A Sarah Seven Dress for a Beautifully Natural Wedding in British Columbia

wpid385117 sarah seven dress british columbia wedding 26

Good morning all! It’s a terribly British thing to always comment on the weather isn’t it? Maybe I’m being a bit stereotypical with often starting features with a comment on the world outside, but I do so love Autumn; the colours, the scent of leaves, the rain falling outside while you’re inside with a cup of tea and the cat sat on your lap.  More to the point, Autumn, rather than making me want to curl up indoors, makes me want to rush outside and jump in leaves, run through the woods and smell the air- this lovely outdoorsy Canadian wedding therefore suits my mood today just perfectly – I hope it does you too.

Creative Director Michael, and bridal boutique owner Emily, married on the 11th of July this year in an outdoor ceremony with stunning views at Overbury Resort on Thetis Island, Canada.

“We live in such an amazing place, and our venue was the epitome of British Columbia beauty. We’re not very ‘over the top’, so we just wanted everything to feel really natural – an enhancement of our surroundings. There were also three things we were looking for: to be on the ocean, to offer a mini-getaway for our guests, and a venue where everyone could stay. Overbury Resort checked all of those boxes, not to mention it is stunning. They are also a full-meal-deal – they do flowers, catering, setup, takedown and staffing. They were amazing.”

Photography by Nordica Photography

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

“I wanted the décor to feel really natural and pretty. The colours we went with were green and white with accents of navy blue, and the palest of pinks. Other accents were gold, silver and dark wood.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

“We worked with Nordica Photography and it was one of the best choices that we made. Cole was so awesome to work with, his photographs were beautiful, and we both felt totally comfortable around him.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

Emily wore a beautiful floaty frock with a structured bodice from Sarah Seven, pared with her favourite ‘go to’ heels.

 “I love Sarah Seven’s simple but unique style – her silhouettes work nicely on my body. The dress I chose was the first one that I put on, and to this day, still am totally in love with it.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

This may be one of the most romantic proposal stories I’ve ever heard…

“Michael and I met at work – exchanging flirtations every once in a while in the kitchen. Eventually he asked me out for a drink, and one day after work we took a water taxi to a cute restaurant on the water.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

Four years later, Michael had planned a surprise birthday dinner for me. He took me down to the dock where he had arranged a water taxi to be waiting for us. It wasn’t until we took off that I realized that he was about to propose. When he asked me to marry him, the captain pulled out a bottle of champagne and we just sailed around for a while celebrating. It was the most romantic, most amazing, most memorable moment of my life.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

Kita Nahanni, a friend of a friend, did Emily’s hair and makeup.

“She was so amazing to work with – super nice, low-stress, on the ball, and talented.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

For her wedding day scent, Emily chose ‘Gardenia’ by Chanel.

“I got my hands on this particular scent quite a few years ago and fell head over heels for it. The thing is, is that it’s rarely available in Canada. One of my bridesmaids had been in Paris a few months before the wedding and picked up a bottle as my wedding gift from my bridesmaids. It was so incredibly thoughtful and unexpected. I had actually been saving a sample of it to wear on the day anyway and they had no idea about that!”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

I love Emily’s relaxed loose hairstyle, and her unique accessories. They go so well with the natural style of this wedding and she looks just like some sort of wood elf, especially in her portrait shots in the woodland-so pretty.

“I wanted something different in my hair since I wasn’t wearing a veil or much jewellery. As a wedding gift, one of my good friends ended up taking me to a beading store and we actually made the little chains that were woven into my braid. It turned out beautifully – I’m so glad my friend is so crafty!”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

Despite her gorgeous dress, Emily found it a challenge to find something she loved in her home city of Vancouver, so has since set up her own boutique!

“Born from a frustration of not having the kind of dress options I was looking for here in Vancouver, I decided it was time to bring this city wedding gowns for the free-spirited, West Coast bride. It’s called Union Bridal, and it will be open in November.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

We adore an outdoor ceremony here at Love My Dress.  Sadly we have so few in the UK, due to a combination of the weather and legal restrictions. Emily and Michael exchanged promises in front of the most spectacular scenery and I love the idea of making vows under the open sky.

