It’s not that often that Annabel selects a non-UK-based wedding and couple to grace these pages. So I know that when she does, it’s going to be something really special. The wedding of artist and wood carver Christen and acupuncturist Robyn is classic Love My Dress: love, tenderness and plenty of pretty. There’s so much emotion captured in these images by Brittany Esther Photography that it dovetails perfectly with our current #ShareTheHonestLove campaign. A beautiful record of an incredibly moving celebration.
And what a backdrop! The ceremony took place on 3 May 2014 at Middle Beach Lodge in Tofino, British Columbia, Canada, and I can’t imagine a more dramatic natural setting.
“We chose Brittany for both her documentary style of shooting and her use of light. She has the ability to capture unexpected moments and heartfelt emotion. We did not want scripted or posed photos. Rather, we wanted someone who could see the small moments – the real moments – and capture them. Brittany is an incredible talented woman and was delightful to work with. Our inspiration for the ceremony came from nature. We live in a beautiful area of the world where you feel the impact of nature daily, and wanted to incorporate that into both the ceremony and the celebration.”
Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Brittany Esther Photography
Robyn and Christen met on an island off the coast of Tofino. Norwegian-born Christen was visiting Canada for the first time to attend a workshop, which was where fate led him to Robyn. Shortly after this first meeting, Robyn flew to Norway and they began a year-long courtship travelling between Norway and Canada. Christen decided to move temporarily to Tofino and, several months later, proposed by illustrating a book that documented their relationship. The couple were engaged for just over a year.
“The morning of the wedding, we had Western Union telegraph delivered door to door, informing guests of the day’s events. The ceremony took place in a clearing in the forest where we hung 20ft sheer white curtains from the canopy of trees.”
“We styled the reception with the prohibition era in mind – jazz, cigars, and classic cocktails. We had a cigar bar decorated with vintage-style photos of us both, and had a guestbook station with an Underwood typewriter and telegraph paper for guests to leave us messages. We had several signs around the venue, hand-painted with literary quotes from the 1920s and 30s.
We also gave out drinks tickets in both English and Norwegian (‘Cheers, this one is on us’ and ‘Skål – Vi spanderer denne runden!’).”
“Days before the wedding we were told that the key flowers for the bouquet were unavailable. Isabelle at CrabApple Floral did an incredible job of creating beautiful arrangements, even though the flowers weren’t our original choice. We ended up with burgundy peonies, seeded eucalyptus, white ranunculus, purple thistles and white roses.”
“We did the majority of the planning and preparation ourselves with help from friends and family, with support from Jaclyn, the event coordinator from Middle Beach Lodge. We also hired Sheila from Rare Earth Weddings to oversee the day itself. Both Jaclyn and Sheila were invaluable in making sure we had nothing to worry about on our wedding day.”
Robyn’s dress is from Something Blue in Vancouver…
“Jija and Heather were both incredibly helpful and delightful to work with. I came to them after there was a mistake with my first dress, just a few months before the wedding. Living five hours and a ferry ride away, dress fittings were difficult and took place several times during weekend trips. They were able to come up with something that was era appropriate and could be completed in time for the wedding.”
As well as stunning vintage jewellery (and custom-made engagement and wedding ring by Francis Jewellers) Robyn treated herself to a pair of Jimmy Choos. But fear not, no Choos were harmed in the making of this wedding!
“During the downpour at the ceremony, I wore No. 6 clogs to give me height and to avoid ruining my heels!”.“We also had a reading in Norwegian, chosen by one of the groomsmen. It was important to us that both of our cultures and languages were a part of our ceremony.”
Robyn and her father entered the canopy to the sound of We Move Lightly by Dustin O’Halloran.
“We wrote our vows ourselves and they were deeply personal. We included a blessing of the rings by our parents and a handfasting ceremony, and included the guests in the we do’s. We had two readings at our wedding. The first was a poem that was significant to us during the time we lived apart in Norway and in Canada, ‘Wind On The Island’, by Pablo Neruda. We also had a reading in Norwegian, chosen by one of the groomsmen. It was important to us that both of our cultures and languages were a part of our ceremony.”
Wind On The Island, by Pablo Neruda
The wind is a horse:
hear how he runs
through the sea, through the sky.
He wants to take me: listen
how he roves the world
to take me far away.
Hide me in your arms
just for this night,
while the rain breaks
against sea and earth
its innumerable mouth.
Listen how the wind
calls to me galloping
to take me far away.
With your brow on my brow,
with your mouth on my mouth,
our bodies tied
to the love that consumes us,
let the wind pass
and not take me away.
“Our friends surprised us with a singing flash mob after we’d said our vows. It was probably the most touching moment of the ceremony and moved us both to tears.”
“The cake was a gift and surprise to us. Our dear friend and chef, Matt Wilson, created a true masterpiece made of dark chocolate mousse and tobacco-smoked milk chocolate ganache, layered with whisky gel.”
I adore how Robyn and Christen combined their love of the outdoors with a passion for the jazz age. And I love, love, love these photos – great work Brittany Esther.
Do let us know if you plan on borrowing any inspiration for your own nuptials from this beautiful British Columbia Wedding. You can explore more Canadian weddings here.
Love Kate xx
Photographer – Brittany Esther
Venue – Middle Beach Lodge
Wedding planner – Rare Earth Weddings
Dress – Something Blue
Accessories – ceremony shoes No. 6 Store, reception shoes Jimmy Choo, Vintage hair comb, rhinestone
bracelet Isadora’s Antique Jewellery, Seattle
Fragrance – Nuit De Tubereuse by L’Artisan Paerfumeur
Hair – Rhonda Graham, Studio One Aveda Hair Salon
Make up – Angela Nair, Vancouver (no website)
Bridesmaids – Nicole Miller from Bernstein & Gold, Adrianna Papell, Alhambra Style, vintage
Groom –vJack Victor Tuxedo, Outlooks for Men, custom-made boots, Nika, Vancouver
Flowers – Isabelle Guyon, CrabApple Floral
Rings – Francis Jewellers
Décor – handmade by family and friends
Favours – handmade mason jar candles
Caterers – Matt Wilson (a friend of the couple) and Nicholas Nutting
Entertainment – ceremony Smalltown Empire, Reception Dinah D and The Contraband Swingclub
This is wonderful, thank you for featuring this lovely wedding!! My fiancé and I are planning on getting married next fall, in the Beautiful British Columbia outdoors, as well, and it’s lovely to see how someone else has handled the predictably unpredictable rain here at that time of year – just beautiful!! ^__^
You are so welcome Amanda, I am really pleased this wedding has inspired you so and I truly hope that your day is wonderful in every way too.
Love Annabel 🙂 xXx