Katelyn & Dustin’s wedding day is full of love, creativity, and joy.  The couple went the extra mile and put so much of their heart and soul into the decor of the day, while wisely managing their budget.  We love their simple seaside wedding with stunning blooms, sweet DIY details, and breathtaking moments, all captured beautifully by White Photographie.  Read on as we share Katelyn & Dustin’s story and their valuable wedding planning experience.

 

 

Growing up together

From the Bride (Katelyn): I met Dustin’s older sister in my first week of high school, and she became one of my best friends, so Dustin and I kind of grew up together. We lived around the corner from each other and went to the same high school.

 

Sweet proposal story

Katelyn: Dustin and I had our first date on Valentine’s Day – and he proposed on Valentine’s Day five years later (a few months after we moved to Toronto together so that he could play hockey for Ryerson).

Dustin and I were out shopping the weekend before Valentine’s Day when he completely surprised me by wandering over to an engagement ring counter and asking me which rings I liked. Needless to say I had some pretty high hopes for Valentine’s Day. On the evening of February 14th, Dustin made me dinner (with all of my favorite foods), flowers and candle light before taking me skating at Nathan Phillips Square.

When we got home around midnight he pretended like Valentine’s Day was over by asking if it was everything I had hoped for. I said it was pretty good. Then Dustin asked if it was missing anything, and I said maybe a little something? That’s when he got down on one knee, told me that he loved me very much and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and asked me to marry him.

 

 

Something special & personal

Katelyn: What made the day special to us was being able to include everyone! Between the two of us we have six sisters and three brothers, so it was so nice to be able to include everyone in the wedding party.

I have two fathers (my father, and my step father) both of which have been very involved in my life so the one thing that made the wedding very personal to me was having both dads walk me down the aisle.

 

 

Wedding design & planning

Theme: Rustic Beach

Color palette: white, grey and a natural twine

Number of guests: 120

Budget: $30,000 (of which $4000 was honeymoon)

Best Wedding Moment:
Dustin: When Kate first started walking down the aisle, when I first saw her.
Katelyn: Seeing Dustin’s reaction when I was walking down the aisle

Favourite Wedding Details: The Ice Cream Truck (Kate) and the Candy Station (Dustin), they were a big hit!

 

Advice to other couples

Dustin & Katelyn: Be as planned and organized as you can ahead of time, but on the big day whatever will be – will be. Just relax and enjoy it! It goes by so fast – try and soak it all in.

 

 

Priorities

Dustin: We considered having a destination wedding at first, but we ended up deciding against that because I just wanted everyone to be there.

Katelyn: Dustin’s involvement pretty much ended there. Just kidding, well, sort of. The two most important things for me when planning the wedding were 1) the Décor and 2) the Budget.

I loved planning and working on all of the DIY craft projects.  We had our hands in crafting every aspect of our wedding; the table numbers, the seating chart, the centerpieces, the cake, the linens, the candy station, the ice cream tickets etc.

As for the budget, I researched the cost of every aspect of a wedding, divided it by the number of weeks until the wedding, and started making weekly deposits into a “wedding account”. This really kept us on track and allowed us to pay off the wedding the day before. It was a great feeling. It can get very tempting to splurge on every detail, but at the end of the day, you just have to pick which ones you can afford to splurge on and which are most important to you. I didn’t give up much, but I was very thrifty!  We always compared quotes, we shopped a lot of garage sales and always kept extended family in the loop if we were looking for anything  specific (vintage birdcage, pane glass window etc) to cover a greater area. Anyone handy was our best friend.

 

Unexpected incident

Katelyn: Three weeks before the wedding, Dustin was in a baseball accident that shattered his nose, and left him with two black eyes, a gash in his forehead, and a pupil that wouldn’t dilate resulting in plastic surgery. Everyone was telling us to cancel our photography, but we are so thankful we didn’t! The photos turned out beautifully and will last us a lifetime.

 

 

About White Photographie

Behind White Photographie is the husband and wife team Ben & Aileen Fretz. Both with backgrounds in the Graphic Arts, Ben and Aileen bring an attention to detail that focuses on capturing your wedding in a modern and artistic way.  “We love being able to capture some of life’s most memorable moments. It’s your day and we’re thrilled to be able to create the images of the moments you’ll remember forever.”

 

 

Find the photographer:

White Photographie website   |   Facebook

Vendor Information:

Reception Hall: Carmen’s Lakeview   |    Ceremony: Melrose United Church   |   Beach-themed cupcakes: Beyond The Batter Stoneycreek   |   Flowers: Jean’s Flower Shop Hamilton   |   Wedding Dress: Sposa   |   Bridesmaid Dresses: Heirlooms Dundas   |   Groom and Groomsmen Suits: STARS Mapleview   |   Limo: Celebrity Limo   |   Brides rings: People’s Jewellers‎   |   Groom’s ring: H&Z Diamond Centre