If you are looking for a rustic setting for your intimate wedding,  The Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum & Community Centre in Gormley, Ontario has it all. The historic venue has a barn,  log cabin,  historic schoolhouse and farmhouse set in a picturesque rural landscape.

Your ceremony can take place in the courtyard located in front of the beautiful red brick Victorian Farmhouse, or inside the Log Cabin or Barn. If you’re interested in the amenities that come with a modern facility, you’ll be happy to know that you can also get married inside the venue’s main hall. The hall, which can accommodate up to 100 people, is spacious with lots of natural light, a gas fireplace and kitchen facilities. With a main hall booking, the outdoor ceremony site is included.

If you are looking for a wedding location that gives you the benefits of a modern venue, along with the charm of an historic site, then The Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum & Community Centre might just be the perfect location for your small wedding.

Photos: Tami McInns Photography

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We love upcycling here at IW, so when we found a way to upcycle inexpensive thrift store vases with acrylic paint, we did a little happy dance! These DIY Distressed Glass vases are easy to make, and they look amazing as wedding decor. You can use them to hold flowers, or as candlesticks.

Here’s how to Make DIY Distressed Glass:

You will need:

• Glass vase (we bought these for $1 at our local thrift store)
• acrylic paint
• paint brush
• sanding block or sand paper
• matte varnish

Paint the outside of your vase in chosen color.

Let dry. (We used a hairdryer to speed up the process.)

Strategically sand areas of the vase that are textured so that your vase will look worn.

Voila!

Coat your vase with matte varnish.

That’s it! Keep in mind that these vases are not dishwasher friendly. If you need to clean them, use a damp cloth.

Today’s stunning engagement shoot was captured by Megan Saul Photography.

Here’s what Megan had to say about the couple:

Ashley and Brian met while modeling. At each shoot they booked they always seemed to run in to one another. Eventually their run ins became a thing. After some long distance dating and a lot of coffee, they finally made it a thing.

Their engagement session was photographed at Promontory Point in Chicago.

After ten years together, Laura and Justin have been to their fair share of weddings together and have seen first-hand how stressed out couples can get on their big day. Determined to not let that happen, they chose to keep their own wedding day intimate. With a guest list of 35 for their ceremony and a slightly larger reception for 60, the newlyweds got to have all the things they really wanted for their wedding – a pretty venue, delicious fresh food, and their awesome photographers Jess & Matt from Daring Wanderer Photography – and still managed to keep the whole day completely stress-free. Now that’s what we call win-win!

Laura & Justin

Bayfield, ON Canada

Wedding Date: October 12, 2014

Number of Guests: 35 (for ceremony & lunch), 60 for reception

Wedding Ceremony Location: The Little Inn, Bayfield, Ontario

Wedding Reception Location: Bayfield Town Hall

Why did you have an intimate wedding?

We wanted to have a small wedding to keep the planning and wedding day stress-free and easy. We stayed true to ourselves and focused our attention on surrounding ourselves with only the most important people to us. The thought of having more decisions to make on top of our every day life decisions didn’t sit well with us. Out of the ten years Justin and I have been together, we have seen and been in our share of weddings. I have seen how stressed couples get and we did not want that. I can honestly say I was not stressed even for a second on our wedding day! We knew that if we kept it small, we could have the things that we really wanted, like delicious and fresh food, an awesome photographer and a pretty venue that took care of most things for us.

Was it difficult to pare down the guest list?

We decided to have our ceremony in the gardens at The Little Inn. To keep things simple we invited only family and significant others to the ceremony and the lunch that followed.

Did you have any “issues” with the guest list from friends and family? If so, how did you address them?

Since we kept the ceremony and lunch to family and significant others, we decided to invite some friends to the reception. This made all of us happy.

What were the highlights of the ceremony?

I loved the moment before I walked down the stairs to Justin. We made eye contact and gave each other a little wave and smile. That moment made me feel relaxed and excited to marry Justin. We both enjoyed our little intimate photo session; it was nice to spend time together at the beach and around the boats before we went into party mode. We have a lot of memories around Bayfield and are really glad we have the photos to remind us of our special place.

What were the highlights of the reception?

We really didn’t want us or any of my family members to have to worry about cleaning things up during the reception. So, the food truck solved that problem. Providing yummy local food was also important to us and our food truck guy was really passionate about that.

What was the best thing about having an intimate wedding?

I guess for me I just never understood most wedding traditions. We did not have a first dance, a bouquet toss, garter toss or cake cutting. We wanted our night to be about the people, food, and drinks. Justin and I talked about doing speeches but never really decided whether we would do them or not. I remember asking him at the reception if he wanted to say anything and we both looked at each other and said “nah.”

What advice do you have for couples who are considering an intimate wedding?

Some advice we have for couples planning their intimate wedding is to not stress over details. If you notice you’re lingering over decisions such as “should we invite this person?” or “should we have white or beige table clothes?”, just make the decision and be done with it. Believe me, when the decision is made, you will feel so much better!  Remember that there are bigger problems in the world. For me, worrying about whether or not I should have fancy centrepieces fell under the not so important category. Another piece of advice I’d give is to limit your time on Pinterest. Too many ideas can bog down your planning and can make you second guess some of your decisions.

Vendors:

Photographers: Jess & Matt from Daring Wanderer Photography  

Wedding Dress: Frocks Calgary // Joanna August Dress

Wedding Shoes: Earthies

Groom’s Clothes: Espy Calgary

Bride’s Necklace: Mineralogy Design on Etsy

Ceremony and Lunch Venue: The Little Inn, Bayfield Ontario

Reception Venue: Bayfield Town Hall, Bayfield, Ontario

Food Truck: Mathew McIntyre – Truly Local Food Truck

Florist: The Back Yard Flowershop, Dublin, Ontario

My Uncle Neil’s Beer: Black Donnellys Craft Beer | Microbrewery | Ontario Craft Beer

Nude bridal beauty is all about a flawless and dewy complexion to create a pared-down look. Subtle peach and pink tones applied with the lightest touch look truly effortless. With spring pastels and romantic blooms in the wedding decor, this minimal makeup will complement it perfectly. When you think of nude makeup, go beyond the runway trends and introduce some subtle color to make the look more wedding-worthy.

A sweep of lip gloss with a shimmery eyeshadow looks feminine, without using too much product. To incorporate a beachy look, go for a pale peach blusher to highlight the cheeks. Strong brows and long eyelashes will stand out even more with a nude lip, so focus on emphasizing these areas.

Dewy skin has a luminous quality that will look stunning for your wedding. You can replicate this with a satin finish or moisturizing foundation. Pairing a light pink lip with a brightening highlighter is another way to recreate a nude look. There’s no need to forgo the eyeliner for this trend, a well-blended brown liner on the lids works really well with a blush tone lipstick

The nude lip is the main focus for this beauty trend, and has now become a classic. Using a liner in the same shade as your lips adds a plumper shape. Loose waves go so well with minimal makeup and complete the natural look.

You would think that a smokey eye would have no place here, but it does. Instead of a brown, black or gray  palette, go for light pink and peach. It adds some color to a typical nude look without being overwhelming. Try and match your lipstick with your natural lip color for the ideal shade, and you can also blot the lips with your foundation if you’re using a sheer gloss.

Photo one: nadiameli.com; Photo two: burnettsboards.com; Photo three: corbingurkin.com; Photo four: munaluchibridal.com; Photo five: peachesandmint.com; Photo six: wedsociety.com; Photo seven: ktmerry.com; Photo eight: lemagnifiqueblog.com; Photo nine: jordanbrittley.com; Photo ten: stylemepretty.com