Written by TRB Contributors

Decor Designer/Florist: Design2Décor – Paras Mehta
Event Planner: Elan Cachet - Antoinette Antoine and Michelle Edey
Wedding Date: September 17, 2021
Photography: Stephen Sager Photography
Ceremony: Merciful Redeemer Parish, Mississauga, Ontario
Reception: Chateau Le Jardin, Vaughan, Ontario

Cake: Frost Cake Co.

The Proposal
Vanessa and Colin stopped on the Pont Alexander III bridge to take pictures and enjoy the view of the Seine. As Vanessa was looking over the horizon she heard Colin saying “There was another reason why I asked you to come here today..."

Vanessa’s proposal was one that most girls can only dream of. It was set in the most romantic city in the world, Paris France.  Colin proposed during their two week Europe trip. On the afternoon of April 10, 2010, Colin took Vanessa to see the Eiffel Tower.  A few minutes later Vanessa found herself sitting in a horse drawn carriage touring the streets of Paris.

On the bridge, as Colin was about to explain why they were there, she turned around to find Colin on bended knee with the most gorgeous ring presented to her.

"I wanted to ask you to marry me,” he says. Vanessa recalls, after what felt like a couple of minutes of smiling and crying, two younger girls on the bridge had to scream out, "Just say YES!” to get her  to say something.  "Of Course," she responded.

Decor
The theme and inspiration for their wedding was Paris. They wanted the décor to have a regal look to it, which is why they decided to go with colours of royal blue, black, and ivory with touches of silver and grey. To help out with their wedding planning, Vanessa and Colin hired Elan Cachet and Design 2 Décor. “When we explained our proposal story and our vision, they immediately understood what we wanted and they helped us put it into reality,” Vanessa says.

Their invitations were created by Cre8ive Invitations.  The invitations were shiny white adorned with sapphire blue Swarovski crystals,” It represented the regalness we wanted to have at our wedding,” she says.

“Half of our tables had very grand silver candelabras with crystal candle votives, and an arrangement of flowers at the top, while the other half had three stunning silver candlesticks of varying heights, topped with crystal candle votives and an arrangement of flowers in the centre. The flowers were an arrangement of roses, hydrangeas, and orchids.”

To add uniqueness to their entrance, they asked Design 2 Décor to help them design a metallic stand filled with floating candle holders and tea candles, decorated with flowers.

With the help from Frost Cake Co. their wedding bombonieres were wrapped in a clear bag and tied with royal blue ribbon and inside was a personalized message "Giving you a little taste of Paris.”

Wedding Attire
Finding the perfect dress is important for any bride-to-be. Vanessa ended up purchasing Belgrade dress, part of the Blue by Enzoani collection from Becker's Bridal. “I just knew that the dress was the one. It had all the things I was looking for, but most importantly, it felt great on and I knew that nothing else would compare to the feeling I got in this dress,” she says. Her shoes were gold Prada strappy sandals from New York City. “The gorgeousness of my sandals was from the heels which were adorned with colourful rhinestones.”

The bridesmaids dresses were by Vanessa’s favourite designer BCBG Max Azria.  “The dress I chose for my bridesmaids and matron of honour was a strapless dress with an ivory bust, a black band beneath the bust and a bold royal blue balloon type skirt”.

Colin wore a Ralph Lauren tux paired with a charcoal grey ribbed vest and bow tie. The morning before the wedding Vanessa presented Colin with a TAG Heuer watch. “It's the Carrera Calibre 1887 Automatic Chronograph he was eyeing sometime before our wedding with the black leather strap”.

Most Memorable Moment
Vanessa recalls her most memorable moment was when she received a card from Colin the morning of the wedding. “Since I've met him, he's always called me his dream girl,” she says. “In the card, he mentioned that in his experience, dreams don't always come true... but in this case, as we're about to get married, it proved that a regular guy can really get his dream girl. It brought me to tears knowing how happy I was making someone and how our lives will be forever changed knowing we have each other. Of course, his gift of a stunning diamond necklace made that moment even more endearing.”

Wedding Advice
When it comes to wedding advice both Colin and Vanessa share their recommendations:

1. Wedding planner. “Antoinette and Michelle from Elan Cachet were invaluable resources that we depended on to guide us through wedding timelines….  and dealt with any stresses that came our way before we even heard about them. They made us feel like we were guests at our own wedding”, Vanessa recalls.

2. Photographer/Videographer. “We were so pleased with our photos (Stephen Sager Photography) and video (Let Them Eat Cake Films) that we look back at them very often so that we can re-live every moment.”

3. Designer. After explaining our vision to the designer, Paras from Design 2 Decor, it was easy for us to just agree or disagree on an idea to put our dream event into reality. He even brought up ideas that we've never heard of that ended up adding such a unique quality to our wedding. We couldn't have done this from scratch on our own.

4. Take at least one picture with each person that attended your wedding.

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