WE GOT MARRIED
Our Wedding Day
Jason and I were married on June 20, 2020 among our closest friends and family - here is a peek into the best day ever.
We met in 2013 on a Wednesday in November. I was in a really crowded bar with my roommates and we needed a place to sit down, we spotted a table of cute boys and I, being the bold one, asked them if we could sit at the empty chairs at their table. The first thing I noticed about Jason was that he was wearing a really nicely made knit cardigan with a Nordic-style pattern and brass buttons, he was quiet, well spoken, and VERY smart. We talked for hours that first night and got a really good sense for one another - we didn’t know it then, but that random meeting changed our lives for ever. That was the start of forever for us - we were inseparable after that night and the rest is history!
If you want to see a collection of photos of us over the last 7 years, click through this carousel of images! (click the photo on the right to scroll through)
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Jason asked me to marry him on our 5th dating anniversary while out chopping down our Christmas tree in the mountains. It was such a special day, we fell to the ground in an embrace after he asked - cried, laughed, hugged, & smiled our biggest smiles. That moment will forever be one of my favourite memories - I’ll never forget that feeling. <3
A few months later we began the wedding planning process! We had first planned a pretty big wedding with friends and family from all over the world. It was supposed to be on a cute little berry farm just east of Lacombe, everyone was supposed to camp and we were going to party all weekend! We spent over a year making those plans, collecting compostable dinnerware & glassware for all of our guests, planning every little detail down to the scent of the room (yes, I was going to set up diffusers in every corner with our special blend of oils) LOL! It seems crazy looking back at our original wedding plans and how much time we spent dreaming and planning.
Our original wedding plans were cancelled due to covid, so we quickly came together and planned a small micro-style wedding in under a month! We had to find a new venue, but we were able to keep quite a few of our original vendors. The weekend turned out better than we ever could have imagined, it was truly the best celebration!
After going through this process, our biggest piece of advice to couples planning a wedding during covid is to just GO FOR IT! Having a small wedding ended up being the best option for us and we wouldn’t have had it any other way. The most important thing is that you are married to the one that you love. We hope to have a reception/celebration with our original guest list sometime in the future!
Here is our VERY talented vendor list:
Dress: Truvelle via Lovenote Bride
Suit: Custom Herringbone Wool suit by Atelier By Ensemble
Bridesmaid Dresses: Park and Fifth Co.
Party Dress: Park and Fifth Madison Dress
Jasons Shoes: Viberg Boots
Madisons Shoes: Aldo
Bridal Earrings: Leighs Clays
Hat: Lack of Colour Australia
Perfume: Wild Bluebell by Jo Malone & Wood Sage Sea Salt by Jo Malone
Rings: Foe & Dear
Venue: The Lodge at Panther River
Cake: Eats by Luc
Florals: Faint Floral
Hair & Makeup: Michaela Howie with Simply Me Canmore
Officiant: Helen Morgan
Videographer: Lucky Love Films, Emily Oud
Photographer: Nicole Marie Photography
Photos by Nicole Marie Photography
The weekend went a little bit like this:
June 19th, the beginning of our wedding weekend - Jason and I started off the day with a trip to Dose Coffee (the downtown location where we had our first date) we drank coffee and talked through our pre-wedding jitters! That afternoon we loaded up a large enclosed trailer with décor, tables, chairs, the arch & drove out down our favourite road into the mountains. We’ve been hiking and exploring out this way for years, its a super special spot for us! We arrived at the venue and started setting up the honeymoon suite. I brought a large mirror, bedding, blankets, candles, jars with dried flowers, and a huge greenery garland which my grandpa, dad, and Jason hung up outside of the tent! Our guests started to arrive and got settled into their cabins, everyones excitement was buzzing! Once we knew that we were only going to have approximately 20 guests attending, we knew it might be possible to have everyone stay with us! We lucked out with Panther River Lodge, they had enough cabins for all of our guests and it turned out perfectly! My sister and I delivered the welcome bags to all of the cabins & then I drove up to the ceremony location with my Dad and Grandpa while our wedding party helped unload all of the décor - they were all such great help!. We picked a beautiful spot for the ceremony, grandpa picked some pretty wild flowers, and then we headed down for dinner. Jason and I were surprised by our lovely cake maker, Eats by Luc, as she gifted us a delicious grazing box! We ate that for dinner and then spent the evening drinking champagne and visiting with our wedding party! When we got to our room for the night we found a gift basket from my family with all sorts of chocolates, treats, a card, some pajamas, & other gifts - it was so sweet! Jason stocked up the wood fire and we nestled in for the night, it was SO cozy!
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June 20th, our wedding day - We woke up to a warm sunny morning, it was the day before the summer solstice. Jason made some yummy coffee, the lodge delivered our delicious breakfast and then I took a walk along the river with Annie - we saw some mountain goats and dipped our toes in the cold water. Our ceremony was planned for 6 PM, so we had tons of time in the morning to set up the ceremony and reception space. The ceremony was held up at the top of a cliff area on a grassy expanse looking over the panther river valley. A group of the boys went up to the top of the cliff to set up the chairs and the wedding arch - it was quite windy up there so we didn’t want it to be set up too soon and possibly blow away. We all spent the morning arranging decorations, setting up tables and prepping for the evening. We had originally set up our reception spot outside under some gorgeous trees under string lights, but with the threat of a thunderstorm that evening, we decided to move the tables inside of the open-air cabin. It ended up being a super cozy alternative!
