“When the wedding planner becomes the Bride!”

On February 21st, 2019 I (Alysa) received an email titled “Hello from Fiore Fine Events.” Before this, we had a few wedding coordinators/planners reach out or tour the space but no one who pursued a connection like Ashley had. If you know her, that’s not that surprising, she is very much about building genuine relationships.

A few months later we connected and instantly hit it off, we became friends more than just fellow vendors, fast forward a couple of years and we asked Ashley and her company (Fiore Fine Events) to come on board as part of our team at the Gathered as a permanent “in-house wedding manager.” This particular partnership between our companies has been of tremendous value to not only Elaine and myself but also to our beautiful couples. It completely changed how we were able to serve our couples and their families. The best part is Ashley had almost an identical vision for how she values people and runs her company with integrity. It was a no-brainer.

So that being said, it meant the world to us that Ashley and Jared wanted to get married here. They have come to feel like family in our hearts and it was an honour to host them for such a beautiful celebration of love and togetherness. I know you’ll be inspired by these photos, the incredible team of vendors and most importantly the love that was shared.

DID YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY?

Can I say it was the whole day? 😉

If I had to pick, I would say our First Look and the moment I walked down the aisle.
We also shared a really special moment towards the end of the night when it just really hit us that
we were married.

From Jared: One of his favourite parts was the dancing and taking photos during golden hour!

We have to know, why’d you choose us!

Because we loved everything! While we considered other venues, Jared said it best. “Why are we even looking anywhere else when we know how much we love the Gathered (especially Alysa & Elaine) and we
know their food is phenomenal?”

As a wedding planner, I was mainly concerned about getting married during my company’s wedding
season because I wanted to enjoy the day. But Alysa and Elaine were willing to work with us on the
date so I had a bit of time before our season officially launched.

The Gathered is home to me and to us! I had my first wedding there just after I met Jared and so it’s
been a big part of our relationship. We’ve attended so many of their winter dinners, hosted family
gatherings there and we’ve even worked a couple weddings together. They love us, we love
them! Their quality of service, exquisite food and the amount of heart they put into everything made it
the obvious choice! Now that it’s over, I seriously could not imagine if we had done it anywhere
else. And the stunning weather we got, felt like the final affirmation that our wedding was meant to
be there!

DID YOU HAVE ANY DIY PROJECTS FOR YOUR WEDDING?

My seating chart and the name tags for each person’s seats were DIY. Although neither of them
turned out exactly how I wanted. But I ran out of time. At the end of the day, those items were low
priority so I’m kind of glad they were the items that I had to compromise on rather than something
important like my vows.

WAS THERE A THEME TO YOUR WEDDING?

I’ve loved the idea of a garden wedding for a very long time. And deep plum purple has always
been a dream colour. The overall design theme was so me and thankfully Jared was very supportive
of that. I wanted elegant and timeless, but still some pops of colour. I’m not an over-the-top luxury
person, but I still wanted some things to be a bit fancy so I had my specific items.

But I would say the main theme was “Intention”. We wanted to be intentional with everything we did.
From the budget, to the flowers, to the venue, to the food, right down to the order everyone walked
down the aisle and not having our wedding party stay standing up there with us. It was all so
intentionally thought out and planned.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO COUPLES IN THE PLANNING PROCESS?

Hire a wedding planner! Lol.

Honestly, though, don’t hesitate to ask for help. I think as a wedding planner I put a lot of undue
stress on myself because I felt like I should have it all figured out on my own. But I know I’m not the
only one who did that. The organized, type-A brides can often put an expectation on themselves to
do it all on their own. It’s okay to ask for help.

Be intentional about who your support system is! Maybe your wedding party mostly lives out of
town or won’t be super available to help you plan the wedding. Then ask other friends or family
members to assist you with different things. Don’t be afraid to delegate. Lastly, hire reputable
professionals! It will save you a tremendous amount of stress, especially in the final weeks and on
the day of.

IS THERE SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR GARDEN WEDDING PEOPLE KEEP TALKING ABOUT?

