Covid Elopement in Birds Hill Park
2020 has been a weird year for weddings, and sometimes it seems like it’s not even worth talking about anymore. That’s exactly why I’m starting this new blog series, because I want to celebrate our “Covid weddings” and, at the same time, inspire you with ideas on how you can make sure that Covid-19 doesn’t define your wedding!
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing images and stories from the weddings of couples who chose to take 2020 and Covid-19 head-on, changing and changing and changing their wedding plans to ultimately allow them to celebrate when and how they best saw fit.
2020 has been a weird year for weddings, and sometimes it seems like it’s not even worth talking about anymore. That’s exactly why I’m starting this new blog series, because I want to celebrate our “Covid weddings” and, at the same time, inspire you with ideas on how you can make sure that Covid-19 doesn’t define your wedding!
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing images and stories from the weddings of couples who chose to take 2020 and Covid-19 head-on, changing and changing and changing their wedding plans to ultimately allow them to celebrate when and how they best saw fit.
Paula and Steve ~ June 27, 2020
Photos by Ally Papko Photography
We made the decision to postpone our original plans for a big wedding celebration until 2021. We plan to have a one year anniversary/postponed wedding celebration almost exactly one year from when our original wedding date was planned. However, after being engaged for a year and a half and being so excited to finally be husband and wife, we decided to also have a very small, intimate ceremony this year on our original wedding date.
In our original wedding floral plans, Paula wanted a very natural, wildflower feel, taking inspiration from the wildflowers that grow near their cabin as well as the daisies her mother carried down the aisle on her wedding day. There are a lot of yellow wildflowers that grow locally, so with that and the daisies in mind, I added in some more whites and a touch of light blue delphinium, along with ferns and olive foliages.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: daisies, locally grown ranunculus and Queen Anne’s Lace, delphinium, snap dragons, campanula, olive, ferns.
I wanted to share these first look photos to show you that, even if your covid wedding isn’t how you pictured your wedding to be, the emotion is still SO REAL. This is not a practice wedding! It’s the real deal, and you deserve to feel all that excitement, all that happiness, all that amazement!
One of the biggest things that changed is we went from planning the day with a wedding coordinator at a venue that does weddings every weekend all year to planning something ourselves with no blueprint. One of the challenges was that aside from not knowing anyone who had eloped before, there also just wasn't really any resources for how to plan a COVID wedding. Nobody had been through this before so it wasn't as though we could just google it. In terms of how we felt, obviously there was quite a bit of disappointment at first, but then as our plan came together it turned to optimism. We ended up really excited that we got to do something that felt very personal, as opposed to more of a cookie cutter wedding designed to accommodate 200+ guests. We ended up really looking forward to getting to make the day a lot less structured and way more intimate for the few guests we did have on hand. What didn't matter anymore was basically anything that didn't lead to us getting married. After having to change, cancel, rework, restructure so much of our plan over the months proceeding, we ended up just really focused on "by the end of the day we'll be married." Anything else was a luxury.
Funny story about this arch…
This was supposed to be a 5-10 minute install for me. Paula and Steve sent me the directions to exactly where in the park they’d be getting married, and I had everything prepared. I didn’t feel like going alone, so I asked my husband and toddler to come along with me just for fun. I thought our little guy could run around outside for a little while. While we got into the van, my husband asked me, “Should I bring my drill bag?” And I said, “No, we won’t need it… Actually, might as well.” That was a VERY lucky thing.
The arch was borrowed from some friends of the couple, and must have been staked or drilled into whatever surface it was originally built for, because let me tell you: this arch was LIGHT. And when I say light, I mean it could have nearly blown away with just the breath from my mouth. Steve and his groomsman were setting it up, and wouldn’t you know, it toppled over and one of the sides snapped. Well, out came the drill and I got to work coming up with an alternative plan because all of the floral I had planned for the arch definitely wasn’t going to work. Steve’s dad brought a piece of 2x4 that my husband created a brace out of to add extra support to the broken side, and we grabbed some sand bags out of the back of Steve’s truck to weight the base.
