Just two weeks before their wedding day, Faye-Rae and Aaron had to completely rethink their plans when their city’s COVID restrictions limited gatherings to just ten people. Despite having to change venues and reorganize the whole day on very short notice, in the end their Jewish wedding turned out to be nothing short of fabulous.
In order to include as many people in their celebration as possible, the couple opted for a shift wedding, where separate groups of guests attended for a couple of hours at a time. Since the cap on how many guests could be present at one time was so low, Faye-Rae and Aaron had two ceremonies – one for the bride’s family and one for the groom’s – and three mini cocktail hours, rotating family and friends throughout the day. This way, they were able to include more of their loved ones while sticking to the local regulations – and for those who couldn’t participate in person, the duo livestreamed their ceremony.
We’re in love with Black and Gold Photography’s luminous images of the day – not to mention the couple’s beautiful tree of life ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham!
Now over to the bride, who looked so elegant in Stella York…
How we met
Faye-Rae, the bride: We both work in the insurance industry and met at our company’s Christmas party.
A COVID Wedding
We got engaged on a weekend trip to Belgium – specifically, it was a Sunday trip to Bruges, a beautiful town with entwining canals throughout. Aaron proposed in a secluded courtyard overlooking the canal. It was sealed with some delicious Belgium chocolate labelled “Will you marry me?”
Our original (pre-Covid19) wedding was set to be at the Fort Gary Hotel with 160 of our closest friends and family celebrating with us. Unfortunately due to COVID we had to make some very last minute changes. Two weeks before our wedding day our city’s restrictions went down to a maximum of 10 people to a gathering, which ended up with us needing to find a new venue.
We were very fortunate to have a wedding planner Sheila from Inspired Elegance Events and she was able to find us a new location on very short notice. We held our wedding at the Smith Restaurant at Inn at the Forks in their Solstice Room, which was the perfect room for our special day.
Simple Elegance
We had the most wonderful wedding planner – Shelia from Inspired Elegance Events. While we didn’t have a theme, we did want it to be simple but elegant.
Hair + Make-up
I was fortunate to have my maid of honour, Lauren, who is a former hair dresser to style my wedding hair. Over the planning stages we talked about styles and looks and she would come to my dress fittings with me so we could try to plan the best look. What originally started with being half up/half down, turned into a beautiful updo.
My make up artist was also amazing, her name is Desiree and she was recommended to me by friends who knew her and how amazingly talented she is. I was not disappointed!!!
A Stella York Dress
I was fortunate to find my beautiful Stella York wedding gown at 7th Avenue. The dress was ivory with an almond overlay that complemented my fair complexion.
The handsome groom
Aaron wore a midnight blue 2 piece suit, custom made by Suit Supply in London, England.
Ceremony
Due to the COVID 19 restrictions we ended up having two ceremonies, one with each of our families and to make them more intimate I (Faye-Rae) had asked my older brother Ellis to officiate the ceremony with my family and Aaron asked his younger sister Evelyn to officiate the wedding with his family.
This allowed for both the ceremonies to have a very unique and individualized touches.
As the weddings were very restricted we were fortunate to be able to hire Golden Hour to live stream both the wedding so all our intended guests were able to watch our big day.
We also hired a Pianist Evan Miles to play live music during the ceremonies and during the two family receptions that followed. He played beautifully and was also able to live play ‘In My Life’ by the Beatles which was used for both our father-daughter and mother-son dance.
Ketubah
Our ketubah was designed by Nava Shoham, her artwork is so beautiful and the tree of life ketubah felt like a representation of our relationship and growing love.
Our Music Choice
Processional Groom – Ed Sheeran – ‘Perfect’
Processional Bride – Elvis Presley – ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’
First Dance – Beatles – ‘In My Life’
Flowers
I am very fortunate for my friends and especially for Kyla Ferguson who is a florist consultant that was willing to take on my wedding. While I had asked Kyla to keep a neutral colour scheme, I gave her free range to pick out flowers that she thought would look beautiful and she did an absolutely amazing job.
Photographer and videographer
We had three husband and wife teams capturing our wedding day.
Our photographers are Joel and Cheryl from Black and Gold Photography and their work is beyond amazing, they captured all the moments and made them life long memories.
Our wedding videographers are Lauren and Jordan from Prairie Film Co, Lauren is a long time family friend that we were fortunate to use in capturing our wedding day. While we’ve only seen a sneak peak of their work, we can absolutely say it is phenomenal.
Our virtual wedding videographers were Britni and Kelvin from Golden Hour, they were able to provide us this unique service to allow our ceremony to be live streamed to all of the friends and family who could not attend because of COVID 19.
Food and Cake
Our receptions were catered by the SMITH restaurant, they provided an assortment of passed hors d’oeuvres which included individualized charcuterie boards, beef wellingtons, reuben sliders and much more.
We also had passed dessert plates that included many bite sized treats all were made by The Store Next Door, they also created our beautiful two tiered buttercream cake.
Favours
I loveeee coffee so we prepared our own wedding favours which had coffee beans in small white boxes, we enclosed with a golden and glittery ribbon, with stickers labels saying “Love is brewing”.
Extra details
Having to change wedding venue a week before our wedding is something we’ll never forget. Our amazing wedding planner helped us shift gears when the Province of Manitoba imposed a 10 person maximum at indoor venues which included weddings!
We hosted 2 x 10 person wedding receptions, following by 3 x 10 person cocktail hours, rotating family and friends through our day. We also purchased wedding themed face masks which was fun and looked great in pictures, and wrote our wedding vows to each other which have formed great lasting memories for us.
Honeymoon
We honeymooned for 6 days in Banff, Alberta, in an Air BnB. With Covid-19, our options were very limited as to where we could go, but going out to Western Canada allowed us to spend some time outdoors not very close to other people, and celebrate each other!
We enjoyed some nice meals; one of them at a Fondue restaurant called ‘the Grizzly’ and also going for high tea at the Banff Fairmont Springs Hotel – the castle in the sky.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
The day truly goes by in the blink of an eye, so really try to enjoy each and every moment, breathe, take it all in, and save some moments for yourselves in the midst of the wedding day madness!
We would say in the end, we really enjoyed having such an intimate day with our closet family and friends. It allowed for more 1 on 1 time with our guests.
FAYE-RAE & AARON’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Black and Gold Photography
Ketubah – 1-800-ketubah – Nava Shoham
Videography – Prairie Film Co
Virtual Videographers – Golden Hour
Wedding planner – Inspired Elegance Events
Venue – Smith Restaurant at Inn at the Forks
Bride’s dress – Stella York found at 7th Avenue
Groom’s attire – Suit Supply
Hair – Lauren
Makeup – Makeup by Desiree
Flowers – Kyla Ferguson
Piano – Evan Miles
Cake – The Store Next Door
Cake Topper – Thistle and Lace
Simply Perfect Decor Simply Perfect Decor
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
