Rustic Canadiana Styled Shoot

Followers of my blog will be well aware that Anna and Kasia of Gucio Photography are two of my very favourite people in the Vancouver wedding industry. While I was looking through their photos of the Galiano engagement session I tagged along for in April, it occurred to me that I never blogged about the “Rustic Canadiana” styled shoot that Gucio and I put together last year. The shoot was featured on Style Me Pretty, but I neglected to blog about the day here. Better late than never!

I met Anna and Kasia when we worked together at the wedding of Leah and Corry in Summerland in 2010. We were all excited to collaborate on such a beautiful and creative wedding—all thanks to the bride, talented graphic designer and super stylish lady, Leah Browne! (Her lovely wedding was later featured on Poppytalk.)

When Gucio and I decided to put together a styled photo shoot the following spring, we brought Leah on board to design the menus and escort cards that we would feature. She joined in on our early concept meetings, and I’m glad she did because it was Leah who coined the phrase “Rustic Canadiana” after a visit to one of her favourite boutiques—Old Faithful Shop in Gastown. Here’s a peek at Leah’s beautiful graphic design work for our shoot:

We did the shoot at Ironworks Studios, which couldn’t have been more perfect for the look we were going for. My best friend Kimberly modelled for us—after years of being told by countless men and a fair few women how very beautiful she is, I decided to put her to work! Lauren McFadden created her gorgeous hairstyle, and the amazing Emily Cheng did her makeup. We picked up the white dahlia hair clips at H&M.

Kimberly was game for the three wardrobe changes we had her do! Thanks to Carina at Philosophy Pink for custom-designing her party dress just for this shoot!

Dresses by Philosophy Pink (top left); H&M (top right); Club Monaco (bottom centre); Shoes by Banana Republic.

The garden-inspired flowers that Nghia Diep of Blumen Floral Boutique created were gorgeous. I delivered a few candy jars to him, asked him to make a terrarium out of one of them, and he presented us with three gorgeous centrepieces that are still alive and gracing the Gucio Photography studio to this day! This bouquet, by the way, smelled so amazing that the entire room was floral scented for the shoot.

I have baked a lot of theme cakes in my life, but this was my first attempt at a wedding cake—not too bad if I do say so myself! I flavoured the buttercream with a tiny bit of cocoa and lots of maple syrup to make it match the shoot in colour and theme. The dessert bar was a combination of goodies I baked at home and a few chocolates bought at Canadian treasure Purdy’s Chocolates.

Gucio Photography happens to share their studio with Rex Lavado of Broken English, who designed this stunning pearl ring for his wife. Awww!

Last but not least, what’s a dinner table without food? My friend Emily Wight writes an absolutely hilarious, award-winning blog called Well Fed, Flat Broke. And she doesn’t just talk the talk—this talented writer can also cook her heart out! She created a menu based on local ingredients, and cooked a delightful meal that did double-duty as our lunch when the photos were done!

So much prettiness! Thanks to Walrus for lending us the amazing wood serving plates and acorn ornament “favours” we used in the shoot.

And thank YOU for taking a walk down memory lane with me.

Erin & Jason’s Galiano Island Engagement Session

Well, I hinted in my last post I Fell In Love With Bodega Ridge that my April visit to Galiano was not simply for pleasure, but included a little bit of (pleasing) business as well. Now for the explanation!

The cabins at Bodega Ridge have 3 bedrooms each, so when I initially planned my trip I asked my friends Anna and Kasia of Gucio Photography if they’d like to come and tour a wedding venue on Galiano and keep me company. They were game, but mentioned that it would be great if they had someone to photograph while we were there. It didn’t take long for the final piece of the puzzle to come into place–Anna and Kasia are photographing my friends Erin & Jason’s wedding this month, and their engagement shoot had yet to be done…

Without further ado, here’s a slideshow of their engagement session, featuring the beautiful spaces in and around Bodega Ridge, made lovelier by some of my favourite people.

Gucio Photography

I fell in love with Bodega Ridge

I’m a relatively equal mix of city girl and lover of all things woodsy and rustic. In my ideal world, I’d have a fabulous Vancouver home and a Gulf Island cabin, and a lovely little boat to take me between the two whenever the mood struck. The reality is, I live in the most expensive city in North America, and wedding planning is a job that’s high in passion but low in profit. Instead of despairing of my inability to live the dream, I’ve taken to finding ways to approximate it. This requires a few simple substitutions, and the suspension of disbelief. Last week, it looked a little something like this:

My East Van rental apartment = my fabulous Vancouver home

BC Ferries’ Queen of Nanaimo = my lovely little boat

Bodega Ridge, cabin #7 = my Gulf Island cabin

Bodega Ridge is a peaceful retreat on the North end of Galiano Island. It has seven 3-bedroom cabins, each with a full kitchen and bathroom, wood-burning stove (plus electric heat for the city folk!), and nice big decks to relax on. You can rent a single cabin for a little island getaway like mine, or you can do a full buyout of Bodega Ridge and host an event in this amazing space.

The 22-acre property of Bodega Ridge is a brilliant place to gather friends and family for a wedding. I can’t imagine a lovelier spot to say “I Do” than on this ridge overlooking the islands of the Trincomali Channel:

Ceremony spot at Bodega Ridge

While many “rustic” wedding spots require a lot of work to become functional event spaces, Bodega Ridge has, on-site, all of the tables, chairs, linens, and food service items you’d need to serve dinner for up to 120 guests under their own marquee tent. For more intimate groups or winter weddings, there is a lovely dining room in the lodge that can accommodate up to 70 dinner guests. Bodega Ridge chefs custom-design each menu, sourcing as many items as possible from a neighbouring organic farm.

Colours and textures of Galiano

Guests can be accommodated overnight in the cabins at Bodega Ridge, and in nearby Bed and Breakfasts. Instead of a single wedding day celebration, couples can spend the whole weekend with their family and friends, kayaking, hiking, golfing, cycling, fishing, horseback riding, or just sitting on the deck of their beautiful cabin with a cocktail in hand and their favourite people by their side.

The view from Cabin 7

Another reason to visit Bodega Ridge is its proprietor, Jesse Keefer, who is super friendly and incredibly knowledgeable about Galiano Island. He’s the perfect resource for information about what to do while you’re on the island, and while you’re at Bodega Ridge he’s working tirelessly to make sure that all of your needs are accommodated. We truly felt spoiled by Jesse’s hospitality!

Mystery sidekicks on the crushed shell beach of Montague Harbour

Who is this “we”, you ask? In a future post I’ll tell you all about my “working vacation” at Bodega Ridge. HINT: the photos will be much, much nicer than the Instagrams in this post!

 ~to be continued~