In the heart of Toronto, nestled within the creative vibes of Junto Studio, Christina and Karl hosted their laid back ‘love party’. From the vintage-inspired aesthetics to the meaningful DIY elements, their celebration was inspired by “having an autumnal dinner at grandma’s, circa 1974.”
It was a theme rooted in nostalgia, capturing the warmth of family gatherings and the cosy vibes of autumn. Christina told us, “As PhD students, words and their meanings matter to us. So, instead of calling it a wedding, it was a ‘love party’. This helped us get out of the mindset of what ‘should’ be involved or what was expected and allowed us to focus more on making it a day to celebrate us and what we wanted. Everything was intentional and meaningful to life we have built together and the people we love.”
Inspired by HBO’s Minx for the colour palette and design and the vintage store of your dreams for outfits and textures, they only included things that felt good to touch and look at.
They also DIYed as much as they could. They crafted their rings with their own hands, hand-printed and stamped invitations and personally selected bar drinks. Their goal? To create an extension of themselves and their home, transforming the venue into a reflection of their personalities. The couple also championed local Toronto businesses, prioritising support for their community by choosing suppliers who resonated with their values.
The day was small and intimate, and it began with their ceremony where a family friend played all the music. “We only had immediate family and a family friend played live, acoustic music”, they explained. “We read handwritten vows from books that Karl made, and we passed around the rings so our nearest and dearest could imbue them with good vibes for life. Our recessional/post-ceremony celebration song was Streetlight Manifesto’s cover of Such Great Heights accompanied by cake and champagne, and lots of hugs and smiles.”
At the reception, they played a self-curated Spotify playlist and had disco lights, which they also set up themselves. Disposable and Instax cameras were laid our for guests to capture candid moments, while a projector streamed Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a cozy lounge corner. Though the real highlight was a midnight pizza delivery that went down a storm!
Navigating the wedding industry can pose challenges and as Christina and Karl had only three months to plan their day, at times it really tested them! They explain, “Even though the wedding was small, it was still an enormous amount of work and responsibility to plan ourselves. Initially we encountered some vendors who were less-than-transparent about their pricing structures (e.g. in emails seeming on board with our budget but then in our meetings trying to up-sell us) which of course made it difficult to plan on a budget and be protective of our time and energy. We also found the industry quite competitive – many emails and calls went unanswered (one company straight up ghosted us!) presumably because many vendors have more business than they know what to do with.”
“Our advice to other couples is as follows: if you can book vendors who are a bit off the beaten-wedding-track, then you may have more luck and actually end up with a result you’re much happier with! For us, this meant working with vendors who had more time and willingness to be attentive to our needs while also managing a tight timeline and budget.”
