Wedding Game

One of our highlights of the evening was the game our maid of honour and best man co-hosted for us. You've probably seen it at other weddings or parties, where the couple sits back-to-back and answers questions without knowing each other's answers. Normally this "shoe game" is played with the shoes the groom and bride are wearing, but we swapped that out with homemade paddles instead.

We want to applaud and thank Laura and Kurt for doing such a fabulous job. They bounced off each other with great energy, had amazing pacing and entertaining questions. How did we do? Well, not that it was a competition of anything, but I'm pretty sure I won the game.

Kurt and Laura started us off with some easy questions at first.

Who owns the most pairs of shoes?
H: Howard
S: Howard
(It's really unfair how many shoes he has over me, but I'm slowly catching up.)

Who spends more time in front of the mirror?
H: Sylvia
S: Howard

Who has better taste in music?
H: Howard
S: Howard
(Sad, but true. Howard picked out all of the ceremony music for our wedding.)

Who is the better dresser?
H: Howard
S: Howard
(Sigh, I know I should try harder, but I really do prefer comfort over fashion.)

Now the questions progressed to be a little trickier.

Who starts the arguments?
Howard: Howard
Sylvia: Sylvia
(We're being politically correct here, aren't we?)

Who is more stubborn?
(Oops, didn't catch what our answers were, but I'm pretty sure I picked myself.)

Who says sorry first after an argument?
H: Howard
S: Sylvia
(Lies! I always go first!)

Who is more likely to be running late?
H: Howard, then switches his answer to Sylvia
S: Howard
(The fact that he took so long to answer should indicate that he's always late.)

We were warned that these questions were more difficult to answer.

Who passes gas more?
H: Howard
S: Howard

Who is the bigger baby when they're sick?
H: Sylvia
S: Sylvia

Who wears the pants in the relationship?
H: Sylvia
S: Sylvia
(I just love the above picture, because I am 100% certain of the answer.)

Who has the craziest family?
We both refused to answer this, in which Kurt told us that technically, we're all family now!

Who said I love you first?
H: Howard
S: Howard

Who says I love you more often?
H: Sylvia
S: Sylvia

Who talked about marriage first?
H: Howard
S: Howard

Who is more romantic?
H: Sylvia
S: Sylvia

Who loves the other more?
H: Sylvia
S: Sylvia

Who is the better kisser?
H: Howard
S: Howard
(I pointed out that you can't tell if you're the better kisser unless you kiss yourself and Howard then chooses to demonstrate...)

We ended it there as we were informed that the questions get a lot more risque after this! Again, thank you to Laura and Kurt for doing such a fabulous job. The photographers caught the best photos from this game. Lots of laughing faces and candid shots of our family and guests. It felt so nice to look back at these pictures and see everyone having a good time.

Most of all, thank you to my bridesmaid Diana who made us the paddles for the game! She's incredibly talented and crafty and made us two grooms and two brides that matched our tux and dress. I love the sweetheart neckline, corset detail on the back, and the poof of my dress. Not to mention that stunning tuxedo lapel!

Wedding Photography: Ikonica | Venue: Auberge du Pommier | Game Paddles: Diana Brown | Wooden Cake Dowels: Michaels

Wedding Programs

We took the wedding programs into our own hands as another do-it-yourself project. This was required some timing and planning as we wanted our programs to be as fresh as possible. Odd? Yes, but our program included a sweet treat with it.

Do you remember our centerpieces from the previous post? Well, I couldn't make those until the programs were finished because I had to use the cookie cutters first.

Two days before, I made the batter for brownie roll-out cookies, chilled them overnight, and baked them the next day.

It would have been pretty difficult to do with the dowels on them!

I needed eight of each number to go with our seating chart. We found these clear 4 x 6 treat bags for the cookies to go in and stapled them to the program I printed.

I designed these double-sided programs and printed them on card stock so that the shape would hold while the treat bags were attached. The back of the programs informed each guest which table they would be seated at for dinner.

