I have been dying to share this Serenity Cottage wedding since Corrie and I documented it. Not only is the venue perfect, intimate and unique but these lovebirds are some of my closest friends AND I introduced them! I will take credit for their relationship forever :)
Laura + Scott planned the best weekend get away turned wedding filled with relaxation, water sports, dancing and more.
I asked Laura a little about their love, their wedding and what they would recommend to future couples planning either a cottage wedding or an intimate one.
Have a read and enjoy these beauties!
Tell everyone a little bit about your love story…
Scott and I heard about each other in December 2010, when he saw my picture on Megan’s Facebook. After he asked her who I was and what I was all about, she thought it would be great if we met. Megan organized a night out downtown where a bunch of us just hung out, drank and danced. We instantly became the best of friends and hung out basically every day from that day on. Throughout our year as "just friends" we continuously heard many of our friends say "you two will be married one day". Those comments quickly started to feel like that could become true when we evolved from the just friends status to boyfriend and girlfriend. We have a bond that is so special and rare and has been since day one. My dad once told me that in order to have a successful and happy marriage you need to be best friends before lovers, and that quote rings true about us. After 6 years together, right before Christmas, Scott came home with a journal (which I had asked for for Christmas) for me to open, Swiss Chalet take out, and wine. I opened the first page of the journal and began reading a beautiful letter Scott wrote me and looked up to find him on one knee. The answer was obviously yes (followed by a few 'holy effs'), I couldn't wait to marry my best friend.
At what point in the planning process did you guys decide to keep it small and intimate? and then a wedding weekend?
Scott and I are the most laid back people so wedding planning just kept getting put on the back burner. We instantly knew we both wanted something small and intimate, that was never a question or thought for us. We went back and forth with the idea of just having a ceremony in a field, and a cool dinner out. But after talking we kept saying we didn't want dinner to be done than the night was over. So we looked into a few places where our guests were able to stay over night. We stumbled upon Serenity Cottage which would sleep the perfect amount of people for our immediate family and wedding party. We thought this would be the perfect way for us to celebrate our wedding, with our best friends and family. We are so so happy we followed through with our wants because the whole weekend was so perfect and just completely us.
What were 3-5 things that were of most importance to you both?
The most important things for us were: 1. It was done our way. 2. it was laid back and easy 3. the food was good. 4. the whole environment was pretty and chill 5. everyone would have fun.
For anyone planning a small intimate wedding, do you have any advice for them?
My advice for anyone planning a small intimate wedding would be to only think of the two of you, what it is that you two want to do, what will make it 'you guys'. Pick five things that you feel are the most important to you and focus on those and do not worry about the little details. Our five things were 1. Great photographer (nailed it x1000 - we couldn't have asked for better) 2. Food is delish (it was unreal.. major shout out to Justins Oven) 3. good tunes 4. good wine 5. an environment that everyone will feel themselves and relaxed. Another piece of advice my sister gave me, was to take a minute during your big day and just look around and appreciate everything that's going on around you. While all of our guests were having a drink on the downstairs patio before heading down to the ceremony, I sat on the back porch in my dress with my dad and just talked about how awesome this moment was and looked around at everything and everyone. It is a moment I will always cherish.
What made you decide on serenity cottage?
We chose Serenity Cottage because it was beautiful, rustic, and on Georgian bay (we both LOVE that body of water). Serenity had so much to offer for everyone attending. It had a kids play ground, horse shoe pit, a seadoo, stand up paddle boards, darts, and so much more! It allowed our guests to do whatever they felt like when ever they felt like it. Everyone enjoyed all that Serenity had to offer throughout the weekend. It allowed for our environment to be chill, relaxed, and so much fun. The cottage also had enough rooms to sleep all of our guests, and enough space for everyone to comfortably get ready for the wedding. I would definitely recommend Serenity Cottage to anyone who wishes to have an intimate (perfect) wedding.
Looking back on your wedding weekend, would you do anything differently?
The only thing we would do differently was make it a tad longer!!! I know everyone says their wedding was perfect... and I could totally say the same thing... but ours was just completely "us" and that is the most important thing!!
