Shauna and Jacob ~ April 3, 2011

My phone rang one day last fall, and the call display showed an unfamiliar area code.  I made my “this-might-be-a-telemarketer” face (mouth pinched, eyebrow cocked) and answered the phone.  To my great good fortune, Shauna was on the other end of the line, calling me from the bustling streets of New York City to enlist my help in planning her April wedding.  I remember that phone call vividly because Shauna was such a sweetheart, right from day one.

Shauna is a Vancouverite who was attending graduate school in New York, preparing to move to Los Angeles with her filmmaker fiancé Jacob, and planning a rustic, DIY wedding in her home city all at the same time.  While doing research on Vancouver vendors, Shauna stumbled across this very blog.  She could tell from my inspiration boards that she and I share the same aesthetic—an appreciation for natural colours and textures, a love of things handmade, a passion for sourcing sustainable and local elements, and an eye for details.  We had a great chat during that first phone call, and I was immediately excited about being Shauna’s “eyes and ears” in Vancouver to help her plan her spring wedding at the lovely Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown.  I was even more excited when she followed up the phone call with what has to be the largest email I have ever received, full of all her plans and inspiration photographs.  I’m proud to say that the finished product stayed true to her initial vision, but came together even more beautifully than we imagined, if-I-do-say-so-myself!

Today, Shauna and Jacob’s wedding was featured on the Ruffled Blog, and you can check out even more photographs of their magical day on the website of James Moes, their incredibly talented photographer.

Here are a few more details about the other fantastic vendors who made the day come together so well:

• Matt Frankish, Technical Director of the Roundhouse Community Centre, was absolutely indispensable.  He knows his venue and his craft so well that no request we made was ever beyond his expertise.  Event Monitor Steve and Tech Experts Terry, Terri, and Matt helped us pull off both the ceremony and the reception without a hitch.
• Chef Ricci-Leigh Smith at The Perfect Bite Catering Company provided action stations and a decadent buffet of delicious food for both dinner and dessert.  The menu was kosher, mostly vegetarian, and sustainably sourced… and so, so yummy!
• Colin Upright at Upright Decor created the magical birch chuppah for the ceremony, and adorned the reception space with a canopy of cabaret lighting that was the perfect complement to the exposed wood beams of the Roundhouse Exhibition Hall.
• Gloria Cheung at The Flower Factory is a floral genius.  That’s all I can say.  She’s a dream to work with, and can turn any floral vision into a reality!  In this case, she took Shauna’s inspiration photos and descriptions of her ideal flowers, and created an elegant mix of garden-inspired wildflowers that went beyond our expectations.  The flowers were breathtaking!
• Because Jacob is a filmmaker, he was in charge of deciding how and by whom the wedding would be filmed.  Jacob and Shauna love the look of vintage Super-8 wedding videos, but also wanted some modern HD coverage of their day.  They hired Rafael Ziah Franco and his wife Rachel to document the day and provide Jacob with raw footage.  (As I write, Jacob may be editing this footage into a cinematic masterpiece!)  Rafael and Rachel are talented filmmakers and lovely people. I have to say, there’s something wonderful about having madly-in-love husband-and-wife teams working with you on a wedding day.  It exponentially increases the romance factor!  😉
• Shauna’s friend Jacob Rozenberg did her hair, and friend Kylie Goldstein did her makeup, and she looked STUNNING!
• Famous Players Band kept this 250-person party going all evening long.  They were SUCH crowd-pleasers that everyone was sad when their last set was over!  True professionals, talented musicians, and all-around fun people.  They clean up real nice, too!  😉
• BC Kosher provided kosher services to make sure that everything prepared and served at the Roundhouse was in accordance with kosher laws.
• Once again, all photos are courtesy of James Moes; thanks also to his second shooter Russell Leng, and his brother Nathan Moes, who manned the very popular photo booth!
• Last but most certainly not least, I must thank my assistants, without whom I would not have been able to put these plans into action!  Thank you SO much Sarah, Kari, Blair, Kendall, and Eric for all of your enthusiasm and elbow grease!

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