Erica & Chris Hayes
MARRIED DECEMBER 31, 2018
Chris and I met in September of 2011, at the University of Guelph, where we were in the same department completing our graduate studies. It was the first day of orientation when we saw each other for the first time. Chris was sitting behind me and ‘accidentally’ flicked his pen at me – and would you believe, he still remembers what I was wearing that day! Luckily, our interactions continued, as we would see each other around campus and at various department events. Our friendship grew stronger in January of 2012, when we began running together. Chris was training for the Canadian Death Race and I was training for a half marathon. We discovered a mutual love of Swiss Chalet quarter chicken dinners with dipping sauce and Chris continually asked me to go out for dinner as ‘just friends’. That March, Chris demonstrated his value on the volleyball court and led us to an intramural championship. To celebrate the win, I finally agreed to the Swiss Chalet ‘date’. We moved in together later that year and we haven’t looked back since!
Over the past 7 years, we have supported each other through completing our university degrees and starting new jobs, purchasing our first home together, and enjoying travel together. In March of 2018, we booked a trip to Hawaii with our close friends, Chris Lam and Jessica Bannon. Little did the girls know, the boys had a double proposal planned during our week in paradise! Chris proposed on the beach at sunset during our first night in Maui. It was absolutely perfect, and much to Chris’ delight, I did not see it coming.
When we arrived home from our holiday, we started throwing around dates for our wedding. I had always imagined a fall wedding, as it’s our favourite time of year. However, since it was March at the time, pulling off a fall wedding without a venue or single vendor booked seemed a bit crazy, (and waiting until the following fall seemed ever crazier!). I suggested New Year’s Eve, but initially Chris wasn’t so sure due to the various holiday commitments at that time of year. We polled friends and family and the response was overwhelming – please do it! What a great reason to get dressed up and celebrate. It would be the best NYE ever!
Once we decided on the date, Chris reached out to Matt (General Manager) at SMGCC to ensure the venue was available. I should mention that before we were even engaged, I had the venue and most of our vendors picked out (:P). I always knew I wanted to get married at SMGCC, because not only is it an absolutely stunning venue, but everyone I knew who had either been married or attended a wedding there had nothing but wonderful things to say! Chris is also a member of the club, and growing up just outside of St. Marys myself, it was important to me to get married locally and support local vendors as well. After attending the Bridal Open House for the first time in 2017 (which was the year before we were engaged), I was 100% convinced that SMGCC was where we had to tie the knot! We were thrilled when Matt let us know the Ballroom was available for NYE, and he booked us in for an initial consultation. After our first meeting with Courtney (Special Events Consultant), we knew we had made the right decision!
Next up on my to do list – booking Nina Polidoro for photos. Nina and I went to high school together, and not only is she absolutely lovely, genuine and kind, but she’s incredibly talented too! She has photographed the weddings of most of my closest friends, always delivering the most beautiful work. I messaged her to see whether she was free for a NYE wedding, and sure enough she was! Nina is the ultimate professional. She is personable, friendly, organized, and made our entire wedding party feel comfortable in front of the camera. Although it was calling for 100% chance of rain all day, her positivity and enthusiasm put my mind at ease. She is so sweet, and was texting me the day prior with back-up plans in the event of a downpour. Sure enough, it POURED all day, but you would have never known looking back on our photos! While there wasn’t any snow, we were able to take wedding party photos in the Hideaway (as it was not in use and is an absolutely gorgeous room on its own!), and the Ballroom (which was beautifully decorated for our reception by Above & Beyond Event Design and Lyric Flowers). The Fireplace in the Clubhouse also provided a beautiful backdrop for the many extended family and friend shots Nina captured for us after our ceremony. We are beyond thrilled with all of our beautiful photos from our big day! I have yet to order a photo book , because I cannot seem to narrow it down. I want to print them all! Nina did an outstanding job capturing so many special moments that we will treasure for years to come.
