Creative Canuck Wedding
Astrid and AJ's creative Canuck wedding was so full of clever ideas it was practically bursting at the seams. With adorable Lego inspired ring bearer boutonnieres, a cake topper that you can't help but smile at, plus a picture perfect lakeside wedding exit!
Have we pricked your interests? Then we suggest you keep scrolling down to find out just how fantastic this wedding was. Oh, and don't forget to keep reading to see the full budget breakdown and find out just how much this Canadian wedding cost. All of the fabulous photography is brought to you by the combined talents of Chupp Photography. You can see even more in the full gallery here.
These adorable love and lace inspired wedding invitations were created for Astrid and AJ by Michelle Goltiao!
From the Bride:I loved the Wedding Chicks personalized totes so much that I ordered them for my bridesmaids, mom, and mother in law. They love them!From Chupp Photography:After a long distance love, and many flights back and forth between Toronto and LA, Astrid and AJ tied the knot in Muskoka, Canada on August 4, 2013! They planned an intimate and personal ceremony and reception with many family members traveling up from the city, or all the way from California, and spending the weekend together at a large cottage on the lake.
Astrid's eye for details and DIY, along with help from her talented wedding party, created a romantic and elegant earthy feel to their day! Tones of light blues, golds, and creams throughout their day, and natural beauty of the lakeside location all paired seamlessly to create a day to personally showcase their love and the start of their new life... together!
From the Bride:I definitely would have put more thought into buying cute reception shoes or comfy insoles. My feet were hurting by the end of the ceremony so my cousin let me use one of her nicer looking flip flops during the reception.
I would consider investing in a wedding coordinator. Although my family did a fantastic job coordinating and making decorations, I would have wanted them to have a more relaxing and enjoyable time pre-wedding during their first visit to Canada.
Procrastinating: We left some big ticket items down to the last minute which led to stress and tears weeks before the wedding. If you can, try and get planning done early, big or small.Rather then tooting our own horn, here is what Astrid had to say about one of the great services our site has to offer! "We love Wedding Chicks and we fully took advantage of their Free Printables for our day!"
Astrid wasn't kidding when she said she took full advantage of our Free Printables. This super cute bride sign is literally just a quick click and print away from being at your big day!
This elegant wedding cake by I do Wedding Cakes is a sweet little master piece, and to top it off, it it has probably our favorite cake topper to date! Love it!
Are you trying to come up with a fun way to exit your big day? How about paddling off into the wild blue yonder via canoe. Bonus, once you disappear down the lake, you get a little quiet alone time with your sweetie! Who can say no to that?
Read on to see how much this creative Canuck wedding cost. Please note that costs change as the years go by, and prices are subject to change. This is just one couple’s breakdown to give you a rough estimate on how much a wedding like this may cost you.
From the Bride:
We tried to keep costs down as much as possible and our families pitched in a great amount of time and effort into making all the decorations by hand (the fringe banner for the reception, paper pom poms, and flowers for the ceremony, etc). Also, we refused to buy anything at full price when possible:
A few money saving tips:
-Bought wedding participant gifts on sale or on promotion including the Sophia totes
-Bouquets were bunched and wrapped by bridesmaids
-No DJ, we made our own personal playlist and the sound system was run by a friend.
-Bride's dress was bought on sale
-Some bridesmaids did their own hair
-For our bridesmaid dresses, several of us went to downtown LA's fashion district and bought the material at a very reasonable price, then a family friend made the dresses for us! The girls all used to do ballet together, so they had modern ballet styled dresses made by the same lady who used to make their outfits for ballet as children!
Approximate wedding cost: $9,700
Starting our wedding planning, we were aiming for a budget of $6000, but along the wedding planning process we realized there were some things we just couldn't say no to.
-Cottage Rental: $3500 for the week
-Event Rentals (sound system, chairs, tables and tent): $2000
-Wedding Photography: $1900
-Catering: provided by family friend
-Cake: $500
-Flowers: $500
-Dress: $900
-Hair & Makeup (including bride, bridesmaids, mother of the bride, mother of the groom): $800
-Additional Decorations (mason jars, vases, globe string lights, etc): $200
-Wedding Party Gifts: $200
- Bridemaids Totes: The Wedding Chicks
- Cake: I do Wedding Cakes
- Dress Designer: Alfred Angelo
- Flowers: Flowers by June
- Groom’s Attire: Moores
- Hair & Makeup: Krystie Ann Hair & Makeup
- Photographer: Chupp Photography
- Prop or Furniture Rentals: Happenings Party Rentals
- Stationery: Michelle Goltiao