French Kiss Events, Victoria’s luxury boutique wedding planning and design firm, specializing in creating weddings and events that are personalized down to the smallest detail.

Journal

Posts tagged Side One
Real Wedding: Tiff & Levi

Over 10 years ago, 2 teenagers met while on summer vacation at a campground in Canada with their families.   They instantly became friends, and not long after that, started dating.  After over a decade of growing up together,  falling in love, and building an incredible life together, they decided to make it official in beautiful Victoria, BC!  And I'm thanking my lucky stars, as they chose FKE to bring their day to life, and oh man...it was a good one folks! Taking place at the 2 most iconic venues in the city, Hatley Castle and The Empress Hotel, their wedding vision was grand from the start of the planning, and we pulled out all the stops to bring it to life!  

One of my favourite things about this wedding, was the epic seating chart that we pulled together.  I've had this idea for a few years now, and we were just waiting for the perfect wedding to create it at!  As guests arrived to the ceremony, all of their pics were snapped at a portrait station (thanks Four Frames!) near the entrance to the Castle.  Those photos were then printed and turned into polaroids that we displayed at the couples reception, acting as the guests personalized escort cards!  It was a huge hit, and something that everyonewas blown away by.

The reception space was overflowing with luxurious details and we infused the couples impeccable taste all throughout.  The neutral palette of soft creams, greys & blush tones, helped transform the ballroom setting into a modern day take on the traditional space. The menu, custom designed by The Empress's chef, was served tapa style, inspired by all the couples favourite eats! Ranging from sushi to maui rib sliders, the food was a hit!  And as the lights dimmed, guests partied the night away to Side One's 8 piece band (always a favourite of mine), photo booth, Mojito bar and Popcorn station!

It was definitely a wedding to remember, and for sure the party of the summer!  One of the things I love most about weddings though, is no matter how much planning you do and how many incredible details there are, often the best moments of the day are the unplanned ones.  This was definitely the case for Tiff & Levi.  After dinner, the couple sneaked out with Ryan Flynn and Kismet Creative for some sunset shots down in the harbour.  A band busking in the harbour congratulated the couple, and then asked them what their first dance was.  The song was "Georgia" by Vance Joy, and without skipping a beat, the band began playing it for them, and they had their first dance right then and there, in the harbour, just the 2 of them.  Pure magic!  You can see this gorgeous day unfold below, and make sure to check out the incredible video by Kismet at the top! 

**Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the complete list of all the kick ass vendors that helped make this day so incredible!  All photos courtesy of Ryan Flynn Photographer.  Video courtesy of Kismet Creative.

Planning & Design - French Kiss Events
Photography - Ryan Flynn Photography
Videography - Kismet Creative
Ceremony Venue - Hatley Castle
Reception Venue - The Empress
Florals - Verbena Floral Design & Thorn & Thistle
Stationery - Love by Phoebe
Band - Side One
Cake - Passion for Cakes
Linens - Faire la Fete
Hair - Conscious Hair
Makeup - Carly Flint
Photobooth - Four Frames Photo Booth

Real Wedding: Jennifer & Alex Part 2 (The Wedding)

Where do I even begin with this one?!  I first shared a glimpse into Jennifer & Alex's incredible 3 day celebration back in the Spring, when I blogged their welcome party.  And yes, I know, I know....I had promised to share the wedding soon after, and alas it is now November.  What can I say, except wedding season happened lol!  And I truly wanted to make sure that I gave this post the time that it deserved, and have spent hours and hours pouring over the stunning images by Erich McVey, trying to narrow them down to a reasonable post length.   So here goes nothing...

Taking place in July of 2016, on Jennifer's parents private property on Salt Spring Island, Jennifer & Alex's wedding was a career highlight for me.  I wrote a lot about why, back in their welcome party post, so I won't bore you by repeating myself here. But let's just say that I couldn't be prouder of the way it turned out, and get chills every time I think back to this weekend!  The A-Team of vendors brought their (you guessed it) A-Game, and it all the hard work and planning resulted in a seamlessly executed event.  The wedding was obviously the main event of the weekend, and we held nothing back when it came to the design, food & florals!