I know these programs don't match the save-the-dates or the invitations, but I wanted it to be simple and match the venue. So I stuck with a craft paper background, black, and white, and the cookies would be dark enough to stand out.

We piled it all into a wooden pine crate and put the groomsmen in charge of handing these out to guests when the ushers dropped them off at the terrace.

Of course, Howard and I didn't need one, we knew where we were sitting!

And there's the front of the program where we listed the key people participating in our wedding party, the officiant, and schedule of the evening.

A few guests commented on the fact that they saw the connection between the table numbers and the program cookies. =) And those brownie roll-out cookies are so good, I love how they stay soft and chewy. I think most people would have chosen to go with a sugar cookie, but I find those dry and hard to the point that they'll be too crumbly.

Wedding Photography: Ikonica | Venue: Auberge du Pommier | Table Numbers: Sylvia Chan |  Wedding Programs: Sylvia Chan | Cookies: Sylvia Chan | Cookie Cutters: Fox Run Craftsmen | Wooden Cake Dowels: Michaels | Clear Treat Bags: Michaels | Wooden Crate: KNAGGLIG from IKEA

Wedding Tablescapes

We live in a city with some great farmer's markets and florists. So I was very torn about going the do-it-yourself route or simply buying gorgeous and beautiful flowers to fill our tables. In the end, it came down to budget. After doing some research and seeing some sample quotes online, I knew were weren't going to get a sprawling table of flowers. I didn't even bother contacting florists for quotes in fear of offending them!

My initial vision was to keep things rustic to go with the restaurant's atmosphere. We were in what used to be a woodcutters' cottages after all. I was thinking mason jars and beautiful pink dahlias or flowers from my parent's garden. At one point I even thought I could make beautiful crepe paper flowers instead. I collected mason jars from family and friends (and ate a lot of pasta sauce myself), cleaned them, and painted the inside with white acrylic paint. I wanted the look of milk glass - without paying for the hefty price. A Pinterest idea gone wrong! Acrylic is supposed to be waterproof, but after letting the jars dry for weeks, I tested them a week before the wedding. No! The paint simply peeled off and bubbled. Water had somehow gotten between the paint and the glass - despite two to three coats of paint. It did NOT look pretty. Think mad-scientist lab with organs in a jar.

So that week, we frantically tried to come up with an alternative. Our best bet was going to Ikea for their versatile Ensidig vases. We bought six of the large ones (diameter: 15 cm, height: 16 cm) and 10 of the smaller ones that resemble milk bottles (diameter: 7.7 cm, height: 18 cm). We dropped the six larges one off at the florist where I ordered the bouquets and boutonnieres and asked them to fill it with green hydrangeas.

I had made the table numbers that would be combined with the main centerpiece. Had to insert a bit of my love for baking here. I took some wooden cake dowels, bought cookie cutters in the shape of numbers, and used a hot glue gun to stick them together.

There you have it! A visible table number - with a nod to baking - rising above a fluffy bouquet of hydrangeas.

For the milk-bottle vases, Howard and I went to our grocery store and bought green chrysanthemum buttons the day before the wedding. We trimmed them at home and had them ready to go. The venue provided candles and candle holders so they did the set up, placing as many candles that would look nice and lighted them before the dinner. They also arranged each place setting with folded napkins, menus, cutlery, and glassware. We loved how they did a little extra for our head table, using different candle holders and including some of their own greenery.

We decided on assigned seating for each table, so we got a pack of ivory tent cards with an embossed frame along the border. Here's the crazy part - I hand lettered all of the names. Yes, we could have ran it through a printer . . . but where's the personality in that? I don't even have calligraphy pens or special nibs, I did these with a regular black pen and coloured in the areas I wanted thickened. Yes, hand cramps and lots of breaks were involved.

