Chelsea and Austin are an inspiring couple! Their love story demonstrates a very precious and sweet kind of love — something out of the movies! On their first date, they were walking by Kits Beach and stopped to listen to a busker, Jeff Bryant. They both thought he was so great! About a week after their date, Austin contacted Jeff and said, “I’m going to be proposing in the near future and I would love you to be there”. Yes! You read that right! Austin knew just one week in that he was going to marry Chelsea! Hence the title of this blog… When You Know You Know.
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This beautiful Vancouver Wedding celebration was documented by the talented bundle of fun Esther Moerman and planned with Olivia Woolwich.
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“We had the absolute honor of working with Olivia from DreamGroup to plan our fall wedding at Shaughnessy Restaurant. As the wedding day approached, our friends and family kept asking why we didn’t seem stressed and were just so excited for the day. I can say with 100% certainty that it’s because of Olivia. She has a very relaxed, calming presence, all while handling every tiny detail to perfection.
Olivia also has an incredible group of vendors to choose from and a great relationship with them, which says a lot about her. She was able to navigate and accommodate changes and last-minute requests with no problem — including rain plans!
Olivia has wedding timing down to an art. From knowing when to get the dress, hire the vendors, and finalize the printing, all the way down to the wedding day timeline (which was color-coded), she handled everything flawlessly. She was so present and aware of every detail on the wedding day, and it ran perfectly because of her. The wedding planning guide she provided was a huge help, and it was so beneficial to have the hive mind of the entire DreamGroup team.
I don’t think I answered a single email throughout the entire process because Olivia was so on top of everything. I highly, highly recommend Olivia and her team if you want to feel present, calm, and completely filled with joy on your wedding day. We are so grateful.”
~ Chelsea Rusnak
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There were how many kids?
A unique aspect to this wedding was the number of children involved in the wedding day celebration at Shaughnessy Restaurant at Van Dusen Gardens! In fact, approximately 1/4 of the guests were children. Also, many of the guests were from out of town and Chelsea and Austin wanted them to enjoy themselves fully. For this reason, they arranged for the kids to be properly entertained and managed. They created little gift baskets with a few toys and treats to give to all the kiddos before the ceremony. They worked like a charm!
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K&K Kids Event Sitters were also brought on to help keep the kiddos entertained with so many different activities, games, crafts, etc. When dancing started, we put on Toy Story for the kids. Quite a few of the kids ended up on the dance floor which was adorable!
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Fun Fact: Chelsea lived in Hong Kong, where she had her daughter, and her pastor Andrew Gardener flew out from HK to marry the couple in Vancouver. This meant the world to Chelsea!
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What was the design plan?
Neutral colours, creams, coffees, and a touch of dusty pink. Chelsea didn’t want too many flowers on the tables, so we opted for greenery with a few stategically placed blooms. Tons of candles added to the ambiance and created a lovely warm feeling. Chelsea chose dark sage green napkins which we folded into a pocket to hold the menu and a lovely little thank you card for each guest. The kiddos had their own menus with their food options listed. The ceremony was kept classically rustic with a wooden arbour with asymmetric flower arrangements on each side, candles, an aisle runner and a couple of perfectly placed floor arrangements.
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When Austin proposed to Chelsea, Jeff Bryant — the busker from their first date on Kits Beach — was there playing for them and so of course it only made sense to have him a part of their wedding too! Jeff played for their cocktail reception, and he was awesome. When he played one song that was particularly meaningful to Chelsea and Austin, they spontaneously decided to dance right there in the middle of their cocktail reception. It was very sweet.
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Were there any pivots required on the day?
We had originally planned on moving the ceremony arbour behind the sweetheart table for dinner, however once all the tables were set up in the restaurant it was clear it would be a little too tight for the arbour to fit. We decided to leave it in the ceremony area which guests loved as they took photos in front of it! The sweetheart table in thanks to Maria at Niche Boutique looked beautiful even without the arbour. Two gorgeous floral arrangements from the ceremony were initially planned to be repositioned to sit on the floor in front of the sweetheart table. They felt unappreciated there so we used two pillars from the restaurant and put the arrangements on them flanking the sweetheart table. It looked like it was meant to be that way all along!
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The Vendor Team that brought When You Know You Know to life…
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This warm and inviting joining of a family in marriage was lovingly planned with Vancouver Wedding Planner Olivia Woolwich…
Olivia Woolwich Associate Planner
DreamGroup Weddings + Events | Vancouver Wedding Planners
