A Canadian Winery Wedding

Bride and Groom: Angela Lowe & Devon McCartney
Bride wore: Sophia Tolli
Groom wore: Black & Lee rental
Bridesmaids wore: Alfred Angelo
Groomsmen wore: Black & Lee rental

The Dress

I had no idea what kind of dress I wanted. I searched every magazine and website I could come up with. I found the dress online and loved the different bodice with its thick satiny straps. I found a store that carried it and tried on a dozen or so different styled dresses before it. Once I put it on I loved it as much as I had in the picture. I waited a month to be sure I didn’t find anything I liked more, but every time I looked at other dresses I would compare them to “the dress.” The ruching at the waist gave me a bit more shape than I would have had otherwise. Plus, it had a little bit of sparkle to dress it up.

The Accessories

My future mother-in-law bought me some Swarovski crystal studs. I decided to go with a tiara as a veil would have covered my long hair. The tiara was bought online, and I brought it with me to find the bracelet and necklace. I found my bracelet and necklace at the same bridal shop I bought my dress from. I liked that the necklace was off center and the sparkle to it matched the detail in my dress.

The Groom

Black & Lee had the exact matching teal vest to the bridesmaids dresses. We could also pick it out and get sized in Calgary while picking it up at their Kelowna location. He chose toned down lapels with a bit of satin trim.

The Engagement Ring

The engagement ring was a solitaire from Birks Jewelers. It was the perfect ring that I would have picked out for myself. [My fiance] chose Birks for its quality and warranty, which has worked out very well for us already. Four days before the wedding, while we were running our last minute errands before leaving for Kelowna, the ring got snagged on something and the diamond became loose and, ultimately at some point, fell out. Unfortunately I didn’t notice until we were at home packing. We had made about a dozen stops during the day, so finding the diamond was looking pretty grim.

We searched the entire house and then headed to Birks to see what could be done. They where fantastic and reassured me we would get it sorted. She was going to look into getting me a loaner to take with me to the wedding while we figured out the details. I was up all night worrying about it. Certainly I would never find it at the mall. Grocery store? The takeout place where we picked up dinner? I could have called the vet clinic where we had taken our dog, but they clean those rooms so regularly what are the odds it would still be there for us to find? Devon had put so much thought and care into picking the perfect ring, and I had lost it.

The next morning I left a little early for work and headed to the grocery store parking lot. The only other place I could think to look. I could only vaguely remember where we had parked so there I was on my hands and knees in the parking lot looking for the diamond. There were pieces of broken glass that got my hopes up, but of course they were not right. I decided it was a lost cause and turned to leave. Then I figured I still had a few minutes, I might as well keep looking. I turned away from my car and dropped to me knees again, and there it was right in front of me! We called Birks and rushed over with the diamond and picked up a loaner for the wedding since we were leaving first thing the next morning. We didn’t tell a soul about it until the reception. Three weeks later I picked up my real engagement ring and it was as good as new with my original diamond.