Shauna & Tyler Rae
MARRIED OCTOBER 5, 2018
When you grow up in a small town like St. Marys, Ontario, you know of other people even if you don’t know them personally. That was Tyler and I. Even though we weren’t friends at the time, we were still connected at a young age through Tyler playing road hockey with my brother, and since his mom was my kindergarten teacher. In our final years of high school, Tyler and I had lockers in the same hallway at DCVI. For a while, he would just catch glances at me as I walked down the halls, but then one day his friend Louie messaged me on MSN to tell me that Tyler really liked me and suggested we hang out sometime. Little did I know, Tyler was actually with Louie at the time and was the instigator of the whole conversation! We started spending more time together, and immediately I knew how special Tyler was. He was so kind, so close to his family, and so much fun to be around. Eventually he invited me out to meet his parents, at their house in the country, and the rest is history! We were high school sweethearts.
The proposal was a complete surprise to me. I had a feeling it would happen eventually, but I never put pressure on Tyler or showed him ring inspiration photos, as I wanted it to happen naturally and on his own terms. It was a regular Wednesday night in December. We had made plans to go to wing night at the Dominion House with our parents, which really wasn't anything out of the ordinary. When I got home from the gym that night, Tyler had music playing on the TV, and I just flopped on the couch so we could catch up on the day. Tyler headed over to our Christmas tree, mentioning that he had picked up a little Tonka truck tree ornament when he was at TSC getting tools for work. He said it would be special if we could carry on the tradition that his Grandma and Grandpa Youlton had started, with collecting Tonka ornaments for his family Christmas tree. I thought that was so sweet and got up to look at the ornament. As I was looking at it, I noticed another new ornament on the tree, just below the Tonka truck. There on the second ornament, the words “Will you marry me?” were staring right at me, with a ring tied into the ribbon on top. I was so exicted that I was shaking, and it gives me chills just thinking about this now. Tyler got down on one knee, and before he could even say anything, I said “Yes!”. What was extra special about that moment was that he had propped up his cell phone in a corner of the room, to record the entire proposal – so we are lucky enough to have the whole thing on video, and were able to share it with our parents later that night over wings. I could never have imagined being proposed to any other way – in a big crowd or a strange place. At our own cozy home on a Wednesday night was absolutely perfect!
We promised each other that we wouldn’t discuss the wedding plan until after Christmas, since it’s already such a busy time of year. After Christmas was over, we went to a couple of bridal shows, to get a feel of everything we would need to consider and to start booking vendors. I always knew in my mind that the St. Marys Golf & Country Club was a high contender when it came to our wedding venue, but we were a little hesitant to book with them, as a couple of our best friends had just gotten married there and we share so many of the same friends. We didn’t want our guests to feel like they were at the same wedding over and over again and we didn’t want to feel like we were copying our newly married friends. However, because there really wasn’t any other venue I thought of more, we left the option on the table and narrowed our list down to The Hideaway at SMGCC and one other venue. With available dates from both venues, we left the decision in the hands of Lyric Flowers and Above & Beyond Event Design (preferred vendors of SMGCC), both of which were must-have vendors for us. Together, they narrowed it down to the date that worked the best and the winner was, of course, SMGCC! Moreover, Courtney, our Wedding Planner at SMGCC, assured us that our wedding would be completely different then the weddings they had hosted for our friends, and that she would help us make decisions that felt unique to us. I always knew deep down that my dream wedding was only possible at SMGCC, and I knew that it would be most convenient for our local family and friends, so I was beyond thankful that it became our wedding venue. Also, they literally do EVERYTHING for you, which is exactly what I was looking for.
When it came to the dress search, I bought my Martina Liana gown from Taylor’s Bridal Boutique in Elmira. I instantly knew it was the one because of my mom’s emotional reaction when I came out of the dressing room for the first time! The crochet style lace, sweetheart neckline, illusion back, and free-flowing crepe skirt were such a perfect combination, and I truly felt beautiful in the gown. Not to mention that the crepe skirt was super comfortable, which was a very important detail when choosing my dress, so that fact made it an even easier decision. For the rest of the wedding party attire, the floor length Bridesmaid dresses also came from Taylor’s Bridal Boutique, and suits for Tyler and the groomsmen came from Moores.
Throughout the whole planning process, SMGCC, Above & Beyond Event Design & Décor, and Lyric Flowers all worked together as an incredible team to bring our dream wedding to reality. We wanted the venue to feel cozy, and went with an industrial and moody theme that incorporated deep fall colours, shades of evergreen and champagne tones. Café string lights were hung throughout the room, wood harvest tables were used for our head table and family tables, and we used a mixture of round and long banquet tables for guest seating. Above & Beyond designed an amazing new industrial chic backdrop for behind our head table, and champagne-toned sheer draping was added to two of the garage doors to create inviting entryways. For our centerpieces, there was a mixture of large floral arrangements raised on casbah stands, and loose foilage with candlescaping (pillar candles in brass candle sticks, and floater or pillar candles in glass hurricanes) on other tables. The florals themselves were absolutely stunning – incorporating varieties from my bouquet, which tied everything in together perfectly. For the ceremony pergola, we kept with the industrial theme, so we had a beautiful greenery garland organically-trailing the pergola frame, Edison drop lighting to accent, and stacked wooden spools as our signing table. Adding to the cozy feel of our wedding, a special touch that we incorporated was our Guestbook Quilt. Each of our guests signed a quilt square, and those squares have now been sewn together into a quilt, with love, by a special family friend. Tyler and I both LOVE blankets and the feeling of being cozy, so this was definitely such a special keepsake from our day.
