Secret Garden at Ripples Winery Wedding
Katie & Brandon had their Ripples Winery wedding right as Covid restrictions were loosening enough to have 50 people at an event again. I feel like 50 is becoming the new magic number for wedding guest count; it’s just enough to fill a room and have a dance party, but not so many that you can’t spend time with each person you invited.
These two are just so incredibly sweet, and wanted to make sure the wedding felt very “them”. The planning was 100% a combined effort, and they highlighted open and honest communication as the #1 thing that saved them a lot of pre-marital frustration.
Some of my favourite personal touches:
- Anniversary Guest Book – Glass Bottles labeled with 1yr, 5yr, 10yr etc that guests could put little notes in for them to read on those anniversaries.
- Plants as guest favour gifts – I’m a little biased as a slightly obsessed plant parent, and love giving plants as gifts. I don’t find “wedding favours” as common of a trend anymore, but something like this feels .
- Engagement Photo Puzzles – As a fun game to decide table order for the buffet, the couple had custom photo puzzles made of their engagement photos, a different one for each table. (It was so cool to see my photos in puzzle form!). The vibe got ultra-competitive as tables worked together to destroy the competition.
- Katie’s grandpa helped officiate the wedding – I love it when couples have someone important to them perform the wedding ceremony, and even if they’re not able to make it legal, they can still do the sentimental parts and leave the legal parts to a hired officiant.
- Dance lesson at the reception – One of the bridesmaids is a salsa dancer, so she kicked off the dance party with a lesson for all the guests. Anything to give people a reason to get on the dance floor and be a little silly is highly recommended, if you ask me.
Venue: Secret Garden at Ripples Winery
Florist: Dogwood Designs
Catering: Sugar Mountain Catering
Desserts: Innocent Ice Cream & Lemonade Gluten Free Bakery
Videography: La Mar Media
Plant Gifts: Devan Greenhouses
