Chris and Sarah wanted a winter wonderland wedding and Whistle Bear delivered just that! They took full advantage of the snowy weather outside and Gary Evans Photography captured some epic winter wedding shots! Add in Sarah’s cozy fur wrap and you have the winter wedding that dreams are made of….

Bride & Groom: Chris and Sarah Rose

Wedding Date: February 10, 2018

Ceremony & Reception Location: Whistle Bear Country Club (whistlebear.ca)

“This was the first and only venue we looked at, and without leaving the building, we booked immediately after the first tour! The elegance and romantic atmosphere that this Whistle Bear offered sold us instantly. The Rose room (our last name is Rose – so we knew it was meant to be!) was the perfect size, had the right amount of sparkle with beautifully lit mirrored light fixtures. It was warm and inviting, the fireplace kept it cozy; we just knew it would be perfect for our winter wedding.” – S&C

Colour Palette: medium grey, white, midnight blue (navy) and sparkle.

Theme: “Our theme was winter wonderland, but we kept it subtle. Whistle Bear already offers so much charm that we felt we didn’t need to overdo it with flowers and décor. We chose to go with elements of sparkle/glitter to resemble snowflakes from the head table linens, my wedding dress and hair piece, the cake topper etc. The overall goal was to help our guests feel warm and inviting on a very snowy day in February, and Whistle Bear helped us deliver!” – S&C

Flowers:  “We worked with Julia Weddings (juliaweddings.ca) for our flowers and we tried to keep it very soft and romantic. For this reason we stuck with mostly roses for the bridal bouquets as well as a single rose for the boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen.” – S

Décor: “We partnered with Jodi Leigh Designs (jodileighdesigns.com) for our table linens, centerpieces and card box. For our table linens we went with navy runners, except for the round tables which remained white, and our head table which was covered in a silver sequin sparkle. We also covered our gift table, cake table, and hot chocolate bar in navy linens. For our centerpieces we went with a simple trio of glass vases placed in the center of the table filled with water with a round lit candle on the inside. Being that the round tables remained in white linen, we had the addition of a round mirror placed in the middle for the trio of vases to sit on.” – S

Fav décor element: “Our favorite décor element would be the venue itself. But If I had to choose a single element it would probably be the head table linen; it had so much sparkle! It really made the head table the focal point of the room and brought the whole theme together for us.” – S

DIY: “We had quite a few DIY elements. Chris has a graphic design background, so we designed our invitations, programs, and seating chart. We put together the welcome sign to the entrance to the ceremony. We created our guestbook from Shutterfly utilizing our amazing engagement photos. We bottled our own wine for the guest favors. Chris custom made a ring box out of wood which was tied with a navy ribbon. I made the sign for the flower girl to walk down the aisle with.” – S&C 

Noteworthy elements: “The only other thing I can think about is the snow; we had the perfect winter wedding. It wasn’t too cold and the wind was low, the snow was light and fluffy; you could see the details in the snowflakes. A lot of people seem to shy away from winter weddings because of the weather and cold but for us it not only set us apart, but allowed us to get stunning pictures. I can also mention my custom garter set which was locally made by Little Bow Peeps Boutique (facebook.com/littlebowpeepboutique) in Kitchener.” – S

Limo: “We worked with Oncan Limo Services Inc. (oncanlimo.com) who were great to work with. Excellent communication and very accommodating to us and our wedding party.” – S&C 

Invitations/stationery: “We found a style we liked on Pinterest that looked like falling sparkly snow, so the Chris designed these and we printed them through Vistaprint (vistaprint.ca)” – S

Cake: “Our cake was locally made by Boutique Baker (boutiquebaker.com) in Cambridge. We wanted to stay local for this and were very happy with the taste and design of the cake.” – S&C

Wedding favours: “Wine Expert (winexpert.com) in Kitchener worked with us to bottle our own wine (Cran-apple white wine) into 0.75 liter bottles fitted with a custom label (from Vistaprint – matching our seating chart, invitations and programs) which was a cute keepsake for our guests.” – S&C

Groomsmen and Grooms attire: Tip Top Tailors (tiptoptailors.ca) – “Medium grey suit with a white shirt and navy tie.” – C

Bridesmaids attire and accessories: “Dresses came from David’s bridal (davidsbridal.ca) and were a navy Vera Wang floor length dress. They wore their own accessories in addition to matching Kate Spade bracelets that were gifted to them from the Chris and I.”