My next non-negotiable vendor – Lyric Flowers. I’ve known Lanny for years. He used to play the piano when I was in the children’s choir at church, and his family knows my Stacey family quite well. I always told Chris, “When we get married, Lanny and Jay are doing our flowers” (as if this were ever a question!). Thankfully, Lyric was available for NYE, which almost seemed too good to be true! After our first meeting with Lanny, Chris understood why they were a ‘must-have’ vendor. We discussed our vision for the evening and decided on an ‘Elegant NYE Party’ theme. Our colours were black, champagne, and white with greenery accents. I showed Lanny photos of florals that I liked and thought would work with our vision. Lanny is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about his profession, he was great to offer suggestions and alternatives, and he brought forward new ideas we hadn’t even considered! I knew I would love whatever he and Jay came up with, but oh my, they absolutely blew me away! I cannot say enough about the bridal party bouquets, the accents they added for our fireplace ceremony, the arrangements and greenery for the guest tables and king’s head table, and not to mention all of the fine beautiful details (even our seating chart was adorned with greens and florals!). They are absolutely outstanding to work with, incredibly professional, organized, easy to communicate with, and most importantly, they made everything very easy and stress-free. We received numerous compliments on all of their fabulous work! I should also mention Lanny was instrumental in a number of our décor and style choices. I ran into him a number of times at the Independent Grocer in town and he was always happy to offer his suggestions and words of wisdom, which I SO appreciated!
With an incredible florist lined up, we needed to next secure a decorator. During our first meeting, Courtney recommended Kim from Above & Beyond Event Design and Decor for our décor and styling. Kim also came highly recommended by Lyric, as they often work together. After meeting Kim for the first time, we understood the glowing recommendations and decided we absolutely had to have her for our big day! She was receptive to all of our ideas, was incredibly patient, always spending ample time during our meetings to discuss décor visions, and suggested alternatives if we weren’t sure about something. I cannot put into words how I felt walking into the Ballroom for the first time – it was like seeing something from a fairy tale. I couldn’t believe the design was all for us, and from a vision we had created together! I literally squealed when I first saw it! Lyric, Kim and SMGCC work incredibly well together, they truly are a ‘dream team’. Both the ceremony and reception spaces they created for our wedding day were more beautiful than we could have ever imagined. Together, they took care of all of the details for us, removing any unnecessary stress from our day, which was so important and something we’re so grateful for!
With a few of the very important vendors checked off our list, next up, I had to find my dress! I was 100% sure of the style I wanted (it was the only thing pinned to my Pinterest board, after all!). I walked into my first appointment with confidence, asking only to try on long-sleeved lace gowns. After trying four different long sleeved gowns, I quickly realized this was not the style for me! So brides, definitely go into that initial dress fitting day with an open mind, willing to try on all shapes and styles! I ended up getting my dress from Sophie’s Gown Shoppe in Kitchener. It was exactly what I thought I didn’t want – a strapless fit-and-flare gown with a lace overlay. But! It’s what I felt best in and what made my mom and my sister cry! I ended up customizing my Stella York gown with straps, and my mom hand made a gorgeous veil to compliment my dress. I felt like a princess on my wedding day. My hubby absolutely loved it, and said he couldn’t have imagined me in any other dress or style. ☺
Another important person we needed for our big day – an officiant. We unfortunately had our original wedding officiant cancel on us two months before our wedding, leaving us slightly panicked. We revisited our recommended vendor list from the SMGCC Bridal Open House and found a brochure for Enduring Promises. We had the pleasure of having Jim Giles from Enduring Promises officiate our ceremony for us. From the first time we met Jim, we knew he was going to be a great fit. He is personable, kind, and took a genuine interest in getting to know a little bit about us as individuals as well as a couple. This allowed him to provide meaningful feedback and suggestions as we designed our wedding ceremony. We also decided to say our own vows at Jim’s suggestion, and are so happy we did! This made our ceremony so much more meaningful and special, and was definitely one of our favourite moments from our wedding day.
