Banff Wedding Planner banffbride.com and The Bear and Bison Inn feature Leila and Jonathon

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The wonderful Canadian flare to this wedding is so great as this couple from Fort MacMurray, Leila and Jonathon, were able to take advantage of an almost exclusive Banffbride.com wedding. The luxurious Bear and Bison Inn located at the base of Lady Macdonald mountain in Canmore, was the event location as well as provided most of the rooms in an exclusive group rental. This rental included two nights, their famous 3 course Crystal and China served breakfast, a Picnic Lunch on the day of the wedding to keep everyone properly fueled, and an onsite wedding hostess who was able to help with those unexpected things that come up on the wedding day. Rumor has it that the wedding hostess, at The Bear and Bison Inn was actually the inspiration behind Jennifer Lopez’s block buster, “The Wedding Planner!”

The Bear and Bison Inn is currently hosting 70-75 group weddings a year and space for 2012 Wedding season is going fast so to check out their current group wedding availability go to http://www.canmoreweddings.com/prices.htm#priceavail.

Ceremony and Venue: The Bear and Bison Inn

Photographer: Peak Photography

Flowers: Willow Haven Floral Design

Hair and Spa: Rapunzel’s Salon and Spa

Officiant: Marion Kutzer

Cake: Barb Laberge of Cake Creations

DJ: Patrick Smiley of Classic Act DJ

 

Real Calgary Wedding Alix and Lowell

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At long last, I have the privilege of sharing images of your favorite bridesmaid now newly wed, Alix, and her handsome husband, Lowell’s wedding. They were wed on a beautiful September day in 2011 at the Cochrane Ranche House. Check out the details Alix put into her wedding from the coffee filter decor, to the beautiful brooch on her flowers. And isn’t her collar stunning?! Alix, you were a beautiful bride and your radiance shines through in all of the pictures! Calgary Wedding Photographer, Mark Shannon, captured the day perfectly.

Here’s what Alix has to say about her day. “Lowell and I met through a mutual friend – also named Alex (who also has ginger hair). Alex talked me into attending a birthday party and I found myself surrounded by a room full of handsome men. The moment I looked at the Lowell, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. After a week of witty, charming and sometimes awkward text message banter, he took me for our first date.

When Lowell proposed to me, he took me by complete surprise. He telephoned on a Thursday afternoon, explaining that his co-worker couldn’t use a gift certificate for Emerald Lake Lodge, and it was booked for that weekend. I remember getting off the phone and having my faith that nice things happen to nice people reaffirmed. We had a relaxing drive out, we had a three hour dinner (where Lowell was cool as a cucumber) and then we back to our room to get sweaters so we could go for a walk. He told me to take a look at some of the photos he had taken. There was a photo of his face, with a big grin and the next photo was of the ring. I was shocked! No idea. I turned around, and he was down on bended knee.

We were married on Friday, September 16th at the Cochrane Ranche House – it was our TGIF wedding where our goal was that everyone laugh the entire day. From his brother dressing up in a wedding gown to emcee the night, to a surprising performance of the jingle I wrote for my blog – it was amazing.”

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In case you are curious as to the jingle Alix wrote, here it is!  :)      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_m-d9lSCcc

Photographer: Mark 11 Photography

Venue: Cochrane Ranche House

Stationery: The Social Page

Dress: Sittero & Midgely

Collar: Blue by Enzo

Grooms Attire: Tuxedo by Samuelson, Ed Williams Mens Wear

Favours & Decor: Made by the bride

Caterer: Pat’s Palatte Pleasers

Calgary Wedding Photographer Anne Wright featuring Jenn & Ian

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About 8 years ago, Jenn was working at a local fitness club in Regina where Ian was a club member. A good friend and co-worker of Jenn’s listened to Jenn talk about Ian for a few weeks before mentioning she was actually a family friend of his. Shortly after, her co-worker had set Ian and Jenn up on a date and last year they tied the knot. It definitely was not as simple courtship as Ian and Jenn spent almost 3 years in a long distance relationship while she was living in Toronto going to school and he was in Calgary beginning his career.  With many flights back and forth and months of not seeing one another, they pulled through and in March of 2007 when school was complete Jenn moved to Calgary to be with Ian. She moved right in with Ian and it was “one of the best decisions we ever made as living together has been a ton of fun, exciting and most importantly an easy transition.” They became engaged in February of 2010 when they went to Chicago on their annual Reading Week break from school where he proposed at The Everest restaurant at the top of the Stock Exchange Tower. It was a complete surprise and Jenn says, ” I am sure I screeched louder than ever before as it was by far one of the best surprises!!”

“Planning our wedding was a blast! I got a jump start about a month after we got engaged and with the help of family and friends, the day could not have been any better. We had 75 guests, which was the perfect amount. The family and friends that you truly cherish and couldn’t imagine spending these life moments without. Approximately 50 of the 75 guests stayed at the Kensington Riverside Inn (we took over the whole place and the Inn was shut down for the public use the whole weekend). The service and staff at the Inn was outstanding, the food out of this world and there was never a moment of worry or stress. We both have never felt so loved by all of our family and friends as they joined us from all over Canada for this special day. I wish I could do it all over again, the excitement and overwhelming happiness we shared together that day was truly amazing. I remember walking down the aisle (stairs) at the Inn and the entire room went silent in awe and the next thing I saw was Ian standing at the end of the aisle with tears rolling down his cheek. That moment will stay with me forever.”

