A Summer Wedding in Aldergrove, British Columbia

Wedding date: August 12, 2011

Wedding theme: Soft summer romance

Guests: 130

Budget: $10,000

Best moment: “The first was when both of my parents escorted me down the aisle. This short walk was filled with such emotion and thankfulness for me. I felt amazingly blessed to have two of the most important people in my life lead me to my soon-to-be husband, especially since my Dad was fighting a serious illness throughout the last year. The other favorite moment(s) actually took place before the wedding. Our photographer had strongly encouraged us to spend one full hour alone taking photos in a location of our choice before our wedding. This turned out to be great advice and that time was one of our most treasured parts of the day. We chose a local lavender farm as a location, which is a beautiful place to be on any August day — but 10 times better since it was our wedding day! The sun was shining, the smell of lavender was in the air, and we had one whole peaceful hour to spend together reflecting and talking. We hardly even noticed our photographer but she got some of the best shots there, probably because we were so relaxed,” says Jillian.

Favourite detail: “My favourite décor detail was the gold handmade tissue paper garlands. My mom came up with the idea to make them, but I was a little intimidated by how much work they involved. When my out-of-town cousins arrived and heard about the idea, they decided to make it happen! They spent hours with me, cutting, sewing and hanging. We were able to reconnect and had lots of laughs over these streamers and so they meant a lot to me – aside from how great they looked!” explains Jillian.

Honeymoon: Santa Barbara