I added one floral piece to attach slightly above the broken piece, so that the snap line would be covered. The second floral piece was also supposed to hang on the arch, but I decided to re-work it and place it on the opposite side of the triangle’s base, so that I could hide the sandbag. I had to rearrange some of the stems to give it more height, and then I actually shoved some water tubes deep into the grass and added taller foliage stems around it, so that it felt a little more natural. I did the same on the other side, adding the foliage to make it look as though it was growing naturally and to hide that sand bag as well.
I'm not sure anything was easier than our previous plan. We did a lot ourselves that we had planned to outsource. One of the biggest challenges wasn't actually deciding who could come to a small ceremony, but dealing with the emotions of people we knew we were disappointing by not including them. We made our plan at the tightest of COVID restrictions and told everyone that no matter what the government changed between then and the ceremony date, our plan was staying the same. However, as restrictions loosened a lot of people seemed to expect us to change our plan and that made for some lengthy and disheartening conversations with family members.
Looking back we absolutely LOOOOOVED our day. It was magical. It felt so special. Two things we really felt like we missed out on: the first is that it's the one day you get to have a full day with your people. We've both been in wedding parties before and that day is always so fun, but its someone else’s friends. There's always a sibling, or a work friend, or someone that you just don't know as well as the rest of the group. That day was supposed to be our day with our people. The second is getting to celebrate with our friends afterwards. Having a real reception and getting to drink and dance and celebrate our day. However we do have that planned for June of next year, so here's hoping that's able to happen and we get those things we missed out on then.
Here’s what we would pass on to other couples: It's your day. Simple as that. There will be lots of people with lots of advice on how you should do things or how they would do things, but everything comes back to what you envision and what will make you happy. Always keep that in mind and make every decision based on that. You may ruffle some feathers along the way, but in the end, you'll look back and know you got exactly what you wanted on your day. And enjoy the ride, if at the end of the day you're married then nothing else matters.
(And you know, stuff like your arch snapping in half and your florist's husband having to screw it back together while you run off to take first look photos … All part of the experience!)
Obviously I couldn’t resist ending with this adorable puppy portrait!
Ally Papko Photography ~ Prairie Film Co ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique ~ Harry Rosen
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
2021 wedding dates are limited! Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Intimate Country Wedding during Covid
Please tell me that you all love this colour palette as much as I do! It’s juicy, interesting, deep, with both warm and cool tones. The peachy tones with a bit of blue were the original focal point, and we added in the darker blue/purple a little later on as the bridesmaids’ dresses were selected. I love that the palette is vibrant and full of life, without looking immature or too “Crayola,” if you know what I mean.
I’ve known Amanda casually since we were kids — I played soccer with her sister, she’s close friends with one of my best friends, we grew up just outside of the same town — that kind of thing. I was so excited to be asked to be part of her wedding, because Amanda has gorgeous style and is an incredibly talented person at basically everything she puts her mind to — she built her own arch, created all the gorgeous signage, crafted her own gumpaste flowers for their cake…she’s one of those people who can just DO the things that she sees, and she does these things to a very high level.
This intimate wedding in the country (just outside of Stonewall) was a dream to be a part of — covid and all.
Amanda is tall and willowy, and she didn’t want her bridal bouquet to be too large. We wanted interesting texture and a garden-inspired and airy feel, but without any massive focal flowers. Amanda is a big flower lover and had some really great ideas for specific blooms and colours, and I just filled in the rest.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: ranunculus, bachelor buttons, tweedia, lisianthus, sweet pea, wheat (Ryan is a farmer, after all!), and eucalyptus foliages.
