced ledges). Once the wedding day finally arrived, I felt so prepared and completely at ease, knowing that all the hard work was done and that the team would just take it over from there to ensure the day ran completely smoothly.. and it did! A major shoutout goes to my girl Madi who kept me sane the day of! Always checking in to make sure I was doing ok and most importantly, eating! Madi you truly were my wedding day angel and I can't thank you enough. I am still so emotional thinking about our wedding day and how perfect it was.... thank you thank thank you!!
Madeline
Madeline A. Sent on 26/09/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Beautiful and simple beach elopement

Rare Earth was super easy to work with and did a wonderful job. We wanted a relaxed and small wedding in Tofino, and Rare Earth helped us complete this. The day of our wedding was so smooth and went off without a hitch.
All of the other vendors they organized were also fabulous (bouquet was beautiful, hair and makeup did a great job, and cake was gorgeous too). They were easy to work with too and I really appreciated their flexibility- for example, they helped us make a dinner reservation and also organized a cake which was outside of our package.
Madi was our day-of coordinator and she was kind and lovely and had such a calm energy. We also just got our photos back from Mayfly and June, and we love them too! Overall we had a great experience and would recommend them to anyone wanting to get married in Tofino
Dale
Dale E. Sent on 06/09/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Thank-you so much Zoe

I work in project management so in the time leading up to the event I sometimes thought... do I need a planner? The answer, though my experience has only been with Zoe and the Rare Earth team is absolutely.

Zoe helped with an initial free consultation to start putting our Tofino dream into reality and lay down the best vendors for the job. One month out she takes more control, coordinating vendors and making sure we could relax on the morning of the wedding as their team put everything together.

As for the event, I am pretty sure she has clones; she was everywhere and everything to all people. Giving lifts to elderly relatives, co-ordinating the backroom food team like a seasoned orchestra composer and at one stage physically building a bridge from driftwood as a rogue wave hit the beach.

We have been to weddings where things ran long and thus things were missed. Our pre-mixed playlist finished at 12.01 with perfect timing. Whilst doing all of this, Zoe came up to myself and my wife a couple of times and asked, 'Is there anything you need, or anything I can do to help' which was awesome.

I watched the Wedding Planner the day after our wedding and she even puts J'Lo to shame.

So Thank-you to Zoe (and her team) for making our day so magical. Dale
Eleni
Eleni T. Sent on 23/08/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Absolutely Speechless - Just Above and Beyond!

So hard to keep this short but Zoe and her team made planning our elopement in Tofino seamless, fun and incredible. We decided to elope in 75 days and made us feel like it was do-able. From the start they were personable and very responsive. They kept us on track and helped us bring our vision to life (even when we weren't clear on what that was at times) Their connections with the best vendors in the area helped us secure the reception venue we wanted and reservations for other details. On the day of, Zoe and her team went above and beyond to make the day so special for us and helped take any anxiety off by being organized, clear and thinking of every detail so we could focus on taking it all in. If you are thinking of eloping in Tofino or Ucluelet, Rare Earth Weddings is the first (and probably only) call you need to make!
Marissa
Marissa S. Sent on 21/07/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Dream Tofino Elopement

The Rare Earth Team (Zoe and Maude) were truly fantastic from beginning to end. Prior to the date, they were extremely responsive in answering all of our questions and ensured we stayed on task with the very few items we needed to complete (Rings, Marriage license, dress/suit). We chose to elope just the two of us and although they also do full weddings they made us feel that this was the perfect chose along the way - all the vendors chimed in as well about what a great choice we made. We had an officiant who didn't feel like the right fit and the team worked to call in a favor and quickly change her out.

Once we arrived in Tofino, Zoe was truly amazing! She showed up with a little surprise the day prior at the same time our wedding would be to see the locations in the light that would be most similar. She walked us to a few spots and got us even more excited.

