Warning…The wedding photos you are about to see may make you want to get married (or renew your vows if you already said “I do”!)
Jackie and Mark are so adorable that my face hurt from smiling before we even got to the church! I really felt as though we were taken in to the family for a day which made it so special to capture all of the little moments. The details were so personal and touching…everything told a story about who Jackie and Mark are and why their love is so amazing (which is just what a wedding should be)
– Lindsay
I just have to add a quick little note here too… I first met Jackie when she was the wedding coordinator at the Delta Armouries and have adored her ever since! She is so full of love and laughter – when I met Mark during their engagement session I could tell within seconds that they were the perfect match for each other! I was so excited that I was able to scoot out to their wedding after their dinner to take some beautiful sunset shots and fun party shots for them! Even though I was only there for a couple of hours it’s one of my favorite weddings I’ve been to!
– Heather
Describe the vision/theme you had for your wedding in 5 words or less:
Intimate -Family- Farm- Chic
What are you favourite memories of your wedding day?
Bride:Standing with my dad right before he walked me down the aisle, with flowers in hand, hearing the processional music start, and suddenly being startled that this is it. I’d been running around so much that morning, that the moment had kind of snuck up on me. I got a little jittery, and I ended up waving and saying “hi” to guests as I walked down the aisle, lol. I was nervous right up until I turned the corner and I saw Mark for the first time that day… I’ve never been so excited in my life!
The whole ceremony was really exactly perfect for us… there’s was an excitement in the chatter and kids running around before, and people laughed and enjoyed themselves throughout the service, which was really important to both of us. Then Alexandra, our two-year-old flower girl & Mark’s niece, started shouting my name excitedly from the front row during one of the prayers. She had a little play camera and she wanted to get my attention to take my picture. That was the best welcome into the family I could ever ask for. I couldn’t help but laugh!
Groom:Taking pictures at my Grandma’s farm. She wasn’t well enough to attend the wedding, but being able to take a few minutes so she could see us all dressed up and newly minted as a married couple was really special. She has since passed away, so these memories are precious. Family is really important to us, so for Jacks & I, that meant including the little ones in the whole day. Having all the kids running around was great. We knew that we needed to be responsible if we were going to invite so many children (more than 20 under the age of 12), so we made sure dinner was at a decent time, set up a tent just for them, and had two dedicated people to help them with activities. There was a photo scavenger hunt, activity books, a toy chest, and kid friendly snacks all within view of parents.
Best wedding related decision: We stayed true to our individual & collective style as a couple, and did the things that we really wanted to… I was barefoot most of the day, Mark and his party got out the battle armour before the ceremony, we played guitar and sang, played games, danced, romped around in fields, all while sharing it with people we love so much. We could not have had a better time.
Favourite detail: We spent lots of time deciding on our music. I’m a singer and I’ve seen A LOT of weddings. I didn’t want the same old music at our wedding, and luckily Mark is a huge music buff too, so he was on board with freshening things up a bit. Our style is pretty eclectic, and the result was fun and perfect for us. We had a family friend, who is an AMAZING pianist, play for the ceremony and he took on our play list challenge like a champ. He rocked everything from Eva Cassidy and Jason Mraz, to Iron & Wine, the Beatles, and Journey. And the reception music was so great! Our DJ was such a professional & really suited our taste… we gave him some examples of songs and styles we love, and he just ran with it. People are still talking about how awesome the tunes were! It really became a soundtrack to an amazing memory.
Advice for future brides & grooms: Hiring the right people makes a world of difference. Case in point: I get a little cranky when I’m hungry, so by the time we got back to the reception, I was beginning to get pretty antsy. We still had quite a few family photos to take, but luckily, our photographer, Lindsay, is a real pro. She saw that I was starting to get impatient, was able to reign me in and help me focus. I’m so glad she did! The pictures she took after that are some of my favourites of the day.
Would you change anything if you could do it all over again? Yep. I’d slouch less.
Best surprise of the day: When Kayla & Ashlee, our MCs, busted out the Adam Sandler tune, I Wanna Grow Old With You with the help of Mike, one of our good friends on guitar. When Mark & I were both away at school we would record snippets of sappy songs and send them to each other. This was one of them, so it really took us back!
Anything else you’d like to add: We discarded the idea of perfection in order to make things fun & personal. If people wanted to help, we let them. With the help of family and friends, we made all of our stationary, almost all of the décor, a really cool seating plan, an amazing late night buffet, and so much more. Mark’s cousin made our cake, Mark’s family sewed the programs, my Aunts came to help decorate and clean, our buddies help with set up and heavy lifting… I could go on forever. It could have been a disaster, but having so many hands in the pot ended up raising the level of excitement to a fever pitch.
VENDORS : Ceremony Location: St. Paul’s United Church of Aylmer | Reception Location: The Ungar Family Farm | Officiant: Rev. Don Graham | Cake: Monique Hoffer | Dress: Mikaella (from Nicholas And Elizabeth – amazing service!) | Wedding Planner: That would be me | Flowers/Decorator Flowers and rentals: Patzee’s Floral Scapes | Hair/Makeup: HAIR- Thea Whaley / MAKEUP – moi | Caterer: German Canadian Club of Aylmer | Bartending Service: Vera Unich of Here’s To You | DJ: Rob Aitken of Music Central
WEDDING SONGS: Processional – River Flows in You – Yiruma | Recessional – It’s The End of The World As We Know It – REM | Entrance – Smashmouth – I’m a Believer | First Dance – Instead of dancing to the song we chose, Better Together by Jack Johnson, we decided to surprise all of our guests by performing it instead! Mark played, I sang. So fun! | Parent Dances – Father/Daughter Heard it through the grapevine – Michael McDonald – Mother/Son – Stand by Me | Last Song – Far Away by Ingrid Michaelson
Favorite HRM picture from the day (and why?): The picture of the gnome with our rings… and the shot of us with the pitchfork… and… (may I just say that I’ve been telling everyone for years now that HRM is genius? I am so right.)
Notice the carved “Marry Me Jackie” on the tree behind them!
Favorite HRM picture from the day (and why?): 881 – the picture of Mark twirling me… the sky is amazing and there’s one star above us. Disney couldn’t have done it better! And all the pictures at dusk were incredible too… the light was dreamy!