 

Calgary Wedding Photographer: Anne Wright Photography

Calgary Wedding Venue: Kensington Riverside Inn

Invitations: Box Paper Scissors (Kensington)

Flowers: La Fleur Floral Boutique

Shoes: Badgley Mischka  Shoe Craze (Devenish Building, Calgary)

Dress: Maggie Sottero Dress,  from New Line Fashion (Regina, SK)

Fur Coat: Bride’s grandmothers

Husbands Attire: Suit by Etro from Holt Renfrew

Centre Pieces, Table Numbers, Place Cards: Made by the Bride

Cake and Cupcakes: Crave Kensington

Hair and Make up: Ca Va Bien Spa

Rings: Fire & Ice

Calgary Wedding Photographer f8 Photography: features Zoe & Cory

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Calgary Wedding Photographers, Trish and Matt from f8 photography, say that Zoe & Cory are definitely a complimentary couple and that there is a chemistry & closeness between them, a kind of feeling of two people perfectly matched as he brings out her lighter side & she keeps him on track.   The photographs were taken prior to the wedding so the couple could get down to the business of enjoying themselves with family & friends right after the ceremony.

Zoe says, “Cory and I were introduced by mutual friends. We had met a couple of times before we finally began talking and realized that we had a lot in common.  We dated for about 3 years, spending time together traveling, going to Flames and Stampeder games and having fun. In August of 2010 we were on the west coast for a family wedding and Cory proposed to me on a long walk through Stanley Park in Vancouver (a place he knew I loved) and we soon began planning our wedding to take place the following fall.  On September 17, 2011, we were married in a wonderful ceremony officiated by Nomi Whalen in front of our family and close friends. The day was windy and cloudy, but the sun came out mere moments before I walked down the aisle on the patio at Silver Springs Golf Club.”

The invitations for the wedding were designed by Zoe’s sister, a photographic artist living and working in Toronto, and each table number featured a photograph of old hollywood movie stars. Zoe loves the understated glamour of old movies and movie stars, particularly Paul Newman and Marilyn Monroe. Cory and her chose pictures of couples from some of the more famous movies in the 50′s and 60′s for each table, and to honor their parents and grandparents, Zoe had framed photographs of their wedding photos at the table when the guests first walked in to the reception. For the kids table, instead of a floral centrepiece, Cory made lollipop bouquets with vases filled with candy, using the lollipops as flowers. A big hit, I’m sure!

Thanks Trish and Matt for sharing the images and Zoe and Cory for letting us peek at your wedding and sharing your stories. What a memorable day for you!

Calgary Wedding Photographers: f8 photography

Calgary Wedding Venue: Silver Springs Golf Club

Calgary Wedding Dress and veil: Blissful Bridal

Groom’s suit: Holt Renfrew

Wedding rings: Calgary Jewellery

Calgary Wedding Flowers: Modern Petals

Cake Topper: Etsy

Officiant: Nomi Whalen

Calgary Wedding Photographer – Perry Thompson featuring Lindsay and Morgan

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Happy Friday! This is such a beautiful story sent to me via Calgary Wedding Photographer Perry Thompson of Lindsay and Morgan’s breath taking destination wedding in Mexico. What makes it even more special to me is the story behind the wedding.

 

Check out the slide show at the end of the story submitted by Perry on this stunning destination wedding at the Dreams Puerto Adventuras in Mexico.

Here is what Lindsay says…

“Morgan and I met in High School and we were good friends through out and lost touch after leaving school. I ended up moving to the US after my mother died of Pancreatic Cancer. Constantly searching for something greater than me to create a better life, I found yoga. I ended up teaching around the world and felt the need to settle down. I recently added Morgan to facebook and we started talking again. I never thought of him romantically and we ended up talking about a yoga studio. Long story short, he the business side, me the yoga, we decided to go through with it. The day the lease for the space was signed I realized I started falling for him. The advice that I received from friends always said the same thing…. do not date someone you work with as it’s destination for disaster!” I had to tell them “no choice” as I had decided if he said that he did not like me in that way, it was early enough for me to let it go. We went out for dinner and he asked me to tell him something about myself he didn’t already know so I thought, perfect chance. I then simply told him, ” I am falling for you.” I couldn’t look up and I could feel the redness in my face. I then asked Morgan to tell me something about himself that I don’t already know. He replied, ” I have had the biggest crush on you since high school.” So there it was, the answer I needed!  We spent 24hours a day together working on opening the studio. Some days were great, some days were the worse. By the time the studio opened I had felt we had been through everything. Six months after we opened, Morgan went to Yoga Teacher Training. On their graduation night from their 9 week intensive training course, all the students would celebrate with a blessing from our guru and receive their certificate. When Morgan went to take a picture with our Guru, I was allowed to take a picture with the both of them to celebrate the moment. Morgan then grabbed the microphone and asked our guru for his blessings because Morgan wanted to ask me to marry him. All 450 graduates and teachers were screaming in shock and joy. I could barely stand.

We decided to get married on 11.11.11 as everywhere we went, 11-11 was there. I looked it up and found to see it frequently meant ‘creating synchronicity in your life’. I took it as a special omen, or good luck. We got married at Dreams Puerto Adventuras resort in Mexico. It was perfect as thirty of our closest friends and family attended, it was simple and spectacular and the resort was more than accommodating as the ceremony and reception were wonderful…. no complaints.

A rainbow came out when I was walking down the aisle. Morgan thought it was my mom….”

Thank you for sharing Lindsay. Namaste.

Be sure to visit Calgary Wedding Photographer and destination wedding photographer Perry Thompson at The Wedding Fair this upcoming Sunday at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park at here is the link to this beautiful destination wedding: http://perphoto.com/blog/weddings/mexico-wedding-lyndsay-and-morgan