INFLUENCE & INSPIRATION
“Allan and I chose the theme of “Transparency” for our wedding, which we wanted to be highlighted in the aesthetic design of our wedding but also something that we value very strongly in our relationship and something we hope was reflected in our special day.

We chose ivory, clear, and chartreuse colours and tones for our day because we wanted something elegant that would not distract from the gorgeous natural surroundings of Tofino, BC on the west coast. We also really wanted a lot of different textures to give richness to the overall look and feel and a contrast to all the clear acrylic designs we made. We even imported a thousand custom glass candle holders and spent hours painstakingly tying them into custom chandeliers that we then filled with flowers and candles. One of my favourite memories is saying our vows to each other with the light chiming of hanging glass balls in the ocean breeze during our ceremony. We also custom milled and constructed (with my dad!) all our wedding décor pieces such as the 10 foot wide acrylic wedding arch, podium, cocktail tables, and pillars. And then transported them out to Tofino from Vancouver in a giant rental truck we drove ourselves!

Our florist really brought our sketches to life and placed a lot of cascading oversized white roses, hydrangeas, orchids and lisianthus on our acrylic pieces such as the clear arch and clear table boxes and a waterfall of flowers down the front of our head table.

Above all, we wanted our wedding to feel very personal to our guests so we tried to incorporate aspects of ourselves and our relationship into our wedding such as our favourite foods, music, sports, drinks, and activities. We also changed outfits for the reception when we did our choreographed salsa to a surf song! Some of our favourite highlights include using a custom made surfboard with our wedding logo as our guestbook, doing Patron tequila shots as our table toasts, getting every single wedding guest onto the dance floor with “Party Rock Anthem” as our entrance right at the beginning of the reception, and a custom menu of our favourite cocktails made with fresh fruit purees by David Wolowidnyk (Bartender of the Year Winner and Most Creative Bartender in the World Award Winner, also Bar Manager at West Restaurant in Vancouver who came over to Tofino for us!). Our guests tell us that their favourite parts of our wedding was the view of the Pacific Ocean overlooking our ceremony, the personalized wedding programs with our favourite memory of each guest and the guest’s table number, and the mini moving-picture flipbooks they could make with their friends at the reception in front of the surf-themed photo backdrop we designed and illustrated ourselves. It was by far the best day of our lives and we really had the most amazing vendors that helped us pull it all together. It would not have been possible without them!”

WHAT THE WEST COAST MEANS FOR ALLIE & ALLAN
“Allan and I were both born and raised on the west coast and have lived here all our lives. We chose Tofino as it was really the place where we fell in love with each other, camping and surfing and sharing kisses while sitting on our surfboards. We both try to take advantage of the beautiful province we live in and we surf, snowboard, scuba dive, golf, mountain bike and play ice hockey all around BC. We wanted to bring in elements of the west coast into our wedding, from our wedding logo to our colour scheme, wines, trees and driftwood brought into our reception space, custom surfboard that we used as a wedding guestbook, local seafood caught around Tofino, and our photo backdrop. For favours, we did a “Chocolate Tour of Vancouver” with chocolates from famous chocolate shops in Vancouver such as Thomas Haas, Chocolatas, Chocolate Arts, Purdy’s, and Mink Chocolates (and a custom made chocolate with our tree logo on it!). We even went surfing in our wedding dress and tuxedo!”

ALLIE & ALLAN’S RESOURCE LIST
Photography: Jonetsu Studios
Wedding Planner: Alicia Keats Weddings & Events
Florist: Crab Apple Floral
DJ: Austin Beaver Events
Bar Manager: David Wolowidnyk (Bartender of the Year and award-winner
of Most Creative Bartender in the World! Also Bar Manager at West Restaurant)
Wedding Cake: Ganache Patisserie
Officiant: Reverend Daniel Fournier
Entertainment: Vancouver Flipbook
Hair: Paul Wolowidnyk
Makeup: Hayley Miller
Chair Rentals: Furnishings by Corey
Linen Rentals: La Tavola
Other Rentals:
Smashing Glasses
Pedersen’s Rentals
Upright Décor
Wooden Invitations: Night Owl Paper Goods
Wedding Dresses (Ceremony & Reception): Manuel Mendoza
Bride’s Shoes: Valentino
Jimmy Choo
Isabel Marant
Ceremony Bracelet, Ring: Vintage/Heirloom (from Grandmother and Mother)
Earrings, Reception Bracelet: Elsa Corsi Jewellery
Purse/clutch: Salvatore Ferragamo
Ceremony Veil: Manuel Mendoza
Reception Veil: Laura Jayne Couture
Bridesmaid Dresses: Karen Millen London
Groom’s Tuxedo: Manuel Mendoza
Groom’s Shoes & Bowtie: Hugo Boss
Cufflinks: Paul Smith London
Ceremony Venue: Black Rock Resort
Reception Venue: Ucluelet Centre