Modern Country Tent Wedding near Winnipeg
Okay, my friends. Get ready. This wedding is the brainchild of one half of the very popular Rae + Dot Studios, which means that everything was designed to perfection, no detail was left unattended, and the party looked like it was killer.
The wedding was held on Lexi’s family farm, which is IDYLLIC. Granted as I’m writing this, it’s wintertime and I would love to feel that warm sun (it was actually so hot this day) and smell warm wheat fields right now, but just take one look at all of those trees and the huge lawn! It was the perfect setting for their tent wedding just outside of Winnipeg.
Okay, my friends. Get ready. This wedding is the brainchild of one half of the very popular Rae + Dot Studios, which means that everything was designed to perfection, no detail was left unattended, and the party looked like it was killer.
The wedding was held on Lexi’s family farm, which is IDYLLIC. Granted as I’m writing this, it’s wintertime and I would love to feel that warm sun (it was actually so hot this day) and smell warm wheat fields right now, but just take one look at all of those trees and the huge lawn! It was the perfect setting for their tent wedding just outside of Winnipeg.
Photos by Kassandra Donaldson
I love the way Lexi blended a modern design style with the country atmosphere. We used a warm palette with lots of rich neutrals (toffees, browns, taupes), and punched it up with accents of black. And that burnt orange tone in the bridesmaids! Hot dang. We did each bridesmaid bouquet a bit differently so nothing was totally perfect.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Toffee roses, apricot lisianthus, cosmos, zinnias, yarrow, hypericum berries, ninebark and olive foliages.
This tree! Could there be a more perfect spot for a wedding ceremony? The only thing was, that Lexi’s sister was married in the exact same spot a year earlier, so we wanted to make sure we weren’t designing the same focal flowers.
We went with a ground-based installation, incorporating dried hydrangea, rust amarnathus, lots of olive and nineback, lisianthus, and stock. Lexi sourced hunks to tyndall stone, that we incorporated into the installation. Adding in a styling element like this can take a floral installation from good to great.
Lexi gave me full creative reign over the centrepieces (and all florals, actually). They had a large guest list, and a lot of tables, so we didn’t want to have everything look the same throughout the tent.
I started by taking a look through some of my wedding rentals and sketched out a few options for centrepiece styles. I wanted some with fuller florals, some more focused on candles, some modern stem vases…we ended up with 4 centrepiece styles and I loved each of them equally.
Lexi tucked in more of the tyndall stone as table numbers and it all pulled together so beautifully!
These design elements! This is what happens when the couple is creative AND good with their hands. Look at that bar — they custom made and branded that bar! It was enormous, by the way, which is totally what you need when you have a large guest list so you can station several bartenders there. We added one large focal floral piece — my current favourite floral features.
Lexi hung three grid panels and a neon sign behind the head table, that we added some fresh floral pieces to. A few of the ceremony floral pieces were added to the chair gap in front of the couple (my favourite layout for a head table is double-sided seating with a space for the couple to be able to look out and see everyone!).
I love a wedding party who knows how to party :) And a wedding party who knows how to support the couple, and help create the ambiance the couple is hoping for. I’ve seen a lot of wedding parties interacting…my friends, don’t ignore this part of the role that you play when you sign up to be in a wedding party!
Anyone else totally on board with the removable sleeves trend? You get two looks without needing to run away from the party and get changed. Sweet!
Deanna and Jason set up this wedding, which I was so grateful for because I was at a wedding in Kenora. But I was also SO SAD to not be able to see how this wedding came together in person because it was just so gorgeous.
Everything that Lexi planned and designed elevated the work the rest of us did. It was a dream tent wedding ✨
Kassandra Donaldson Photography ~ Soiree Event Planning ~ Rae + Dot Studios ~ D’Lite Tents ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Collective Event Rentals ~ Baked Expectations ~ Trident Films ~ King Cole ~ Bliss Bridal Boutique ~ George Foreman and the Grills
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
We love working on private properties, creating magic in your special place. Reach out to inquire about your date availability!
Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to find out how we can create the perfect ambiance for your wedding.
