Sarah and Matt’s wedding, photographed by Stone Photo, took place at Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar in Vancouver, and was styled around a travel theme. As Sarah is Jewish, their wedding also included Jewish wedding traditions, including both her parents walking her down the aisle, the ceremony taking place under a chuppah (wedding canopy), signing a ketubah (Jewish wedding document), and breaking a glass at the end of the ceremony…
“We did not have a colour scheme but did have a travel theme. We felt that a travel theme really suited us because we are from different countries and spent the first few months of our relationship travelling together.
“I think I may have been temporarily insane when I made the decision to make everything for the wedding! I made the escort cards, board for them to hang on, all of the centrepiece picture frames and small table decorations. I cut out maps and maple leaves from old map paper to put on the tables like confetti. The venue did not really need very much decoration and we only added small touches such as candles and tablecloths.
“Not being that interested or inspired by fashion, choosing a dress was not particularly important to me; I was more interested in function and keeping the cost down. I had made a commitment to not spend more than $500, and ended up choosing a dress that was actually a bridesmaid dress that I ordered in ivory.
“Our whole wedding was held at Brix Restaurant and Wine bar. The ceremony was in the courtyard and the reception in the restaurant. The courtyard was later converted into a seating space for a dessert buffet and for those not on the dance floor. We chose not to have a wedding cake and instead opted for the dessert buffet. I often find that dessert is rushed at weddings, and as a dessert person, I wanted our dinner to go down and then properly enjoy dessert!
“Having religious elements in the ceremony was very important to me, and one of my favourite parts of the wedding was our chuppah (pronounced huppa). A chuppah, symbolic in Jewish wedding ceremonies, is a wedding canopy that represents the new home that a couple will create together. The sides of the canopy are open to symbolise the importance of our involvement in the community and with our family and friends. I knew that because we are an interfaith couple we would not be able to use an official one from a synagogue and would need to create our own, so when we sent out save the date cards a year before the wedding, we also included a square of fabric for our guests to design. Matt’s mum, the heart of this operation, hand-stitched all of the squares together to create the chuppah for us.”
Images © Stone Photo
