IN THE ISSUE: Hacienda Wines - Captured by Mariel Hannah Photography

The adventure issue was packed with with gorgeous inspiration, and we wanted to share more here on the blog, photographed by the incredible Mariel Hannah Photography. We fell in love with this lovely Californian photographer when we first came across her work in summer 2013. When we began planning the special edition, we knew that we wanted to feature California - a place where we have several family and friend ties, and a place where our ginger freckles come out to play!

We dropped Mariel a line, and we got to work on creating a feature that would focus on a taste of the California wine country, a place where many can tie the knot under a faux italian sun. We asked Mariel to bring together a team that would inspire brides to add a splash of spanish flair to their big day, to represent the warmth and integrity of the californian people and land.

We can't wait to come on down south, with Madison visiting California in the spring, and our new USA issue focusing on California, Oregon and Washington - places we frequent and love.

Thank you again to the amazing team that put together this stunning shoot, and we can't wait to see more from all of you again in the future! You can call The Refinery your northern home, that's for sure! To find out all who made this shoot possible, please see the entire list below.

xoxo Ainsley & Madison

The Vendors:

Photography: Mariel Hannah

Planner & Styling: Shannon Hough Events

Stylist: Kimberly Lawson

Head Pieces: Lacielle Roselle

Hair: Jacob Hernandez

Makeup: Tricia Leigh

Rentals: Walker Lewis

Rentals: Wyld at Heart

Rentals: Simply Shabby Chic

Tux: Finos Mens Wear

Flower Girl Dresses: Amalee Accessories

Dresses: Chic Little Devil

Dresses: Film Fashion

Dresses: Ladies and Gents Bridal

Stationary: Design House of Moira

Web: http://designhouseofmoira.com/

Floral: Eden Floral

Bridal Gown #1: Ines Di Santo

Bridal Gown #2: Eugenia Couture

Shoes: Benjamin Adams & Luichiny

Bridesmaids Dresses: Winnie Couture

Cake & Sweets: Cakes by Dorene

Cater: Full Moon Bar and Bistro

Venue: Pear Valley Winery

 Models:

Mary Ruby ­ Elite Agency: http://www.elitemodel.com 

(Mary Ruby) McCright: https://www.facebook.com/MccrightAgency 

Marla Moreno ­ https://www.facebook.com/MarlaManuelaa?fref=ts 

Micaela Rian ­ https://www.facebook.com/micaela.rian?fref=ts 

Manuel John ­ https://www.facebook.com/manuel.john.7

Shauna & Jeremy are Engaged! Captured by The Nickersons

There is something beautiful about The Nickerson's photography. This isn't the first time that we have featured their work, as we shared an engagement in our last issue, and in our first issue we shared one of their stunning weddings. The reason why? Because they get it right every time. 

The lighting is stunning, the couple is styled effortlessly, and the setting is always unique and always different. We love how Shauna and Jeremy approached their engagement: With a youthful energy that will truly stand the test of time in their marriage, if they keep playing bocce, keep exploring new places, and keep their love fresh, as seen in their photos.

Congratulations you two, and happy summer! The Nickersons are available for travel worldwide, and call Vancouver, B.C. home.

FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHERS:

When we met with Shauna & Jeremy for the first time, we hit it off right away. They are both such personable, kind and fun people.

Honestly, there’s so much we can say about them: how much we enjoyed their sun-soaked engagement session, how we loved that they incorporated some of the things they like into the shoot (doughnuts? yes please!), how we could simply not take a bad picture of these two. Adding in a short water gun fight at the end was incredible too–just so fun, like them! The love between them is sweet, playful and it shines. I mean, we photographed the first part of their shoot in a parking lot! Haha! It goes to show that the love between a couple is enough–more than enough: perfection.

We shared Shauna & Jeremy’s photographs with them last night so they had a chance to see them first. Shauna posted a few of her favourites to Facebook and captioned one with a snippet of lyrics from a song I’m currently obsessed with: What I Wouldn’t Do By Serena Ryder. I feel like those lyrics really apply to the deep love that runs between them. It’s beautiful! Give Serena’s song a listen here while you go through their photographs.

