Braving the Great Canadian Winter
Photographer: Melissa Noelle Photography
Destination weddings can be captured close to home.
With this summer and fall still uncertain for hosting your wedding, why not start planning your Great Canadian Winter Wedding?
Inspired by the beautiful mountainous backdrop of Patagonia, the focus of this sustainable styled shoot was to capture the culture and beauty of a destination wedding in our own backyard, the great Canadian landscape!
Concept:
The concept for this styled shoot came from Melissa of Melissa Noelle Photography. Melissa, being of Chilean heritage, wanted to pay homage of her roots to showcase the beauty of the Patagonia scenery. With the world in lockdown and with many wedding plans foiled, Melissa and Wendy of WLA Events crafted up the idea of how a destination wedding can be captured close to home, while making decisions that were eco friendly and had sustainable elements.
Wendy wanted to combine the Patagonian mountains as part of the ceremony by the illusion of mountain peaks at the front of the room where the bride and groom would exchange their vows. Bergamot Floral Design created a custom-built copper backdrop that depicted just that! The copper mountain peak structure was flanked by naturally-coloured quicksand and toffee roses with delicate pampas grass, native to South American soils. A family passed-down eagle-crested alpaca rug was at the forefront of the backdrop, playing with the idea of where land meets horizon and sky.
Photographer: Melissa Noelle Photography
Venue:
As far as sustainability goes, Farm Hill Weddings’ history supports the very definition of evolving with the times to ensure a sustainable future. Nestled in the Southeastern part of Ontario, the venue has a serene beauty to its surroundings while perched atop a drumlin on acres of farmland that has been passed down the family for decades.
The farm has been in the family’s possession since the 1950s, the owner’s niece was in the wedding industry as a photographer and had the great idea of building their own modern barn so others could admire what they have come to love. Jenn and Matt began their plans to build a venue from ground up, and Farm Hill Weddings was a dream come true in 2019.
There were a few elements we used to include that exuded the deep Chilean culture: the use of alpacas as they would be seen in the Patagonian valleys, incorporating textures and colours that reflect the mountain ranges, glaciers, and desert lands, the inclusion of copper - Chile’s major export and the abundance of food to reflect the rich soils of the terrain.
With the styling of the dinner table, Wendy incorporated similar family passed-down alpaca wool seat cushions for the bride and groom. Using the in-house custom designed live-edge wood tables and modern geometric black chairs, the aesthetics were softened with padded cream-coloured cotton seat cushions, boho round straw mats with speckled stone plates, copper flatware, crystal glasses, burnt orange linen napkin atop a delicate cotton lace table runner.
The tabletop was completed with once again the stunning naturally-coloured quicksand and toffee roses in vintage cream stone vases, setting the tone for a desert-clad ambiance. A custom-made cotton printed menu sat effortlessly on top of the napkins, which was part of the eclectic stationery set hand-created and designed by Jordan of A Good Day Inc.
The invitation was made of hunter green cotton paper to offset the desert-toned decor. The invitation printed on cotton paper featured raw edges with a rose floral design to match the roses used for the wedding decor. The return envelope was lined with wool, a homage to the alpacas. Wedding details were printed on a thin wood paper, a representation of Canadian resources.
A stunning cake by HeckYes! Cakes mimicked the ever important copper mines of Chile, with gleams of green peeking through, embellished with bold red juliette roses and fresh green foliage.
Wedding Style:
Our South American bride and groom had a tanned glow and was the perfect canvas in styling a bold and fun aesthetic. Red lipstick, AKI by ethical and sustainable brand, Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics was used by Victoria Rendon Beauty to achieve a daring look, a statement of the fun and adventurous personality of Chilean women.
The bride, Aline, was dressed in a gorgeous high-waisted gown with peasant sleeves and a “V” open top, made of embroidered silk organza and couture silk crepe petticoat. Wedding gown designer, Aurelia Hoang, is a local in Toronto (although originally from Paris, which can be seen as influences in her pieces), designing and creating masterpieces with sustainable fabrics and ethical business practices.