Behind the Scenes of a Real Winnipeg Wedding
If you’re like most engaged couples, you haven’t thought about the behind the scenes of making your wedding happen. You’ve thought about your budget and your meal selections, you’ve thought about your music selections and choosing attire, and you’ve probably thought about the hair and makeup timeline on the morning of the wedding.
But most of you, unless you’re DIYing every single element of the wedding, haven’t thought about HOW the actual wedding comes together.
So today, I’m sharing a behind the scenes look at how a real Winnipeg wedding comes together (from a floral designer’s perspective!).
If you’re like most engaged couples, you haven’t thought about the behind the scenes of making your wedding happen. You’ve thought about your budget and your meal selections, you’ve thought about your music selections and choosing attire, and you’ve probably thought about the hair and makeup timeline on the morning of the wedding.
But most of you, unless you’re DIYing every single element of the wedding, haven’t thought about HOW the actual wedding comes together.
So today, I’m sharing a behind the scenes look at how a real Winnipeg wedding comes together (from a floral designer’s perspective!).
Professional photos by Brittany Mahood Photography, all the obviously crappy footage is from me lol
By the day of your wedding, we’ve already put in more than a full week’s worth of work that we’re not really going to touch on here, aside from to list off the things that have already taken place: obviously I’ve met with you / we’ve planned everything out / we’ve confirmed everything 5 weeks before the wedding etc. I’ve then written and submitted your floral order (depending on your wedding, this can take just a couple of hours or up to 20 ish hours for a large wedding with lots of different design elements and a lot of colour variation). I’ve hired staff, rented a uhaul if needed, washed vases, ordered candles, washed buckets, etc. We’re ready for your flowers.
I usually pick up your flowers on Tuesday morning, and some of my locally grown product is delivered on Tuesday as well. We’re hydrating and processing them (fresh water, fresh cuts on all the stems, removing thorns and unnecessary foliage, dealing with garbage, compost, and recycling). We then prep all your vases which chicken wire and tape (we try to work as foam-free as possible, to minimize our impact on the environment and take better care of our health, too), along with prepping candles, supplies, etc. There’s lots to be done!
Throughout the week, we’re then designing all your flowers. We always start with things that stay in water (centrepieces, bouquets), then work through large pieces (aisle pieces, large arrangements for the bar, etc) and finish up with boutonnieres and corsages (if there are any on the order — many couples are opting to remove these from their order).
Then comes your wedding day!
It takes us a surprisingly long time to pack up all the vases and load them into the vehicles. It’s a big game of tetris, basically. We drive so carefully — I can’t tell you how many visions I’ve had of getting into a car accident on the highway and dying on the road with flowers falling all around me 😂
THEN we get to your venue. Cue load-in.
Many venues have a pretty decent load-in situation. Some don’t have vehicle access so we have to hoof everything over, some have tiny terrifying elevators that we need to take so many more trips with, some don’t actually let you open the overhead door because the genius architects put a restaurant kitchen right beside the overhead door…etc etc. Basically, I’m saying that all venues have different load-in details and it’s part of our job to know the details.
I like to first bring in our personal items and get a feel for what other vendors have done so far and what the current set up stage is.
For this wedding at the Pavilion, we lucked out with pretty nice weather. It was Thanksgiving weekend, and you never know what you’re going to get. We were just happy we didn’t have to bag all our flowers to keep cold air from getting at them.
There were a few other vehicles at the loading zone already, so we had to unload and carry everything to the loading zone (not far) and I’m sure the loading zone has never looked so pretty. There’s no ramp here, so it’s just a bit awkward with carefully carrying flowers up steps and then we put them in the wagons and pull them into the venue’s backdoor.
Here’s what it looked like shortly after we arrived! The dance floor was just being completed when we got there, and the linens and chairs had already been delivered. Event Light was up on ladders, creating our airline cable structure for the greenery that we were going to be hanging.
This is where the behind the scenes gets messy and a little convoluted. If you’re a DIYer, chances are that you’re not hanging anything from your ceiling like this, but it’s important to know that there’s still a lot that needs to get done and a specific order in which it needs to happen.
For example, we can’t place centrepieces until the table linens are set. Chairs can’t be placed until the tables are in the right spot. We can’t hang greenery until the structure is place. And tables can’t go into place until the ladders for the greenery are out of the way.
