Today I'm thrilled to kick off our Real Weddings series for our month of Valentines and Weddings here on Poppytalk with the Pemberton, B.C. wedding of Sarah Close (of Vancouver's One of a Kind Show and IDSwest) and her husband Raheel.  The wedding took place this past summer at North Arm Farm in Pemberton, B.C.  And how amazing was it?  Here's Sarah's commentary on how it all took place!  Thank you so much Sarah and Raheel for sharing your beautiful day!




The Location
Raheel and I met almost three years to the day of our August 6, 2011 wedding at the Pemberton Music Festival so it was a no brainer for us to want to be married at the scene of the crime. Once we settled on the location, the lovely North Arm Farm in Pemberton, the rest of the planning came naturally. The most important things to us were food, music and merriment. We weren't to focused on tradition or lengthy speeches just being outside and being together. It was a good thing the weather cooperated!



The Proposal
On a lovely warm evening in May of 2010 Raheel got down on one knee and proposed with my Grandmothers five stone emerald engagement ring on Pont Neuf in Paris. What more could a girl ask for?



The Dress
It took me a while to settle on a wedding dress. In the end we had something made at Manuel Mandoza as I couldn't quite commit to anything in the stores. I was looking for something a little different and a more personal. We went with a sweetheart neck, an A-line skirt and tiered layer on the skirt that allowed for some extra lace. We used lace from my Grandmothers wedding dress from the 40's. The end result was perfect.





The Invites
When it came to invites I had a clear idea of what I wanted but no idea how to execute them. I had a the pleasure of working with my longtime friend Robyn Haddow to design the tangible pieces from beginning to end and it was one of my favourite parts of the whole planning. For Save the Dates we decided on postcards with photobooth shots of us on the front. The invites were complicated and required much assembly on our end but they turned out perfect! We started by creating a logo for the wedding with our initials and date which we then used on everything. For the invite and map Robyn created had an amazing graphic element as well as used different sized fonts to incorporate both the creative and the outdoor feeling of the wedding. Once we sorted out the design we had printed onto handkerchiefs from Spoonflower.com. From there we created an RSVP card, and invite for our Mendhi (a Pakistani tradition similar to a bridal shower) and a belly band to tie it all together! Finally we topped it off with a transparent envelope so that when it arrived in mail boxes people would get a sneak peak of what was to come! Robyn worked tirelessly to carry these elements we created throughout all the printed piece onsite from the Menu's to the favour tags and more!



The Day
For the ceremony I was concerned that the bridal party and my Auntie Leslie (who preformed the ceremony) would get lost in such a huge scenic explosion. I wanted to create something for us to stand in front of to tie us to the space and when I saw something similar to this back drop I knew it was perfect. My father-in-law graciously agreed to make the back drop for us and we spent the year collecting wood. That sounds like a lot of work but actually once people heard we were looking for old busted up wood we had more than enough!



The bridal party and I walked down the aisle to City and Colour's "The Girl" on the violin. After the lovely ceremony we signed all the pertinent documents to my brother-in-law playing "Costa Rica" by Vince Vacarro and then the married couple took off in my grandmothers 67 Galaxy 500.

One of a our major issues was layout (or floorplan as I kept referring to it). With so much space and the entire wedding from start to finish happening in one location it was hard for us (my mom, sisters and I) to visualize what was going to happen where. We started by deciding that people should have to walk the furthest first and as the night progressed move closer and closer to the barn where the dance floor and band was. Jessica from Trove provided the furniture pieces and the lovely ladies from Love of Fair set little vignettes (Photobooth, cocktails, cigar lounge, tables) so that people moved through the areas seamlessly.





Also I was firmly against the idea of a head table as I didn't like the idea of everyone watching us eat. My mother and I came to a compromise with a H table formation. And as speeches carried on so did the food from Western Promises catering, cous cous and what may be the most delicious salmon I have ever had.


After laughter and tears during dinner we moved to the barn to cut a rug! Our first dance was to Tom Petty's "Yer So Bad" and after that the band, The Hairfarmers, took it away!



The Honeymoon
First thing Sunday morning Raheel and I took off to Paris for a week and left the family with the clean up!
 


Photographer : Pure Light Studio
Flowers : Rembrandt Floral, Whistler BC
Brides Dress : Manuel Mandoza, Vancouver BC
Bridesmaids Dresses : JCrew
Suits: Groom : Paul Smith, Holt Renfrew
Groomsmen :  JCrew
Location : North Arm Farm, Pemberton BC
Caterer : Western Promises, Pemberton BC
DJ/Band : Hairfarmers, Whistler BC
Coordinator : Love of Fair Events
Decor : Trove Vintage Rentals