Rachel and Matthew’s Rustic, Music Filled Canadian Wedding By Megan Ewing Creative

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed Valentines day. Were you wined and dined or did the day pass by in a sea of wedding planning? Were there any proposals? If so we would love to hear about them.
Today we are starting with this gorgeous Canadian wedding, from Ontario. It’s the most gorgeous rustic wedding, with a mix of eclectic details and lots of handmade projects. A really lovely venue and a gorgeous outdoor ceremony that the rain managed to stay away from. I just love the colours and the flowers, divine! Big thanks to Megan Ewing Creative for the wonderful images.

‘There was so much love, nature and music surrounding our wedding day! We both felt so connected to each other, our friends and family’

Rachel and Matthew were married on 19th September 2015. The Ceremony was held at Victoria Park and Lawson Gazebo, and the Reception at Village Barn, Fanshawe Pioneer Village. ‘Fanshawe Pioneer Village Ontario was the perfect location for us to celebrate our marriage. As a history enthusiast, I have always loved places that are linked to the past. Century old barns and log cabins are nestled in a very natural environment where groundhogs roam, and mature trees, wild flowers and hedges decorate the landscape. It was serendipitous when Matt told me that he had found ‘the perfect venue’. I couldn’t believe it was the spot where my parents and grandparents used to take me as a child. The nostalgia made it that much more special! We had 110 guests in total. Gathering inspiration started intermittently after the engagement. The real planning began 8 months before the wedding.’

How they met
We met in July of 2011. I went to school with Matt’s cousin, Laura, who was trying to set us up on a blind date for months. After reluctantly refusing for quite some time, we finally met at an event in Toronto.

The Proposal
We were both roaming around the Old Town in Dubrovnik, Croatia and stopped at a little restaurant for a snack… a few bottles of wine later we found ourselves on the jagged rocks below the walls of the Dubrovnik castle, staring out at the dimly lit sea while talking about our future together. It was then and there we both decided to get married. A few months later, on the couch of our place, Matt gave me his great grandmother’s ring.

How did you allocate your budget
Once we established our budget, we decided on our top priorities and allocated extra money for those items.

Where did you splurge and where did you save
We spent the most on food and rentals and saved on décor, venue, and music.

How did you choose your photographer
We chose Megan Ewing, of MECreative because her style is very similar to ours. We knew she would capture the beauty of the venue while keeping the photos of ourselves and our guest very natural and candid.

The Dress
Dress is by Tadashi Shoji from BHLDN. Crown is from a Toronto boutique called Sash and Bustle. Bracelet is an Italian gold antique from my Nonna. Earrings were borrowed from one of my bridesmaids. Shoes… I forgot about shoes. Luckily a brought an old pair of strappy cork wedges. Rachel’s wedding ring was from Cynthia Findlay, an Antique Shop in Toronto. Matthew’s wedding ring was from peoples

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Matt and his groomsman wore custom suits from Indochino, and purchased champagne ties from the online store, Tie Bar. Bridesmaids wore multi-coloured floor length flowing dresses from various stores. As a gift, I gave them layered necklaces from Top Shop

Theme or Colour Scheme
Theme: eclectic, natural and musical
Colour scheme: sage and myrtle green, hints of rusty orange, white and gold

Flowers
Our florist, Nathan Boyce (Gammage Flowers) created a gigantically lush mixed green bridal bouquet that was filled with myrtle, eucalyptus, ivy, closed white and green roses, etc.
The Bridesmaid’s bouquets were very similar but slightly smaller.
The Groomsman’s boutonniere’s were natural and masculine and went very well with the dark navy blue suits.
The leftover table greenery (myrtle and eucalyptus) was used around the dessert table/cake and the DIY flower crowns for the young flower girls.
We placed small pots of yellow and burnt orange flowers along the ceremony walkway and buffet/bar tent. We barely had to focus on outdoor flowers because the venue is so colourful in early autumn!