Aline was adorned with beautifully hand-crafted accessories from The Loved One, including a romantic oversized bow with faux pearls paired with statement hoop earrings made of silver plated gold wire, crystal beads, lucite flowers, silk Mokuba ribbon and gold plated glass studs for the first look. Transitioning into a more traditional low bun for the ceremony, hair stylist, Stephanie of Blown and Balayaged, changed up the hair piece to a matching hair vine to the earrings - a sterling silver plated gold wire with crystal beads, lucite flowers, and rose quartz. Finally, as dusk meets night with the newlyweds cozying into an intimate late-night picnic, Aline’s messy low bun unravelled into a loose side ponytail, sporting a flower-adorned straw hat by The Loved One.
Our groom, Rogerio, was decked out in a fitted gray suit by Garrison Weddings, designed and made in Toronto, with ethically sourced brown leather dress shoes featuring intricate designs - a token to the Western/cowboy culture of Chile. Aline wore an award-winning glass halo ring from FTJ Co., an ethical jeweller in Toronto. This one-of-a-kind creation is designed by Kathleen Kerr, featuring a 1.49 ct oval portrait cut yellow and blue Australian sapphire, 18 pieces of yellow, green, blue and teal Australian sapphire melee, and 21 pieces of Canadamark diamond melee on an 18K palladium white and yellow gold band. For the exchanging of the vows, the couples exchanged matching simple yet unique 18K bicolour bands in yellow and white gold.
Food And Drink:
As in any culture, food unites families, friends and strangers alike. The Chilean culture prides itself with the rich crops they produce and export, along with showcasing the cultural influences in their cooking. For this styled shoot, we featured homemade Chilean treats which symbolizes the importance of passed on traditions and added personal touches which included Alfajores, Brazo de Reina, Calzones Rotos, Leche Nevada, a Thousand Layer Cake, Empanadas, and Sopaipillas topped with Pebre.
For a Canadian take, Chef Josh of Kitchen Farmacy, a farm-to-table catering company created an appetizing charcuterie board featuring Canadian produce and ingredients influenced by Latin flavours. The impressive board included Canadian cuts of thinly sliced cured meats, pickled green beans and beets, chili, thyme and lemon ricotta rolled in pistachios, and a mouthwatering Canadian hard cheese wrapped with a decadent Mayan coffee chocolate chili rub.
Signature drinks are a great way to incorporate a culture into the wedding style, and we did just that with concocting our own version of the Chilean drink: El Calafate Sour. This is a typical aperitif from the southern highway of Chile. Calafate berries are usually used to create the deep blue-ish purple hue, but without access to these berries readily available in Canada, we used blackcurrant concentrate instead. The concentrate is mixed with lemon juice, pisco, sugar and ice cubes, and while typically served with an egg white foam, Farm Hill Wedding’s creative bartender recreated the texture and look of egg white with aquafaba water instead, for a vegan spin.
Concept and Photography: Melissa Noelle Photography @melissanoellephotography | Planner, Creative Director and Co-Stylist: WLA EventsEvents @wla_events | Florist and Co-Stylist, Candles, Ceremony Frame: Bergamot Floral Design @bergamotfloraldesign | Videographer: Beaufilms Production @beaufilmsvideo | Venue, Table and Chairs, Wine Barrels, Beverage: Farm Hill Weddings @farmhillweddings | Couch Rentals, Table Top Rentals, Picnic Setup: Pretty Wild Events @prettywildeventdecor | Cake: HeckYes! @heckyescake | Make-up Artist: Victoria Rendon Beauty @vr.beauty | Hair Stylist: Blown and Balayaged @blown.and.balayaged | Wedding Gown and Veil: Aurelia Hoang @aureliahoang | Groom’s Suit: Garrison Weddings @garrisonweddings | Accessories and Hat: The Loved One @theloved_one | Wedding Rings and Bands: FTJ Co. @ftjco | Stationery and Signage: A Good Day Inc. @agooddayinc | Charcuterie Board: Kitchen Farmacy @kitchenfarmacychef Models: Aline Botelho and Rogerio Gindro @aline_always_travels | Private Collection: Alpaca wool cushions, rug and yerba mate tea cup.