Once everything was set up and ready to go, we had a little rehearsal and then played a few rounds of bean bags! Michaela, my hair and makeup artist showed in the early afternoon, so us girls began getting ready then! I put on the Immaculate collection by Madonna and we drank mimosas, it was very fun! While we were getting ready, Jason gifted me a beautiful wooden memory box that he hand made (there is a photo of it in the carousel below). It contained every small physical memento from our entire relationship, concert tickets, love notes, flight passes, photos of us from over the years, and even a small piece of the counter tops from our pre-renovation home (#jasonsfloralcounters on insta if you want to see more, haha). It was the most sentimental gift and I will cherish it forever and ever! The boys got ready at one of the cabins and then headed up to the ceremony spot to put out final touches. Our guests made their way up the steep winding road to the top, my dad and I drove up together and then the ceremony began.
It was quite a windy afternoon, but the sun was shining and the views were stunning! Our friend Gunnar did a great job of controlling the ceremony music, it all worked out perfectly! The boys walked down the aisle to San Luis by Gregory Alan Isakov, the bridesmaids walked down to Bloom by the Paper Kites, and I walked down the aisle to Master & A Hound by Gregory Alan Isakov. We read our vows, full of emotion, smiles, and tears, surrounded by our closest people in the most beautiful place. It was truly magical. The marriage license was signed on a table that Jason built specially for the occasion - he also built the arch, our head tables, our chairs, the champagne wall and MANY other items for the day. We were announced as husband and wife by our lovely officiant Helen and walked down the aisle for the first time as Mr. & Mrs. Lupino, our guests threw flower petal confetti and The Valley Town by Elliot Brood played! It was so. much. fun.!
After we were MARRIED, we took some family photos, wedding party photos, and then our lovely friends and family took all of the décor down to the reception site for us! Jason and I headed off with Nicole, our photographer, and Emily, our videographer, to capture some awesome wedding photos and footage! We explored the cliff area, took full advantage of the stunning mountain backdrop, and then took a little drive down to a pretty field. We ran through the field, listened to some super fun music, danced, played, and just really enjoyed our time together. Nicole and Emily helped me take my hair down and we took a few more photos down at our honeymoon tent. After our photos were done we joined the reception and had our first dance.
Just thinking about our first dance makes me tear up, it was probably my most favourite part of the day. The first night Jason and I met, we talked a lot about music and bonded over the fact that we both really liked the musician Aidan Knight. I told him that my favourite song was Knitting Something Nice For You by Aidan Knight, and later, after we had gone home that first night, he texted me the lyrics to that song. It has been ‘our song’ ever since and we just knew that it had to be our first dance song. We danced on our bedroom rug which we brought out with us, under string lights, surrounded by mountains, trees, and our favourite people. It was the best moment.
For dinner we ate a delicious plated meal done by the Lodge - garden salad, broccoli salad, dinner roll, tender roasted chicken, roasted baby potatoes, maple glazed carrots and beans. Dessert was carrot cake and it was seriously the best carrot cake I have ever gad! We drank Remole Toscana red wine and had the bar set up in our canoe with metal ice buckets - it was very cute. Our lovely wedding party gave speeches and my sister welcomed Jason into the family.
While re-planning our wedding, we knew that all we wanted was to be married, we certainly didn’t expect a wild party. However, somehow we ended up having a wild party - we danced and partied all night and it was the best night of my life! Our photographer Nicole stayed to capture dinner, and then the torch was handed over to my sister in law who snapped some fun pictures of the dance party - I later edited them and they are some of my favourite photos of the night (you can see them at the bottom of this post).
I can’t tell you how incredibly lucky we feel to have been able to go ahead with our celebration. We absolutely LOVE being married and it feels so special to have been able to still get married in a way that very much reflects both Jason and I. We are so thankful for everyone who came to celebrate with us, it wouldn’t have been the same without you! We are also so thankful for all of our vendors, you made our day so special and memorable!
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Now for my favourite part, the wedding photos! Nicole did an absolutely incredible job of capturing our day, I look at these photos at least once a week - what a treasure!! Back in 2017 Jason and I took a road trip to Winnipeg and stopped in Saskatoon along the way to have photos done by Nicole, we knew then that she would be perfect for our future wedding! I can’t stress enough the importance of trusting your wedding photographer, the last thing you should be worried about on your wedding day is photos. We felt very lucky to have Nicole there with us, she was the first thing we booked when we started wedding planning and I wouldn’t have had it any other way!
Ok now get scrolling and enjoy these images! <3
Photos by Nicole Marie Photography
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Last but not least, here is our absolutely beautiful wedding video by Emily Oud (Lucky Love Films). I cry every time I watch this video and it is super special to us - seeing the movement of the day, witnessing the emotion, the details, it is all so perfect!
I debated sharing this video as we are hoping to have a larger reception once it is safe to do so - we had hoped to play this video for the first time for friends and family at that event. The reality is that we likely wont be able to have that big reception for at least 18-20 more months, so we figured why not share it here and give it the love and recognition it deserves!