It’s honestly hard to find wedding videos I would ever watch, let alone enjoy, of other people’s wedding day. But Pro-Gay vendor Studio 67 sent us this video my way and I was freakin out. Now THIS is something I would have loved to have from our wedding.
Our Favourite Moment of the Day?
-Our Hug in the church.
- After hearing Reverend Debbie Shanks say “Now you may kiss your wife” I could finally embrace my beautiful bride. This was followed by an overwhelming applause full of love & support. It was at this moment everything sunk in. We did it! After 6 years of loving each other, and 9 months of planning – we were married! We were overflowing with so much joy that we spontaneously hugged. It was a genuine & unplanned moment that we will never forget.
Even with a little rain, our wedding day was perfect! Shockingly perfect!
The results of our wedding day were everything we had hoped for – a beautifully personal service, memorable speeches, a father & daughter dance followed by an incredible Same Day Edit we kept as a surprise to our family & friends, all concluded with an insanely fun party.
We worked very hard to make it memorable for our 243 guests, all of whom felt very much as part of ‘our’ day as we did. The love & support we received that day, and since, has been overwhelming at times. Many people have commented that our wedding reflected the growth & maturity of our small city, as people from all ages, backgrounds & lifestyles shared in a wonderful experience together, and even the odd guest left feeling transformed with a better understanding.
We have never taken for granted the blessing we have living in a country that ‘allows’ us to legally marry, however our wedding day wasn’t about it being a “gay wedding”. It was a day to celebrate the union of two people who love each other deeply. It was a day we all will never forget.
Westminster United Church was very accommodating with how we wanted to execute our ceremony. It was their first same-gendered wedding so they allowed us to create a service that would be very personal. Oddly enough, our service was quite traditional. We were both walked down the aisle by our fathers, Amy first followed by Danielle, which was a very proud moment for all of us.
My dear friend from High School, Reverend Nora Vedress, flew here from Saskatchewan and co-officiated with Westminster’s Reverend Debbie Shanks. I can’t begin to tell you how memorable & personal it is to be presided over by one of your best friends!
We asked my Mom to read a particular wedding blessing that we loved, and that was a very key moment for us. The love, pride, and emotion in her voice was riveting. Though collected throughout, we were bubbling over with emotion.
All of our wedding planning came down to our 20 minute ceremony – this is the part that matters!
Each & every aspect of the service should have specific meaning to a couple, as it did for us, and it will remain the fondest memory one could ever have.
We were fully involved in every design element and loved all of them; starting with our beautifully hand-made invitations (Inviting Elegance) as well as our reception, and everything in between. Our florist (BB Blooms) and decorator (Simply Beautiful) worked closely with each other to reflect & blend our style and selections. Most importantly – they worked very closely with us! Simply Beautiful provided our linens & back drop while BB Blooms created our centerpieces. We then had Inviting Elegance produce individual wedding favour cards (donation in lieu of favour) and table numbers with the menu, as well as a very attractive seating chart stationed at the door of the Grand Event Room.
Our tip: Ensure that you have selected a vendor who will sit with you for hours if needed putting together the perfect design to reflect YOUR taste. Unless you do one-stop shopping, work with vendors who are willing to contact each other to create a design that is perfect for you. We did not solicit advice or suggestions from anyone and feel that we avoided additional stress by making all of our decisions together. It’s not that we don’t value the opinions of our families and friends, but everyone has different tastes and we wanted our wedding to reflect “us” only.
Amy: When two guests in the hotel introduced themselves to me toward the end of the night saying “this was the best wedding we’ve ever been too”. Wedding-crashers!! They even signed our guestbook!! They were quite possibly the nicest people I’ve ever met so all I could do was laugh. It wasn’t until we saw our Studio 67 Feature Film that we had total confirmation – they were dancing all night long!! Bob & Cindy, whoever you are – You Rock!
Danielle: I am 5’9 and Amy is 5’6. It was very important to Amy that our height somewhat matched on our wedding day so I was happy to wear Puma’s while Amy battled heels. We left our reception at 2am or so and began our long walk back through White Oaks to our bridal suite. Finally barefoot, Amy could only walk 50 feet without having to sit. I found an office chair from a nearby conference room and had to wheel my bride back to our room. To quote our friend & Reverend Nora Vedress the following morning at brunch: “Yesterday I was thinking… now THIS is a wedding! But when I saw Danielle wheeling Amy back to their room I thought… now that’s a marriage!”
Photographer – Wanda from Studio 67 (wife of Brian, our cinematographer) – Honestly, they are incredible!!!