Please tell me that you all love this colour palette as much as I do! It’s juicy, interesting, deep, with both warm and cool tones. The peachy tones with a bit of blue were the original focal point, and we added in the darker blue/purple a little later on as the bridesmaids’ dresses were selected. I love that the palette is vibrant and full of life, without looking immature or too “Crayola,” if you know what I mean.
We finished them off with beautiful Stella Wolfe ribbons that we’ll hopefully be able to re-use for part 2 of the wedding next year!
One thing I really appreciated about Amanda and the way they planned their Covid-friendly celebration was the seriousness with which they took the comfort of their guests in this uncertain time. As you can tell, there was LOTS of space available for social distancing thanks to their country property just outside of Stonewall, and they made sure to give their guests a lot of room with the seating arrangements for the ceremony.
Amanda, Ryan, and her dad built the arch together and I really loved it! The stain was a beautiful tone, and it was super sturdy which is an oft-overlooked necessity 😂We worked with the peaches/purples/blues to create a few floral pieces for the arch and they were the perfect finishing touch to the ceremony space.
I bet those gorgeous stone walls have caught your eye. Aren’t they the perfect photo backdrop? If you’re anything like me, they might also be the perfect inspiration for your business name…that’s right! These photos were taken in the ruins of the stone foundation of a barn across the road from my parents’ farm (their stone farm house is the one that I pay homage to in my business name), built by my ancestors. My husband and I took our wedding photos here, my cousin was married here in the barn, and the week after Amanda and Ryan’s wedding, one of her bridesmaids (who is also my cousin!) also had her wedding photos taken in the stone barn!
And of course, a few wheat field shots for this newlywed farming couple!
I love this sweet little teaser trailer from Prairie Film Co… the slow mo in the wheat is gorgeous!
I can’t wait for part 2 of this wedding next year, where they’ll be able to celebrate with a larger group of people!
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
2021 wedding dates are limited! Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Hello from Lauren in 2020
A slightly pessimistic, attempting to be realistic personal post from Lauren in 2020!
This might be a bit pessimistic
but I just looked back at my Instagram post on December 30, 2019 and rolled my eyes.
All that hope. All that excitement. All that “2020 is going to be AMAZEBALLS” crap.
Oh, to be Naive Lauren once again.
I’ve not been very active on my blog this summer — partially because I’ve been WAY busier than I expected, and partially because I just haven’t felt like it.
For much of the summer here in Winnipeg, we were really lucky to have an extremely low case-load, and so a lot of couples were able to go ahead with their wedding plans, whether that was just a ceremony with a reception coming next year, or scaling back on the guest list for their full wedding. I also worked with a lot of “last minute” couples who were planning their weddings for elsewhere, but were no longer able to travel to those destinations, and so a local wedding it was! Each one of the weddings that I was able to be a part of was AMAZING in their own way and gave me a lot of energy and inspiration, and I’ll be sharing more of these stories in the coming weeks and months. My work load was way higher than I expected, which I was so grateful for!
On the other hand, I still lost about 75% of my revenue for this year. Oooff. It really hurts to write that out (side note here: please give grace to anyone whose job requires the gathering of people…the entire live events industry is often looked at as frivolous but the reality is that it employs MILLIONS of people across Canada and is a huge contributor to the economy). So with that massive loss to my income, I had to cut out my childcare budget, which meant that I had a lot less time to get my work done in. Of course, I’m incredibly grateful for the increased amount of time that I’ve gotten to spend with my toddler this summer, but this has still been a large factor in needing to prioritize what work got done, and when it got done.
So before I get too far down the pessimistic path of darkness…
I thought I’d share some highlights from this weird wedding (and personal) season, as it’s been so far.
Family photos with Austin Kylie Photography with my side of the family, at my parents’ farm (where the stone house is!). She even captured our little Jack doing what he loves to do best: climbing.