Decoration
We kept everything natural by focusing on the table greenery, hand illustrated botanicals, antique centre pieces, long trestle tables, beautiful wooden chairs, and the rustic white barn. The crisp white linens, lace and feather printed table runners, gold trimmed plates, and crystal glassware were a great contrast and kept the barn looking very eclectic. White lights inside the barn and the up lighting on the outside of the barn made the entire venue more usable at night.

Food
Blackfriars Restaurant and Catering / late night pizza
Starter: House baked bread and butter, Thai curry shrimp cocktail, mini chicken salad bowls
Entrée: Rosemary roasted pork loin with apple chutney, salmon with orange chipotle glaze
Sides: Mini roasted potatoes with thyme and olive oil, caprese salad, baby arugula and crisp romaine salad with chopped romano cheese, sweet onion, candied pecans and a pomegranate and pear vinaigrette. Green and yellow bean salad with Dijon vinaigrette.
Dessert: Chocolate Espresso Grand Marnier cheesecake with orange compote and candied orange peel and homemade chocolate truffles

Wedding Cake
Becca Mortlock, who was my Bridesmaid, creates custom fondant cakes. She made a tiered white cake with gold leaf accents and wrap around greenery.

Entertainment
The Honeybadgers (band). Music is a large part of our lives, so we wanted to ensure our reception had a great playlist and live music that all generations could sing and dance to.

The Stationery
The invitations, stationery, menus, and seating chart were created by my Maid of Honour, Robyn Murphy, who is a freelance graphic designer.

Personal or Handmade Touches
Almost everything was a DIY project. Wooden signs that surrounded the venue, labelled the bar, and bride and groom chairs. Wood Slice Table Numbers- wood collected from Maid of Honours family farm. Wedding Favours- Brown bags stamped with custom green logo, filled with fair-trade coffee. Table Flower Arrangements. Seating Chart. Menus and Menu packages with ribbon and custom tag. Poem and family wedding photo arrangement. DIY Candy bar and dessert table.

Special Moments
When the band started to play their second set, Matt and I took a stroll around the village. We walked to the Gazebo where our ceremony took place and looked over at the barn. We saw so much fun, love and laughter. Sharing that moment together was so magical and unforgettable!

Advice to other couples
Planning a wedding can often be very overwhelming, so it is important to make planning fun while staying organized. Leading up to the wedding, Matt and I would plan full nights to work on things. We’d order food, have some wine and listen to music.
Always use the resources available to you and the support of your bridesmaids, groomsmen, friends and family- they are there to help!
Lastly, for us, it was definitely about the details. The love was in the details. With that said, don’t stress the small stuff because the day will unfold naturally and no one will even notice the things you miss.

Biggest surprise
The weather! It was raining the entire day. Everyone suggested that we move our ceremony inside because dark low clouds were looming over the park, but that didn’t deter us from having our ceremony outside. Surprisingly, the rain stopped and the sun came out the moment we started walking down the aisle. It was perfect! Oh, and a wedding gift for a Honeymoon to Iceland!

Supplier Shout Outs

• Reception Venue: www.fanshawepioneervillage.ca
• Flowers – www.gammageflowers.com
• Cynthia Findlay Antiques – www.cynthiafindlay.com
• A & B Rentals – www.a-bpartyrental.com
• Catering – www.blackfriarsbistro.com
• Robyn Murphy – [email protected]
• Photography – www.mecreative.ca
• Sash and Bustle – www.sashandbustle.com
• Indochino – www.indochino.com
• The Tie Bar – www.thetiebar.com
• Brides Dress – www.bhldn.com
• Delta London Armouries – www.deltalondonarmouries.com

For more information on Megan’s work please go to:

www.mecreative.ca / www.mecreative.ca/blog / [email protected] / 416 540 7828 / FACEBOOK / I: mewingcreative / @mewingcreative /

I am a Canadian photographer who travels the world with her camera. My photography has a vintage style where I focus mostly on candid emotions & moments with a love for natural beauty.