This past weekend was an exciting one for me. One of my very best friends, Laurier roommate and biggest confidante got engaged to an absolutely incredible guy. I had known this was coming for quite some time and it is always a little nerve-wracking when so many people are in the know, but to say that Alex absolutely nailed every aspect of this engagement would be an understatement! Alex and Mel are both incredibly close with their family and surrounded by an amazing group of friends, so he always knew that when they ultimately got engaged it was important to Mel that her family and closest friends were there to celebrate after.
Trying to surprise Mel, a fellow Type A, with weekends organized to a T would be no easy feat, but I must say not only did he surprise her, but he absolutely blew her away! While we were all waiting at the restaurant for the couple of the evening to arrive, tears definitely started to stream the moment Alex sent the text “She said yes!”. I’m sure there will be a couple of posts in the future related to these two amazing friends, but for now Congrats to Mel and Alex!
June 16, 2018
Now let’s rewind back to this summer for weddings #1, 3 and 6 ... or the ones that, for the purpose of this post, I am referring to as the Laurier Loves. Kelly and Jesse (JMac) were up first on a beautiful day mid-June. It was a quick trip out to Brantford to celebrate this love at the beautiful Brantford Golf & Country Club.
Before I get into the details, can we just stop for a second and look at how stunning Kel was on her wedding day! A dress is always a really special part of any bride's big day, but this is even more special as one of Kel's closest friends and bridesmaid, Sarah, created this dress specifically for Kelly. Sarah is an incredibly talented designer and definitely one of the highlights was seeing how amazing Kel looked in her dress! Also loved the classic black that the bridesmaids were wearing, looked great next to the boys and allowed Kel to stand out like she absolutely deserved to that day.
After a quick, but loving ceremony and a cocktail hour on the club's patio it was time to get the evening going. Speeches - some people love them, some hate them, but I think that they add some incredible colour to the wedding and a glimpse into their relationships both with each other and others that are close to them. There are good speeches and not so good speeches and then their are speeches that leave a lasting impact, and that is something. All of the speeches were so great. Andrew (PK), JMacs Best Man, absolutely crushed his, but by far the most memorable speech was Jesse's mom talking about a school trip a young JMac took to Quebec City. It's probably one of those you had to be there moments, but hearing about the horror in Jesse's voice as he called his parents concerned at the state of the hotel they were staying in with his classmates, politely asking if he could be upgraded to the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac across the street had me in tears!
Looking back through these pictures, you can tell by the massive smiles on both of their faces how happy this pair is and how absolutely perfect they are for each other.
I think it is fine if I embarrass myself for just a moment here. I woke up Sunday morning in a crazy amount of pain, and had the oddest flashback to absolutely eating it on the dance floor. Remember the Lightning Round that Molson introduced me to, well apparently this had gotten out and there was a polite request to refrain from such activity. So while people refrained from Lightning Rounds, apparently there were some Scoop and Slams taking place. To which I didn’t realize and did my own sort of slam as I walked onto the dance floor and hit a pile of ice. Attempting to play golf and baseball that next day was a little bit of a struggle, but a quick recovery and I was ready to go for the next wedding two weeks later!
Big thank you to Kel and JMac for getting Wedding Season 2018 kicked off in style, beauty and the most love!
July 7th, 2018
Not only were Heather and Scott a part of the Laurier loves, but they actually met in high school, so it was beyond fitting that when it came time for them to get married we hit the 401 and headed east to Kingston, Ontario, Heath and Scott's hometown. And what a weekend in K-Town it was. Heather's Dad owns a beautiful little hotel, The Queens Inn, and where many of us called home that weekend.
Picture perfect venues and transportation were definitely a theme for this wedding; Heath and Scott got married at a beautiful church right down the Street from The Queens Inn, before getting picked up in the most adorable trolley to take us to the reception at the Isabel Bader Center for Performing Arts. And let me just tell you, pictures do not do this place justice! Right on the waterfront, completely enclosed in floor to ceiling glass windows ... insert heart eye emoji here! I think that is the same emoji I sent to some girlfriends when we all saw Heather for the first time that day; she made a perfect bride and the laughter and smiles you could see on Heath's and Scott's face all day was so beautiful to see.