Your love is like an ocean

that always takes me homeWhispering wind is blowingtelling me I’m not aloneYour love is like a riverthat I am floating downI’ve never been a swimmerbut I know that I’ll never drownI know that I’ll never drown
under different shades of blue
I’ve fallen in your water
forget everything I knew
Woah-oh-oh Woah 
Woah-oh-oh Woah
Woah-oh-oh Woah 
Oh what I wouldn’t do 
Oh what I wouldn’t do

The current grows stronger

Suzanne + Shane - Real Wedding by Bake Photography

We have a serious love for Gastown. Anyone who has read our first issue and noticed our "Historically Modern" spread will understand why. So it was our absolute pleasure to look through some lovely photos from Bake Photography from a recent winter wedding in Gastown! This couple nailed it when it comes to pairing elegance with hard concrete surroundings, and stole the show with their ingenious photo session at the barber shop!

We hope you enjoy our very first real wedding on our blog!

- Ainsley & Madison
The Refinery Girls

From The Couple:
We met in an acting class, and I was the teacher. We were Facebook friends, and kept in touch after the class was over by writing seriously long messages to each other, every day. It became obvious that maybe we should start having conversations in person, so we started dating.

We got engaged after a dinner out to celebrate our anniversary. We had just moved into our new condo, life was sort of hectic, so we went for a lovely dinner, but said we wouldn't buy any presents. When we got home, I was lying on our bed, chatting away, Shane was sort of half listening, pacing around, still wearing his coat. He came to the side of the bed, knelt down and said, "I got you a present", and pulled out a little box from his pocket. I froze, he told me to open it, I did and then gasped, looking at him, waiting for him to say something...but he didn't! He just knelt there, unable to speak, staring at me. I said, "is this...?", he said, "yeah...you wanna?" At which point I started laughing and said yes.

We had 70 guests. Our wedding song was Ingrid Michaelson singing Elvis Presley's "I Cant Help Falling In Love with You". The song made us both cry when we heard it, it's achingly beautiful, Shane sort of looks Ike Elvis, and it seemed appropriate, because it was so true for us.

Favourite moment: so many! For me, one moment was when I started to come down the stairs and I saw Shane waiting for me, it became real and lovely. To see him standing there, to see all our friends and family in this beautiful place, ready to witness our marriage, it was more powerful than I expected. My nerves left me, as I relaxed and started to enjoy the moment.
Also, sitting down to dinner, at one point I looked around and saw all these people I love, enjoying themselves, eating this delicious food, laughing, talking' enjoying themselves...it was magical. Midnight was pretty amazing as well! We handed out all sorts of noisemakers, so everyone joined in the countdown and then made crazy noise! Everyone was kissing everyone else for a Happy New Year! It was wonderful.

The bridemaid's lanterns were pretty special to me. I got some jars, filled them with mini Christmas balls and mini led lights and used them instead of bouquets. The ceremony was at night, so it was lovely to have glowing lanterns. I also loved the favours - I spray-painted little wooden hearts and stars gold, silver, and copper, and then glued them to mini-clothespins, added magnets, and clipped escort cards to them. Guests started clipping them to their ties, and dresses, almost like pretty little name cards! It made me laugh. I don't know if people kept them but we have a few on our fridge for holding cards and notes.
I also loved the bridesmaid dresses. All the girls looked so lovely and sophisticated. It took me a long time to decide on black; I wanted pale pink or soft gold as those were the colours I was going for, but all the pink/gold dresses just didn't look great. When we found these dresses at a BCBG factory outlet, I balked because they were black. After sleeping on it, I went back (well, more specifically, Bethan, one of my bridesmaids went back) and bought them. I'm so glad I did!

We went on a mini-moon to Leavenworth, WA. It's this little Bavarian-style town, covered in snow and Christmas lights. So magical! We stayed at the Solstice Spa, had massages, steams, hot tub soaks, a fireplace in our room. It was incredible. Relaxing, beautiful, just what we needed. Now we have some time to save up for and plan a real honeymoon!
______________________________________________

Vendor List:

Venue: Cork & Fin
Dress: Sposa Wedding World
Tux:  Moores
Flowers: Amy at Garden Party Flowers
Hair: Barb Whiteman for Colourbox
Invitations: DIY
Wedding Favours: DIY
Music for ceremony/reception: iPod - we used the app "Wedding DJ"
Catering: Provided by Cork & Fin
Photographer: Bake Photography