Apple Grove Wedding from Saanichton, BC

From the bride:

"Third time's the charm" was true for Scott and I, as we rescheduled our entire wedding for the third time, two weeks before July 24th. After being in isolation for several months, and seeing the number of COVID-19 cases decline, we decided that we were going to visit my parents in Victoria, BC, from Ottawa, ON where we live. Originally from the island, I had always dreamed of getting married in BC. In fact, it was a non-negotiable element of our wedding day! We were exhausted from the "what if's" and "maybe when's" associated with trying to reschedule a wedding during a pandemic, and decided since we'd be in BC anyway, we'd get a few people together and get it done! Planning a wedding in two weeks is stressful, but not quite as much when you've already planned two. Our original two plans included a lot of DIY: decorating ourselves, planning out the food and alcohol ourselves, bringing in dinnerware and arranging fun elements for our guests like a candy bar and a photobooth. It would have been fun, sure, but because we were reducing the number of guests considerably (from approximately 116 to 19!) we decided we would find a place where everything was included, cue, Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse. Sea Cider was fantastic from the get-go. They were incredibly accommodating to our urgent request for a venue, their COVID protocols were top notch (individual charcuterie boards instead of shared? giant harvest tables placed well over 2m away from each other? staff on hand to serve the cider and ensure social distancing was maintained? Check!), and they genuinely sounded overjoyed to host our wedding. We happened to be the first wedding of the season for them this year, after many pandemic related cancellations. They arranged for us to have at least 7 different kinds of cider to taste, the food, a gorgeous Pavillion with more than enough room for our guests to feel comfortable, a beautiful forest ceremony location, dinnerware and glassware, staff on hand, and music. The only decorating that we did for our wedding was adding some mason jars filled with flowers from a local flower farm, Dancing Dandelion Farms, which were an array of beautiful colours. We had no colour scheme, we just picked what was in season! Sustainable, supporting local…we felt like we'd hit the jackpot with Dancing Dandelion. Our wedding Commissioner, booked through the government of BC, was sweet and quick-witted. She had our guests laughing and put us at ease. My father walked me down the forest path, but not until my grandmother had scattered petals she had been saving for months after I had asked her to be our flower "girl". Scott's family wasn't comfortable flying out, so we set up a videochat with them. Actually, of the entire guest count, originally, Scott was only going to have 2 people there for him: an uncle and cousin. With the wedding in Victoria, it was easy for my family, old friends, and family friends to make it, but he lacked the support that I wanted him to have that day. A little math, and some happy savings later, I had booked plane tickets for 3 of his closest friends to surprise him on July 24th! Honestly, the most nerve-wracking part of the entire wedding day was making sure Scott didn't see his friends sneak into the Pavillion, where the photographers were waiting to catch the surprise
. Luckily, Scott can be pretty oblivious to the details, and had no idea his friends were there! He was overjoyed when he saw them. Speaking of the photographer: Faganello Productions, had reached out to me over Facebook to offer to capture our wedding. Laura Faganello is an amazing photographer, and after looking at her portfolio (and the price she quoted me!) I was happy to book with her. Better, is when she offered for her husband Brayden, a videographer, to come and do complimentary video during the wedding. With Scott's family not being able to come, and reducing our guest list by so much, we were absolutely sold on the idea of having a videographer! Laura and Brayden were superb. They showed up early to set up, they were completely prepared, polite and friendly, and you could tell how much they value capturing the special moments of a wedding day, since they themselves are married! Overall, the entire day felt like a fairytale. Looking back at the pictures of the forest ceremony, I can't believe how lucky we got on such short notice. On July 24th, I married my best friend, my squish, in front of 19 members of our friends and family, and it was the most magical day of my life!