Monique and Jay’s London, Ontario wedding day began with a ceremony at Holy Diver where they actually got tattooed! They then moved to The Early Bird, a family owned restaurant and bar, where they had a second ceremony (with both their grandmothers as flower girls) and reception with their 35 guests. It was the very first wedding the venue had hosted, but the couple couldn’t have been happier with how it all turned out.

“The venue team played such a huge role in making our wedding day what it was”, Monique said. “From the cute signage out front, to the incredible food, to the genuinely helpful staff and management – it all came together so seamlessly. From our very first walkthrough, we could tell they were excited and fully on board with what we were planning, and they absolutely delivered. Not once were we told that an idea wasn’t possible, and they even offered to keep some disco balls up from their New Year’s Eve setup because they knew it fit our vibe perfectly. After our experience, we’d definitely recommend that other couples look into their favourite local bars and restaurants as potential venues. You might be surprised at just how perfect it can be!”

And the theme? “Tats, cats, fast cars and love!” she said. “I’ve always loved tattoos and tattoo culture, and it’s something that’s meaningful in our relationship too; Jay and I actually got matching tattoos just a few months into dating. We also share our sweet feline daughter, Chicken, who is truly the love of our lives. And of course, there’s the racing – Jay (and his family) are deeply involved in the Ontario racing scene, which keeps us busy every year. Our goal was for people to be having a great time while also thinking, ‘this is so them’.”

The couple hired a wedding planner, With Love Events, who handled a lot of the logistics, flowers and additional décor for them. Guests enjoyed a taco bar, cocktails, temporary tattoos and race and cat-themed details. Chicken the cat appeared everywhere from signage to décor and an old race car door became the guestbook. They had word searches as place setting with references to their relationship hidden throughout.

“Our planner, Christina, absolutely went above and beyond spending hours on a ton of DIYs. When I say the day wouldn’t have been possible without her, I truly mean it! Every little detail tied perfectly into our colour palette and aesthetic, and seeing them come to life was such a joy to see throughout the day.”

As evening hit, the wedding relocated again. More than 60 people packed into Jay’s garage for the afterparty. NASCAR played on TVs overhead and they served pizza straight from the boxes which were stacked up next to coolers full of drinks. Karaoke took over at some point during the night and they partied way into the early hours.

Even with the unconventional structure, Monique said the hardest part of planning had nothing to do with logistics. “One thing I hadn’t really considered when planning a non-traditional wedding was that there wouldn’t be a clear reference point,” she said. “For my friends, my family, or even myself. Trusting that everything would come together and flow the way I imagined, without me or anyone I knew having experienced anything like it before, was definitely a challenge. I didn’t feel the need to explain or justify our choices, since I felt confident in the decisions we’d made, but there was still a quiet undertone of ‘just trust me’ when sharing our plans with others – even as I worked through my own small moments of uncertainty leading up to the day.”

Still, the couple never felt pressure to pull the day into something else. They planned the wedding in six months and found that working outside traditional wedding structures actually made the process a lot easier. “There were no scheduling conflicts, no sense of competing with other couples,” Monique concluded. “Just set the date and do the damn thing. As someone who is anti copy-and-paste wedding approach, I really think your energy should best spent creating a day that feels like you. Nothing is more timeless than staying true to yourselves and filling the space with the people, colours, and details you genuinely love.”