This can often look like a lot of waiting around and then hurry to get your job done.
As vendors, this means that we need to be really aware of how what we do impacts the other vendors on the team.
We can’t be hogging the loading zone or the elevators. We can’t be late, because that impacts what someone else is doing. We need to keep to the setup schedule as closely as possible so we don’t push other vendors behind.
In the video above, you can see that Event Light had finished their work, and so it was time for us to begin. While we were waiting for them, though, we had set the tables around the outside of the room so we were doing things bit by bit. This happens at many weddings! We’re always toggling back and forth.
During this wait time, we also used the atrium/bar area as a staging area. We had the ceremony arrangements mostly complete before the wedding day, but we wanted to add in the more delicate flowers on site. So we got those pieces all set up so we could finish that, took a picture of them set in front of the seating chart (which is where they’d be flipped to after the ceremony), and then carried them outside to get the ceremony ready.
And now here you can see that we finished up the greenery canopy over the dining tables (which were then removed for the dance floor, so the canopy was over the dance floor. Dreamy!) and the Soiree team busted out the table settings at the same time as we placed all the candles. Since these tables were going to be moved for the dance floor, and we wanted to feature the greenery canopy, we decided to just do candles for the centrepieces and keep it a little simpler on these tables.
After we finished cleaning up all our mess and setting all the tables, we came back out to the atrium and helped the planner shimmy all the lounge furniture into place, because it was all going in the space we had commandeered earlier as our staging area. And then it was time for photos and load-out. I had my 1 am tear-down crew coming that night, so I stashed away all of our boxes and containers they would need for clean up.
And here’s a little look at the end result! I’ll be sharing a full blog post with the entire wedding eventually, but for now, enjoy this peek :)
The focal point of the room was the greenery canopy, with the couple sitting right underneath it. We used long banquet tables that were removed for the dance floor, and complimented them with round tables around the room.
I loved the brighter take on a fall palette, with the toffee linen, rich pinks, and additions of coral, plum, caramel, and orange. Delish!
Looking for a Wedding Floral Designer in Winnipeg?
We can design a beautiful wedding for you, no matter the logistics of your venue!
Whether it’s an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, 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!
Modern Meets Whimsical Wedding at the WAG
Jess and Nick’s wedding took place on the literal hottest day of 2023. 🫠 But we loved it anyway!
The overall design vision called for a modern, intimate feeling wedding (yet with a full guest list) that incorporated garden-inspired whimsy.
Jess and Nick’s wedding took place on the literal hottest day of 2023. 🫠 But we loved it anyway!
The overall design vision called for a modern, intimate feeling wedding (yet with a full guest list) that incorporated garden-inspired whimsy.
With the venue being at the Art Gallery, we didn't have a clue what the exhibit was going to be in the gallery where the reception would be, so we just had to roll with the designing and hope that it worked out in the end — the clean, feminine design style ended up working really well with the bold and colourful exhibit, and the last minute addition of hints of lime added a lot of fun that played off the artwork really well.
Photos by Brittany Mahood Photography
With all the florals, I wanted to warm up whites with taupe and added in accents of lime. The bouquets ended up looking so fantastic with the selection of bridesmaid dresses!
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: white dahlias, sahara roses, white lisianthus, brown lisianthus, white iris, green amaranthus, white sweet pea, and phalaenopsis orchids.
Jessica's gown is an Alex Perry gown, which she selected from LOHO Bride in LA. It was the perfect combination of classic A-line meets super chic, with a sleek bust line.
Each of the bridesmaids wore a unique dress from different designers, in a kind of mushroom palette (cream, taupe, mocha). They were all floor length, but different silhouettes. The girls looked so great that you'd have no clue it was the hottest day of the entire summer!
We fully sought to blend modern, classic, and garden-inspired design at Jess and Nick's wedding, and the florals and decor were a major component of this.
I love a groom who sheds a few tears. My husband bawled our entire wedding day so seeing Nick tear up is so sweet to me!
The ceremony took place on the WAG rooftop, focusing on a classic black garden arch with whimsical, locally grown florals growing up and around. We included plenty of lime amaranthus, green and white hydrangea, white and brown lisianthus, and Queen Anne's Lace. Several arrangements were also clustered together at the front of the aisle, both had their fair share of work contending with the wind to stay where we wanted them.
