Real #Azazie Wedding | Courtney + Shawn

Fall in love with this gorgeous lakeside wedding with dusty rose bridesmaid dresses and natural accents. Their reception was filled with yummy sweet treats, and their elegant venue completed their gorgeous nuptials. Read Courtney and Shawn’s beautiful love story, and get some helpful insights into how you can have a stress-free big day.

Q: You and your hubby are so cute! How did you know that your partner was the one?

“My husband always has a really sweet story about how he knew I was ‘the one’. We started dating when I was 20 and he was going on 25. I figured I had loads of time to find ‘the one’, so at the time it wasn’t really on my radar. I just knew I had started seeing this sweet guy who I really enjoyed spending time with. Shawn on the other hand can give exact memories like realizing he loved me when looking into my face lit up by his bedroom lava lamp, and knowing he wanted to marry me when I went to visit him in Ottawa in his last semester and seeing me on the top of the escalator in the airport. I would say I came to know he was the one for me over time. It was really the little things. We could be silly together, we wrote each other letters when we were apart, we liked to walk in the evenings and get ice cream, we were fiercely competitive in Jeopardy, even though he usually smoked me unless a category with biology or nature came up. I might also add, he is a grade 2 teacher. Seeing the little 7 year old boys idolize him and the little girls stare adoringly definitely had me sunk. Mostly though I just realized I just really found this person who I felt safe with, who made me feel beautiful everyday, who challenged me and whom I couldn’t imagine not experiencing all of life’s adventures together. Shawn is truly my best friend. I can’t wait to see what our married life together has in store for us.”

Q: Who was the most nervous on the big day?

“In all honestly, neither one of us was nervous. Sure, we were nervous about everything going smoothly for the day, especially since we were in the midst of a forest fire season, but when it came to getting married, it was right. When we were married we had been together for 8 years. In a lot of ways we grew up as a couple together. We got through Nursing School, Teachers College and multiple seasons of having a long distance relationship. I took an opportunity to do a semester of nursing school on an exchange in Norway and he took some time to teach in England when teaching jobs were few and far between more locally. On the day of our wedding all I felt was peace because we had already been through ‘hard’ things together.”

Frederica, Cherish, Cora and Kaitlynn

Q: If you could relive any moment during your wedding day what would it be?

“Oddly enough I would say towards the end of it. Maybe it was the sangria, but things seemed to slow down. Shawn and I found ourselves with just the two of us on the dance floor and I remember just feeling complete contentment. I think that moment is when it really sunk in that I had married my love. Shawn and I had met on a dance floor, so in a way we had kind of come a full circle. I don’t know if Shawn and I are any good at dancing, but we’ve always loved dancing together so it felt like the perfect moment.”

Q: Celebrating your big day means making tons of decisions. What was your favorite part of the planning experience?

“I think his favourite part was bringing multiple boxes of cupcake samples home. For myself, although I enjoyed that part too, I would say I enjoyed putting together the pieces to create the vision I had in mind for the day. I didn’t necessarily enjoy making decisions, but I definitely loved seeing it all come together.”

Dress: Cora

Q: What inspired you to choose your wedding colors/theme?

“I liked the idea of vintage romance and our venue was more industrial and rustic with brick walls, dark wood beams and floor. I wanted to soften it up a bit so we chose a dusty pink, ivory, dark blue and gold. I loved mixing up textures of lace, sheer fabric and sequins and having it contrast the venue. Our ceremony was on a lakefront park and we were able to book an area that had a super cute heritage cottage. I was so happy with how everything turned out. It was even better than I could have hoped for.”

Q: We’re so honored that you chose us! Why did you choose Azazie to be a part of your special day?

“I had been looking for a long time for the ‘right’ pink. I didn’t want anything bright and was especially afraid of ending up with dresses that I can only describe as ‘It’s a girl!’ pink. I’m not really sure how I came across Azazie, most likely Facebook, but the dusty rose caught my eye right away. I loved that it looked like a classy and vintage pink. I was a bit nervous that they would be too dark, but when they came they were exactly what I had envisioned, a beautiful soft pink. My girls loved their dresses, they were great quality and arrived quickly.”

Q: How did you decide on your wedding venue?

“For as long as I can remember, I always envisioned getting married outdoors. We live in a city surrounded by lakes and beautiful wineries, so we really wanted to incorporate that into our day. We found a park in lake country with a heritage house that I was able to walk out of and meet my groom in front of Okanagan Lake. We were hoping for a super sunny day, and although it was very warm, there was a fair amount of smoke from the surrounding forest fires. Looking back at our photos though, it actually looked kind of neat and our photographer really used the sun and smoke to her advantage.

For our reception, Shawn and I really wanted a unique venue and had always been drawn to the New York style apartments that you see on tv with the brick walls. As soon as we walked in I could start to see our wedding there and I was excited at the idea of having our mostly out of town guests enjoy it. I knew we could really put our own stamp on it and was excited when I pictured it dark with string lights and lots of candles. We had done most of the decorating and set up the day prior, but when we walked in as Mr. and Mrs. and I saw the final look, I was blown away.”

Q: Many of our readers are brides-to-be. Do you have any tips for these lovely ladies?

“I think I would encourage future brides to really take in the day. It really does go by so fast and parts are definitely a blur. Some of the best advice I got was to actively be present, not stress about seeing every single guest (having a receiving line really helped with this!), and to enjoy the day with your new husband!”

Dress: Frederica, Cherish, Cora and Kaitlynn

Q: We loved hearing all about your special day! Do you have anything else you’d like to add?

“If it’s within your budget, a videographer and a day of coordinator. My uncle with David Perry Films out of California and Utah, made us a wedding video and I am forever grateful. It is such an amazing keepsake. Every time I watch it, it takes me right back to all the feelings of the day.”

Photography by Stacey Krolow Photography.