Day of, Zoe had a great balance of letting us enjoy the morning/day but also checking in to make sure we didn't need anything. When it was time for TheKnotArtistry (Also recommend) to arrive, she came by to check-in and see if we needed anything. Zoe helped to get a small stain out of my dress from steaming. She recorded the entire wedding as we chose not to have a videographer and while we were getting our pictures done set up the most beautiful sunset picnic. We knew we got a charcuterie board but did not anticipated the beautiful candlelight picnic which was the highlight of the night. Lastly, our package included in-room massages the next day which was the perfect treat to a late night!

Not only was the service exceptional and the elopement beautifully designed, but the value for the price was exceptional! I recommend Rare Earth 100 times over and wish we could go back and do it all again!
Savannah
Savannah K. Sent on 04/07/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Zoe is wonderful!

Even though I wasn’t able to have my wedding in tofino due to a wildfire rare earth was so accommodating and helped me to the best of her ability during stressful times. She is such a kind soul and I’m very grateful for her and her crew.
Clare
Clare L. Sent on 10/05/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Highly Recommend!

Sheila, Zoe, and team were amazing and made our day absolutely perfect! They were super responsive via email leading up to the weekend and via text when we were in Tofino. Sheila was so great with walking us through our ceremony options the day before and was so helpful with keeping everything on track the day of. They made the entire experience so smooth and easy for us and I highly recommend them!!
Abby
Abby Sent on 08/05/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing! Highly recommend!

Rare Earth helped execute the wedding of our dreams!! Zoe was absolutely INCREDIBLE! She was accommodating, professional, kind, warm and there for me every step of the way! I couldn’t recommend Rare Earth enough!! I had the best day ever! Thank you Zoe, I think you are amazing!
Marissa
Marissa W. Sent on 21/06/2022
2.4 out of 5 rating

Poor Communication and Execution of Wedding Day

My husband and I got married at Pacific Sands August 30, 2021. We canceled our previously planned wedding due to COVID restrictions, so we changed plans to have a smaller wedding at Pacific Sands. When booking with Pacific Sands, we were told that we had to use Rare Earth in order to use their venue. We really wish we could write an outstanding review for Sheila, but the truth is that Sheila’s services were unprofessional and disappointing (however the location and all of our vendors were absolutely fantastic!). Below we have highlighted our thoughts from our wedding experience with Sheila.

We first had difficulty with turnaround times for responses via email - with Sheila sometimes taking 14+ days to reply. Longer responses resulted in unforeseen challenges when trying to source decor, confirming vendors and receiving answers to general FAQs about the wedding venue and nearby amenities as we are not local to Tofino, where Pacific Sands is located.

For our decor setup, Sheila had told us that we can ask a few friends to help with the setup and she can guide them along, or she can hire some people. Since our wedding was small (27 people) and we didn’t have much decor, we decided to ask a few friends for help. When it came to the day of, Sheila provided minimal guidance to the setup team and was unaware of where the decor needed to go, despite confirming with her ahead of time that she was confident with our vision. Our friends had to solely rely upon pictures I had provided for inspiration and/or calling the maid of honour for confirmation on setup. This created a stressful environment for many of my friends, as well as parents.

The wedding dinner was originally meant to be served by another vendor, but was changed last minute due to menu changes. With this new vendor, we had a rough idea as to the main food that was going to be served, but did not know if there was anything else to be served with it. Given the uncertainty and last minute changes of the menu, we were never quoted an estimated cost of the total food. During dinner service, Sheila asked me for my credit card to pay for the food. There had been no request for my credit card to be provided to Sheila ahead of the evening for anything other than for ice (which we settled on an invoice to be provided the next day). I requested for the food invoice to be sent to us so that we could pay in the morning, as we didn’t even know the total amount for the food yet. Sheila insisted that she needed the credit card at that moment. I did not have it on me as I did not intend to have my wallet on me for the wedding, so she pulled out her phone and asked me to write out my credit card info on her phone. (Fast forward to paying for the food bill - the food vendor didn’t even get around to sending us the invoice until 1 month after the wedding).

