Family Farm Wedding in Quebec
Ready for yet another beautiful real wedding? You will love the natural and organic details in this outdoor farm wedding captured by Micheal B .
Says Micheal: Barbara and Daniel were married on the grounds of Barbara’s parents family farm home. Barbara is a beautiful lover of birds, home made cakes, and totally in love with her man Daniel. The two made most of the decorations herself, and was inspired by simply, and beautiful natural elements – burlap, wood, local flowers and plants, and of course.. birds. Friends from across the world came together to celebrate with the couple and their families on a beautiful warm summer day out in the country.
What was your favorite moment from your wedding day?
When I think back there is such a flood of images that come back to me, the pride in my father’s eyes, my mother’s tears, being embraced so warmly by Daniel’s family, a quiet moment with my girlfriends, laughing myself silly with my brother and so so much more. I had also dozen’s of wonderful moments with Daniel that day: saying our vows, taking our photos, our first dance, walking through grass barefoot in the dark under the stars just the two of us in the wee hours of the morning after everyone had left. But there was one moment I will never forget that I find defines the day. During our ceremony Daniel and I were standing with our good friend and officiant on a stone walkway surrounded by two streams and a small pond. I didn’t know, but moments before the ceremony started the official papers with the instructions for our friend to marry us was blown into the water! They were rescued but in a rather sorry state. Our friend joked about the instructions falling into the water at the beginning of his speech but I didn’t realize it had really happened until during our ‘I do’s’ he pulled out this wet, frayed mess of paper. I could tell he was a bit embarrassed but I just thought it was so funny I started laughing and so did Daniel. Our laughter infected the others and that is what I remember so clearly: laughing and looking into Daniel’s eyes as he laughed and the laughter of others swelled around us along with the gurgling stream and birdsong in the late afternoon sunshine. It was such a loving perfect moment and symbolic that sometimes the wind doesn’t quite blow your way, so just hold on and laugh together!
What was your inspiration behind your overall wedding decor and colour choices?
I must admit we didn’t really have an overall theme or colour choices. Our top priority was that the day represented who we were (throwing out rules and conventions!) and that it was as eco-friendly as possible. As Daniel grew up on a farm and I am doing my doctorate in ornithology and conservation ecology – there were elements of birds, farm-life and nature throughout. All our decoration except the strings of lights and paper lanterns were thrifted, vintage, or antique. My mother and I sewed cloth napkins from vintage bedsheets, my mother-in-law and I made the buntings from thrifted cloth, I collected all the vintage dishes and my girlfriends threw me a teacup bridal shower! We also hand painted signs from barn boards on Daniel’s parent property as well as dug out old wagon wheels and milk-cans. We bought the hay bales and burlap locally and they will be used in the gardens for years to come. My mother and I tried to grow most of the flowers ourselves but a freak May hailstorm destroyed almost everything. In the end we picked out the freshest flowers from a local florist a couple days before and my mother, a trained florist from Europe, did all the arrangements herself. I found the colours, although completely unplanned beforehand, were bright, happy, and perfect for our summer celebration. Both my parents worked extremely hard for months beforehand (as both the ceremony and reception took place at my childhood home) and everywhere I looked I could see their love shining out at us in their species touches and hard work.
Do you have any advice for other brides/grooms-to-be?
- Be true to you – whoever you might be. Its easy to become overwhelmed by the society, the industry, and those around you. But you will be the happiest (and feel the most beautiful) when you are comfortable and don’t feel like you are trying to play a part.
- Accept help! Your friends and family really do want to help you and its amazing to have them be part of the day. We had 20 people (more than half our guest!) on the property the day before helping us. It was amazing and SO much fun. From painting signs, putting up lights, arranging the game area, decorating, organizing the music and sound systems… we couldn’t have done it without them all. And some of the best moments we had with our guests were on that day.
- Take the time in the months before to appreciate what you are doing, which is dedicating your love to another person. Daniel and I had some of our best and hardest conversations about our lives, our dreams, our expectations, and our fears before our wedding. It wasn’t always sunshine and roses but it grew us into a stronger, respectful, and more loving couple then ever.
- Remember it is only one day – find your priorities and do try to stick on a budget. You might get swept away otherwise. For us it was good food (as much local and organic as possible) and drink (organic wine and local organic beer), great photos, and for me personally a dress made and designed in Canada. For the rest we were flexible and saved money with hard work and imagination.
- Spend time with those who came to celebrate with you. We chose to have a small wedding and we are so happy with our choice. We also had the day before and even the day after with friends and family which was so precious. We had people flying from Europe, the US, and across Canada to be there and I’m so happy that we spent extra time with them.
- Get a great photographer that you are comfortable with. The food will be eaten, the wine drunk, the dress stored away; but the photos will last a long time!
- Take time off after the wedding. Whether you go on a full blown honeymoon trip or just some quiet home holidays – make it happen. You will be happy you did!
Photographer: Micheal B
Ceremony and Reception: Bride’s parent home
Favours: Homemade pestos and bread by bride and friends
Wedding Dress: Pure Magnolia
Groom’s Suit: Vintage
Caterers: Simply Wonderful
Desserts: Café T.W.I.G.S.
Floral Designer: Bride’s mother
Organic beer: Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company
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