Real Weddings

An Eco-Friendly Garden Wedding

I don’t get the opportunity to post many Canadian weddings on Once Wed, so I was thrilled when Jess and Mark sent in their beautiful wedding for a feature on the site…

My partner (now husband) Mark and I got married this past august in Beamsville, Ontario, Canada. I am a teacher and Mark is a musician and entrepreneur. He runs a super cool vintage guitar shop and together we also run a record shop (all vinyl by amazing new artists). We are a fairly non-traditional couple with firm environmental ethics, and did not want the usual cookie-cutter wedding, so from our own inspiration and reading Once Wed, we threw the perfect little Sunday afternoon garden wedding at the good earth, a cooking school/orchard/vineyard.

Certain things are extremely important to us, so we offered a completely vegetarian menu, fresh with local ingredients. We had locally grown flowers, a vegan cake and we also had our rings and my dress made by local artisans. We didn’t have a wedding party – though we did ask our best friends to be our official witnesses. The day of we had rain, rolling thunder and then a whole lotta sun! It was glorious…

P.S. – How much do you love Mark’s shirt/tie? I don’t see many grooms pull off pink without it becoming too saccharine feeling, but his suit is awesome and definitely one of my recent favorites.

Photography by Fresh!Carlson

34 comments – permalink

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Elizabeth @ Dapper Paper writes

04/13/10 at 9:46 am

SO pretty! some of these shots look so timeless-like they could have been taken 50 years ago!
And loving the monochrome greens, such a pretty natural palette!

Album Boutique Team writes

04/13/10 at 9:53 am

I love these pictures and they both look adorable together. My favorite is the one where they’re jumping :) Too cute! And I adore the bride’s dress. Thanks for sharing.

Tonia writes

04/13/10 at 9:56 am

AWESOME. Jess and Mark, you guys are so inspiring!! Thank you for sharing some of the details of how you kept your wedding eco friendly. My fiance and I are planning a Sept. wedding and trying to do many of the same things to reduce waste & impact…it’s not easy- especially when it comes to feeding 230 people! Thankfully we found a local farmer who raises free-range chickens, and he is going to provide our caterer with all the meat for the reception. Thanks for being green, and for sharing your day with us, and congratulations! :)

Lori writes

04/13/10 at 10:06 am

Beautiful and inspiring!!! We had a small eco friendly wedding with a vegetarian menu as well. As favors, we made small donations on behalf of the guests to various causes. I’m so grateful to see there are other people out there who make kindness to the earth and animals a priority. Congratulations on your marriage :0)

nicole b. writes

04/13/10 at 10:17 am

This is truly inspiring. Thank you for sharing.

Après la pluie le beau temps writes

04/13/10 at 11:13 am

Ouaouh !!! Ces photos sont juste MAGNIFIQUES ! C’est frais, simple, poétique et moderne à la fois.

Gina B writes

04/13/10 at 11:38 am

I LOVE your earrings! Where are they from or what is the name/contact info of the designer? My wedding is in August and those are the first earrings I’ve seen that I love!
Please help :)

melissa writes

04/13/10 at 11:38 am

I love the little green flowers in her hair…

lydia {ever ours} writes

04/13/10 at 12:19 pm

i adore her dress! and love that they used locally grown flowers too.

Tracey writes

04/13/10 at 12:40 pm

I love the bride’s dress! Could you tell us where it’s from?

Lauren writes

04/13/10 at 1:14 pm

They look so sweet together-and that cake too! Talk about sweet!

forget.me.knot.weddings writes

04/13/10 at 1:40 pm

Oh so fresh and simple! Love the photography!

B writes

04/13/10 at 1:50 pm

Thank you so much for featuring a Canadian wedding! Although I am a long way off from marriage, it’s so cool to see a wedding close to home :)

The Perfect Palette writes

04/13/10 at 2:27 pm

I love these pictures

Marija writes

04/13/10 at 2:36 pm

Great wedding ideas! I love the eco-friendly vibe throughout the wedding details, especially the cake.

Thanks for sharing!!!

Suzie writes

04/13/10 at 2:56 pm

Beautiful! I would love to know where the dress is from!!

emma d. writes

04/13/10 at 2:57 pm

Oh wow – chiming in on the where is it from train – the shoes! Beautiful Jess, where did you get your shoes?

Diana writes

04/13/10 at 3:55 pm

I agree with Elizabeth @ Dapper Paper – so timeless! The vinyl cover is really cool.

jess writes

04/13/10 at 4:15 pm

wow, what a lovely response everyone… a sincere thank you all, and especially to emily for featuring us!
for those you were wondering about the dress, it is a pam chorley design from a little boutique called fashion crimes and my shoes are anne klein.

Tovah writes

04/13/10 at 4:43 pm

Wow, you two look like you had a blast and your wedding was Gorgeous! I just love the shot of you two jumping. Thanks for sharing.

Harriet Carlson (Photography) writes

04/13/10 at 5:28 pm

Great to see the photos on Once Wed! Before the wedding, we were both checking out this website a lot. I had a great time attending and shooting your wedding, Jess! Everything was truly beautiful, from the location, to the changing weather, right down to your shoes! Thanks again!

gina writes

04/13/10 at 8:43 pm

Jess,
I have to know where you got those beautiful earrings!

Brianna writes

04/13/10 at 9:04 pm

I absolutely ADORE his shirt and tie
I think they are perfect!

xoxo
B’s

jess writes

04/13/10 at 11:28 pm

yes, gina – the earrings! i actually found them at h&m… they were much bigger and too heavy, so i took them apart and rebuilt them! i bought them way back last summer, so don’t know that you’ll still find them, but if you’d like i can mail them to you to borrow?

Vermont Bride writes

04/13/10 at 11:31 pm

I love the photos, it’s like a photo taken 4 decades ago. I was really impressed with the groom’s pink shirt and tie. That was really awesome, it’s a modern type of style.
Hope they had a really good time coz they looks good together.

Dognbird writes

04/14/10 at 12:04 am

I love this bride’s beautiful hair!

CN writes

04/14/10 at 3:21 am

Props for the vegan cake/veggie menu shout-out! Nothing like a cruelty-free wedding!

sal writes

04/14/10 at 7:51 am

oh my the pictures are so beautiful. They really touched me. Not too sure about the green cake though :p xo

matilda writes

04/14/10 at 2:02 pm

I like the cake!!! And everything.

stephanie writes

04/14/10 at 4:01 pm

yeah Canada!!! i love once wed…and it’s great to see a Canadian wedding on here! love the pics!

Hi-Fi Weddings writes

04/14/10 at 11:58 pm

gaaaaaaah this is the best thing you’ve ever featured on this here lovely site. omg love!

Erin @ Chatty Brides writes

04/16/10 at 11:20 am

LOVE this! beautiful couple, so stylish, so easy and carefree! Tweeted on @chattybrides!

Meredith H writes

04/16/10 at 8:02 pm

Hi Jess – it’s been a hundred years! Congratulations! Nadia stumbled upon this while reading oncewed and passed it along – great photos and it sounds like a fabulous day..

all the best

Vermont Wedding Venues writes

05/06/10 at 1:41 am

Almost all the groom’s suit are white/black but with your husband’s pink shirt that is really stunning I had an idea of having a violet suit for my hubby..Don’t know if it looks great..

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