The other amazing vendors who we worked with for our wedding were Eric of Red Button Photography who captured our stunning photos, Drew Austin Creative of The Lovers Club who did an unbelievable job on our wedding video, DJ Alpha Productions who provided the music, The Cake Box who created our beautiful naked wedding cake, and Dorchester Limo who supplied transportation for our guests.
On the day of our wedding, I spent the morning getting ready at my parents’ house with my bridesmaids, my Mom and my Mother-in-Law. Our extremely talented makeup artist (Makeup Artistry by Heather Sydorko) and hairdresser (Hair by Annie Braun) came to the house to get all of us girls looking and feeling fabulous. It was so nice that we didn’t have to travel anywhere, and we were all so relaxed. Tyler had decided that he wanted to spend the morning with ALL of his friends, so he booked a bunch of early-morning tee times at SMGCC. After golf, Tyler and his groomsmen headed to Stonetown Barber to have a professional shave, with some of them having their hair styled as well. It was great that the boys also got to experience being pampered!
Shortly after 1:00pm, the limo picked the girls up at the house, and drove us to SMGCC with our dresses in hand. The bridal suite was set up so perfectly, right down to the smallest details. There were customized cookies to snack on, a personal note from the team, an adorable little sign hung that read ‘Mrs. Rae’s Bridal Suite’, all of our bouquets lined up perfectly on the mantle, and a bottle of sparkling wine to sip on. We all put our dresses on in the bridal suite so that we could have professional photos taken in that gorgeous room, with me going last. My Mom was the ONLY person who had seen me in my dress prior to the wedding day, and my sister (who lives out West) was the only other person that had seen a photo of the dress (but not me in it!). Otherwise I had kept it a surprise for everyone! I did a reveal to my Dad first, followed by a reveal to each individual bridesmaid. Those moments gave me such incredible feelings that I will never forget!
Around 2:00pm, it was time for Tyler and I to have our first look! We decided to do our reveal by the waterfall, in downtown St. Marys. I remember sitting in my parents’ vehicle waiting for Eric (our photographer), to cue me that Tyler was ready. As I came out of hiding, I saw the back of Tyler’s head, and was flooded with emotions! It hit me that this was REAL and happening RIGHT NOW, and I was just so excited! After our reveal, the rest of our wedding party joined us for photos, so that we could make the most of our time before the ceremony and then enjoy cocktail hour together afterwards.
Our outdoor ceremony was at 4:30pm, on what was a fairly chilly fall day. However, the staff at SMGCC had everything and everyone organized and running on time, so it was the perfect intimate 20-minute service. Plus, the weather made for the best moody feeling and colouring in our photos. Jackie Cousins, who was our Officiant, did a wonderful job making our ceremony feel warm and personal! After the ceremony, SMGCC supplied the wedding party with a sparkling wine toast on the patio. We then did family photos around the ceremony grounds, while our wedding party and guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres! Tyler and I then hopped in the golf limo with our photographer and videographers, to get some extra footage of just the two of us on the golf course. The staff at SMGCC even sent us out with a take-out box of hors d’oeuvres, so that we wouldn’t miss that part of our day, and so that we weren’t left hungry! Because we had done most of our photos before the ceremony, the photo route on the golf course didn’t take too long, and Tyler and I had the opportunity to join the second half of cocktail period and casually mingle with our family and friends.
Tyler and I decided to do our first dance before dinner, which isn’t traditional, but we are so happy we did it that way! It got a lot of the nerves out of the way and built up a great energy in the room before dinner. Speaking of dinner, it was delicious! Our guests had the option to choose lamb, chicken or cannelloni as their meal option, and we had chosen the first course and dessert option for them. Everyone raved about the dessert we chose, which was a frozen lemon meringue cake with fresh raspberry compote. At a menu tasting prior to our wedding, we were able to taste test EVERYTHING on their menu, which we thought was such an amazing experience that they offer to their couples. Another bonus of booking with SMGCC!
Speeches were mixed throughout dinner, and our Maitre D’, Taryn, was so diligent in prompting us whenever we needed to do something, such as cutting the cake, first dances, when to go outside for night photos – the list goes on and on. It was so easy for me and Tyler to enjoy the moment and have so much fun, because SMGCC was thinking of all the details for us. When the dance party kicked off, we had the time of our lives and hope everyone else did too!
If I had to choose one favourite part of our wedding, it would be the feeling of having all of our best friends and family surrounding Tyler and I with so much love and happiness, and simply being there to celebrate with us. I’ve never experienced such a surreal feeling as being able to look out and see the faces of every single person who means so much to us! Also, the moment we saw each other for the first time that day is unforgettable. When I think of that moment, I can still feel all of the emotions and butterflies that I felt when I was walking up to Tyler by the waterfall. Just the way Tyler looked at me throughout the whole day was amazing. I was on cloud nine.
In the end, we have mostly SMGCC to thank for giving us the best day of our lives. Their team - especially Courtney, Taryn, Ashton and Matt - made the day just so easy going and free flowing, and unique to us! It was flawless. All of their staff are absolutely wonderful and very professional. They are all so good at what they do and amazing, caring people to surround yourself with on such a special day. I never once worried about a single thing. I remember thinking at one point in the day, while the girls and I were in the bridal suite, about how Lyric Flowers was dropping off some loose greenery and floral for me to add to my wedding cake. When I went out to look into placing the floral, it had already been done by SMGCC! I was wowed! I hadn’t once told the staff that this needed to be done, but they were one step ahead of me all day long. We are beyond grateful to be one of the lucky couples to have celebrated our wedding at SMGCC. It was literally the best day of our lives, and the venue and staff will forever hold a very special place in our story. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to everyone who made our dream wedding a reality!