Having my little guy working in the shop with me. He LOVES picking flowers out of the garbage can and throwing them into the recycling bin, he’s always sweeping, and he’s only smashed a couple of my vases 🤦🏼♀️
Flower Club! As a way to support my family in the absence of wedding income, and to support my local flower farmer Lily Stone Gardens (they are THE BEST!!), I created the Stone House Flower Club! It was a monthly bouquet subscription, composed entirely of locally grown flowers. I loved being able to fill your homes with fresh flowers and have you see the beauty that can be grown right here in Manitoba. I’m not sure if I’ll have the opportunity to offer the Club again in the future (it’ll completely depend upon my wedding schedule), but I am so thankful for the 30 people who joined this year!
My cousin/best friend got married at the beginning of August, with a guest list of 15. Her husband’s family is from Mexico, and because they couldn’t come, the wedding was kept as intimate as possible. Aside from the addition of people they love, there was not a thing missing from that wedding and I can’t wait to share it ALL with you (in the meantime, here’s a look at her laidback bachelorette party!). The vibe was amazing: it was comfortable, relaxed, and celebratory. And man, I’m so glad because this wedding deserved to be celebrated. And so does yours! (Photo of her bouquet above, by Esther Funk Photography)
Stone House turned 6 back in June! There wasn’t much celebrating done, but it’s been a really good 6 years 🎉 and that’s a pretty cool anniversary to celebrate.
A bunch of photoshoots! Literally every time I design for a photoshoot, I say I’m never doing it again 😂😂 And then I get sucked back in! They are a lot of fun, but they are also a LOT of work. I’m very pleased with the 4 projects I was able to complete this year and look forward to sharing it here, but please, remind me not to take on another shoot for at least a year, mmmk? (The images scattered about this post are from a shoot I did in July at The Gables Wedding Barn, a brand new venue, with Vanessa Renae Photography. More to come soon!)
And, because literally no one asked 🤪, here’s a peek at what I’ve got upcoming that I’m looking forward to:
The Portfolio Builder is BACK!!
Emily (from Feast & Festivities) and I partnered up many months ago to create an incredible portfolio building day for photographers and videographers, and it was supposed to take place back in April. Well, obviously that got cancelled. We’re excited to move forward with our new date of October 4, 2020 — and since this is something that I’ve been envisioning and planning for 2+ years, I’m SO excited to finally make it happen! We will have a set of covid protocols in place to ensure everyone’s safety, so you can create and feel inspired but also feel at ease.
A few weeks off!
I’ve decided that every year, from now on, I should block off a full week after I finish weddings (usually sometime in October), and then again for my son’s birthday (which is a week before Christmas…so basically I’ll take two weeks off at Christmas time). I’ve never done this before and to be honest, I’m not good at “not working,” so we’ll see how dedicated I am to it. Nevertheless, I’m excited at the prospect of “holidays” and will have the autoresponder turned on.
email list
One of my goals this winter is to really figure out how to use my email list (yet another thing that kind of went out the window this summer…) and I’m creating what I hope will be a great resource for all of you who are planning weddings, to entice you to join the list. Can’t wait to get on that!
A staycation with my husband
to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (no, I’m not that old, we just got married really young lol!). Originally the plan was to spend a week or two in NYC (where we honeymooned), in October after wedding season would be over…so obviously that was kiboshed. Then we thought, let’s keep our money in Canada and drive out to Banff instead — I’ve never seen the Rockies, and I can’t wait to get there. Well, I’m going to be waiting a little longer 😂 We have scaled all the way back to a 1 night stay at the Inn at the Forks BUT we chose the fanciest room in the hotel and it’s our son’s first sleepover with Oma and Opa, and I won’t be cooking the ENTIRE weekend, so it’s still cool.
Hopefully a few more weddings!
I’ve got some great events scheduled throughout the end of September, a couple in October, and one in November. Fingers crossed that we’ll be able to proceed as planned and get those couples married and celebrated! I’ll be the first to say that I’m a little bit anxious about the back-to-school situation and will probably be obsessively checking the covid counts, but hopefully we’ll be able to safely proceed with our events and gatherings with the current restrictions in place.
