Deanna and Mike were married in an art gallery in Calgary and their reception was in their favourite pub. They wanted their day to be fun for themselves and their guests so they kept things relatively simple, with minimal decorations, and just focused on the stuff that really mattered to them.
“We just wanted the day to be about us and what we wanted and the love of everyone there”, Deanna wrote. “It made the day so special to have so many friends help out with the details leading up to the big day, and actually on the big day. I also think that we have the reception at our favourite pub makes our wedding fairly unique. We also had two different types of music going at all times, there was soul and reggae on one side, and hip hop on the other.
“Since we had the ceremony in an art gallery we had no decorations for that”, she continued. “I felt like the art would be enough and it really was, plus it saved us lots of money. I made everything for the reception, which only included centrepieces. We also saved money on transportation because I didn’t think it really mattered how we got around, and no one would remember or car what we drove up to the reception in. My dress was from a sample sale so I also saved a lot on that. As much as I wanted a pretty dress (and I got one) I didn’t want to spend a lot on a dress that I would realistically only wear once in my life.”
“There were so many amazing moments that its hard to break them down”, she remembered when I asked about any specific highlights of their day. “I think all in all how laid back everything was defined our wedding. We only had four speeches that everyone loved, my niece randomly sang a song for us out of the blue! We stopped all music and sang happy birthday to my friend Carly. There was no formal sitting everyone just kind of sat and mingled with who ever they wanted to. There was no stuffy parts through out the entire day. We felt the love everywhere we went!”
“Try not to get super stressed out”, she advices future brides and grooms in conclusion. “In the end all the matters is that you’re getting married. We forgot the music for the ceremony and although my Mom felt so sad and stressed, I was honest when I told her it didn’t matter. I could walk down to nothing, I didn’t care, I was marrying my best friend and was surrounded by people who love us, nothing else matters. Also the receiving line was the best thing ever! Not many people want to do them these days but I’m so glad we did. At least that way I felt like we talked to everyone at least for a little bit at a time.”
