Incredible Bright & Bold Floral Wedding in Private Barn: Noelle & Ben

Noelle and Ben had an incredibly pretty, bright and bold floral wedding in a private barn setting. A stunning colour palette of magenta, cherry red and baby blue was chosen and, Noelle spent the best part of a year collecting vintage teacups to display all the wedding flowers which gave this wedding a touch of unique charm.

Words by Noelle. Images by Blue Colibri.

My wedding gown was called Elysia by Hayley Paige, I knew as soon as I put it on that it was the dress. The lace sleeves were absolutely perfect and it was classic yet still modern. I wore vintage weiss jewellery from the 1950s, with Etsy (Earrings and Bracelet, from separate vintage vendors). Christy Flat, Aquazzura.

We both don’t drive and take public transit everywhere, and while considering a restaurant or event space downtown was tempting, I really didn’t want to see a TTC vehicle anywhere on my wedding day. Though we are both Italian, a hall-style wedding wasn’t for us. I guess I just decided on a barn because I thought it would be a good way to get people out of the city for an afternoon and have them witness a wedding and party in a location that wasn’t traditionally associated with Italian weddings.

We looked at a couple of barns in near Guelph and Niagara, but really fell in love with the private barn venue in Puslinch. We were greeted on side by a pack of puppies, two adorable donkeys (which they no longer gave), and a sheep wearing a tweed coat. Immediately I was in love with the animals, the property, and how wonderfully the barn was restored. We actually found it through a posting on Kijiji – bizzare, I know, but it definitely surprised us with its charm and affordability.

And the best part? We could bring in 100 per cent of our own vendors. This is not common, especially with Toronto venues and wedding venues in general, because they make you choose from a list of preferred vendors instead. Allowing us to have total control over the catering, décor, music, florals, and cake, helped us save money in the long run. We booked on the spot for a June 2017 date, a couple of weeks after we got engaged, leaving me lots of time for wedding planning. We decided to do both the ceremony and reception all on site, so guests wouldn’t have to worry about commuting from one place to another.

My veil attacked my dad during a windstorm as we were walking down the aisle (and it totally made everyone laugh).

Ben and I both went to the same high school, but I was dating someone else at the time and Ben really wasn’t on my radar. He definitely wouldn’t have been my type back then, and I wouldn’t have been his either. We were complete opposites. We reconnected during university while both single, through a mutual friend. We shared an evening of pizza and whiskey, and then eventually figured out we really liked each other and had a lot in common.

We began dating long-distance, commuting between Kitchener and the GTA, so there were times it wasn’t easy. We also both had a lot of growing up to do. When Ben finished his degree, he moved back to Toronto and we decided to get more serious about our relationship, moving in together. The rest is history.

The flower aspect was pretty simple. I am not a florist. I work in digital marketing. I can’t even keep a houseplant alive. That being the case, I wanted someone to take total control of our florals. Once I found the most amazing, talented and just sooooo-lovely Robyn from Guelph’s Blooms and Flora, I had met my match.

She was so excited about our project, fit our budget, and was close to the venue. Our consulting session was pretty open-ended. I gave her our colour scheme, details about volume of flowers we would require, dropped off 100+ vintage vases, teacups and other holders, and basically told her to do what she wanted. The result was that the flowers turned out to be one of the parts people remember the most about the day.

Everyone kept commenting how bright and vibrant they were, and I think this had to do with the fact that Robyn and her team were able to showcase their love of flowers whichever way they saw fit.

Our biggest floral pieces were on either side of us at the ceremony – two large sprays resting on top our respective families’ trunks from when they both crossed over the ocean, from Italy to Canada, as new immigrants. Having those pieces anchor the place where we said our vows, was incredibly meaningful for the both of us, and was a way to pay tribute to the history of our family.

Our wedding photographers were Blue Colibri. Looking back at all of the wonderful photos from Gee and Ieva continue to fill our hearts with joy, and they are such an important part of helping us remember how special our day was.

I basically started doing a little bit each month before the wedding. I also have to give credit to Ben for allowing me to go with such a unique colour palette – we did magenta and cherry red, with accents of baby blue.

Definitely not conventional, and I can’t even begin to tell you how many of my friends and family weren’t sure what I was doing design-wise. I kept telling them to trust my creative vision (hah!), however, I don’t think they fully were able to understand everything until the day of the wedding.

We provided mini popcorn bags from the Toronto Popcorn Company, in Kensington Market in Toronto, where I lived when we first started dating. We had a little sign that said ‘Thanks for Poppin’ by’ on the favour table, because, who doesn’t love a good pun.

I spent countless hours surfing Etsy for the right accents, ordering our ceremony carpet from the U.S., paper lanterns (which we then covered in polka dots) from Canada, and laser-cut table numbers (which I hand-painted and glittered) from the U.K.

I also spent about a year collecting vintage tea-cups, dishes, and little kitschy 1950s statues to put our florals in. I made our head table ribbon curtain and sparkle garland, spray painted mason jars for other flowers, bought giant tissue puffballs our bridal party diligently fluffed and strung up the day before the wedding (please forgive me), and designed all my own invites/menus/place cards using both Minted and my basic Photoshop skills from work.

Our cake was very simple and something we’ve eaten a lot of in the past; a vanilla sprinkles party cake from Bobette and Belle – a bakery near our old apartment. We cut it secretly and didn’t really tell anyone so we could just enjoy the moment to ourselves.

So what do we think of Noelle in this stunning lace sleeved Hayley Paige gown and dreamy mantilla veil? I think she looks absolutely uh-mazing. Congratulations Ben & Noelle.

Obsessed with floral weddings. You need to see this gorgeous wedding.