I’ll also begin wedding bookings again!
Taking the summer off of appointments and consultations was SO nice but I’m also looking forward to talking with couples, hearing their plans and beginning to envision what I can do to make their weddings even more special. My 2021 wedding calendar is quite full — assuming all goes to plan with the rescheduled weddings from this year, next year’s calendar has just 1 date available in July and 1 date available in August, and then a handful in October and December. 2022 dates will become available in the new year, but I do have a waitlist started in case you want to tentatively put your date on my calendar. I’m really looking forward to getting into some brainstorming sessions to design your days!
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
2021 wedding dates are limited! Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Girls Gone Mild: Laidback Summer Bachelorette Party
When you work in the wedding industry and your cousin/life-long built-in best friend gets married, you do what you can to celebrate in a BIG way. And with Roberta’s wedding coming up THIS WEEKEND, I thought this would be the perfect time to show you how her laidback summer bachelorette party came together!
Bachelorette parties (along with basically every other event that requires people) are all VERY different in this Covid world. There’s not really a responsible way of going out on the town in the same way as we used to…so, girls gone mild, anyone?
When you work in the wedding industry and your cousin/life-long built-in best friend gets married, you do what you can to celebrate in a BIG way. And with Roberta’s wedding coming up THIS WEEKEND, I thought this would be the perfect time to show you how her laidback summer bachelorette party came together!
Bachelorette parties (along with basically every other event that requires people) are all VERY different in this Covid world. There’s not really a responsible way of going out on the town in the same way as we used to…so, girls gone mild, anyone?
My sister and I are 2 of 3 bridesmaids (the other lives in BC and wasn’t able to come just for the party), and we hosted the party on my sister’s back patio. Knowing that Roberta is a pretty laid-back person and doesn’t go for anything too wild anyways, the girls gone mild theme with a slight Mexican twist was perfect (her fiance is Mexican, after all, so we HAD to play to the stereotypes lol!). Our goal was really just to create a great ambiance, so that our guests could have a relaxing night, making jokes, playing games, and eating good food.
Basically the only reason why this set up looks as good as it does is because of Trend Decor. We’re so lucky that Maureen from Trend offers an awesome selection of lounge furniture, because the only other real option for lounge pieces in Winnipeg is very glam white leather, which was not our vibe. I had my van loaded with all of her pieces — obviously we chose a lot of the rattan accents, and I really wanted to find a way to hang the lanterns (luckily they’re SUPER lightweight so we just looped them around the patio lights), and we sprinkled in some black accents as well as using a few of my sister’s patio pieces.
I’ll tell you what: if you’re unsure what to do to make your bride-to-be feel special during this weird Covid time, get a photographer to come to your party for a few minutes. It’s so special to have photos of Roberta and her girlfriends! Mary-Margaret Magyar Photography came, and we are SO grateful for her!
Obviously I added flowers. I made a few arrangements here and there, using exclusively locally grown flowers, along with a selfie wall with garlands of bright orange marigolds, and fuchsia and purple carnations. It’s lucky for me that Roberta LOVES bright colours so I could really indulge in a palette that has no subtlety at all 😂 I also added a few mini garlands to her chair!
Guests came into the backyard and were greeted with hand sanitizer, a cocktail, and the selfie station.
Watermelon Margaritas
-Frozen watermelon
-1 can lime-aid-Tequila
-Triple Sec
-Add fresh watermelon when blending
-Garnish with a piece of watermelon (or don’t, if you forget about it like we did ha!)
I thought I’d share my original design board! I create one of these for each of my events. The only thing that I envisioned that didn’t happen was the bridal sombrero…it arrived the day AFTER the party 🙄
I’m so glad that we could celebrate my dear Roberta! Wedding events have felt really different this year, but let me tell you, this woman deserves to be celebrated. She’s incredibly generous, always the first to lend a hand (in fact, she stayed late after her own bachelorette party to wash the dishes), and is a kind and caring friend.
