Tyla & Brian: Saying ‘I Do' in Style
June 14 2008 :: Hauser Hall, Heidelberg
Photography by Calvin Photography
Story by TheWeddingRing.ca
Like so many couples today, Tyla Fullerton and Brian Sweet met on the internet. Brian said one of the things he loved most about Tyla was that she is a strong intelligent woman “who cares deeply about her family and community.” For Tyla, it was about “Brian’s sense of humour and his optimism. He can always make me laugh and he keeps me grounded.”
Adding to the evidence that this couple is a perfect match, Brian’s surprise proposal was just as Tyla had dreamt—literally. “I’d had a dream a few months earlier that Brian gave me five rings—one for each finger…” When it happened in real life, it was at a Toronto restaurant amongst friends. A waitress brought out a plate with four ring boxes. “I opened all the boxes. They were filled with costume jewellery rings including a ring pop! Then Brian got down on one knee and proposed,” with the fifth ring.
The wedding day they planned for themselves was elegant yet casual, a party that allowed for their friends and family to mix and mingle, dine and dance, and ultimately, celebrate Tyla and Brian’s future together. A lot of their wedding planning was done online, using TheWeddingRing.ca. In The Ring, they found their ceremony and reception hall, wedding planner, cake designer, guest accommodations, photographers and a support system made up of other local brides Tyla chatted with regularly in The Ring.
They chose Hauser Hall for their location because it allowed them to hold their ceremony and reception in one location. The hall is actually an 1800s church that has been renovated into a fabulous event space. “We wanted a venue that was, in itself, beautiful,” they explained. It didn’t require a lot of decoration and since neither are religious, “There were a lot of things we liked about Hauser including the contemporary way it was decorated… Hauser Hall had the beauty of an old church and was open to all beliefs.”
Most guests were coming in from out of town so Tyla and Brian blocked off rooms at the Best Western® St. Jacobs Country Inn, just a few minutes from the hall.
The day began at 9 am with Tyla and her sisters (who were her bridesmaids) getting ready at the inn. Hair and makeup was done by a favourite stylist of theirs who came in from Mississauga just for them. Opting out of superstition, Brian and his groomsmen met the girls at the inn for photos (before the ceremony) with Calvin Photography. “They were great to work with and we really like their personalities. They got us to be comfortable with having our pictures taken [and] they had, by far, the best wedding album we’ve ever seen. Dean did a great job with the layout.” They struck a pose for the camera in several locations (which they were taken to by stretch limousine) beginning at the inn and ending in the rose garden at Waterloo Park.
Shell Design Weddings was on hand throughout the day to make sure everything ran smoothly. “Brian and I had a very specific plan for what we wanted for our wedding day but we knew we couldn’t be in charge of everything ourselves and we didn’t want to burden any of our guests with responsibilities. We used Shelley for Wedding Day Coordination. She looked after all the details of organizing our vendors… She took care of everything.” Tyla says she now recommends getting a wedding planner so that you can be ‘in the moment’ and not have to pay attention to any of the details.
Brian said one of the things he loved most about Tyla was that she is a strong intelligent woman “who cares deeply about her family and community.” For Tyla, it was about “Brian’s sense of humour and his optimism. He can always make me laugh and he keeps me grounded.”
Hauser Hall’s main floor was set up and ready when the wedding party arrived for the 5 pm ceremony. Tyla made her grand entrance in a gorgeous Barbra Allin gown (the in-house designer at Becker’s Bridal & Formal in Toronto), which Brian admits is one of his favourite memories from the day. After exchanging vows, the couple escaped for a few minutes to themselves. Tyla remembered, “It was a really busy day and it was nice to have a few moments to ourselves and enjoy each other, especially in the first hour of being married.” The cocktail hour was one of the couple’s most cherished parts of the day. “We liked getting to visit and chat with people.”
Dinner was served on the lower level of the hall. Tyla still remembers the feeling of seeing the room all set-up with candles and flowers. Guests sat on chivari chairs at intimate, long rectangular tables. Tyla and Brian had created their own place cards, seating charts and table cards based on their invitations and collected family pictures to decorate the hall with. Gusto Catering handled the bar and served an incredible menu which including items like pesto crusted salmon, beef tenderloin with rosti potato and portabella mushrooms.
Their wedding cake was a white three tiered cake with delicate blue accents designed for them by Yvonne Zensner of The Cake Box. It was inspired by a photo in a magazine. “The cake was fabulous and we had a lot of compliments on the design and on how it tasted.”
After a series of speeches that had everyone laughing and in good spirits, Tyla and Brian started the dance off with their own, to the song For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti by Sufjan Stevens. Throughout the evening, when guests weren’t dancing, they were sitting in fabulous club chairs in the many lounge style set-ups that were scattered throughout the main hall. For guests wanting a quieter place to talk, there were tables, couches and a fireplace downstairs.
In the end, Tyla and Brian tied the knot in an atmosphere that was both elegant and casual and filled with the people they love most.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