 

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

Emily was walked down the aisle by her Dad to an acoustic version of ‘Like Real People Do’ by Hozier and the couple then exchanged personalised vows.

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

“Our good friends had recommended Grimson & Sons to Michael when he was engagement ring shopping. David was fantastic to work with – so accommodating, thoughtful and talented. The rings all turned out better than we could have imagined. I wasn’t involved in the engagement ring design process, but they nailed it.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

“Arlene at Overbury Resort did all the flowers and she did an amazing job. I wanted all white flowers with lots of greenery. She bought all her flowers locally, so we went with whatever was in season.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

The lovely bridesmaids wore dresses from Canadian brand Club Monaco in a wonderful rich forest green.

“I was very open about what they wanted to wear, and wanted them to choose it themselves, but they ended up all falling in love with the same dress, which looked gorgeous on all of them.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

Photographer Cole captures both landscape and emotion so beautifully – I just adore his work. Look closely – in some of the ceremony photographs, he has actually caught Emily’s tears rolling down her cheeks- his attention to detail is suburb.

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

We love the eucalyptus leaves decor across the bride and grooms chairs – did you spot the leaves being freshly picked earlier in the feature?

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

“There’s a small coffee roaster on Thetis Island (which is amazing given how tiny Thetis Island is), called Pot of Gold Coffee, so we purchased coffee from them and packaged it in little burlap bags.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

“My dad is a musician, so it was important to me that we have a live band. My dad ended up asking his oldest friend to come play both for the ceremony and the reception. John played acoustic guitar during the ceremony, and for the reception there was an acoustic bass and drums – it was amazing.

Our first dance was to “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys – it was remarkably hard to choose a song for our first dance, but when we listened to it together, it just felt right. It’s a beautiful song.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

“Arlene’s daughter, who did all the food and baking, made our cake. I wanted it simple, white, beautiful – and she delivered. It was exactly what I wanted.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.
A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

“Our favourite part of the day was escaping from the reception for an hour to do our photograph session with Cole. It was so nice just to be able to hang out with each other in the midst of this huge party, and collect ourselves. It was also just super fun to trek through the bush, scamper on some sketchy rocks, and have a few laughs.

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

 “The two most important things (in my opinion) to remember are to slow down, stay grounded, try not to let stress overwhelm you, and take moments throughout the night with your new hubby. The day goes so quickly, you’ll want to treasure every moment. Also, eat your dinner.

When thinking about what we would have done differently, I can only think of things that were so insignificant, I’m sure no one noticed. The day was perfection.”

A Sarah Seven dress for a beautifully natural wedding in British Columbia. Images by Nordica Photography.

Emily’s final Words of Wedded Wisdom made me nod, agree and then giggle, as she’s so right! Thank you so much to the happy couple, and a huge congratulations, and thanks also of course to Cole at Nordica Photography for these stunning images. Any more outdoor weddings to come? If you’re thinking of something outdoorsy, maybe take a peek here for inspiration.

Much love, as always,

Shona x

 

Photographer – Nordica Photography
Venue – Overbury Resort – Thetis Island, BC, Canada
Wedding dress – Sarah Seven
Shoes – Old favourites
Accessories – Family jewellery
Perfume – Gardenia by Chanel
Bridesmaids’ dresses – Club Monaco
Bridesmaids’ Accessories – bracelets from Catbird
Groom – Indochino
Florist – Staff at Overbury Resort
Cake – Staff at Overbury Resort
Rings – Grimson & Sons
Stationery – Invitations by Sami Christianson + Emily did the table plan and calligraphy herself
Goblets for flowers – Spruce Vintage Rentals
Hair and makeup – Kita Nahanni (No website)
Entertainment – Family and friends

Shona Raffle-Edwards

Shona Raffle-EdwardsView all Shona's articles

Shona is a wedding admiring bookworm with a love of the countryside, flowers and all things organisational who is currently based in sunny Yorkshire with her husband and beloved cat

2 thoughts on “A Sarah Seven Dress for a Beautifully Natural Wedding in British Columbia

  1. Whenever I watch any wedding photographed by Nordica Studio I feel inspired and amazed. They are simply world class and the photos they have created here are simple but stunninng.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Close
Top