A Stillwater Wedding by Rebekah & Marc Laferriere
One of the goals of The Brant Advocate was to highlight local stories, local talent and local spaces.
As a couple, we take local very seriously. If you don’t use it you will lose it. And it is too wonderful to lose.
In our first year of publication, we remember fondly going on “Advo-dates” where we would take a few thousand papers in the back of our old PT Cruiser, and spend the day delivering this little “not-newspaper” in the city and county. We’d take breaks to go for lunch or dinner – or sometimes both depending on how long delivery took – often meeting up with Lucas and Laura who would be doing the same kind of deliveries.
We’d stop in at so many nice shops and restaurants and get to know the people who ran them, worked in them and frequented them. Some of those businesses are flourishing, others hanging on, while still others are gone. But those “Advo-dates” became an absolute highlight of this venture and a way to fold our business duties into our relationship time. As the Advocate grew, so did our relationship.
The Brant Advocate also gave us an opportunity to put a larger spotlight on the virtues of local. Part of the Brant Advocate’s mission was to celebrate local. That could mean shopping local, visiting local or even having couples wed local. As far back as our first year of publication, Bekah wrote a wonderful piece about 2 amazing local weddings (one at Mohawk Park, another in Mt. Pleasant). When it came to our own wedding this past May, we were so excited to wed locally and live our values in that way.
The venue was Stillwaters Plate & Pour right in the heart of Paris in the beautiful County of Brant. Owner, Matt Cummings, went above and beyond over and over again to make the day just right, transforming his restaurant into the perfect venue for our ceremony and our reception. Chef Will Thompson utilized an assortment of food, including that from local farmers to make a delicious menu for the evening, filled with variety and taste – including a very creative midnight poutine bar! And the staff were so responsive, helpful and kind throughout the entire night. We simply couldn’t have asked for a better experience from planning to execution.
The photos you see here are from the incredibly talented Jono & Layne. Two local photographers who took the care to meet with us, get to know us before the big day and worked with us every step of the way from location scouting in Paris, to helping Marc with his suspenders and cufflinks when he couldn’t figure them out with only minutes to go. Their humour, versatility and the talent that shows in each photo they take will help us remember the day fondly for years to come. Just look at these pictures, folks, and you’ll see what we mean!
Everything is available right here to have the wedding of your dreams.
For us this meant:
– Rev. Jonathan Massimi for pre-martial counselling and a pitch perfect wedding ceremony filled with laughter, thoughtfulness and care.
– Friend of The Advocate, Craig Cardiff, for his musical stylings during the ceremony and the early part of the reception – he even learned our song in 3 days!
– Sophia’s Bakery for delicious desserts at our wedding, rehearsal, engagement party and even the bachelor party.
– Flim Flam for our DIY wedding crafts, decorations and everything in between.
– Gigi T Professional Makeup Artistry for the make-up excellence.
– Photohouse studios for engagement photos.
– Lyndsay Martin at Studio Allure for hair design.
– Seams Sew Beautiful by Kathy for alterations and bridal jewellery.
– Moores Clothing for Men in Brantford and especially Robert Mikolajczyk for all his advice and service.
– La Bottega for the rehearsal dinner platters and Jojo Chik-n-wings for catering the bachelor party.
Every single place we went locally to source materials for our wedding hit it out of the park! They all went above and beyond and we can’t recommend them enough. Thank you to all the local shops, venues and people who helped make our wedding what it was.
So remember when you have a chance to please #CelebrateLocal.
To see the full layout for this article check out pages 8-9 of our August digital edition at http://www.scribd.com/doc/234664628/The-Brant-Advocate-Issue-35-July-August-2014