Well we all know the answer to this because it’s what the Gathered is known for, but of course the
FOOD! It brought us so much joy to share one of our favourite places with our loved ones.
Everyone also still talks about how perfect the day was from the weather to the decor, to our vows
to the dance party. It was such a sweet and fun day!

Oh, and the donuts! That’s also food, but they deserve their own spotlight.

WHAT VALUES DID YOU HAVE FOR YOUR WEDDING DAY?

We really wanted to create a unique and thoughtful experience for our guests. More than 50% of
our guests were from out of town, and we wanted them to feel well taken care of.
We also really wanted to honour our parents and the role they’ve played in helping us become the
people we are today!
And we wanted to acknowledge God and how He brought us together.

WHAT ARE SOME TIPS FOR PLANNING AN OUTDOOR WEDDING?

Make your wish list of how you want the weather to be, surrender it to God and on the week of the
wedding, don’t look at the weather at all! Haha.

You can’t control it, so you have to just let it go. My motto is “Over-prepare and then go with the
flow.” The day will be fun and special no matter what. Why let something you can’t control steal your
joy or your energy by worrying about it?

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT SURPRISED YOU?

Aside from the obvious – the day goes by so fast (Jared said that too)! I was expecting that one,
especially being a planner and having heard this for years, but nothing really prepares you for it. I
was also so surprised the next day when trying to recap the wedding that some parts I drew a
complete blank! I couldn’t even remember more than a couple of words from Jared’s vows. Thank God
we hired a videographer! One of the best decisions we made.

But the most beautiful surprise was the emotion! I never knew that Jared and I could feel so
insanely in love! Obviously, we are in love and express it all the time, but we were surrounded by so
many of our favourite people and we saw them and connected with them, yet we had so many
moments that it felt like we were the only people in the room. Our hearts were bursting for each
other and it was the most remarkable feeling I could ever ask for. From our first look, all the way to
the drive home at the end of the night, we never stopped being connected, even if we weren’t
always by each other’s side.

From Jared: he was surprised that there were really no issues that came up throughout the day 😉

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WISH YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF?

I wish we would have had the foresight to know that hosting 7 people at our house over the
wedding was a whole lot of unneeded stress!
And I should have been more specific with my shot list. This is in no way the photographer’s fault,
but I wish I had made a point to request an individual photo with each of my bridesmaids.

For Jared: He wishes that he would have made a point to get photos with his dog while at the house
getting ready.

“A Garden Wedding with Pops of Plum”

HOW TO HANDLE THE STRESS OF PLANNING A WEDDING?

Although we planned our garden wedding in only 5 months, I had been dreaming about it for a while. So I
had a lot of ideas about the vision which I had already hammered out, so that was helpful.
But in the moments I felt overwhelmed, I would pull on my support system, especially my mom. I’m a
verbal processor, so I would just dump and then we would come up with a plan. Sometimes I had so
much in my head that I would just grab a sheet of paper and scribble every single thing on it and
eventually, I would go back to that list and one by one we were checking them off. Lists are great,
but I know even for me if I’m overwhelmed, stopping to make some perfectly neat list adds more
overwhelm. So I dump! Haha. It helps take off the pressure to get it all “right”. And then remind
yourself that the most important things will get done!

Photography @ashley_daphne
Planning & Design @fiorefineevents
Videography @flyfreefilm
Florals @the.romantiks
Venue & Catering @the.gathered
Bride’s Dress @thedressingroom_celebration
Designer @essenseofaustralia
Groom’s Suit @ephapparel
Bride’s Hair @gabywehbecoiffure
Bride + Attendees makeup @hairandmakeupbyrobin_
DJ @keydjyyc
Rentals @specialeventrentals_calgary
Backdrop @stefforward
Mobile bar @theproseccocart
Bride’s Tan @thevanityvaultcalgary
Engagement Ring @adx_diamonds
Wedding band @shopspence
Stationery @minted
Attendees makeup @muaniky
Bridesmaid dresses @balticbornclothing
Vow Books @loveskydesign