And hello to that cute petal toss bar! Prior to guests walking onto the WAG rooftop statue garden, they stopped at a Petal Toss bar, filling up paper cones with cream and blush petals. Luckily one of the photographer assistants reminded a few guests to actually go ahead and toss them, and it made for such a sweet ambiance while the newlyweds walked down the aisle.
And now to downstairs! The reception took place in the former Eckhardt Hall on the main floor of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, featuring a clever floor plan utilizing banquet tables and round tables, and a combination of grey smoke acrylic chairs, gold chivari chairs, and grey banquette seating.
Have I mentioned frequently enough how much I LOVE an interesting floor plan? It creates so much interest in a room, allowing the eye to move or pause, prompting conversation or comfort or dancing depending on where you are in the room.
Notable design elements include: a double-sided seating display (I LOVED the placement of the seating chart at the front of the room!), statement bar florals, fruit incorporated into the tablescape to satisfy Jess's last minute request for some lime green accents, ribbed glass elements, and primarily white florals.
We repurposed the ceremony arch to the cake display (see below!) and the aisle arrangements to the base of the seating chart.
One of the things we need to consider when repurposing an arch is accounting for additional stems to allow us to replace flowers that are spent — especially when the ceremony was outdoors on a hot day. We spent about half an hour moving the ceremony florals from the rooftop down to the main floor, and then refreshing the arch with new blooms.
This might be something that needs to be budgeted for extra, or it might just be something your florist will include in the cost of the arch. Just know that it’s something you definitely want!
The cake and desserts display was set up in the entrance to the Hall, cleverly planned to repurpose the ceremony florals behind while taking up as little space in the floor plan as possible. Trays of mini cheesecakes, cookie sandwiches, cupcakes, and chocolate-dipped pretzels were styled on black and glass shelving and on cream and black ribbed pedestals.
A small vintage-inspired cutting cake (funfetti flavour!) was set on a pedestal, under their repurposed ceremony arch, which made for a super cute photo opp.
Looking for a Wedding Floral & Event Designer in Winnipeg?
Dates at the Winnipeg Art Gallery book quickly, and we’re one of their top designers! Reach out to inquire about your date availability.
Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to find out how we can create the perfect ambiance for your wedding.
15 Winnipeg Wedding Vendors You Need to Know
Okay listen. I’m a little anxious about publishing this blog post because there are a LOT of great wedding vendors in Winnipeg (and the surrounding areas). It pains me to not include everyone that I love working with because there are MANY of you. I thought about breaking this out into vendor categories, or doing it as more of a list style, and when it came down to it, I thought:
I’m going to include the vendors who I feel go out of their way to consistently elevate their work, and thereby elevate our industry as a whole.
Okay listen. I’m a little anxious about publishing this blog post because there are a LOT of great wedding vendors in Winnipeg (and the surrounding areas). It pains me to not include everyone that I love working with because there are MANY of you. I thought about breaking this out into vendor categories, or doing it as more of a list style, and when it came down to it, I thought:
I’m going to include the vendors who I feel go out of their way to consistently elevate their work, and thereby elevate our industry as a whole.
Brittany Mahood Photography
This is a huge point for me. The wedding industry and Winnipeg are kind of the same in that they’re “big small worlds,” if that makes sense. There’s not many of us, but there’s also a lot of us. There are automatically different levels of professionalism, different levels of service, different groups of vendors who frequently work together, different styles and aesthetics. I’m always seeking excellence in my own work, and I want to be surrounded by other professionals who also seek a similar excellence.
We have an incredibly talented industry. These are simply vendors who I love and have noticed doing amazing, amazing work.
I also need to give the caveat that I have next to no interaction with many vendors whose work happens DURING the wedding — caterers, bar service, DJ, etc. As a result, I have not included these types of vendors.
There are so many other incredible wedding professionals in this town and if you need a referral for anything, don’t hesitate to ask! For example, photographers and videographers. There are easily 5 other photographers I could have included on this list, who I love working with and always do an amazing job. I say it again, if you need a referral, ask away!
If you’re searching for your wedding venue, you can find a list of all my favourite Winnipeg and area wedding venues here.