Speaking of a meaningful and special ceremony, we are so pleased we will be able to relive it every year on our anniversary thanks to our incredibly talented videographer, Andrew Price from Amotion Films. We initially weren’t planning to do a video; however, after meeting Andrew at the SMGCC Bridal Open House and seeing some of his work, I was convinced we HAD to have a video! Although Chris was initially unsure, after meeting Andrew (who is super laid back and down to earth!), he agreed it would be a nice addition and keepsake to have. We are so pleased with the finished product. Our highlight video captures some of the best moments from our wedding day. Andrew’s artistic abilities are out of this world, and the way he mixed shots with the music we chose literally makes me cry! In addition to our highlight video, he delivered edited footage from the entire day. It is wonderful for us to be able to relive all of the special moments, and to witness things we weren’t present for during our wedding day. Our video compliments our photos so nicely and is something we will cherish forever!
We cannot say enough wonderful things about the additional vendors we worked with for our wedding – I could honestly write a book! I knew I wanted live, acoustic music for our ceremony and we definitely wanted a live band for our reception. Fortunately, our good friend and talented musician, Jason Mercer, was available for our New Year’s date. Jason played acoustic during the ceremony and cocktail hour, and we had a number of guests comment on how they were sure it was a recording – he was just that good! Jason and his band kept the dance party rocking well into the evening, and we received so many compliments on how great they were and how much fun everyone had on the dance floor! In addition to wonderful live music, we also wanted our guests to enjoy some delicious sweet treats. Luckily for us, one of my good friends, Karna Brennan, of Brennan Baking Co., made our decadent cake and cupcakes. She was amazing to work with, and made samples for us to try at my bridal shower a few months prior. As well, we used Rheo Thompson Candies for our guest favours, because who doesn’t love Rheo mint smoothies?! For hair, we used my personal hairdresser, Krista Van Nes from Alexandra Salon and Spa, and for makeup, we had Sara Case from Makeup and Lashes By Sara. Both of these girls were incredible, and ensured we were all glammed up and ready in time for the big day! Our wine and beautiful custom labels were provided by Pelee Island Winery. Lastly, at the end of the night, we used Murphy Bus Lines from St. Marys to transport all of our guests home safely.
Our wedding day truly was the best day of our lives! We cannot thank Matt, Ashton and their incredible wedding planning and coordination team at SMGCC enough! Courtney was wonderful to work with right from the beginning. She was incredibly organized, approachable, easy to communicate with, and made the whole wedding planning process so easy! Ashton (Director of Special Events) returned from her maternity leave part way through the lead up to our big day and was also amazing and incredibly helpful. She is genuine, kind, caring, absolutely lovely, and so passionate about what she does! Both Courtney and Ashton were always quick to respond to any questions we had, and were instrumental in ensuring our day went off without a hitch! We also could not have asked for a better day-of Maître D’. Taryn (our Maître D’) was amazing, ensuring the day stayed on track and that everyone was well looked after. She was also in charge of running our rehearsal the night before, and I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about a thing on our wedding since she was coordinating everything. She is friendly, supportive, encouraging, and knows how to run a tight ship on a timeline! Thanks to Taryn’s incredible organization and coordination, Chris and I were able to be more present and enjoy our time with our guests on our wedding day. Kudos as well to the Chef and kitchen staff! The SMGCC Chef team prepared delicious food for all of our guests, and they were excellent to work with during the planning stages, ensuring that all of our guests with food allergies would be accommodated. All of the staff working the dinner and reception were great as well, ensuring our guests had everything they needed throughout the whole evening!
We would highly recommend SMGCC as a wedding venue, along with each and every vendor we worked with. Everyone was absolutely wonderful! It was so nice to work with a talented group of professionals who take pride in their work and helped to ensure our wedding day was perfect! We are so thankful and grateful, and it truly was the best NYE ever!
