Relaxed and fun. Thoughtful and personal.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
We’re a Canadian couple who met in high school, and have stuck by each others side for most of the 13 years since. We moved to London, England together 5 years ago, and have been building our life here.
Pat works in advertising sales; Meg is a former magazine writer turned advertising creative.
We love collecting stones from the beach on our travels and bringing them home to arrange on our shelves. We love walking with our dog through the English countryside and cosying up at the pub by a fire. We love buying interesting books and nicknacks — and we’re quickly running out of places in our South London flat to put them!
We love Rick Steves walking tours, and dive bars with billiard tables. Pat loves snorkelling and jumping off rocks, and Meg loves reading on the beach with a cold drink in hand. And one of our favourite spots to do this is in the South of France, where we chose to get married in July.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Pat was a skateboarder who went to the cool high school downtown. Meg went to a Catholic school in the suburbs. We texted for months before finally meeting at a house party.
Meg thought Pat was cool and hot. Pat thought Meg was well travelled and intelligent. We both thought the other was very funny.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
We used to skip class and meet at Coffee Culture, a fairly seedy cafe downtown. We’d talk for hours, and go for walks through the park.
One time, on a walk, Meg tried a “parkour” trick. Something she thought would impress a cool downtown skater, dude Pat. She slipped and smashed her shin against a sharp marble edge. It cut through her pants and left a deep gash that, upon reflection, we both now agree probably needed stitches.
Pat took Meg back to his parent’s house and bandaged her up. We kissed for the first time. It’s a scar Meg still has today, and we both agree it’s the moment we first “knew”.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
It was the last morning of a week long trip in the South of France. It was after a long (and hungover) hike up to a hilltop castle, in a moment where I’d least expected it. (After I’d been expecting it all week.)
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.
Relaxed and fun. Thoughtful and personal. I wanted to do as much as possible ourselves — from choosing the playlists to designing the invites and sourcing the decor. I would’ve cooked the meal myself if I could! (My sisters did, in fact, mould all those gorgeous butter themselves the night before.)
Sentimental and emotional weren’t two words we had in mind — for a long time, we both tried to reject having a ceremony and doing speeches. Those ended up being our favourite parts of the day.
There were a lot of tears all around.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Food. And taxis for guests.
But honestly, I don’t feel like we “splurged” on anything. I’m so glad we did so much ourselves — because it made everything feel so much more personal. Instead of renting items, I collected all the decor myself from antique retailers. My sisters did the flowers the morning of.
I designed and printed all the stationery and signage myself. The vintage French postcards we hand wrote notes on for each guest were collected through various online auctions. As were most of the antique silver vases and champagne buckets.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
The power went out during dinner, which created an incredibly ambient and grammable candlelit moment—but it also meant it was pitch black in the bridal suite.
My feet were getting sore, and I wanted to change into my cream Repetto ballet flats for my first dance. I really didn’t want to miss any moments from dinner, so I ended up just tossing on the first pair of flat shoes I found. I ended up doing my first dance in my stepsister’s plastic Walmart flip-flops.
VENUE Domaine de Blanche Fleur, @blanchefleur.provence PHOTOGRAPHER Georgia Belle Artistry, @georgiabelleartistry COORDINATOR Enamored & Motion, @enamoredandmotion PLANNER By the Bride FLORIST By the bride’s sisters – Kaitlyn and Addison CELEBRANT Bride’s Little Brother – Liam McKenna ENTERTAINMENT Monsieur Sept, @monsieurseptdj CATERING Traiteur Brunet, @traiteurbrunet CAKE Rocailles Croquembouche from La Maison Jouvaud, @la_maison_jouvaud STATIONER & SIGNAGE By the Bride RINGS Family Jeweller – Michael Rose BRIDE’S CEREMONY DRESS Bibi Luxe Studio, @bibiluxestudio BRIDE’S CEREMONY SHOE Vintage Kitten Heels – Nina Ricci, @ninaricci; Fixed up by the bride’s local high street cobbler VEIL Ann Marie Faulkner, @am_faulkner HAIR & MAKEUP Georgia Belle Artistry, @georgiabelleartistry BRIDE’S RECEPTION DRESS Vintage Clothing Fair BRIDE’S RECEPTION SHOE Repetto, @repettoparis SUIT Suitsupply, @suitsupply GROOM’S SHOE APC, @apc_paris GROOM’S ACCESSORIES Watch – TsingTao (from the groom’s friends)