Brittany Mahood Photography
Event Light
Event Light is PHENOMENAL. And they do a lot more than just lighting (though they do that exceptionally!). Here’s why I love Event Light:
They are behind most of the rigging that I’ve created hanging installations on. Cam, the owner, is just brilliant and has done such an amazing job of figuring out what is needed to create a structure for me to work on. I trust him implicitly. And he didn’t make fun of me when I terribly drove around a scissor lift for this tent wedding (at least not to my face).
The Event Light crew is pretty decently large, and they’re all so great! They’re efficient, kind, hard working, and they always know what they’re doing. They also seem to always be having a great time and to genuinely enjoy working with each other.
Lighting. Obviously. As well as the audio visual side of things. They just know what they’re doing, how to do it, and they do it all REALLY REALLY WELL. And what they do, always elevates the event in question.
Brittany Mahood Photography
Planned Perfectly
It’s very rare when I work on a wedding that Planned Perfectly isn’t. There are a lot of reasons why.
First, Kylee and her team are awesome. They’ve always got a smile on their faces and a joke at the ready. They’re also courteous and aware of what’s going on around them, so they do their best not to hold up anyone else’s work, resulting in a much more streamlined day for you (whether you know it or not!). Their day-of service is unparalleled.
Planned Perfectly’s inventory is really lovely — they’re the best at draping, their linens are high quality and current design styles, and they regularly update their products (though they’re not always reflected on their site — be sure to reach out to them for all of the details on what they have). For example, they have a fantastic collection of glassware, flatware, and dishware, along with their linens, chairs, and finishing touches.
Their smoke glassware is my personal favourite and I cannot tell you how many times I’ve used their taupe panama table linen!
Brittany Mahood Photography
Paper & PalM
Really fantastic custom wedding stationery has always been hard to consistently find in Winnipeg. We’ve had a number of great designers over the years, but for one reason or an other, they’ve left the industry. We’ve also got a lot of great stationers who will take your idea and replicate it really well, but searching for truly custom, with inspired ideas and elevated taste, has been a harder find. When I came across Paper & Palm at the Wonderful Wedding Show last winter, I got so excited. I’d seen Paula’s work on instagram beforehand, but seeing it in person was fantastic.
Paper and Palm’s work features high end details, creative touches, elevated style…it’s everything that you want. I’ve only worked with her a couple of times, but I hope for many more opportunities to tag team weddings and events together!
Michael + Melanie Photography
Beyond the Lounge
Beyond the Lounge doesn’t have an enormous inventory appropriate for weddings (lots of great options for corporate events and trade shows), but what they do have is awesome. Their smoke grey acrylic Lotus dining chair is one of my favourites.
Even better, they do an incredible job of maintaining the quality of their inventory. They take such careful care so there are no scratches, dents or dings.
An extra note — I’ve seen and heard Kari and her team during setups and tear-downs. She speaks so kindly to them, training them well and treating them with respect. It doesn’t always seem like that’s a guarantee these days, so this is an extra perk of Beyond the Lounge in my opinion. The photos below are from one of my favourite weddings I’ve ever done.
Joel & Justyna Photography
Soiree Event Planning
I’ve been working with Soiree since my very young days, when I was working at a local wedding magazine and not even in flowers yet! From Soiree’s inception, owner Andrea has set the standard in Winnipeg for event planning. Her team is constantly upping the game, with very high touch service and are highly regarded in our industry.
While I appreciate all things logistical that they excel at (and they certainly do excel at the communication and logistics side of their job!), one thing I noticed consistently this year more than ever before is their team’s creative designs. I’ll be honest with you, it’s not the easiest job to design amazing wedding after amazing wedding and still keep things fresh (especially when you’re working in a smaller market with a smaller rental inventory available at your disposal, like ours!). I’m constantly amazed at how great of a job they do taking the same pieces but reinventing them to create a completely unique design. They’re not interested in giving their clients something that other couples have had before, so they work really hard in this regard.
Brittany Mahood Photography
Rae & Dot
Hello fun and modern design!! I don’t know why the wedding stationery world seems to favour trite, dated, and quite frankly, tacky invitation styles. Lexi and Robyn have a current, fresh design style and know what little details to use to create an invite suite that just looks good.
