We are loving every dainty element in today’s feature! From the rustic textures to sleek minimalism, Jessica and Daniel’s wedding will help you achieve your own dreamy beachside nuptials. They only had their closest gang yet the love and joy on the day were almost tangible! Turn your attention to the wedding cake as well. We thought that was too cute to be eaten! If you want something scenic like this set, keep scrolling and grab some inspiration from Kristine and Charles‘ romantic captures!
Romantic Beach Styled Shoot – The Scarborough Bluffs
Beaches inspire natural beauty and romance. Surrounded by creamy-white sand, gentle glimmers reflecting off the water, and the soft tones of a sunset, they create a flawless backdrop to exchange vows. Today, we brought together tones and textures of creams, whites and a just touch of peach, as a gentle contrast against the creamy sand and rugged scenery nestled against it. Let us show you a concept of ridiculously creative styled layouts and ideas captured by Samantha Ong Photography that will make your romantic beach themed wedding come true!
We’re All About the Details!
We chose soft and effortless materials, that flow ever-so gently in the breeze. We outfitted the tablescape with shabby chic details and elegant florals, offering a unique take on boho chic. Truly, a set of uncompromising and effortless beauty.
About the Photographer
Samantha Ong Photography is a Toronto based wedding and lifestyle photography studio. We take the responsibility of documenting your special day very seriously as we want to capture it as beautiful as possible. Our style of photography is fun, fresh and romantic. Our goal is to also capture timeless photos as we want to make sure that not only you are able to look back and enjoy your wedding day through these photos, but generations to come. We love telling stories. We love capturing the beauty of the moment. We hope that you love our work as much as we loved creating it. Our work recently has had the honour of being published in popular wedding blogs such as The Knot, Today’s Bride, Bride Canada, The Wedding Co., Wedding Obsession, Bespoke Bride, The Bridal Detective, and many more! We are also proudly the winner of Wedding Wire’s Couple’s Choice 2015 and 2016. We are booking couples for 2016/2017 and are available for weddings in the Greater Toronto Area. We are also able travel around Ontario. Please inquire with your wedding details.
Take this Advice
You can achieve a warm romantic beach look in Canada if you really want to. ~ Samantha Ong/Photographer
Vendors
Photographer: Samantha Ong Photography
Hair Stylist: A&J Beauty
Cake Designer: Cakes by Bex
Makeup Artist: Joli Avail Beauty
Event Planner: Lisi Purr
Floral Designer: Mum’s Garden Floral Studio
Event Planner: Rachel Hollis
Dress Store: Sash & Bustle
Other Location: Scarborough Bluffs
Sandcastles And Love
Kyle and Kristie went with soft colors for their big day at the beach — coral, peach, tan, and white. It was laidback but romantic; something these two wanted to have on the happiest day of their lives. Their tables adorned with floral centerpieces that screamed love and class. Their wedding cake that was shaped to look like a sandcastle was on point with the beach-theme. Speaking of things on point — Kristie’s mermaid wedding dress was perfect. She was stunning on it. So gorgeous and radiant, she looked like a legitimate siren. Cheers to love and life! Congratulations, K&K!
The Wedding:
We knew that we wanted to do something different and loved the idea of having a beach wedding. Long Beach Island is our favorite place in the world. We adore the small town vibe and laid-back beach lifestyle, so it only made sense to celebrate the happiest day of our lives with everyone we love in the place we love the most! Our wedding ceremony took place on the 9th street beach while the reception was held at The Stateroom in Ship Bottom, NJ.
We Are A Perfect Match:
Kyle and I dated long distance for four years. We may have only been 17 when we started dating and went off to two different universities, but we knew that what we had been worth it. We are each other’s best friends, biggest supporters, and have been crazy about each other from the day we met.
The Proposal:
We were dating for just over seven years when Kyle proposed. He told me we were headed to Villanova for a recruiting event for work. When we arrived, we walked through campus and stopped at the “whispering arches.” Kyle got down on one knee and proposed. To my surprise, Kyle had strategically placed our family and friends all around the campus and revealed them as we walked through the campus. It was incredible and so special! It meant so much to have our closest family and friends there with us to celebrate.
The Outfit Inspiration:
My Paloma Blanca wedding dress was from Kleinfeld Bridal. It was light, beautiful, and perfect for the beach! I knew it was the one from the minute I tried it on. My amazing bridal consultant Allison found the dress for me based on what I told her I was looking for. My bridesmaids wore four different style Watters and Watters dresses from Always a Bridesmaid Boutique. I wanted to make sure all of my bridesmaids were comfortable and felt amazing in their dresses, which is why we went with different styles in the same color. We chose tan suits for Kyle and his groomsmen as we felt it would match perfectly with the coral bridesmaids gowns.
The Planning Process:
We planned and saved for just over two years. I think it was the perfect amount of time because we were able to enjoy being engaged without feeling rushed to plan the wedding.
The Best Advice We Received:
My best friend told me to make sure that we take a minute and look around during our reception so we can “take it all in.” The night goes by so quickly; I was so happy that we took a moment to ourselves to appreciate everything.
