Book Inspired Wedding at the Banff Springs Hotel
Today’s wedding has a special importance to me because the bride was my bestfriend in my early childhood years. Shortly after we lost touch as I moved away when I was 8, but we reconnected decades later after I found her on facebook! So I’m thrilled that I am sharing Linda and Stephen’s wedding which is nothing short of creative. They’re both ‘bibliophiles’ and have a great passion for reading. In fact, the two met at a group interview for Chapters Bookstore 12+ year ago and a year and a half later they began dating while working there. After 11 years of dating, the two finally tied the knot in a wedding held at the gorgeous Banff Springs Hotel, filled with homages to books and their interests, including a card cataogue for their escort cards. With the help of Callandra of Postcard Weddings & Events and captured by Picture That Photography , it’s surely a something to be proud of and a DIY’s dream.
Says Linda: “When it came time to plan our wedding, picking a theme to help guide us was easy – BOOKS! We made a card catalogue for our escort cards, to tell our guests what table they would be seated at; rather than numbering our tables, we named them after some of our favourite books; there was an open book shaped place card to let all our guests know which spot was theirs at the table; and for our favours we gave our guests the ingredients for the perfect Linda and Stephen Date Night: A personalized bookmark to mark their place, complete with a suggested reading list on the back, and the perfect reading beverage…tea!”
After getting engaged, Stephen and I spent months contemplating where we would hold our wedding. We looked at a few venues in Edmonton, but nothing seemed quite right. Stephen and I walk to the beat of our own drum — we’re both die hard bibliophiles and voracious readers, we’re both unabashed Sci-Fi and Fantasy enthusiasts, we both have a passion for history, and don’t even get me started on what happens if we run out of tea and have to make do without a good cuppa — so we wanted a wedding venue that celebrates our uniqueness and truly reflects us! One day, while I was letting my fingers do the walking for me, on a whim I googled The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. I opened up their wedding brochure and when I got to the page featuring their Outdoor Terrace and Mount Stephen Hall, I gasped, “That is MY WEDDING!” Best of all, when I showed it to Stephen that night, he had the exact same reaction! From that moment we knew it was meant to be! I mean, it has to be when the Hall has the same name, spelt the same way, as the Groom. Plus, as Stephen says, “How can we go wrong? It’s a CASTLE!”
As it turned out, things didn’t go exactly as we’d envisioned it on our wedding day. We had planned for the ceremony to be on the Terrace at The Banff Springs, but it has been raining intermittently all morning. At 10am, it was decision time; do we set up for the ceremony on the Terrace and hope, pray, beg, (maybe even silently threaten a little…) that the Sun would be shining by Ceremony time, or do we move the ceremony into our backup space in Mount Stephen Hall? I was really torn – I didn’t want my guests, or me for that matter, to be out in the rain, but I also wasn’t ready to let go of my outdoor ceremony vision. The Banff Springs very generously offered to let us move our ceremony into the Ivor Petrak room at the last minute if it was raining, something they were not obligated to do for us, but it meant our guests would have to stand for the ceremony, and I felt very strongly that I didn’t want my guests standing at my wedding. After what felt like an eternity of vacillating in my head (in reality it was probably less than 5 minutes) I decided that my gut said to stick with the Terrace. I was nervous and anxious about whether I’d made the right call, but my wedding planner, Callandra, was so upbeat and positive, she made me feel like I had absolutely made the right choice. About half an hour later, Callandra came and told me that after talking with Stephen, and knowing how important it was to me that my guests were sitting for the ceremony, they’d decided that while The Banff Springs event team set up chairs for the ceremony on the Terrace, Postcard Weddings was going to set up chairs for the ceremony in Mount Stephen Hall; that way, if it was raining, all they had to do was move the flower arrangements from the Terrace to Mount Stephen Hall and we were ready to get married! At the time, my mind was elsewhere so I just nodded and said ok, but now I’m not sure I can adequately express how grateful I am that Callandra did that. Somehow she managed to keep me calm and relaxed, made me feel as though I was making the right choice every step of the way and that everything would work out exactly like I expected it too, and at the same time had my backup ready to go in case it was needed, but never left me with even a hint that my special day might not work out the way I’d been envisioning it for the past year and a half! In the end, it was raining at Ceremony time, and we got married in Mount Stephen Hall. It was not what we’d planned, it was not what we’d expected, and you know what…? It was absolutely, positively, PERFECT! Looking back on it now, it feels like our Ceremony was meant to be in Mount Stephen Hall all along, and even though we didn’t know that, Callandra did and made our Fairytale Wedding Day dream come true!
Venue: Mount Stephen Hall at The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
Wedding Planner: Callandra Caufield of Postcard Weddings & Events (formerly Cherry Tree Occasions)
Photographer: Picture That Photography
Florist: Flower Artistry
DJ: Livin’ & Dancin’ DJ Services
Marriage Commissioner: Jacqueline Hoare
Stationary and Bookmark Favours: Platypus Papers
Book Paper Roses: Michelle Manke
Books and Book Themed Art: Bride and Groom
Card Catalogue: The Groom
Embroidered Book and Quote: Embroidery by The Bride / Framing by Picture This! Framing & Gallery
Tea Favours: Jars: Ampak / Tea: The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
Hairstylist: Noelle
Makeup: Willow Stream Spa
Wedding Party Attire: The Bridal and Tuxedo House
Bride’s Gown: Planeta by Pronovias 2013 Collection
Bridal Belt: BT010 by Bel Aire Bridal
Maid of Honour Gown: D20 from Love Collection by Enzoani
Bride’s Shoes: Leola by Peter Kaiser , Germany
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