We could not have made this party quite as beautiful without a lot of help from the following Winnipeg wedding vendors:
Photos: Mary-Margaret Magyar Photography
LoungE, Glassware, Flatware Rentals: Trend Decor
Bride’s Makeup: Justine Barry Artistry
Bride’s Dress: Anthropologie
Welcome In! Stone House Creative Studio Tour
I would love to have the opportunity to have all of you come in to tour my studio in person, to see where your wedding flowers are designed and see it all come together. Floral workspaces are pretty magical (and also pretty filthy, FYI).
But the reality of a studio is that I’m not “open” in the traditional sense. I don’t have a retail storefront, I don’t have typical hours of operation (especially because my studio operates out of an oversized double garage, tucked away in my back yard!). I know that can be hard to understand.
But you should still come on in :)
Come on in 😊
I would love to have the opportunity to have all of you come in to tour my studio in person, to see where your wedding flowers are designed and see it all come together. Floral workspaces are pretty magical (and also pretty filthy, FYI).
But the reality of a studio is that I’m not “open” in the traditional sense. I don’t have a retail storefront, I don’t have typical hours of operation (especially because my studio operates out of an oversized double garage, tucked away in my back yard!). I know that can be hard to understand.
But you should still come on in :)
The workshop is basically the sole reason we bought this house 5 years ago. We weren’t really looking, but I had majorly outgrown my last studio space (aka the basement of our old house) and the second we walked into the backyard of this open house, we were sold. It basically takes up all of the backyard but it’s perfect for me! Like I said, it’s an oversized double garage and the previous owner had built it as a welding workshop. The shelving and workbench along the wall were already there, so basically all I had to do was build the cooler (I have a good sized walk-in cooler that fits a TON of flowers!) and unpack my boxes. The shelves play host to my range of wedding rentals - vases, candle holders, ribbons, candles, tools, and so on.
I finally got around to hanging up a drying rack from the rafters, which serves a few functions: the drying function (obviously), it keeps my dried stash visible which means that I actually remember to use the pieces that I hoard, AND it’s pretty. I love walking under it and looking up…it’s a little dreamy. It would be amazing to have the entire ceiling covered!
I also have a little studio helper 😊 For years I wanted a studio kitten, but never got one. I’m honestly not sure which would have been less distracting haha. Jack is 1 1/2 and he’s just the sweetest little thing. He LOVES playing with my flower tubes, throwing stuff into my garbage can that I don’t want him to, checking out my glue gun, and climbing my step ladder. AKA he’s an enormous workplace hazard! But he’s such a cutie, so I keep him around.
Over the 4 years I’ve been in this space, I’ve worked on little projects to make it a little less “basic man’s workshop” and more of Stone House Creative’s home. The main wall has been painted white to make it feel a little lighter and airier (though to be completely honest with you, I did 3/4 of that wall 3 years ago and finally finished the last part of it the week before these photos were taken). We switched out the hanging exposed bulbs to these cute but cheap Ikea pendants, and my husband built me an awesome work bench for the centre of the shop with a little extra storage. I usually have some sort of hanging floral installation over the work bench — currently it’s an orb of copper tinted plumosa fern that I’ll be taking pieces of as I work on weddings this summer!
I’ve also got a studio tour up on my Instagram Highlights that I’d love for you to take a look at! It shows you a bit inside of my cooler, my cardboard hoarding pile of shame, and more of my vase and rentals storage that doesn’t look quite as lovely and maybe doesn’t deserve its own photo.
And an enormous thanks to Vanessa Renae Photography for coming to take these photos! She does SUCH a good job — I’ve worked with her on photoshoots and on weddings, and the images are always so pretty, she did a fantastic job of getting my son to smile, and she’s so easy to chat with! Look her up if you’re looking for your wedding photographer!
