Truly, the only thing that could have made Julia and Sean’s Elm Hurst Inn wedding more perfect would have been if they didn’t have to reschedule from their original date!
They handled the uncertainty and chaos of planning with ease and everything came together to create the most dreamy September wedding. LIBP Associate Emily captured the whole day beautifully! We’re so excited to be sharing our favourite moments on the blog today, with Julia helping us out and sharing more about it from her perspective!
(P.S. Still looking for a photographer for your 2022 or 2023 wedding? CLICK HERE to get in touch! We’d love to chat!)
What advice would you give to a newly engaged couple?
My best advice would be to not sweat the small stuff. It sounds so easy but I got caught up in agonizing over really small details I saw on Pinterest or Instagram or obsessing over the most perfect songs for walking down the aisle or our entrance song. Don’t worry about having a perfect table setting because it’ll just get messed up as soon as dinner is served. There’s probably a thousand good songs that would work for various times during your wedding, as long as you like it and the vibe matches you and you as a couple its fine. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I can barely remember hearing the songs we picked (except our first dance) I just remember they all really set the vibe well. I would advise too that you don’t need to splurge on everything. There’s some décor pieces that you’ll use only once, like a card box or a bunch of votive candles. That stuff can really add up in your budget but those don’t need to be the most expensive options. I got the candles and glassware from the dollar store and you couldn’t tell the difference. But things that you’ll keep, like your guestbook definitely splurge on those things. I LOVE our guestbook and I’m really happy we spent the money we did on it.
Were you nervous, or calm and excited while getting ready?
Honestly, a little bit of all three. Mostly nervous– more just nervous about managing everyone, bridesmaids, hair and makeup, nervous to make sure everyone was where they needed to be. I was nervous to put on the dress, that felt like such a big moment and that was a little scary but as soon as I was in it and we were getting closer to the first look and ceremony (where I knew I would just be hanging out with my fiancé) the nerves went away. I was really excited too the whole day! I couldn’t wait to see everyone’s final looks and see everything come together that I’d been planning for over a year. There were also periods of calm where I was just hanging out with my best friends and laughing and chatting which was really nice.
How did your bridal party/family help you in the beginning of the day?
Our bridal party and families were such a huge help! Hair and makeup was being done in my room so I had to be up bright and early to let them in and get everyone started so I couldn’t be there to set up the ceremony space (outdoors and couldn’t be done the night before). So my brother and sister-in-law, my maid of honour, and nearly half the bridesmaids took care of all that set up and it went so smoothly. I was getting text updates and few facetimes to make sure everything was how we wanted. It was a massive help and took so much stress off my shoulders. I also had one bridesmaid coordinate all the food and coffee and we had bridal party bring in some snacks so everyone was well fed and caffeinated! I totally forgot about this in planning. I just didn’t realize we would be getting ready for like 5 hours and people will need to eat!
Did you do a first look? If so, what was that moment like?
The first look was absolutely perfect. I’m the type of person that the longer the prep or wait for something is, the more nervous and anxious I get. So I was nervous getting ready and all the lead up in the weeks and months before the actual wedding. Seeing my fiancé and just sharing those moments before the ceremony was amazing. Immediately all my nerves were calmed and I just knew no matter what happened it would all be perfect. He’s my favourite person so being able to have those moments and just relax with him was indescribable.
What were your thoughts when you first saw each other?
I thought he looked amazing! So handsome and hot! I hadn’t seen him all morning and then suddenly he was all dressed up in his suit! It was also a really exciting moment because the first look was sort of the beginning of the events for the day, only an hour or so before the ceremony, so it was really exciting that all this was actually happening and we were finally going to have our wedding!
(Pro Tip!! If you’re doing a first look, decide ahead of time if you’d like to wear your wedding bands afterward for your portraits!)
How did you feel when you walked down the aisle?
So excited! We walked down the aisle together and I really loved that we did that. I think it really symbolized our relationship well, we pretty much do everything together so walking down the aisle made sense to us and felt like us walking into our future together. It’s such a high too because it felt like everything had been building to this moment and our bridal party was so excited and happy crying, our families also happy crying it was really amazing.
What are you looking forward to the most about being married?
I’m most excited about just spending my life with husband and being with him everyday and building a life together. He’s my best friend and I can’t wait to do all the adventures with him, big or small, celebrate all the milestones with him and just be together!
How excited were you for the food at the reception? What did you eat?
We were so excited for the food! The food was provided by the venue and because of COVID we actually weren’t able to taste it until about a month before our wedding so we were just hoping everything would be amazing and there would be no problems. Oh my god we were blown out of the water at our tasting everything was so so good we had such a hard time deciding what to pick! My husband had the steak and I had stuffed chicken with cheese and mushrooms. Everything was so amazing!
What did you love about your vendors?
Everyone was really easy to work with. I loved that I was able to tell them what we wanted in some vague terms (because we aren’t wedding experts) and they could turn around and make it happen. They were all experts at weddings and their fields so it was easy to put our wedding in their hands. Everyone too was really great at answering emails and helping us plan. Life is Beautiful especially was so great at keeping in touch and updating, setting up really doable timelines and deadlines we really appreciated that to help keep us organized. Everyone we worked with was just so great and helpful and made us feel really special!
Did you whisper anything sweet in each other’s ears during the first dance?
We really should have whispered something sweet to each other but we were trying to remember the steps to the easiest dance we could find on YouTube like 3 days before our wedding. So I think we just kept laughing and how we (most likely just me) missed a step or a turn. I don’t think we were subtle about it either a few guests said they heard us talking about the steps. It was still such a perfect moment we were just laughing the whole time and didn’t take it too seriously.
What are your honeymoon plans?
We didn’t do a honeymoon right after for a lot of reasons but mostly COVID related since international travel is really hard these days. But we have some loose plans to go to Australia at the end of this year! Otherwise, our honeymoon after our wedding was just hanging out with each other, decompressing after all the excitement and events. We had a few weekends after the wedding when we didn’t see anyone and it was really lovely to just be together and enjoy being married!
What moments of your day will you never forget?
It’s so hard to choose! There was so many great moments. What sticks out the most is our first look photos and newlywed photos because it felt like such a private moment away from all the guests and wedding party when we could just be ourselves. I remember we were really feeling all the love during those times, it all felt so natural. The speeches from our wedding party and parents were so funny and touching! The moment I put on my dress and it all felt so real and my bridesmaids and my mom were all tearing up. Walking down the aisle with my now-husband. His reaction at our first look seeing me all dressed up, I could tell he thought I looked really beautiful. Honestly, just the feelings from the whole day really stick out for me. We felt so loved the whole day by everyone– our wedding party, families, the guests!
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Shoutout to their amazing vendor team!
Venue | Elm Hurst Inn
Wedding Gown | Heirloom’s Bridal (Designer – Essence of Australia)
Hair + Makeup | MakeupWorx
Florist | Callia Flowers
Suits | Moores
Baker | Chick Boss Cake
DJ | Mahervelous Music
Officiant | Ruth McGregor
2022 and 2023 Elm Hurst Inn wedding dates still available with Life is Beautiful Photography! Click Here to talk more about having us capture your wedding day!!
More of our favourite weddings from the Elm Hurst Inn:
Victoria + Spencer’s Brunch Wedding
Spring Wedding at the Elm Hurst Inn
Top 10 London Ontario Wedding Venues
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