Today we can’t wait to share with you Erin + Andy’s whimsical, colourful, romantic elopement story in our Love Isn’t Cancelled Series! These two are super fun and of course, that translated into their intimate elopement celebration.
Erin + Andy were supposed to get married on October 3rd 2020, at a beautiful Italian restaurant in the heart of Coombs, called Cuckoo’s. They were planning to celebrate surrounded by 113 guests. It was going to be colourful, vintage inspired, whimsical, and filled with lots of fun details to match their personalities. Then like many couples, they had to make a the tough decision about what to do about their big party. And as the months went on they decided to go ahead and get married anyway, filling their day with just as much beauty and fun as they originally had planned.
Erin completely took the reins on the planning, design, and execution of their elopement day and these gorgeous photos have us even more excited for the gorgeous celebration we’ll be a part of when parties are a thing again! Erin and our lead planner Camille are a perfect match design wise and it’s absolutely killing us to not be able to share what’s in the works for Erin + Andy’s future celebration!
Erin + Andy were married on August 2, 2020 at Andy’s family cabin in Deep Bay on Vancouver Island. Surrounded by immediate family, they said their vows and got married! While some things went not quite as planned (their officiant said the wrong names, a giant wind storm happened!), it was still a perfect day to them. Check out what Erin had to say about it all below!
When and how did you make the decision to change your wedding plans? Were there any specific deciding factors?
We made the decision to postpone pretty early for a Fall wedding (in April). In fact a lot of people were surprised and thought we were crazy for thinking Covid would still be an issue in the Fall. We were following Bonnie Henry and the other experts closely and they kept mentioning that it would not likely go away on it’s own, there was likely to be a 2nd wave in the fall, and the estimated time for a vaccine was a bare minimum of a year. As both myself and my father have underlying health conditions that would put us at high risk, we just didn’t think it was worth it. It was causing me a lot of stress worrying that if we waited and end up still having to postpone, we wouldn’t be able to find a date that worked for all our vendors. So we just decided to rip the band-aid off and just do it!
How was your wedding day different than what you had imagined?
Everything, except for seeing Andy’s smiling face at the end of the aisle. As we’re still planning to have the wedding we already planned, once it’s safe, we decide to make this microwedding a completely different party altogether. It was fun to be able to come up with a completely different look and theme. As our first one will be really eclectic and whimsical we decided to go with a more romantic and traditional vibe this time around. And as the event would take place right beside the ocean we had to include some nautical aspects to it!
How was your wedding day the same as what you had originally imagined?
It was beautiful and full of love. For my wedding dress, I wore the dress that I planned on wearing for the reception, which was fantastic as that dress was too beautiful to just wear in the evening!
Was there anything that turned out better than your original plan?
Having just the immediate family there was so special and meaningful. It also made the atmosphere so much more relaxed. During the reception, I actually was able to sit and enjoy my dinner and have full conversations with everyone instead of running around, making sure that I talked briefly with everyone. And getting married at my husband’s family cabin was so meaningful to us as it’s our favorite place in the world and we could never have done it if we had our original guest count.
Are you still planning for any part of your original plan for a later date in the future? One year anniversary? Vow renewal? Reception celebration?
We plan to do it all over again, once it’s safe, ceremony and all. We’ll have our rings blessed and we’ll renew our vows then have a big party celebrating everything after. Everyone’s going to need a good party once COVID is over!!!
What would you want to say to other couples who are considering a smaller wedding?
Do it!! You won’t regret it! I can’t put into words just how intimate and authentic it feels to be surrounded by those that are truly closest to you. And afterwards you just get to relax and enjoy the evening. Also, bonus perk with a lower guest count you can invest in those more expensive details that you might have to for go with a larger wedding and get the dream look. For example, for us it was custom cookies of our dog that we handed out for wedding favours and upgrading the table rentals!
What was your most memorable moment of the wedding day?
Hahaha, do you want the truth or the fairytale answer? Let’s go with the truth: The most memorable moment of the wedding is also the part we joke about the most. The wind decided to change direction right before I walked down the aisle and the minute I turned the corner my veil blew right into my face. My Dad decided to be helpful (in the least helpful way possible) by yanking my veil backwards, yanking my head backwards at the same time which caused me to yell out something along the lines of, “AhhhhDAAAAD!”. That, ladies and gentlemen, was my grand entrance to my wedding. It was hysterical, my mom and I couldn’t stop laughing while we completed our walk down the aisle. And yes, our photographer caught it all on camera. And we’re still joking about almost 2 months later. I think it’s important to remember that sometimes the things that go wrong make the best stories and you just gotta shrug them off (or in our case, laugh them off). As much as you may want, for example, the perfect dramatic entrance, all that really matters is making those vows and sharing your love with those who mean the most to you.
Thank you so much Erin (and Andy!) for taking the time to answer our questions, you did such a beautiful job with your elopement, and we can’t wait to put together the big party you always dreamed of! We will say a little prayer to Moira Rose that it happens sooner rather than later xo
Vendors:
Photography: Hayley Zumkeller Photography
Wedding Dress: Willowby by Watters from Rituals of Love
Flowers: Willow + Wave
Stationery and Custom Signs: Melanie Anne Designs
Rentals: Darling Vintage Rentals + Relay Event Rentals + Black and White Party Rentals
Hair: Serenity Salon / Makeup: Bride’s Sister
Caterer: Bride’s Mother
Cake: Ruth & Dean
Wedding Bands: Hewn Goods