Brides dress and accessories: “My dress was from Ballets Bridal (balletts.com) and was a Demetrios ivory tulle ballgown with a sweetheart neckline and shimmering bodice crystal basque waist. Cathedral length train with scattered rhinestones was also from Ballets. The large/small pearl/rhinestone comb was from Ballets as well.” – S

DJ: Copeland DJ and Production Services (copelanddj.ca)

Hair & Make-up: Hair Your Way (facebook.com/Hair-Your-Way) and was done by Ashley Graham. Make-up was Beauty by Lisa Torti (facebook.com/beautybylisatorti)

Photographer: Gary Evans Photography (geweddings.ca) “We initially met Gary at a Wedding Ring show in Cambridge! We found him to be very personable and his work outstanding. At the time he had recently done a winter wedding at Whistle Bear, so this intrigued us. After booking a meeting to sit down and talk about what Gary could offer, like Whistle Bear, we were instantly sold. After meeting up with Gary to do our engagement photos, we were so pleased to be working with him, and this was before we got any of our photos back! We really wanted to work with someone who was laid back but at the same time could give us direction to get the perfect shot. He kept awkward kissy photos less awkward with his added humor and kept our spirits strong when the snow began to fall and we couldn’t feel our fingers and toes. In the end he produced the best work and we can’t say for certain how many compliments we’ve received about our photos. He has new, fun and different ideas that set one couples photos apart from another. Our favorite part of our photos was when we stopped in front of my (the bride’s father’s) business to get a couple photos of us with the sign in the background. We literally stopped traffic to stand in the middle of the street, and remained there until Gary got the perfect shot. This is what is so great about him because he is determined, unconventional and so very talented, and this allows him to produce such great work.” – S&C 

Biggest Challenge: “Honestly the biggest challenge was getting the RSVPs back and making the seating chart. Between myself and Chris, and our parents we worked together to follow-up with friends and family who had not yet responded.” – S 

Fav wedding memory: “Marrying my best friend, our first look, walking down the aisle, being surrounded by our closest friends and family; it was undoubtedly the best day ever and so it’s very hard to pick ‘the best’ memory, because there are so many! My 8-year-old stepson and I put together a secret dance that went from a slow song to a mash up of fast songs, so another great memory was seeing the expression on our guests and the Chris’ (who didn’t know about the dance!) faces when we broke out into a choregraphed dance.” – S

Advice from one bride to another: “I’ll give the same advice we received, which was on the day of, take your time, don’t rush or stress; you only get to do this once. Take some time throughout the day to soak it all in. Chris and I snuck away for a few minutes before dinner to the bridal suite to have a private moment to reflect on the day, share a story or two about the morning we were apart and to toast to ourselves. It was a special moment for us and a lovely memory to have.” – S

Anything else you’d like to add? “Wedding planning can be stressful at times but also very exciting and fun! I wish I could relive the day; I wouldn’t change a thing. As long as you stay on top of things, stay within your budget and plan things out in advance, you can keep the stress to a minimum and really enjoy the process. Good luck and have fun to all the brides to be!” – S

MORE ABOUT GARY EVANS PHOTOGRAPHY | Local couples choose Gary Evans Photography (geweddings.ca) for epic, wall-worthy photographs and a bit of cheeky British humour on the side (more details in their review in The Ring, here). To find out more, email Gary Evans directly using the form below. 🙂