Eva + Kyle’s wedding wasn’t just a celebration of their love, but a celebration of their neighborhood and their community. The two have a shared passion for music, local food, and beer and wanted to bring all of their favorite things to their friends and family… So they found an urban working woodshop venue in their home of Vancouver! Bon Accord served as the perfect canvas to present all of the things they treasure, and have an epic backdrop — near an antique store and brewery?! Yes, please!!
The two met on a college beer drinking team, so naturally their big day had to incorporate a lot of beer. The majority of vendors were East Van locals, and Eva and Kyle took inspiration from icons such as the “East Van Cross” and “East Van Crows.” The crows formed the motif of the wedding, and little symbols of crows and triangles were found both on the handmade letter-pressed stationery and in the yards of hand-cut garlands draping around the cocktail hour’s charcuterie.
Let’s wander through East Vancouver in the photos captured by Shari and Mike!
Eva and her sister are major crafters and embroidered names onto linen napkins, and letter-pressed the save-the-dates and invitations.
Eva shibori dyed the pocket squares for the groom + groomsmen.
How darling is this first look with the bride visible in the mirror, too?!
Eva donned a magnificent skirt and lace top combo. The blush-hued top was a custom design from local Vancouver designer, Joanna Delaney, and Kyle’s tie was handmade by a local accessory designer.
Beer has always remained an important part of their relationship, so they served local craft beer and cider (and no wine) and had their portraits taken in the brewhouse of their favorite local brewery.
Instead of a more traditional wedding party they also had two friends designated as “paleros” who were the party starters/hosts, who made sure that each guest felt welcomed, and were introduced to people with similar interests.
Carousel
Carousel
We treated our planning as a year and a half of super fun dates — cocktail tasting, an engagement shoot with rare beer in the forest, and trying cakes at our baker’s home. We put our guest experience in front of aesthetics, but still filled it with as many special touches as we could.
Processional: Mushaboom by Feist
Recessional: Do You Realize by The Flaming Lips
First Dance: I Summon You by Spoon
All the feels… All of them!
Our advice for those planning a wedding is to take time to stop and really figure out why you want to get married and have a wedding. For us it was a chance to celebrate our community and the people who make it. It was one of the only chances we’ll ever have for everyone we love to come together to celebrate what we love the most in the world - each other, our neighborhood and our friends and family. Every decision we made was based on remembering the real reason behind our decision to get married, which meant that if we were fighting over some detail we put it down and went for a walk with our dog instead. We wanted every moment of planning to be filled with love and community and if it stopped being that, then it wasn’t worth it any more.
Eva cut strands of triangle garlands, and made the seating chart which also featured the East Van crows (seen also on their envelope liner).
Eva: My favorite moment from the night was looking down the long table as all of our friends and family were laughing, glowing in the candlelight, eating the food that celebrated where we're from, bringing together people from across our whole lives together.
Kyle: A little later in the evening, Eva and I stood outside watching our guests kill it on the dance floor. It felt as if every moment of planning was worth it for the joy it brought... We had all the people who had loved us over the years together.
How gorgeous is this space?!
Guests were treated to custom cocktails and a family-style menu at long, candlelit tables. Wildly arranged spring flowers were foraged in part from nearby fields, and the Rogue Florist‘s East Van urban garden.
The lyrics “I Summon You My Love” from their first dance were made into a custom decal and put on the dance floor, and were also pressed into the ring dish made by Eva.
Each of the kiddos received a goodie bag brimming with custom coloring books and sequin animal masks.
Some parting words from E+K: It’s super important to make sure you hire the best people who get your vision and are excited about working with you. We’re good friends with most of our vendors now, and we knew on the day we didn’t have to worry about anything because they were going to nail it. We gave them some small pieces of inspiration and told them we picked them because we loved their work and asked them to get creative and give us the best they had. And their best was better than anything we could have imagined, because it’s all about love for them too when you ask them to share their craft with you.
We love that. They truly made it about all the love and community and brought those feelings of elation + family to their big day… Congrats Eva + Kyle!!
photography: Shari + Mike Photographers // venue name: Bon Accord, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada // florals: Rogue Florist // wedding dress: top by Joanna Delaney // hairpiece: Jennifer Behr // bride's shoes: J.Crew // bride's ring: Brilliant Earth // bridesmaid dresses: Club Monaco // getting ready robes: True Value Vintage // hair stylist: Sutro Salon // makeup artist: Tara Makrigiannis // groom attire: J.Crew and Beaux Ties // groom's shoes: J.Crew // groom's ring: Brilliant Earth // catering: Railtown Catering // cake: Livia Sweets // desserts: Beta5 Chocolates + Cartems Donuterie // furniture rentals: Bon Accord // bride's skirt: BHLDN // other catering: 33 Acres Brewing Company
Wow, amazing details and venues – so unique! Beautiful!
Very Beautiful Pics, wonderful to see. Thanks for showing
Love the colour tones in this wedding !
Great job, really! Cool colors, beautiful details and moments!