Tips & Tricks for Future Brides:
Instead of renting expensive centerpieces or decorations, see if you can get what you need from craft stores first. We started doing this as soon as we booked our venue, two years prior to the wedding date, so we were able to get a lot of the items we need during off-season sales.
The Challenges We Faced:
To eliminate the guesswork as to what we could afford, we put together a preliminary budget based on what we thought things would cost. As we booked our vendors and made wedding purchases, we kept spreadsheets of actual costs and due dates to ensure our saving was on track to avoid any issues.
The Wedding Décor Inspiration:
We wanted to use soft colors for our beach themed wedding. We decided on coral, peach, tan and white. Our florist did a fantastic job designing our bouquets, ceremony flowers, and centerpieces by choosing flowers based on our color scheme. We didn’t want all of our centerpieces to be exactly alike, so we chose five different styles of centerpieces. Some were floral arrangements while we used hurricane vases and various style lanterns for others. I loved how the different centerpieces turned out!
Money Matters:
- We save money on flowers. For our ceremony, we had mason jars of flowers hanging on shepherds hooks. After the ceremony, these were reused for some of our centerpieces. Although we did have some, we saved a lot by choosing not to have all of our centerpieces use large floral arrangements.
- The venue was a big expense, but it was well worth it. The food was outrageous, and everyone was happy with their dinner choice!
The Guest List:
We invited 210 guests, and our final headcount was 165.
The Songs:
For our ceremony, we had a string trio.
- They played: Processional – Canon in D
- Brides Entrance – A Thousand Years
- Recessional – La Rejouissance
What Awaits Us:
There are so many things we are excited about for the future! We’re looking forward to traveling, buying our first home, and eventually raising a family together.
Planning Advice For Couples:
Make sure you give yourselves enough time to enjoy being engaged. Planning should be fun and exciting! Before you know it, you will be at your wedding having the time of your life!
Favorite Part of the Day:
My absolute favorite wedding day moment is a tie between our first look and being announced as husband and wife. I will never forget the look on Kyle’s face when he saw me in my wedding dress for the first time. Prior to seeing each other, I was feeling a little anxious, but all the nerves turned into pure excitement as soon as we saw each other! When Reverend Brian announced us as husband and wife, it was almost surreal. After nine and a half years together, we were officially Mr. & Mrs. Kyle Raventos! Dancing the night away at the reception with everyone we love was another favorite part of our day! We had the time of our lives! Our family and friends mean the world to us; it was amazing to have all of them with us to celebrate the biggest day of our lives at our favorite place in the world!
Most Memorable Moments:
Our officiant did a beautiful job putting together our ceremony. He told the story of how Kyle and I met, and also how he proposed, which got some laughs and cheers. Being announced as husband and wife was the most memorable part of the ceremony, though!
VENDORS
Photographer: Popography
Dress Boutique: Kleinfeld
Ceremony location: 9th Street Beach, Ship Bottom, NJ
Reception Location: The Stateroom
Cake: Carlo’s Bakery
Caterer: Taste
Favours: Country Kettle Fudge
DJ: E-squared
Ceremony Music: String Elegance
Hair & Makeup: Chic Blowout Bar
Flowers: Lily in the Valley Florist
Stationery: Wedding Paper Divas
Transportation: Long Branch Trolley
Videographer & Photo booth: Enchanted Celebrations
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Always a Bridesmaid Boutique
Sandy Toes And Salty Kisses
After twenty fruitful and blessed years, the Diaz’ finally renewed their vows together with their children and all important people in their lives down Palm Beach. Swept with perfection, their day was full of ivory and black DIY decors. What I liked best is Sophie’s lucid floral crown combined with the flowy ivory dress which completed her whole look. The day was humid and the sun was at its peak. To give their some good shade, they provided a wagasa, the authentic Japanese oil-paper umbrella. And finally, they had a DJ who mixed music which made all the guest’s dancing souls groove with every beat! Cheers to more years, Sophie and Guillermo!
The Album Story
We the pleasure of capturing Sophie and G’s intimate 20 year Vow Renewal Wedding Ceremony in West Palm Beach! This sweet couple lives in the Palm Beach area, and spends quite a bit of time in this beautiful, quiet part of the beach. What better place to celebrate their vow renewal? Sophie actually began the day before we arrived getting hair done by Ashley at Edmund James Salon and makeup by Loriana Classic Makeup for Every Occasion. Once ready, she and G headed over to the beach (near the Estee Lauder Mansion!) to prepare for their ceremony!
Rose Kish Events provided the floral arrangements, and Absolute Party Rentals provided the decor! We captured their beautiful ceremony shortly after a few family photos around the beach and some personal portraits around the neighborhood! After their renewals, we captured a few more family portraits, then proceeded over to Carmine’s Ocean Grill off PGA Blvd in Palm Beach Gardens for their outdoor wedding reception!
We of course snuck in some fun portraits as the sun set over the marina, but captured their first dance, dinner, party, and finished with cake cutting! DJ Lester rocked the dance floor and kept everyone moving, and the cake was designed and created by Cake Pro Shop! We had such a great time with Sophie and G, and thank them so much for inviting us to capture such a sweet moment in their life-long love story!
