Naomi + Lucas had a winter wedding at Bottega in Kelowna, British Columbia. This wedding was filled with the magic of fresh fallen snow, alpacas, the last bachelor trip to Tim Horton’s for coffee, mandolins, selfie-sticks, and so much love and laughter.
Naomi got ready in the classy library at Bottega. Bri Stein Makeup Artistry worked her magic while Naomi’s troop of lovely ladies got ready. While her hair was put into an elegant up-do, Naomi told a story of how she used to dream in high school of marrying Lucas, and that today was her dream come true. These two who met in high-school, went with the same group of friends to their Grad, and later in University their romance took off.
Meanwhile, below Vintage Origami and her team worked tirelessly creating a winter wonderland of beauty along with A New Leaf Floral Design, who’s greenery and florals were breathtaking, as Sweet On You Designer Cups and Cakes put the finishing sugar crusted fresh cranberries on the red velvet cutting cake and cupcakes on the sweets table.
After getting ready in West Kelowna at Lucas’ family’s home, the men made an epic stop at Tim Horton’s to order the entire bridal party coffee, tea, bagels, sandwiches, and required selfie-stick selfie before heading to Bottega to deliver food and warmth to the ladies.
Having arrived at Bo.ttega, Lucas made his way up the stairs for a secret “blindfolded” prayer with Naomi before the ceremony. Neither Lucas nor Naomi wanted to see each other before the big day, but they wanted the comfort of praying together to ease any nerves before standing up in front of all of their family and friends.
Melinda of A New Leaf Floral Design arrived with Naomi’s beautiful bouquet and the bridesmaid’s baby’s breath bouquets. As a tribute to Naomi’s mother who passed away when Naomi was a young child, Melinda incorporated her mother’s ribbon from her own wedding bouquet.
The ceremony was indoors, as December 28th is quite a cold time of year in Kelowna, and the aisles were lined with greenery and beautiful lanterns as Naomi walked down the aisle to her love. As Naomi and Lucas have a shared faith in Christ, the ceremony was quite sacred, lead by a dear family friend of Lucas’ family, with Lucas’ newly engaged sister and her fiance singing and playing guitar and mandolin. As Brianna and Ben played and sang “Come Thou Fount”, Naomi and Lucas sang the words together with the rest of their guests as tears fell down his cheeks.
After the two were pronounced husband and wife, we headed out of doors with the bridal party for some fun photos with the Alpacas! Bottega houses an Alpaca wool farm, and who doesn’t want a photo in their wedding dress with an Alpaca? We spent a fun few minutes with the bridal party before allowing them to go warm up by the fire, and moving onto the newly-wed’s romantic portrait session.
As a little girl, I, Carly, always dreamed of having a winter wedding with a red velvet cape. While I actually got married in the Summer, Naomi and I must share brain waves, and she arrived with a beautiful red cape for photos, as well as a beautiful fur.
After spending quite a while in the winter wonderland, and the fresh snow God sent down seemingly just for them, Naomi and Lucas were ready to get inside to the warmth and the now-transformed Bottega that had been flipped with the genious efforts of team Vintage Origami into a wintery dining room lit with candles and more lush greenery.
Deli-City catered this amazing feast of Asparagus and Cheese Stuffed Chicken, Beef Bourguignon, and Roast Pork with mango salsa. This was one of the most amazing buffets we had the pleasure of feasting on in 2014 during our 30 weddings. We can’t say enough good about Deli-City.
After dinner, the bride and groom cut their Red Velvet Cake topped and filled with vanilla swiss merengue buttercream and adorned with fresh sugar crusted cranberries. Not enough good things can be said about Sweet On You Designer Cups and Cakes.
The speeches were touching, with a surprise video that Lucas had made for Naomi. A few weeks before the wedding, Naomi discovered a letter that her mother had written before she passed away, that was intended to be read on Naomi’s wedding day. In the letter her sweet mother told Naomi of all of the characteristics she had prayed for in a husband for Naomi, and every single characteristic had been met in Lucas. Not a dry eye was found in the room.
After more fun and games, the bride and groom had their first dance, bouquet toss, and then made a quick exit at 10:30pm running through sparklers to their get-away vehicle.
This wedding day was so wonderful to be a part of. The two moved the very next day to California where Lucas is attending school to become an optometrist. We love these two and we hope to see them again one day, perhaps in the warm sun of Southern California.
Be blessed!