Wedding Photography: Ikonica | Venue: Auberge du Pommier | Candles and Candle Holders: Auberge du Pommier | Florist: Ruby Florist and Loblaws | Vases: ENSIDIG from Ikea | Place Card Hand Lettering: Sylvia Chan | Table Numbers: Sylvia Chan | Cookie Cutters: Fox Run Craftsmen | Wooden Cake Dowels: Michaels

Wedding Venue

Here's a blast from the past! I've been writing these posts since the beginning of the year by jotting down my thoughts in hopes of helping those who might be planning a wedding. So it's a combination of things I drafted months ago and thoughts from today.

I think choosing the venue was the hardest part of the wedding because everything else falls in place once it's decided. You might have read an earlier post where I was feeling the blues because we didn't know what to do. Did we want to do a destination wedding or a wedding in our city? There were so many pros and cons and we debated for a long time. In the end, we decided to have the wedding in our home city with the following requirements:

1. We had to stay within a budget.
2. There had to be good food (right? We have a food blog of goodness sake).
3. Ideally, it could host the ceremony and the reception.
4. Free parking for our guests.
5. Someplace easy to get to.

One of our earlier plans was to go the route of a hall rental like everybody else. We wanted the ceremony and reception at the Toronto Botanical Garden because it was adjacent to Edwards Garden. This was when we thought we should continue our park theme (having met on the job while working for Toronto Parks and Rec and being engaged at Central Park in New York). But bringing in a caterer, renting furniture, and all the fees associated with the space meant we would be doubling our budget. *faint*

Another idea was to do a really simple wedding by getting married at City Hall and then having dinner at a restaurant. Then we found out that those wedding chambers at City Hall weren't included, there was a rental fee! And we'd have to pay for parking. If I was going to be spending money on renting a space for the ceremony, I might as well find a prettier spot!

And a prettier spot we did find! We were so happy to learn that Auberge du Pommier was available (do book ahead, we reserved it a year in advance). This charming French restaurant includes a terrace space for ceremonies. It's covered in case there's rain (which it did) and includes heaters if it gets a bit chilly (which it did). We also still get the greenery with the trees, shrubs, and plants - so we're still with the park theme here with it being airy with fresh air.

The lower terrace was transformed by the amazing staff who arranged the chairs in theatre setting and for hanging our decorative bunting at the front. Unlike other venues, you don't have to rent chairs or tables! The area is also completely private and not visible from the road or parking lot. Bonus, the aisle isn't too long so I didn't have to walk too far to get to the front (was seriously stressed about walking in heels in a gown. A simple thing like walking, geez)!

We wanted a small wedding, but we still ended up booking the largest private room that Auberge du Pommier had - which seats 48. The Oscar room had the perfect set up for us, there were six tables of eight, a fireplace, a cake table, and a hutch.

We had the option of reserving the second private room for late night dancing and food too, but they weren't next to each other so it felt disconnected and we declined the space. Another small wedding group was there that night, but we didn't see much of them since we were separated by the concierge. If you're wondering about the main dining room space, Auberge du Pommier doesn't offer full restaurant buyouts on Saturday evenings, only during lunch or on Sundays.

It was tricky narrowing down the guest list to 46, but we did it. You know what's trickier after? The seating chart! We actually had our head table split in two, so the ones in the middle were for us and our wedding party. Then Howard's family and friends on the left and my family and friends on the right.

Now that we've had our wedding, we only have praises and good things to say. The event specialists at Oliver & Bonacini are courteous, helpful, and so great to work with. We were so lucky to have Jessie along the way to answer our questions and organize our ceremony and reception schedule. The on-site manager and staff that day were also top notch. We felt that they went above and beyond with our requests and even on things we didn't ask for or think about. They were all truly professional and thoughtful in presentation and interacting with our guests.

If you're thinking about an event or reception at a restaurant, I highly recommend it. Auberge du Pommier included candles, linens, printed menus, cake knife and lifter, booster seats for kids, card vessel, bouquet vases, coat check, parking vouchers, and reserved signs. And if you have elders or children, they have accessible washrooms on the main floor. Not to mention all the charm of a rustic woodcutters' cottages!

Venue: Auberge du Pommier, Lower Terrace and Oscar Room | Photography: Ikonica | Bunting: Samantha Swenson