Rae & Dot offers both custom design and a semi-customizable collection, each with different colourways and paper shapes, so even if you don’t have it in the budget to do a custom suite, you can create a custom-feeling piece. A few years ago, they designed a custom suite for one of my couples and we included stickers and they were just the fricking cutest things.
Then they’ve also got all the little stationery pieces that really tie an event together, like signage and menus and so on.
I actually designed Lexi’s wedding flowers this past summer, and she did such a fantastic job of curating the entire event design, and you know when a vendor has excellent personal style that they’re going to be able to hone in on something amazing for you, too.
Kass Donaldson Photography
Big City All Star Band
So I don’t ever actually get to be part of the reception, and have no idea what goes on once the evening starts. BUT I’ll tell ya this: if I were getting married now, a live band would be a priority for me. And then I’ll tell ya this: I get to listen to a lot of warmups and sound checks, and I always have the MOST fun when Big City is on the stage.
Carlin and his crew do an awesome job of basically any type of music. They’re also friendly, fun, and high energy, which is exactly what you want from a band.
Photos by Brittany Mahood / Planning by Harlow Events
Brittany Mahood Photography
I don’t think any of you would be surprised to find Brittany’s name on my list here, because I absolutely love her (both as a person, and as a photographer) AND because she’s amazing.
Brittany’s skill is incredible. Her galleries never miss. You’ll fall in love with her portfolio and the way she captures people, places, and things (especially light), and then you’ll be so thrilled to find out that all of her work is of the same high calibre.
Her work has been recognized nationally and internationally, and it’s always well-deserved.
Brittany shot my maternity photos, she’s taken our family photos, she came to Hawaii for my sister’s wedding…basically I love Brittany. You will, too.
Brittany Mahood Photography
Feast & Festivities
I love Emily from Feast & Festivities, and have so much admiration for both how she does her work, and the final product. I know it’s kind of strange to hear your wedding referred to as a “final product,” but when you have a creative at the helm who pours herself into conceptualizing every single element and detail, it’s the right phrase. Your wedding is the result of a LOT of hard work.
Emily is really easy to get along with. She’s got a fantastic and surprising sense of humour and a really nice energy. She’s calm and kind, a necessity for couples who are feeling stressed out and need someone to lead them in their planning.
Another of Emily’s strengths is her ability to design a wedding. Dang, is she ever good at this. She truly does think of every single thing, and really excels at bringing YOU into your wedding design. It’s not just a good looking event; it’s YOURS. She also works on a lot of custom projects for her weddings, particularly in personalizing stationery and signage elements.
Emily only takes a small number of weddings each year, and she just pours her heart into each of them. I know she’s booked for 2024 but if you’re looking for 2025, you should reach out asap.
Megan Steen Photography
Lovenote Bride
Excuse me — Canadian designed and made wedding dresses? And they’re stunning?
While not based in Winnipeg, Lovenote opened a Winnipeg store about a year and a half ago. It’s in the Johnston Terminal at the Forks, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Modern, chic, filled with natural light, TONS of space in the fitting rooms.
Their gowns are stunning. That’s all I can say.
OH and the store manager just so happens to be a friend of mine, Erika. She’s a truly wonderful person, and does an amazing job of making women feel as beautiful as they deserve to.
Aimee De La Lande Photo
Jenna Rae Cakes
Do I have a slight bias because I’ve been close friends with Ashley for almost 15 years, or because I was Jenna’s first part-time employee when she opened the bakery? Yes. Does it matter? No. And here’s why.
Everything that JRC does, including but not limited to their weddings, is done with excellence. The production value is incredibly high, and while I know that “production value” of a wedding is not (and should not be) the most important thing to you on your wedding day, it should also be an incredible relief to know that you absolutely do not need to micromanage, worry, or concern yourself about anything where Jenna Rae Cakes is concerned.
Unfortunately, I have a gluten allergy. That means I haven’t been able to eat anything of Jenna’s in about 9 years. But back in those days…woah baby. Was I a happy girl! If I were getting married now, and I didn’t have a gluten allergy, I’d promptly be ordering a lemon raspberry cake from JRC — that lemon curd is SO GOOD.