Venue – White Oaks Conference Resort & Spa (Niagara on the Lake, Ontario)
Food was provided by White Oaks – Outstanding!!
Florist – BB Blooms (St. Catharines, Ontario)
This included Bouquets, Corsage & Boutonnières, Unity Candle, Centerpieces (Manzanita branches & Candles), Branches used in backdrop at head table
Decorator – Simply Beautiful
She posted pics on her blog
Invitations (favour/menu cards/seating chart) – Inviting Elegance (Vineland, Ontario)
Dresses -
Amy wore a dress by Alfred Sung (Weddings Heidi Style, St. Catharines, Ontario)
Danielle wore a dress by Oleg Cassini (David’s Bridal, New York State)
Tuxedo’s (Ushers & Fathers) – Gary Waters, St. Catharines, Ontario
Accessories (Amy & Danielle’s jewelry) – Not Just Art, St. Catharines, Ontario
Church – Westminster United Church, St. Catharines, On
Transportation – Dynasty Limo (Jordan Station, Ontario)
DJ – Spirit of Sounds (Thorold, Ontario)
With massive enthusiasm we are happy to endorse all of our vendors, we could not have had the gorgeous wedding that we did without them. We are very detailed people (Capricorn & Virgo, Lol) so the little things did matter to us – and even the little things were perfect.
We just watched the video and definitely some watery eyes over here. We’ve got wo days left on the east coast before we start this new journey of life together on the west coast. This wedding video was a beautiful way to start off our vary stressful day of running around and packing and doing errands.
This is absolutely beautiful! Love!
This video is AWESOME! And, yes, I cried…
To have this studio filming our wedding day we could move it from Scotland to Canada!
What a gorgeous wedding video! I am so happy for you both! Congratulations!!
Definitely a priceless moment! Congrats Ladies!
I can’t believe how beautiful this is. I have never seen anything like it before. Watching this made me realize that I don’t think I have ever before seen (before now) a beautiful uncomplicated representation of love between two women. Thank you for sharing this with all of us. It made me feel really, really good.
This day made me so proud! To be a member of The United Church of Canada, to be a Rev for this church, to be free to celebrate such beautiful love, to be friends with two of the most amazing women I’ve ever known in my life. Amy and Danielle, love, joy, health, and peace always!
I was honoured to be a guest at this beautiful wedding and it is a day I will never forget. Amy and Danielle compliment each other so well – in every way imaginable. They have the most beautiful friends and family. Who could ask for more?!
Studio 67 filmed & edited all day long and somehow put this video together to have it played for our guests during the reception – they are amazing! If you like this, you wouldn’t believe what our Feature Film looks like! We love everything they have created and have already had a sneak-peek at our wedding album design… it is gorgeous!! There is nothing they can’t do!
Thank you for the wonderful comments; we wish you the best of luck when it’s your turn to walk down the aisle :)
With love & pride from your Canadian friends, Amy & Danielle.
PS- Comment above is absolutely right; we are blessed with so much love & support from our beautiful family and dear friends. Hoping all of you feel the same about those in your life – you deserve nothing less.
Really nice video, thanks for sharing.
It was sure a wonderful day celabrating Love, friendship and Respect.
Congratulations!!!
We also celebrated our civil union last saturday, august 20th.
Our friend lawyer was the celebrant and we all cried of emotion..It was a memorable day, especially after relation of 18 years already.
Our wedding was august 14th ..
This is absolutely gorgeous, natural, beautiful, tender, loving, and breath taking. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve never been more honoured than to be asked by my best friend Amy, to stand up as her and Danielle’s Maid of Honour. It was the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever seen and the two most stunning brides. It was the fairy tale everyone dreams of.
xoxo to you both.
I was so moved watching this video. Beautiful! The two of them exchanging cards got me misty eyed. *Sigh*
Amy and Danielle
I wish u both love and a lifetime of hapiness. Your video was beautiful. Is it not amazing how powerful love is!!!!! love always xoxoxoxo
Hi there yoou two beautiful women.
We want to firstly say that your wedding is a video we often visit because it inspires us.
We are getting married next year and everything you have both strived for in your ceremony was just stunning.
We both live in Auckland-New Zealand and our families and friends embrace us as a couple.
You both looked absolutely stunning and it’s so great to see you enjoyng your day.
We are both brides who will be walking down the aisle together. We are so excited about our day and will be doing more planning these holidays.
You are an inspiration to us.
Thanks for sharing your day on video.
Much aroha (love)
Me & her xoxoxo