Favorite Part Of The Day
The super sweet vows written themselves expressing 20 years of their wonderful marriage and vow renewals.
VENDORS
Photographer: Steven Miller Photography
Equipment Rentals: Absolute Party Rentals
Cake Designer: Cake Pro Shop
Culinary: Carmine’s Ocean Grill and Sushi Bar
Hair Stylist: Edmund James Salon & Spa
Makeup Artist: Loriana
Event Planner: Rose Kish Events
Bridesmaid Dresses: Saks Fifth Avenue
Event Venue: West Palm Beach
Fate Is A Funny Thing
I do believe that fate brings people together no matter what the circumstances are – if it’s their time to cross paths it’ll happen. If anything’s meant to be, it will be. Now, Michael and Lauren’s story is just the proof of that. If it weren’t for that elevator ride, I wouldn’t have written this feature for today. We wouldn’t have been able to witness this beautiful wedding. I love stories like this. Even better than novels because you know it happened in real life. Here goes the hopeless romantic in me. I should stop myself while I still can. Go on and read the rest of the story from the beautiful bride, Lauren.
Our Story:
To start off, I grew up in the small town of Red Hook in upstate NY about 2 1/2 hours North of Manhattan. Mike grew up in Bethesda, MD, which is about a 25 min drive from Washington DC. Mike and I crossed paths one sunny day moving into Enterprise Hall while back at our alma mater, Hofstra University in Long Island, NY a long, long time ago back in 2006. According to Mike, when I walked by him he thought “I need to get that girl’s digits”. A few weeks passed, and we ran into each other in the elevator in our building. It was the perfect time to meet! It was pouring out, so I decided to hitch a ride with Mike to the student center. It was a brief meeting, but he did get my name and number, and we both knew that we would see each other again. If we didn’t end up in that same elevator at the same time, I don’t know where we would be today!
Mike conveniently ended up living only a few floors above me, and we would chat back and forth on AOL instant messenger daily exchanging jokes and funny youtube links. He went by the screen name “nyknickslova”. Who knew at the time that I would end up being his actual LOVA and spending our lives together?! We ended up going on a double date with mutual friends and knew right off the bat that our personalities clicked, and we had the same sense of humor. We spent more and more time together and realized this was something we both wanted to invest in. Now eight years later Mike and I both reside in NYC and are in love with our tabby cat, Troy. We are both huge foodies – love trying new restaurants, love ethnic food especially Ethiopian and most of all love a good NY bagel with lox (Barney Greengrass is our favorite!). We love to bike – on a nice day you can find us biking from our apartment on the Upper East Side all the way around the border of Manhattan. We love live music, especially live jazz and love going to comedy shows, museums and are pretty much always up for anything!
The Theme:
Shabby Chic
The Wedding Details:
Before we started planning our wedding, we were clueless about venues, but 100% knew we wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of NYC living and plan a relaxing destination wedding that was also a little vacation for all of our friends and family. A big piece of both of our hearts is in Florida. Mike grew up vacationing in Florida with his mother, father, brother and grandparents. His family has always owned a condo on South Ocean Blvd in Palm Beach, and once Mike and I started becoming serious he would take me to Florida on vacations and I instantly fell in love! It’s honestly our home away from home!
It’s a funny story how we ended up at The Hillsboro Club. Our initial goal was to have the wedding in Palm Beach because of all of the sentimental value it has in out hearts. But after looking at so many venues that weren’t really our taste, we stumbled upon Hillsboro. We hired Joni Scalzo (Your Special Day by Joni) as our planner, and after she showed us the venues in Palm Beach, she quickly picked up on my style. We were presented the idea of the Hillsboro Club. With it being only about 40 min from Palm Beach we thought “What do we have to lose?!” It sounded very appealing and not knowing much about it, we took a drive there.
As soon as we drove into the Hillsboro Club, I almost jumped out of the car with excitement because I knew I had found the place! The thing I loved most about Hillsboro was that guests did not have to leave the premises. Everything you could want was there! We had our rehearsal dinner by the pool; guests could lounge at the beach/pool during the day and then hang at the tiki bar at night! Overall, it was a very accommodating venue. I just loved the simplicity of the club with its pop of Tiffany blue awnings and having the ocean as the backdrop for our wedding was breathtaking! We also loved how secluded the place was – away from the main road and traffic. It was our hidden wedding oasis!
VENDORS
Photographer: Jeff Kolodny Photography, Inc
Cinema and Video: Artistry Wedding Films
Bridesmaid Dresses: Bill Levkoff
Floral Designer: Dalsimer Atlas
Bridesmaid Dresses: Here Comes The Bridesmaid
Reception Venue: Hillsboro Club
Musicians: Master Musicians Incorporated
Shoes: Michael Kors
Tuxedo and Mens Attire: Suit Supply
Cake Designer: Susie’s Scrumptious Sweets
Groomsmen Attire: Tommy Hilfiger
Musicians: Tropics entertainment
Event Planner: Your Special Day by Joni