Izabela Rachwal Photography
Cathy Wiebe Clothes
Custom wedding gown and accessory design unlike anything you’ve experienced before. And I guess if you haven’t had a custom made gown before, then of course you’d have no experience to compare it to, but I can tell you from personal experience: Cathy’s level of service and her skills are incredible.
Many many years ago, Cathy made my high school grad dress. I loved it. And I’m telling you, it was a really really long time ago. In the almost 2 decades that have passed since then (☠️), she’s refined and practised her skills and really come into her own. I can always tell a Cathy gown when I see one. She’s not afraid to tell you about the late nights and the chaos that comes with her job, which I actually really appreciate — the art of a true artist isn’t necessarily completed in a typical 9-5 working day.
One of Cathy’s amazing skills is embroidery. Several of my past clients have had her embroidery work on their veils and dresses, adding flowers (including specific flowers I was using in their bouquets to tie it all together!! Talk about that customization!!) and even words and monograms into her bride’s pieces. These are literal works of art.
Also, and this may sound strange (I’ll have to hear what Cathy says about it!), I find Cathy’s work on sleeves to be really amazing. Look at Vanessa’s belled sleeves below and tell me this is anything short of divine and I won’t believe you.
Kass Donaldson Photography
Megan Steen Photography
Megan is one of those people who can see the beauty in anyone and everything around her. She’s refreshingly true and kind, and I think that filters through her camera. She’s welcoming, and not in your face, and isn’t going to make you pose awkwardly. All perks :) She’s down to earth and comfortable to be around. And she often has a pretty quick turnaround time on photos!
Something that’s unique about Megan is the way she loves the world. She loves people, yes, but she also loves the earth and she’s pretty vocal about it. I’m always seeking to work as environmentally-friendly as possible (it’s surprisingly hard in the floral industry!), and Megan prioritizes a very low-waste approach to life and work. She also loves being in nature, and that translates through her photos. You can just SEE her love for the natural world in her imagery — even if you’re the focus of the photo.
Megan and her partner also run another business, Wild Skies Resort. It’s an eco-friendly glamping resort that is incredibly beautiful and cool. I’ve had multiple couples take their honeymoons here, and have absolutely loved it. She’s another one of those professionals who only take on a few weddings each season, and she travels widely, so be sure to get in touch.
Alli Mae Events
I LOVE working with Alli. When clients ask me about her, I often describe her as the tiniest person who gets the most done. She’s this tiny bundle of incredible energy and strength.
Alli and her team are fun to be around (a vendor team who has a good time working on your wedding is a major plus! That’s the kind of atmosphere you want) and they’ve always got an “I can do this” attitude, no matter how big the task is.
I appreciate how organized Alli Mae Events is. You’d think, “shouldn’t all wedding planners be organized?” And the answer is yes. But Alli’s got a really great system, which empowers all your vendors to be able to do their job to the fullest, while also freeing up her own time on the wedding day so she can focus on what SHE needs to get done, and not just answer questions from everyone else.
MYUZ Artistry
Winnipeg has a lot of phenomenal makeup (and hair!) artists. Like, so so many. One of my favourites is Myuz.
If you’re a skincare aficionado, or if, like me, you have struggled with acne (or something else skin related) for most of your life, then Myuz needs to become part of your regular budget. Whether you’re getting married or not, healthy skin makes a person feel so much more confident and Myuz is the top for skincare. But if you ARE getting married, then you also need to check them out for makeup.
My clients who’ve chosen to work with Myuz are often the happiest with their makeup, and very frequently I have asked someone, “who did your makeup?!” and the response has usually been, “Tina!”
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
We’re connected with many of the best wedding professionals in Winnipeg. We can partner with them to create the wedding of your dreams!
Call me biased, but 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!
Energetic, Colourful Wedding at the Gates on Roblin
If you’re a lover of colour and fun design elements, then get your pinning fingers ready because you’re going to love Erin and Daniel’s wedding at the Gates on Roblin.
They hired me for full floral and event design and I was so excited to get started. I collaborated with their event planner, Alli Mae Events, who took such awesome care of all the logistics so I could focus on the visuals
The most fun couple, the life of the party. Just wait til you see their chaotic and sweaty dance floor pics.