Sheila did provide what she had outlined in her package, including coordinating some great vendors and securing an amazing venue. It was ultimately the quality of her services including her poor communication that left us extremely disappointed with Rare Earth. None of this should come as a surprise to Sheila, as we had emailed her shortly after the wedding voicing our concerns, yet we did not receive a reply. I understand that the wedding season was quite busy and burnout may have definitely been a factor, but even admitting that she was experiencing burnout would’ve been HUGE and we would’ve been more understanding. Having a great wedding coordinator really does make or break the flow of the day!
Carissa
Carissa M. Sent on 09/04/2020
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing amazing... Ah-mazing!

I feel like its going to be hard to sum up just how incredible working with Rare Earth Weddings was for my intimate beach wedding back in September of 2019. I worked with Zoe and she is just a genuinely good person. She is honest, real and kind. I was really really nervous planning my destination wedding, even though I knew it was going to be small and I am in the wedding industry myself as a photographer. I thought it was going to be easy but it turns out, it wasn't and I was feeling overwhelmed. The decision to hire a day of coordinator was made and let me tell you. BEST INVESTMENT EVER. Prior to the wedding she was so calming and helped ease my anxiety and on the wedding day not only did Zoe make sure that both my husband and I were feed, kept on time and hydrated - she set up this beautiful unexpected little alter for me that was beyond anything I could have wanted to just give me ceremony and space a little extra glow. She made sure a little speaker was ready for music and she worked with me to set up a caterer (prior to the wedding even) and helped me coordinate with my florist and all my 28 guests to make sure the day ran smooth. She set up SUCH a gorgeous space for me in our little cabin and made sure the laid back, simple and romantic vibe was set for my "reception" - she truly went above and beyond and honestly words just don't do it justice to what she is capable of doing! I literally did nothing but enjoy my day and it felt SO great.

Zoe, thank you for everything. You gals are wonderful and my hope is other couples get to experience the same joy and the ability to just let go and enjoy their day because they have you by their side!

Lots of love,

The Spencers
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Are you interested?

Awards

17

Rare Earth Real Weddings

Megan & Colin
50 Photos · 08/May/2022
Tiffany & James
71 Photos · 28/Aug/2020
Kirsten & Joshua
47 Photos · 17/Aug/2019
Kelsey & Dale
128 Photos · 05/May/2018

Meet the team

Sheila Orchiston
Sheila Orchiston
Owner/ Planner

Rare Earth Wedding Event Production is owned and operated by Sheila Orchiston, experienced event planner & certified wedding planner. Prior to creating Rare Earth Wedding Event Production in 2009, Sheila worked in both the public & private sector in marketing and event production. With her degree in Communications and International Relations she also travelled extensively throughout the world and worked in the areas of community development.

For over 8 years Sheila worked in Cultural Development for the City of Kelowna involved in arts & cultural festivals, events and tourism. Sheila enjoys creating memorable events that run smooth and effortessly for the clients/guests/delegates.

In 2005, Sheila began working on weddings at the request of friends and colleagues. After a number of weddings (including her own in Tofino in 2008) she soon realized that she wanted to turn wedding and event planning into her full time career. Certified as a wedding planner she has now created Rare Earth Wedding Event Productions where weddings and couples are at the heart of her business. Sheila is a proud member of the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada with a focus on eco wedding planning. She is committed to innovation and excellence in everything she plans.

Her passion for individuals and community as well as her creativity and vision led her to Tofino on Vancouver Island with her husband Keith and their son Hudson.

Zoe Baillie
Zoe Baillie
Admin/Planer

Zoe joined the Rare Earth Team in 2017. With her dedication and passion she has become an integral part of Rare Earth Weddings. With years of experience and education in customer service and hospitality management, she provides first class service to all of our Rare Earth clients as she embarks on their wedding planning journey with them. Since joining Rare Earth she has taken on the role of executive adminstrator and lead planner. Zoe brings warmth, kindness and good humour to our company and is committed to ensuring all Rare Earth couples have the best experience possible!

Zoe lives in Tofino with her partner Neil and their new little fur baby, Rue.

Preferred vendors

Paul Levy Photo
5.0 out of 5 rating , 10 reviews
· Wedding Photography
The Knot Artistry
4.8 out of 5 rating , 2 reviews
· Wedding Makeup

Map

Unit 7- 368 Main Street V0R 2Z0 Tofino (British Columbia)

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