Sarah and Moe's ethereal Arabic wedding at Le Belvedere

You may recognize this gorgeous bride and if not you will soon come to know this ray on sunlight as Sarah is now part of our team here at Toast! But before this, Sarah stepped into my life as the sweetest client. Her trust in me to plan her wedding and bring her vision to life with some added tulle and that “je ne sais quois” signature Toast style evolved into a longterm friendship and trusted co-planner.

Everytime I look back at Sarah’s wedding I melt. I remember telling her that we needed more softness, tulle overlays atop the standard table linens to look like frothy waves….create movement in a still design. And without hesitation she said “Yes!!!! I see it! It’s going to look dreamy!.”

The color palette was exceptional and all Sarah’s friends and family came dressed to impress with the most beautiful fashion. Not bad for a wedding that was anticipated to be 300 guests at the Infinity Centre to a pandemic in full swing with a reduced guest list to 100 guests at the intimate cliff side wedding venue Le Belvedere.

We’d love to hear from you!

For more information regarding this wedding or if you would like Toast to make your vision a reality send us a note!

Planner & Design Creation: Toast Events

Florist & Decorator: Moe Signature Design

Furniture & Floral Backdrop Rental: Lavish

Venue: Le Belvedere

Cake: The Girl With The Most Cake

Photographer: Agatha Rowland

Videographer: Liam Rowland

Invitations & Table Stationary: The Invitation Studio

Zaffe: Zaffetna Entertainment

DJ: Adrenaline Entertainment

SAN DIEGO STYLE ROOFTOP WEDDING AT OTTAWA ART GALLERY

A planned wedding in Greece. That reality started slipping away in the early stages of the Pandemic. All their dreams of a sunny elfresco wedding in Europe was but a glimmer. It was inevitable, the wedding had to be cancelled. Both Anastasi and Saam were respectively devastated and disheartened. Lost deposits and a painful feeling in their hearts they didn’t realistically feel that they could recreate their vision, and in, of all places- Ottawa while also living in Toronto.

Amidst the pandemic Anastasia & Saam re-grouped and started contacting vendors to help them celebrate their wedding day the best they could. But they were up against a Covid and the world had other plans. Newly updated restrictions without notice, grey areas of interpretation and guest safety was a major concern. Dancing was officially banned, while food and beverage was being served guests were to remain at their seats, masks to be worn if a guest left their designated seats, live performers had to be placed far from guests, 1 meter physical distance had to be maintained at all times, tables needed to be spread far apart, guests had to be seated in their own bubbles, contact lists needed to be formulated for contact tracing for guests and vendors alike, security was tight etc which continuously posed new challenges Anastasia and Saam didn’t have the strength to get through. The obstacles mounted and the murky logistics seemed like a never ending battle they weren’t prepared for. How could you possibly celebrate in such circumstances?

When Saam and Anastasia contacted us we could feel the tension in their voices, the mourning for their beautiful wedding in Greece. We had large shoes to fill. With the unknown ahead of us, we began planning their wedding in stages with a 2 month head start. The date changed numerous times, the amount of guests permitted changed based on our local health regulations and the work put forth was as if we were planning 4 weddings at once. There was a plan A-Z and I think at the end we were on plan W. Covid provided its own set of hurdles to overcome with short supply in vendor availability, constant price changes, scarce furniture rental ability, short supply of floral product, staffing shortages, and new costs associated to Covid cleaning procedures and food safety. All of these things played into how we would be able to design and plan their wedding. A spiderweb of complications which left all of use with extreme highs and lows. A roller coaster ride no one want to be on. Where was this silver lining everyone talks about?!?!

In over a decade of working in this industry, I had never had to deal with so many unknowns. In some respects it felt like this was the first wedding I had ever planned. Nothing was the same and every day had a new surprise which was completely out of our control. It took a lot of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, major discussions that were hard to have and a lot of personal favours called in to make this wedding happen as close to the clients vision as possible.

We personally had sleepless nights, mini anxiety attacks and mini fits of disbelief. But we pulled through and it made us strong for it. It’s an experience my team and I will not soon forget and a huge learning opportunity. It pushed us to the brink- but the reward of hearing “It was the best day of our life”made it ALL worthwhile.

I remember meeting with Saam and Anastasia after the wedding and the sheer joy they emitted was palpable. They explained that throughout the whole process they were skeptical of how they would actually feel on their wedding day having been robbed of the privilege in having their dream wedding in Greece. But, they explained, it was everything and more then what they would have expected for their dream wedding. It was incomprehensible how the day all came together and that their day was truly special in every way. Cloud 9.

And this only begins to scratch the surface of this wedding story….

Vendors:

Planning & Design Toast: Events

Photography: Lace & Luce

Venue: Ottawa Art Gallery

Florals & Decor: Wedecor  

Makeup Artist: Klava Z Beauty

Hair Stylist: Hair By Adamo

Cake: Girl With The Most Cake 

Caterer: My Catering Group

Entertainment: Luxe Duo 

Videography: Up North 

Entertainment: Shawn Marino 

DJ: Matt Ferguson 

Transportation: Antique Limo Services & Maestro Limousine

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NATALIE & SHANE June 27th 2015 -Shaw Center-

Although it's November, the wedding season isn't over just quite yet! But at the season comes to an end, we finally start seeing gorgeous photography trickling in. So lets take a time machine and hop back to spring with the lovely Natalie & Shane. 

Wedding Planner: Toast Events

Photographer: Photolux

Videographer: Photo & Films by Eduardo

Florist: Full Bloom

Linens & Rentals: Mastermind Events 

Rentals: Creative Edge

Retals: Lou Lou Lounge

Stationary: The Paper Studio

Band: Eric Eggleston

Piano Soloist: Eddie Bimm

Hair: Show Pony

Makeup: Ottawa Makeup Artists

Transportation: Elite Limousine 

Dj: David Atherton

Ceremony: Basilica

Reception: The Shawn Center Trillium Ballroom

Audio: Wall Sound

Cake: The Girl With The Most Cake