One thing that helped make this picture perfect venue that much better was a little help from Heath's bridesmaid and a good friend from Laurier, Jess and her new business Sincerely Taylored. Sincerely Taylored started with these incredible wood signs but has evolved to include a number of wedding signs and decor that added the perfect personal touch to not only Heather's wedding, but a number of others as well. If you need any sort of signs done (or anything else, I swear this girl can do it all), make sure to check out Sincerely Taylored on Facebook or Sincerely Taylored on Instagram
Emcee's are rarely spoken about, but after 9 weddings this year I realized just how important this role is and how much credit these guys and girls deserve for stepping up to the task. Heather's brother, Andrew, made an absolutely incredible emcee. Not only did he make sure the night was moving on with pace, he told thoughtful stories and was absolutely hilarious - making just the right number of jabs at his new brother-in-law, Scott.
It is always important to keep the dance floor alive throughout the night, and there was no shortage of dancing all night long. One of the highlights that came from the dance floor was without a doubt when Heath's Dad took to the mic and guitar to sing. As special moments at weddings come, this was without a doubt one of the most special I've been able to experience.
The dance party didn't end at the venue, with this group of friends we made sure to take it back to The Queens Inn (sorry to the one room not a part of #heathandscotttietheknot). 25+ monkeys on the bed, belting out Celine was the icing on top of the cake. Thank you to Kingston, not only for a great weekend, but for bringing these two together so we could celebrate love, family and best friends!
September 1, 2018
#JacksForEv was, technically speaking, the final wedding of the summer, and another weekend that did not disappoint. This time we headed west to Guelph-Elora to celebrate at The Elora Mill.
It was a perfect Labour Day weekend and a group of us we excitedly getting ready at Jenna's parents house in Guelph before we headed down the road to celebrate Jackie and Evan. After a very fun ride to Elora (thanks Joey and Cori) we were ready to see these two wed. Not only do my friends have a thing for absolutely stunning venues, but I am lucky to say I am friends with a whole bunch of 10s (guys, you too!). Jackie was glowing today and the skirt - body suit combo was so beyond perfect for her!
I told you I have a thing for speeches and tonight was no different. Across the board there were great stories full of memories of both Jackie and Evan and the life they've started to build together, but there was an actual standing ovation for Jackie's sister and MOH, Jill. Looking back I wish I had the opportunity to take a cue or two from her because she had us in tears from all of the emotions, but especially laughter. When she described a young Jackie coming home from one of her first recesses at elementary school and described it as a place with "not enough rules", we all know this Jackie. I honestly could have listened to Jill speak forever, but the party had to get started so after a few scoop and slams into the scalloped onions dish (table in the back, they know who they are), the dance floor was open.
Considering the dance floor actually opened at one point between courses, there really wasn't a lot of time that wasn't spent on the dance floor. This time we had a good friend, Pat aka DJ Rouge in charge of keeping the party going. We grew up with Pat DJ'ing our Laurier parties or providing the tunes for Cancun Team Showers, so if there was anyone who knew exactly what to play (and when!), it was him. Every group of friends have those songs that bring back memories and play once (twice, sometimes three times) throughout a night and we had every one of those moments this night. Who would have thought that Mariah Carey, All I Want For Christmas on September 1st would be such a hit? Or that a T-Rex and an E-Rex would make an appearance for Hey Jude? That Can You Feel The Love Tonight would have made for one of the most memorable dance circles? What did we know ... Country Roads definitely took us back to the place we belonged and Free Willy ended the night on the ultimate high! This was definitely a 'take me back' kind of night. September 1st was magical and definitely wish Jacks and Ev all the love in the world!
While that might be the end of Laurier Loves (for now at least), that definitely isn't the end of our wedding circuit. We've always been told that our girlfriends "travel in packs", as you can see below, so really it shouldn't be a surprise that this was only 3 of 10 weddings in 2018 or that in 24 hours I'll be boarding a plane to Punta Cana to celebrate our next beautiful bride, Steph!
xx
Nicole
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