Crystal and Will’s wedding was one for the books! It was so beautiful and fun – we enjoyed every minute of it.
Check out all the vendors from the day, as well as hear from Crystal and Will!
- Ceremony location: St. Albert Botanic Park: Rose Garden.
The Botanic Park was so beautiful! Out of a fairytale! They were great to work with, and no decoration was needed!
- Reception location: Matrix Hotel: Amber Ballroom.
Working with Kate throughout the year, and especially the week, leading up to the wedding was amazing. She was always helpful and got back to us within a day. The space was amazing, and really transformed with the lights!
- Bridal gown: Allure Romance collection,
Purchased from Lustre Studio in West Edmonton Mall Alterations done by Linda Campbell.
- Bridal party attire:
Men: RW&Co. for the suits.
Le Chateau for shirts.
Moore’s for ties.
Ladies: Dresses were from Dessy.com – I highly recommend Dessy for bridesmaid dresses. They were great quality, didn’t take too long to come in, and have so many colour and style choices.
- Groom’s tux: RW&Co. for suit. Le Chateau for shirt. Bay for the tie. Vest handmade with love by Bride and bride’s aunt.
- Cake: Homemade by bride’s mother.
- Caterer: Matrix Hotel in house catering. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! The food was so good, and almost a month later everyone is still telling me how good the food is.
- Favours: Treble Clef bottle openers and acrylic bells for chocolates from Beau Coup. Chocolates themselves were from Purdy’s.
- Wedding planners: DIY
- Music: DIY DJ.
- Ceremony music: String trio that we met through the U of A. Recessional composed by Best Man.
- Hair and makeup: Make-up was DIY, taught and bought from MAC. Hair done by family friend, Debbie (also the woman who gave me my first hair cut, did my mom’s hair for her wedding and taught my mom cosmetology in high school)
- Flowers: Bouquets and boutonnieres put together by my Aunt Wendy. Real touch flowers ordered from Dexin Floral on Etsy. Babies breath and roses for centerpieces ordered through Safeway flowers.
Summarize your day:
The day was so planned out time wise ahead of time that we stayed very relaxed. Getting ready was a fun process on both sides, spending time with friends and family and getting all dressed up (which we both love to do). During the ceremony, it was an overall feeling of happiness and love. Taking the photos was so much fun, and the first time that day where Will and I really got to spend time together, so it was nice to be able to just be our regular selves and have that captured in the photos. Building in some time to decompress and just hang out with the wedding party in the hotel room before the reception was the best idea! It was so hot during the pictures that we needed to cool off and relax. The reception was beautiful and it was great to see all the tiny details that we worked so hard on come together. The food was absolutely to die for. Saving money on a DJ and making the playlists ourselves turned out awesome, and people were up dancing until the very end!
Wedding theme and colours:
Our wedding theme and colours were vintage sheet music and purple. We chose purple because I have always wanted a purple wedding and sheet music because we met during our time getting music degrees, outside of a rehearsal one day. Music is a huge part of our lives: I am a music teacher and he belongs to a band, which is active in the local music scene.
Approximate number of wedding guests: 66
Your top 3 best moments and why:
1. Seeing each other the first time that day as we came down the aisle. We both loved seeing each other all dressed up and in that moment knew for absolute certain that this was the perfect day and perfect choice.
2. Listening to the speeches. None of the speech givers tend to give speeches, so the fact that they all gave such wonderful ones was a surprise in the best way.
3. When Bohemian Rhapsody came on and we did a whole reception sing along (even those who were sitting were singing)
Wedding song:
So This is Love by Illene Woods and Mike Douglas (also from the animated Disney Cinderella). A really big part of choosing this song was that it was short (is that a bad reason? Ha ha) but also because it is a beautiful, simple, waltz and Disney princesses have always been a huge part of my life. Fun fact: We actually meant to practice our first dance through the whole year of being engaged, and never did. That was the topic of our conversation while we danced, as well as debating whether or not he would be able to dip me at the end in my dress. We decided no, and went with a kiss instead.
Your top 3 favourite wedding details (cake, flowers, dress, band, etc.) and why:
1. The cake. We spent all year planning and tweaking the wedding cake with my mom. She even made a dummy cake to practice it. It turned out so wonderfully. Having the 2 flavours of cake with the mocha icing turned out to be a hit as well!
2. The vintage instrument decorations. This was only added into our plans in June when my last teaching job had irreparably broken instruments to dispose of. We used a clarinet bell to hold the pens for the guest book, rigged a saxophone into a bouquet holder, placed flutes and clarinets on various tables for decoration, and trumpets on the head table to not only hold the bridemaids bouquets, but act as decoration as well. I think it really added to our music theme.
3. The Globo “B” on the dance floor. In the Matrix’s brochure for weddings we had seen a projected initial on the floor, and I decided right then (a year before the wedding) that we have to have one. They ended up being able to make it the same font as our invitations, and throughout the night people commented on how it added such a beautiful touch. We definitely agree.
Honeymoon:
We went to Runaway Bay in Jamaica at the Luxury Don Pablo Bahia Principe resort for a week.
How did you meet?:
We met outside FAB 1-23 which is the main instrumental group rehearsal room at the U of A. My locker was right outside the room and I was sitting on the floor waiting for my flute lesson, which started 45 minutes after rehearsal for the Symphonic Wind Ensemble (the group both of us played in, Will as a percussionist, me as a flutist) ended. Michael (the best man) was talking to Will, leaving rehearsal, and I knew Michael from MusiCamp in previous years, so he introduced us and the 3 of us chatted until my lesson.
Engagement story:
On July 1st, 2016 Will proposed during the Canada Day fireworks. We had spent the day walking around downtown enjoying all the festivities as we had done every year since we started dating. In the evening, we always watched the fireworks from the same spot between River Valley Road and the Legislature grounds. I was leaning against him watching the fireworks when he reached around me with a ring and asked me to marry him. Once the fireworks were over, we went back to my car, and he gave me a Moleskin Wedding planner that I had been looking at for a couple of years as the perfect wedding planning book (I was right by the way, I highly recommend the planner).
So this is love
So this is what makes life divine
This wedding has been archived .
