My Tools
Emily & Nate Nate and Emily decided they wanted a relaxed, yet still elegant, feel for their summer wedding. After joking about getting married in a barn, they started to realize that with the right setting, a barn wedding was exactly what they were looking for.

How They Met
Nate and Emily met in 2000, while Emily was performing in a production of "Grease" with a friend of Nate's. After meeting Nate, Emily decided that she'd attend the birthday party of their mutual friend for the purpose of getting to know Nate better.

How Did He Propose
With the help of his mother, father, sisters and Emily's mom, Nate was able to create his perfect Paris proposal setting. Even though it took several hours of fishing through storage containers, Nate was able to prepare his Parisian bistro in the conference room of a Hamilton hotel.

While Nate went to go pick Emily up at the airport from her trip to Ireland, both families waited patiently at the hotel. Nate played it cool the entire trip back from the airport, convincing Emily they had to stop off at the hotel to drop off a present on behalf of his mother for a baby shower.  

Proving his acting skills, Nate fumbled his way through the hotel, trying to find the elusive "Baby Shower". When they finally reached the room, Nate turned to Emily and said, "I wanted to bring you to Paris, but since I couldn't do that, I brought Paris to you."

With tears streaming down her face, they stepped into the Parisian bistro, where they were greeted by a scenic Eiffel Tower projected on the wall; a lattice wall woven with red roses; a bistro set topped with flowers; cheeses and truffles; silver stars hanging from the ceiling, and Parisian music from their favourite movie, "Amelie", playing in the background.

Nate led Emily to the bistro chair and sat her down and then asked her to be his wife.

The Wedding Day
After a lot of online searching, Emily found The Gambrel Barn at Country Heritage Park in Milton, Ont. The beautiful, historic replica set amongst several acres of a heritage village was exactly the sort of location the couple envisioned. With the location selected, Nate and Emily set to work on creating their old-fashioned, Church-picnic wedding theme.

The reception was beautifully catered by Allison’s of Milton, Ont., who worked tirelessly with the couple to create an elegant version of a backyard BBQ. The décor was kept very simple, as the gorgeous wood interior of the barn served as both ceremony and reception site.   Mini-hamburgers were served with corn on the cob and potato salad, finished off with a choice of chocolate cake or apple pie.

Guests were asked to dress casual so they could participate in the badminton, croquet and potato-sack races that were setup to maintain the laid-back feel. A tractor-wagon was hired to pull guests around the park to see the various historic buildings that were preserved at Country Heritage Park.

Bridal Gown
Emily wore an Ivory, San Patrick wedding gown. The dress perfectly complemented the old-fashioned and less formal feel of the wedding.

Emily was lucky enough to wear Nate’s great-great-great-grandmother’s necklace as her something “old”. Both were accented by a gold and diamond headband and cathedral-length veil.

Bridesmaids Dresses
Each bridesmaid wore a simple, eggplant, knee length dress. Each bridesmaid took the pattern to a different seamstress to have their dress made.    

Groom and Groomsmen
The groom and his groomsmen wore the same beige suit from Freeman Formalwear in Hamilton, Ont., with a white shirt, mint green tie and mint green paisley vest.

Most Memorable Moment
The fact that so many parts of their wedding were ‘handmade’ or created by family and friends; from the bouquets to the programs, the cotton-candy machine to the band, every part of the day involved a loved one’s help in bringing it to fruition.

A Piece of Advice
Throw out all preconceptions of what a wedding is “supposed to be” and figure out what style and mood most represents yourselves as a couple. Determine what you want the spirit of your marriage to be and try to infuse those values and sentiments into every part of the day. And above all else, remember that nothing in the world should prevent you from enjoying your special day, so never sweat the small stuff!         


Photos By: Captured Soul Photography