The colours and design we incorporated throughout the wedding were heavily influenced by Jennifer’s love of design and Alex’s Asian heritage. The Chinese symbol for marriage, Double Happiness, was the inspiration behind the eclectic paper goods designed by La Happy, and the 5-course Asian fusion menu, prepared by Toque Catering, was a modern twist on the symbolic Chinese wedding dinner, something that was incredibly important to Alex’s family. Jennifer was not shy at all when it came to colour and so we used bold, bright shades throughout the florals and linen choices.   I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again: Brides, don't be afraid of colour!  This wedding is proof that it can be killer!!

One of the most special moments of the day had to be when Jennifer presented her Grandmother with her bouquet. The admiration and love that her families generation of women has for each other are inspiring, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place! Another absolute must for Jennifer & Alex was live music. They absolutely love to party with their friends back in New York, so we brought over the best of the best, Side One, from Vancouver for the weekend to keep guests dancing well into the night.  Honestly though, there is so much good to share about this wedding, that I don't think it can be properly summed up into words.  But thanks to the genius of Erich McVey and Kismet Creative (video at bottom of post), you can hopefully get a better sense of why this one was so special.  Enjoy!

**Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the complete list of all the kick ass vendors that helped make this day so incredible!  All photos courtesy of Erich McVey Photography.

Planning/Design - French Kiss Events
Photography - Erich McVey Phototography
Videography - Kismet Creative
Catering - Toque Catering
Floral Design - Verbena Floral Design
Linens - La Tavola
Bar Rentals - Bash Specialty
Rentals - Black & White, White Events Studio
Music - Side One
Cake - Passion For Cakes
Stationery - La Happy
Hair - Conscious Hair
Makeup - Jen Clark

The Weekend Roundup...delayed Part 2
S&P-Roundup

S&P-Roundup

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S+P vendors-35

S+P vendors-26

S+P vendors-26

S+P vendors-4

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S+P vendors-88

S+P vendors-88

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truffles1

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S+P Reception -172

S+P Reception -172

Continuing on with the epically delayed Weekend Roundup's, comes a 2-day wedding celebration, that took place over the Labour Day long weekend.  This. Wedding. Was. Incredible!!!!  Planned in just 2.5 months, we were able to pull together one of the most beautiful weddings, and biggest parties I have ever had the honour of planning!!  Our couple, who are used to being in the spotlight, as they are 2 of Canada's sport icons, just wanted to have fun with their nearest and dearest, and really focus on the coming together of their 2 families.  So much more on their wedding to come in the future, but for now, all I will say is a massive thank you to the fabulous vendors that made this wedding so amazing! Truffles Catering, Verbena Floral Design, Side One, Tuktu Paper Co., Rock Paper Square, Passion for Cakes and Beauty & Style by Erin Bradley...you guys rock!And these sneak peeks from Kelly Brown Photographer are complete and utter perfection. Seriously. 

A HUGE congratulations to the newlyweds!! This wedding was a highlight of my career so far for sure, and getting to know you both through the process was absolutely wonderful!

xo Barb

Freddie & Jeremy

A barge.  A private Island.  A Rabi flown in from Australia.  Need I say more?  The wedding of Freddie & Jeremy last summer, on a privately owned Island in East Sooke, was the definition of epic! Guests flew in from all around the world to spend the week with this lovely couple, and to party well into the night at their black tie affair. Being from England & Australia, Freddie & Jeremy really wanted to embrace the west coast, and the natural beauty of the Island, and with a setting like this, how can you not?!! They say it takes a village, but this wedding (in my mind) took a city of incredible vendors!  Verbena Floral Design & her crew set up a mini floral studio on the Island, and blew everyone away with their floral creations!  Nava Creative Kosher Cuisine and Side One (only THE best wedding band in BC) both made their way over from Vancouver and impressed everyone beyond belief!  And a HUGE thanks to Ameris, for the incredible photos below, and for also being so much fun to hang out with on this wedding day!!

I am so happy that I was able to work with Freddie & Jeremy on their fairytale wedding, and still to do this day, get a huge smile on my face when I remember how incredible it felt to pull this one off!  I wish nothing but the best for this incredible couple, and hope that our paths cross again in the future.

xo Barb

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