Our Wedding: Getting Ready & The First Look

As we get closer to celebrating our first anniversary as a married couple, I wanted to share more about our wedding and just how amazing of a day it was. I’ve shown glimpses of it in the past and even shared my top wedding advice, but now I’m looking forward to getting a bit more specific. All the images you see were photographed by one of the greatest people I know – Kelly Redinger, who featured us on his website a little while back – check that out here.

So, to kick off the “our wedding” series, I thought I would start with all the girls’ favourite part – the getting ready and then show you our memorable first look afterwards.

Getting Ready!

All of my 10 bridesmaids (yes, 10!!) stayed at my girlfriend Robyn’s house because she had the perfect home to fit us all.

Janna and Stef (Behind the Blush ladies doing double duty as bridesmaids) had a lot on their hands, so they shared the workload with my other hair and makeup artist friend Sarah. Between the three of them, they hammered out all 10 (well I guess 11 including me) girls before noon. Talk about superstars!

Honesty Time: I have never felt worse than this morning, spending most of the night on the bathroom floor, then waking up to find my knee didn’t want to cooperate. It was the strangest thing. BUT, my girls helped me sail through the morning, and as soon as I got in my dress, I felt a little better. Thanks also goes to Advil and multiple cups of coffee…

My Dress: Truvelle Nicolet from Delica (veil is also from Delica). I think Truvelle dresses are some of the dreamiest I’ve seen. Originally, I had a very structured, form fitting, plain lace number but when I put this one on, I felt very me in it. I loved that I could dance in it, could eat a bunch of food and not worry about my gut hanging out (lol – so lady like, I know) and ultimately, could be comfortable throughout the day while still feeling beautiful.

Most Teary Eyed Moment: No, not when my dad saw me in my dress for the first time…I actually contained myself pretty good there. I cried the most when Leanne, one of my bridesmaids, presented me with a book she had made. Next to pictures of us together, each of the girls wrote a short letter to me and they were some of the most heartfelt words I’ve ever read. It meant a lot to me and it’s something I will always have and treasure.

After getting into our dresses and snapping some shots together, we jumped in the limo that would take us to meet the guys, who had been getting ready at our Hazeldean home. These are the custom cufflinks I had local jeweller Hunt Amor make for Ryan for the wedding day (and also a 30th birthday present).

The First Look:

Despite a clear forecast, it stormed all night and the morning of our wedding. So last minute, we changed the location of our first look to somewhere that wouldn’t be so mucky (originally, I wanted it down in the ravine where we always walk our dogs). Then, just as we were getting ready to see each other, the sun came out in full force.

This was one of my favourite parts of the day. Seeing each other made me so incredibly happy and instantly took away every jitter I had. I have no idea why everyone wouldn’t do this because it made the day so much more enjoyable for us both. Plus, having this moment, just the two of us, was really special.
And, of course, we always seem to laugh a lot too.

Check back next week to see some more snaps of our wedding day – I’ll be sharing a whole bunch from our photoshoot in the old Army and Navy building! xo