{ Reality Wedding Story } An Indoor Garden Wedding | Jennifer & Stephen

From the Fall/Winter 2012 issue of The Wedding Ring ONTARIO Magazine

August 13TH, 2011 :: Ceremony at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church & Reception at La Hacienda Sarria, in Kitchener | Photography by One Great Day (www.onegreatday.ca) (read review) | Story by TheWeddingRing.ca

Jennifer Starr and Stephen Tello first met when she was hired at his Montreal workplace. Jennifer remembers thinking he was cute but since they didn't have the chance to have a real conversation, that was about it. Stephen actually moved on to work at their California office until years later, when he came back and the two connected on Facebook. Random flirty conversations between Jennifer (in Kitchener at the time) and Stephen (in Montreal) started to become running we-should-date jokes that neither took very seriously, given that there was still a distance issue.

During Christmas 2009 season, for reasons unbeknownst to them, their Facebook conversations grew in number and depth. "We were talking and flirting constantly. What started out as little jokes from Stephen like 'Well if you're ever back in Montreal, I'm going to take you out...' turned into a flat-out-crazy plan that Stephen would drive to Toronto on boxing day and we'd meet." And he did.

Their first date turned into ten days together.

They met at a Queen Street, Toronto restaurant. Stephen arrived first and was sitting at a table in the front window of the place. Jennifer remembers walking up to the restaurant and seeing him sitting there. "He was smiling his sexy smile from ear to ear and he had me... When we sat down together I just remember switching from worrying I wasn't going to be into him and [that I might] hurt him, to worrying about him not wanting me. Let's just say we were both on the same wavelength." Their first date turned into ten days together. "We left Toronto that night, went back to Kitchener, spent New Years together, travelled to Montreal on New Years Day, and then on our last day together, got matching tattoos that read 'Mi Vida' (My Life) - a Spanish expression that reflects the immensity of someone's love toward a partner or spouse."

Stephen says he loves Jennifer's 'umpf'. "I know she's a fighter... I never have to worry about her giving up on anything that's worth fighting for... That assures me that I'll always have someone by my side, pushing me on, even when I feel like there is no silver lining." He laughs and admits, "I also like her booty!"

It's Stephen's strength of character and intelligence that had Jennifer falling for him. "I respect him very much... He makes me laugh and smiles while letting me be a crazy girl.  Stephen makes me feel safe and cared for. And it would be remiss not to mention how attractive he is... and how attracted I am to him even after two years!"

Jennifer remembers thinking 'don't forget how this feels, right this second'.

Stephen popped the question during a vacation in Mexico with Jennifer's family. Throughout the trip, he hid the ring in their room's safe and secretly (after several attempts to muster the courage) asked Jennifer's father for her hand in marriage. Once earning permission, he took Jennifer up on the roof deck of the resort at sunset (using fluent Spanish and a little help from a concierge with connections). "It was beautiful up there," remembers Jennifer. "He started to say something like you know how much I love you? I said 'Of course' and I thought this was it! Then he just stopped. He reached in his pocket, got down on his knee, and tears started flowing." Stephen proposed and Jennifer said "Yes!" followed by "Thank you!" They laughed. Jennifer remembers thinking 'don't forget how this feels right this second'.

After their engaged status had a chance to sink in, the couple rushed down to share the news with Jennifer's family. They had plenty of champagne toasts, a fabulous dinner with new friends, and one last night in Mexico. "Over the week, we'd made friends with many of the hotel staff and guests in the resort so word spread quickly that we'd gotten engaged.. People were  amazingly sweet - congratulating us wherever we went all night."
Immediately, Stephen and Jennifer knew they wanted their wedding to be a large, lavish party. And, as they got into the details, Jennifer surprised herself with how traditional she wanted her wedding. They chose the large, gorgeous St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Kitchener for the ceremony. Her parents and maternal grandparents had been married there, and she says "Plus, it's the most beautiful church in the city."

