I’m sure we can all agree that weddings, generally, follow a standard procedure. You announce your engagement, you plan your wedding and invite guests for a specific date to celebrate your nuptials. And then there are folks like Megan and Michael that throw tradition to the wind and surprise everyone – literally! Megan and Michael tricked their guests to coming to Bonterra Trattoria under the pretext that they were there to celebrate the couple’s wedding reception. The guests believed that Megan and Michael had already sealed the deal prior to this gathering, but they were in for a real surprise. I did have a few people eye me suspiciously upon their arrival to Bonterra Trattoria, but I kept my cool. Once everyone had mingled for a little bit, the groom’s mother, along with the groom, got up to announce that there will be a special surprise for everyone out on the patio and ushered everyone to take their seats outside – as Megan and Michael were going to get married on the spot that evening!
I asked Megan about her planning process, and what brought the two of them to create a surprise wedding. Megan writes, “The most important thing about our wedding was the opportunity to celebrate our special union with our family and friends. With that in mind, we set out to plan our wedding around that ideal. We had a non-truditional wedding with a surprise ceremony and grandiose style dinner that allowed for everyone to mingle. It was a really laid back fun night! We both share a love of wine and originally thought we would marry in wine country, however, that would have been to expensive for some of our family and friends to join us so we decided to marry here in Calgary. Every decision we made, however, was designed to capture wine country as best we could. That’s how we chose Bonterra Trattoria as our location and the decor was themed accordingly. I’ve heard a lot of brides tell me how stressful the planning process is, however, I didn’t find it stressful. I had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed planning and making decisions that I thought would make our day perfect for us!”
What was your favorite part of your day?
Megan: “Our favourite part was celebrating with our family and friends! It’s not often enough that you get all your family and friends under one roof so take advantage of that and enjoy! I have to say though, I think every part of our wedding was our favourite. From the venue to the food to the dancing to the cartoonist. It was all fantastic!”
Megan: “My mom gave me really good advise when we set out to plan our wedding. She told me that I would never please everyone and that this day was about us. She said in knowing that we couldn’t please everyone, we should make every decision about the bride and groom. This was really great advice and I would pass it on to any newly engaged couple. Your wedding day is about you so plan it with you in mind. Everyone else will enjoy your day when they see how happy you are and forget about the details they may have worried about during the planning process.”
Ceremony and reception venue: Bonterra Trattoria / Officiant: Groom’s mother / Bride and Groom’s attire: The Bridal Center / Transportation: One Class Limousine / DJ: Rock-it Productions / Hair stylist: Hair 2000 / Make-up artist: Bombay Beauty Loft / Florist: Blue Hydrangea Floral Boutique / Cake: Buttercream Bake Shop / Stationary: The Social Page / Decor: Etsy / Caricaturist: Dean Foster