If you’re a lover of colour and fun design elements, then get your pinning fingers ready because you’re going to love Erin and Daniel’s wedding at the Gates on Roblin.
They hired me for full floral and event design and I was so excited to get started. I collaborated with their event planner, Alli Mae Events, who took such awesome care of all the logistics so I could focus on the visuals. It was a dream.
The most fun couple, the life of the party. Just wait til you see their chaotic and sweaty dance floor pics.
Photos by Picture & Poet
Helllloooooo super fun and dramatic ceremony!
The ceremony design was Erin’s first priority, and in fact, when we first met to discuss their flowers and overall event design, the only inspiration images she had were of ceremonies. They wanted The Gates to not look like The Gates. We had some logistical challenges to figure out (namely, the ceremony and reception were taking place in the same room and would require a complete flip during cocktail hour).
I immediately knew that I wanted to create a really cool aisle. At first we looked into building a platform aisle and painting it in this magenta tone, but that wasn’t a logistical feasibility. Then, knowing that the aisle would also become the dance floor, we decided to explore a patterned decal. We worked with Two Fold Paper Co on all the stationery, including the pattern for the aisle (we just adjusted the scale of it to ensure it wouldn’t make people dizzy on the aisle!).
My original plan was also to hang flower clouds above the aisle, but I didn’t end up pitching it due to budget constraints. Cue my excitement when, maybe 6 or so weeks before the wedding, Erin asked if we could add hanging flowers above the aisle. HELLO. Yes. The answer is yes. The BTS of how I made this is actually my highest performing reel of all time, in case you want to check it out here!
Now, I am no photoshop or canva expert. In fact, we all laughed at the rendering I put together below (it’s like my favourite ugly child…like it’s kind of pathetic but I’m also so proud of it and it took me forever lol) BUT can we acknowledge that the mockup was SO close to reality? I’m so pleased with this before/after and how this ceremony design all came together.
We had Creating a Scene custom-paint the seating chart signs in the palette, which we actually installed double-sided so we could have the late night treat menu displayed on it.
For the bridesmaids (all Erin’s beautiful sisters!), we designed single-variety bouquets and I love how chic they were with the women’s black dresses.
Have I mentioned before how much I love a room reveal moment? Eek ✨✨ The middle image above is Erin and me locking eyes and both being so freaking excited about how gorgeous and how perfectly them it all was.
Once the ceremony was over, the drape came down to reveal the dining tables, which we had to shift into place and finish setting during cocktail hour. There was a lot of running around, but it worked so smoothly.
We chose a combination of long tables and round, with coordinating dusty rose velvet linens and toffee belize linens. I chose a white chivari chair for its' clean, classic appeal, and added in taper candles in 4 coordinating shades of the palette.
We wanted to add touches of the wavy stationery trend, so we played with that on the personalized menus, and we backed the table numbers with the same graphic print as the aisle decal.
The party was of utmost importance. They wanted fun food, killer music, and an amazing dance party. As you can see, mission accomplished. I wish I was there for this part — they obviously had the best time. I love the enormous cut outs of their head (my husband suggested we also make decals of their faces to stick on the bathroom mirrors but that got vetoed), and we really went all for it with the late night snacks. All their favourite junk food was served, including McDonald’s blizzards with custom E&D wrappers.
This was truly such a fun wedding to get to be part of. The couple knew that having a great time (both for themselves and their guests!) was their top priority and really let that influence all the design related decisions that we made. They are also enjoyable people to be around and to work with. Thank you, Erin and Daniel, for trusting me with your design and being such wonderful people!
Once again, I absolutely couldn’t have done this alone! A big thanks to my team who worked a long day to make this amazing design happen; Deanna, Vanessa, Emily, Fareedah — you guys are the MVPs!
Picture & Poet ~ Alli Mae Events ~ Stone House Creative ~ The Gates on Roblin ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Creating a Scene ~ Collective Rentals ~ Spark REntals ~ Something Borrowed ~ Union Table ~ Myuz Artistry ~ Fifth ~ Big City All Star Band ~ Two Fold Paper Co
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
Dates book fast at the Gates on Roblin! Contact us today about availability.
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!