We were together for a decade before we got engaged. And we’re wedding videographers. There’s a lot of wedding talk in our lives. So when it came down to planning a wedding, we did things a little differently.
We wanted to host a celebration of our lives together for the past decade. So, we opted to have a good-sized engagement party that everyone thought was our secret wedding.
The funny part about this story is we first lucked into staying at the penthouse suite following a commercial shoot with VIATEC. We spent the evening dancing up a storm, giggling and chowing down on pizza from Famoso and sipping on Hoyne beer. It was during Rifflandia 2016 and something magical was in the air. Maybe it was the beer?
Fast forward to nearly a year later, and a beauty hike up to Garibaldi Lake and these two dorks are officially engaged. And man, did we ever want to celebrate. Whoo!!
The venue, the penthouse at Swan’s Hotel was absolutely perfect for us, because we were able to host 55+ of our friends and fam AND we stayed overnight.
We bought our favourite wine and kegs of beer, and rented these cool (butter) beer mugs along with wine glasses so no solo cups were in site!
We did use paper plates and some festive napkins to make sure we were minimal in what would have taken hours of washing to clean up. The really cool part about this was that we were able to keep things relatively low-waste. Pizza in cardboard boxes + no beer cans = happy recycling!
My Dad, opted to share a beautiful speech that went into detail of how Grady and I have built our life together. He reflected on our shared passion for dogs, how we’ve worked to build our video production company and how we maintain a playful spirit together. Well done, Dad!
We invited Megan Edelman to photograph our night and she blew us away with how much she captured! Read our review of her work and mad skills on Google.
Here’s what we remember from the night — everyone feeling relaxed and mingling naturally. It was just the right amount of space and people. Food is super important to us, and we wanted to infuse a personal element in what we offered our friends and family. Grady spent the night before our party baking not a few, but a dozen loaves of bread. Elf played and I did yoga as Grady created loaf after loaf.
A bread-making fan yourself? Here’s our cherished recipe for Olive Rosemary Loaf and Olive Tapenade. We foraged for fir tree branches the wind had released from the trees and added in goodies from Costco to ensure there was the perfect mix of sweet and savoury.
Top 3 wins from the evening — hiring Megan, having plenty of food + drinks and choosing an intimate space that could house everyone. It was a logistical breeze, being right downtown made for easy transit.
The only element we wished we could have had more help with is the tidying.
Ultimately, we loved our engagement party — in fact, people still talk about it. As much as we loved the feeling of being around so many people we care about, we love one-on-one time more. If you’re thinking about doing some fun, like an adventure elopement, we’d love to help because we fully believe in doing what you want to do to kickstart your marriage (whenever you decide to seal the deal)!
Big love!
Bre & Grady