They chose the Hacienda Sarria (www.haciendasarria.com) for their reception. "It's a stunning location and building with a wonderful Spanish flair. There is NOTHING like this place in Kitchener-Waterloo..." Since Stephen is Colombian, the Spanish flair of the venue was a great fit. "The venue has a lot of soul..." The largest portion of their budget went to the rental of the Hacienda. At first, they were only planning to rent the use of the courtyard and the pool area outside. But closer to the wedding date, construction was completed on other areas of the Hacienda, which were too beautiful to overlook. "We decided to rent out the whole property..." they told The Ring. They used the new coffee house for their bar area, the ballroom for the dance, and the residence area upstairs where the bride and bridesmaids were photographed getting ready.

Jennifer's mother Ingrid was the master organizer for the planning process. "She made it her job that everything go smoothly, which it did!" And, of course, Jennifer and Stephen admit to saying on many occasions, "Thank goodness for the Internet!" They also had the expertise of Jodi Leigh Designs (www.jodileighdesigns.com) coordinating the 'day of' as well as the planning and execution the décor. Jennifer remembers Jodi explaining, "Whenever you think to yourself, Who is going to take care of that?, just put my name in there!" and says that really put everything into place.

The theme was garden elegance; not too much bling (no crystals, pearls or otherwise "shiny" elements), but with décor as timeless as the Hacienda. "We had a balance of rustic (unadorned Manzanita trees nestled among flowers sitting in tin garden urns) with elegant (matte gold damask) table cloths set atop a layer of satin gold table cloth... bustled with some antique style broaches." They chose a colour palette of purple (Jennifer's favourite colour), ivory, shades of gold and taupe.

On August 13th, 2011, at 1:30pm, Jennifer and Stephen were married in front of 115 guests who came from far and wide - Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, Mexico, Miami, and Colombia. Jennifer wore an ivory bridal gown with hand-beaded and embroidered tulle bodice, silver accents, sweetheart neckline, and a platinum silk satin ribbon belt. She carried a bouquet of seasonal ivory and lavender florals created by Les Fleurs Floral Boutique (♥) (www.lesfleursfloralboutique.com) (read review).

Her bridesmaids wore lavender dresses by Pricilla of Boston. Stephen wore a Hugo Boss tuxedo and his groomsmen wore tuxes from Kenneth Cole. Pewter vests, ties and pocket squares glinted with lavender in certain lights. "The guys all
looked fantastic."

After Jennifer and Stephen were pronounced husband and wife, they proceeded down the aisle as guests threw lavender, instead of rice, in celebration. Lavender-filled silver cones had been given to guests as they came into the church. The cones were actually a DIY project, each created by Jennifer and her bridesmaids during a 'lavender-filling wine party' evening. "Luckily the Priest and the church allowed the lavender throwing, since many of them don't... The fragrance was amazing, and lavender historically signifies love and fidelity."

We didn't even consider or talk to another photographer.

Ralph Heinze and Ange de la Chevrotiere, of One Great Day (♥) (www.onegreatday.ca) (read review) were hired to capture the wedding day. Jennifer say, "I fell in love with Ralph's unscripted style... We didn't even consider or talk to another photographer." Jennifer and Stephen found Ralph and Ange fun and easy to work with. "Ralph puts you at ease because he's a very calm and cool guy..." Jennifer says they were always there to catch each moment, but that "they never (ever) interrupted them or tried to steer them."

At one point in the day, the entire wedding party found themselves waiting for a limo driver to return. "We were waiting in the hot sun and were seriously annoyed." That's when Ralph seized the moment. "We made a movie. He shot over 100 photos of the entire wedding party walking into and back out of the shot again." The result was a stop motion style movie. "It was very cool and very creative!"

Bingemans' (♥) (www.bingemans.com) (read review) catering team passed hors d'oeuvres to guests throughout the cocktail hour, as well as prepared and served the four-course menu. A four tiered, lavish, lavender wedding cake (by Ida of The Cake Museum, www.thecakemuseum.ca) was designed with inspiration taken from a Christian Dior couture bridal gown. "It was heavily ruffled in some places and hand painted in others."

Jennifer and Stephen's wedding was everything they wanted it to be. "We spent a gorgeous, sunny August day with family and friends celebrating how much we love each other... We ate, drank and danced the night away in a beautiful place. What more could you want?!"