Full of handcrafted do-it-yourself details and set in the picturesque vines of Niagara’s Calamus Winery, Michelle and Marc-Antoine’s wedding day is the perfect example of staying true to yourselves as a couple. Choosing to opt out of some more traditional elements, their beautiful, rustic celebration came together as a reflection of their laid-back approach to planning, and doing what makes you happy!

Photographer: Philosophy Studios | Hairstylist + Makeup Artist: Allure Hair and Makeup

How long had you and your partner been together prior to your wedding? A beautiful 5 years! We met on Hinge.

How did you feel the morning of your wedding? Michelle: Tired at first. I didn’t sleep well lol. And the beginning was very relaxed. All my friends were getting makeup and hair done and it still felt like time was going at a normal pace. It was once I went for my hair, followed by makeup - after that - everything happened so quick. I hardly had time to feel anything but adrenaline which didn’t stop until probably two days after the wedding, but there was so much happiness mixed in with the adrenaline. I was seeing everything I visioned come to life! I loved my makeup and hair and the decor turned out beautifully. It was perfect!

Marc-Antoine: Super excited and a bit nervous. I had brunch with all of my friends which was amazing and two of them came to help me dress and rehearse my vows which definitely helped. I am so glad that I got to sleep in and did not have to wake up at 8 like Michelle for the hair and make-up.

What drew you to your venue? I don’t even know, it was quite random. I had been there for a wine tasting with friends a few years back and thought it was so lovely. My friend’s friend got married there in 2022 and she said it was a great experience. We had just emailed multiple random places in the area. When we went for our visit, we were charmed by the family ownership. All the staff were lovely (and wine was great of course!). We went for dinner with friends after that visit at Casa Tuscana (the friend who’s friend got married there the previous summer). Our conversation just sealed the deal and got us excited so we emailed Makayla the next day to secure the spot.

After choosing your wedding venue, did it impact the direction you took for styling and decor? Indirectly I think so. We didn’t see that many venues so I honestly never really questioned this but I imagine if we were at a different place, it could definitely impact the style!

What inspired your colour scheme? Without a wedding party, we didn’t really end up having a specific colour scheme but more just a vibe we went for. I loved the idea of a “rustic-ish” vibe with white florals and greenery for the winery setting. We decided to ask for just a touch of pink in the florals as well. And then just had touches of gold throughout with our charger plates and other details.

How difficult was it to decide on your colour scheme? Without a wedding party it was easy! And we just weren’t picky with anything. I remember Marc’s mom asking the colour scheme early on when she was shopping for her outfit, and we didn’t want people to have to fit into anything particular and just wanted everyone to wear something they loved and felt comfortable in.

Were your florals exactly how you imagined them? Yes! The Watering Can did such a lovely job and they were so helpful in the process.

Did you incorporate any personal accents into your day? If so, what and why? The only thing I can think of is deciding to upgrade our late night food to a poutine since Marc-Antoine and all his family and many friends were from Quebec! We didn’t have huge expectations for an Ontarian poutine but it was honestly very delicious!

How did you include those who couldn’t be with you on your special day? We decided to keep it simple and just had our officiant say something to honour them. I debated doing something else but I just wasn’t inspired by any of the ideas I found online.

Did the day go according plan? It sure did! It flew by faster than we thought of course. We had even planned for extra time for the photos and all before thinking some downtime would be nice but as everyone always says - time flies. There was no downtime but overall everything went how we hoped. There were tiny little things like the arch flowers not being able to be used for the head table and napkin folding was different but literally no one would know that except myself haha and I did not let anything like that bother me. That’s I think what is key - is being okay with whatever happens. You can prepare all you want leading up to it but the day off is the time to just relax and enjoy the ride.

Did you hire a wedding planner? No. I debated a day of coordinator a lot. Everything you see online talks about the importance of that. And I’m sure if we had - I wouldn’t have regretted it. But I also don’t regret not. That being said, I’m a super organized person by nature. I had every possible thing I could think of figured out prior and had different people in charge of different tasks lol. Not big tasks - I didn’t want my friends or family to feel like they were working.. but it’s all small things that just add up! So spread across lots of people it was easy, and everything ran smoothly. It helped that Calamus is so all inclusive too and they have a venue coordinator! If we had a million different vendors - I definitely think a coordinator would have been essential.

Would you have done anything differently planning-wise? No - I liked our approach. We had about a 9 month engagement which was perfect. We had talked to friends who had longer engagements and they all said the same thing. With wedding planning, it’s usually busy in the beginning and at the end and a lull in the middle (but you’re still thinking about the wedding in that lull). We essentially just minimized the lull and had a relatively consistently busy engagement! I basically just got alll the tips on tik tok haha. From decor to my diys to planning tips to organization tips for the day of!

Did you take on any project(s) of your own that you wish you had hired a professional for?
(ie. making your own cake, florals, invitations, etc) No but I absolutely love that stuff. It was one of my favourite parts of the wedding experience! I made our invites - from making wax seals, printing envelope liners, designing the invites on canva and printing on seed paper from Amazon, and addressing all the envelopes with my cricut! And I didn’t stop at invites. For the wedding itself I made all our signage - table numbers, bar sign, menus and name cards, the welcome sign - both the structure out of 2x2’s haha and the acrylic sign using my cricut again. And of course our champagne wall! That was a multi- weekend project! I had to make it foldable so that my friend could transport it in his pickup truck. That was the hardest part. Then making the champagne glass holder ledges. But it was a great excuse to buy new power tools for our collection LOL. Anyway - although a lot of work - I loved it all! I’ve always loved crafty things and more recently got into some woodworking and renovation things for our home so it was a perfect fit!

What advice would you give to a couple who are in the process of planning their wedding?

I would say know what you like and don’t like to do and spend where it counts lol. As per the above - I spent a lot of time on DIYs and ultimately saved money because of that - but be aware of your limits and if it will be enjoyable for you.

Try not to let the wedding take over lol. Enjoy date nights! Talk about other things. See friends. It’s really hard sometimes to not talk about it - but try your best!

Don’t feel like you need to fit the standard wedding. We ended up without a wedding cake, wedding party, first dance, no dinner entrance etc. And these were things we considered for a while. We decided no first dance the week before! We just realized we weren’t into it and originally felt we had to but realized it was our day and we could do what we wanted!

Lastly - have a welcome party the night before if you can! This was probably the best investment of all. We chose not to have an expensive rehearsal dinner which did help with this cost - we literally got pizza and ate it at the airbnb with our family. But regardless of a rehearsal dinner, the welcome party was SO nice. You probably have like 2 hours of time on the day of the actual wedding to see your guests (assuming you actually attend cocktail hour). And you are overwhelmed that day. Because of the welcome party, we had a few hours to see our guests the night before without pressure and it took off the pressure if we didn’t have time to talk to them the day of.