Hayley & James’ Pink and Pretty Country-Chic Wedding

Hello Monday once again! I’ve got a pretty and pink wedding with touches of country and funky — yup, who knew those two could go together?

Hayley and James had a lovely garden wedding just off Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. Hayley loves pink — even the text of her e-mail to me was highlighted in pink! — so muted shades of it was naturally the focal color in their celebration. Everything in this wedding had the young couple’s personalities, from their outfits to the decor and details that they mostly made themselves so I loved it at first sight! I’ll stop my gushing now to let talented photographer Andrew Paquet‘s beautiful, dreamy photos speak for themselves.

Here’s what Andrew had to say about the couple’s special day:

After meeting Hayley and James, I knew that I was in for something special on their wedding day. My suspicions were confirmed after they told me that their ceremony was to be held at Liuna Gardens, a quaint and beautiful, self-contained special events venue tucked away just outside of Hamilton, Ontario. The day went off without a hitch and throughout all of the variables that can run a wedding day slightly askew, everyone was able to keep their focus on what wedding’s are all about: heart and love.

I’m seriously digging Hayley’s style! Love that high-low hem dress and floral print shoes. Incidentally, the very cute bride is on hand to clue us in on her and James’ relationship:

James and I don’t really have a crazy love story… We knew each other in highschool through a mutual friend but he was a year older and I had a boyfriend. Our mutual friend went away to Ecuador on a missions trip for almost 6 months and because we both have a pretty good sense of humour a Facebook war arose of who our friend was more excited to see when she got home, and who she missed more… it was me of course. After that we exchanged cell phone numbers and he asked me out on a date. Our first date was nerve racking of course, but just seemed so comfortable. We had our rocky bits, mainly because I’d been hurt before and wasn’t about to let it happen again, but James showed me that I didn’t have to worry and within a month or so we both knew we were the ones for each other. A year later we were engaged, and a year after that we were married.

I’ve never really had a definite style in life haha I’m what they call one of those “unique” ones, and if I had left the theme choice to James we would have had a Toronto Maple Leafs themed wedding. I LOVE country, and the colour pink… therefore that was my theme I guess haha “country chic”. I took so many ideas from the ever genius Martha Stewart but came up with most of the end results myself.

A Toronto Maple Leafs wedding would’ve been interesting too! But seriously, I adore how the couple was able to pull off their version of country chic…

As far as outfits go, I matched my shoes with the girls purses that I had them carry instead of flowers. Super cute, if I do say so myself. Those I got from Davids Bridal in Buffalo along with my wedding dress. My Mum made both flower girl dresses, she is amazing, period. I’ve never been a fan of grooms in black suits, so I told James that he was wearing a grey suit haha. He was hesitant at first but after trying it on, he agreed that it looked really smart. It’s just a lighter tone, I’m not a big fan of harsh, dark colours. It made the wedding look more light and vintage country.

I’ve never been a fan of traditional, so we had a live musician, Christopher Clause, sing me down the aisle with Bruno Mars’ “Marry You”.

We were actually married on January 8, 2011. Our original date of course was July 2, 2011 but James’ Grandmother was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in December and was only given an estimate of 3 months to live. Ruthie played such a huge role in James’ life and we immediately knew that we wanted her there, regardless of the plans we had already committed too. So, we were married January 8, 2011 with Ruthie there and it meant so much to her. Ruthie passed away March 12, 2011 and we are so glad we were able to have her at our wedding as it is something we will always remember, along with the other great memories of the day. Unfortunately, or fortunately (however you want to look at it), we had already paid for the hall for the ‘wedding’ in January, and one of the only ways Ruthie would let us move up the wedding was if we promised to still have a celebration in July. Things went as planned, and we had a renewal of vows on July 2, 2011 for Ruthie and her wishes.

Such an adorable couple!

My flowers were definitely country inspired. I actually went on the hunt for oats and hay to put in my arrangement, apparently not in season lol, I ended up asking Jean’s Flower Shop to add the fake oats that I bought from Michaels into the real flowers. I wanted my flowers to be fresh, like a country summer. I wanted them to be like they had just been picked out of a field of flowers, not conformed and tight… “bunchy” as I tried to describe to Jean’s.

The centrepieces were made up by Jean’s Flower Shop but through the inspiration of myself and my Mother. They also added the oats and hay to the centerpieces which were flowers matching my bouquet in mason jars (what’s more country than mason jars right?). The hearts on the centerpieces were from Etsy.

The table settings were also thought up by myself, white table cloths with pink napkins and simple (pink) flowers from Michaels… haha see, pink. Oh boy did we rush to get that set up the morning of, thanks again to my lovely girls in my wedding party for helping me

I’ve recently gotten into baking, specifically cupcakes, so I thought what a better way to reflect me than having cupcakes for our favours… I had seen a bunch of weddings have cupcakes as their wedding cake, but I again wanted to be original and thought this was a good idea.

I’ve never wanted traditional wedding photos. I LOVE pictures of detail, not just people. I was doing some research into photographer and fell in love with Andrew’s photos immediately. He managed to do everything that I wanted, capture every moment, every detail.

Huge thanks to Andrew for sharing his gorgeous images with us, and congratulations to Hayley and James! Thank you for giving us a peek of your special day!

Photographer: Andrew Paquet
Floral Arrangements/Centerpieces: Jean’s Flower Shop
Centerpieces (wooden hearts): Morgan Hill Designs
Musical Talent: Christopher Clause
Cupcake Favors: Cass Donavon
Shoes/Hand Bags/Wedding dress/Bridesmaids Dresses: Davids Bridal
Flower girls dresses/Ring Pillow: Mother of the Bride
Groom and Groomsmen Suits: Tuxedo Royale
Wedding Cake: Let Them Eat Cakes
Wedding Location: Liuna Gardens

Image submission via Two Bright Lights

Tags: Canada weddings, DIY weddings, garden weddings, non-traditional weddings, outdoor weddings, tattoed brides