Jen & Jordan’s TV theme Toronto wedding and reception took place on December 3rd, 2016 at the Gladstone Hotel. I had the pleasure of meeting this couple when I had previously shot their engagement photos.
These two put on an incredibly entertaining and moving wedding! In a unique wedding fashion, there was not an standard “official” cake. This couple asked guests to bring TV themed desserts.
These two let their creativity clearly show through the planning of their wedding. They did not hire a wedding planner, and did all of the work themselves! They didn’t have a DJ either. Jen made different playlists for the evening – one full of TV themes for the Cocktail hour and one full of dance tunes for the reception.
Jen purchased her wedding dress at Davids Bridal. She was actually, initially, dead-set on finding a non-white/non-bridal dress to wear. She wanted something colourful (but glamourous)…kind of like what celebrities wear to the Oscars, but cheaper. She found that it turned out to be really hard to find something like that because all the colourful dresses weren’t ‘special’ enough. They were too low-key. Anything she loved was from a high-end designer and she did not have $20,000 to spend on the dress. She looked into getting something made, but the cost was creeping up along with her stress level, so she threw in the towel and went the traditional route. I asked her how she knew it was ‘the one’ when she finally decided on her gown. Her response was, “I don’t think it’s ever as simple as knowing something is ‘the one’. I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of the options I had worried would be too traditional and my mom and mother-in-law, who were shopping with me, had a good perspective on what really suited me. If I had to give advice to other brides, I would say: Find something that really fits your personality but don’t fixate on any preconceived notions you have or obsess over an ideal in your mind. You’ll just drive yourself crazy and you won’t be open to surprising discoveries.” Great advice on an area of the planning that can become quite stressful for many brides.
The Gladstone Hotel handled all of the food for this amazing Toronto wedding and Jen’s in-laws had a really talented florist and event planner as a friend (Lidia Tacconelli) so they arranged to have her do all of their decor. She owns Fiori Floral and Event Design
Jen & Jordan decided to see each other before the wedding ceremony, but once they were dressed in their wedding attire, they stayed out of sight until seeing each other on the aisle. So romantic! It was one of the only ‘traditional’ things they decided to do. They thought it would be so exciting to meet each other at the front of the aisle and got all emotional about how good they both looked. The smiles these two had for each other said it all! What an exciting and beautiful day.
Their top 3 favourite moments from the wedding were:
1. The Vows: They wrote their own and didn’t give each other any guidelines, so they were both surprised and moved by each others words.
2. The Performances: They asked some talented friends and family to perform in between the speeches. They had a show tune, an opera performance, a bollywood dance and a hulu hoop performance.
3. The dancing! Jen had always wanted to have a huge party where she was the centre of attention and got to pick every single song. According to the bride, “It was the best playlist ever!”.
Jen was very easygoing when it came to preparing her bridal party for the big day. She let her bridesmaids wear whatever they wanted and didn’t have a set list of specific photos she needed. She just wanted to capture the authentic moment as much as possible. Thankfully, she wasn’t really nervous about anything going into her wedding day which allowed her to enjoy every moment as it was happening. She admitted that she was a little bit of a ‘control freak’ with all of the little elements, but it worked out well because she oversaw everything.
Her response to my question “What advice would you offer to other couples planning a wedding?” was, “Just do whatever you want! Skip the conventions you don’t like, keep the ones you do and make up your own. Don’t try to please everyone, but remember that you are essentially putting on a show for people so have fun coming up with fun ways to keep people entertained!”
I know this couple will cherish the memories from their fabulous COWRITTEN wedding day and it was incredible to be a part of their wedding experience. It was magical and personal for them, and unforgettable. Everything went off without a hitch and a lot of awesome little things happened in the moment that were beyond imagination.
Jennifer Blaak Photography is a wedding photographer located in Hamilton, Ontario. Jennifer Blaak Photography serves Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Brantford, Ancaster, Niagara, and the GTA.
To book your wedding with Jennifer Blaak Photography please use the contact tab at the top of the page or contact me directly at hello@jenniferblaakphotography.ca
