The bride (or groom) always explain it best, so I’ll only take a few moments of your time to gush about this wedding before handing it over to Rachel and she’ll spill the details about her and Ian’s classy, sassy affair! With such stunning images and an eclectic playlist full of dance hits, this is truly a Hi-Fi Wedding!

And now, straight from Rachel’s fingertips:

How do you merge Canadian, Scottish and Jewish heritage, a love of photography, videography, dancing, family and friends? That was our inspiring challenge. With the help of fantastic people (including our wedding planners Kristine and Tania at Blanc Events) we made it work. Our Montreal wedding was all that we hoped for and more.

Moments after Ian proposed we decided the wedding would be in Montreal. Although we met and live in Atlanta, Montreal has a special place in both of our hearts. Ian grew up in Montreal and I went to university there. As most of our guests had never been to Montreal, it was important to us that the wedding incorporate the city and its culture. We did not want a ballroom wedding that could be in any city, so selecting the right venue was a top priority. Ultimately we chose the Montreal Science Center. The venue is on the St. Laurent river and the room we selected has floor to ceiling windows overlooking Montreal’s Old Port. The venue was the perfect place to entertain our guests, dance the night away, and showcase Montreal. The blinds went up in the middle of the reception, wowing our guests with a gorgeous night view of the Montreal skyline. The food also highlighted the area. We chose a menu that focused on local cuisine, such as a Quebec twist on Ian’s favourite salad – the caprese. Our caterer, Bice, had the great idea to change it up, using local heirloom tomatoes and farmed fresh goat cheese. A midnight buffet wowed guests with other local cuisine including poutine and Schwartz’s smoked meat sandwiches. Although not a traditional Montreal drink, the bartender, Brahm Mauer, even surprised us with a delicious specialty cocktail – the lychee martini.

Our heritages are also very important to us and we wanted the ceremony to incorporate them. Ian’s family is Scottish and I am Jewish so we went for a traditional Jewish ceremony with Scottish flair. The grooms and the groomsmen wore kilts – what a hit! They looked amazing and it was a ton of fun for the guests. The groomsmen were initially going to change into suits for the reception, but they were having so much fun they stayed in the kilts all night. One of my favourite elements of the ceremony were the kippot, which were made from Ian’s family tartan. The florists, Alain Simon, took our Scottish theme a step further. The thistle is the flower of Scotland and, fortunately for us, the thistle is purple – one of our wedding colours. The florists made fantastic thistle boutonnieres for the men and an absolutely beautiful thistle bouquet for me. My bouquet was a total surprise and it was more perfect than I could have imagined. I did not want to throw it at the end of the night!

There was so much we wanted to incorporate into our wedding and I was nervous how to do it all without it looking like a muddled mess. With the food, venue and ceremony out of the way, all that was left was a fun reception. We could not decide on a band so we asked our photographers, Davina and Daniel, a young hip couple about our age, for a recommendation. Without hesitation they suggested the Rusty Band. We were a little nervous as we never heard them live – and they had never done the Hora before, but all I can say is wow. They were amazing. Every one of our guests, young and old, loved them. They learned a number of special songs for us and had the crowd partying on the dance floor all night long. Particularly touching was our first dance, a version of Blue Moon that they created for us incorporating some alternative lyrics. The only time the guests left the dance floor was to grab a quick bite or watch our few surprise moments.

The most fun elements of the wedding for me were the little touches and surprises. To incorporate our love of friends, family and photography we had a photo booth filled with Canadian props. We also created a guestbook that included childhood pictures of us and our guests. To thank my parents for all they did to make the night special, we honoured them with a special dance – a repeat of their own wedding’s first dance. During the planning my mother kept reiterating how much she loved her first dance, so we had the DJ play it and invite them to the dance floor for their own special moment. Later in the evening Ian’s brother, a poi dancer, wowed guests with a techno light show. Then, the biggest surprise for me, was an absolutely amazing video put together by my wonderful husband. The video started off as a slide show with childhood photos and pictures of us together, then morphed into a video featuring our entire wedding party lypsincing a song for me. I do not know how he pulled off the surprise, but it was a touching moment and the only time I cried all night. A perfect end to our perfect event.

(um seriously?! how great are those water shots?!)

And here are the tunes that kept the feet flyin’ all night long:

I Want You to Want Me – Cheap Trick
Rock and Roll All Night – Kiss
Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen
Stuck in the Middle with You – Stealers Wheel
One – U2
I Was Made for Loving You – Kiss
Jive Talkin’ – The Bee Gees
Dancing Queen – ABBA
Footloose – Kenny Loggins
You’re Mama Don’t Dance – Loggins & Mesina
Billy Jean – Michael Jackson
Beat It – Michael Jackson
Holiday – Madonna
Ray of Light – Madonna
Take on Me – Real Big Fish
Let’s Get it Started – Black Eyed Peas
I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
The Way you Move – Body Rockers
Sexy Chick – David Guetta
Sexy Back – Justin Timeberlake
Shake It – Metro Station
Poker Face – Lady Gaga
Please Don’t Stop the Music – Rhiana
Groove is in the Heart – Deee-lite
All the Singles Ladies – Beyonce
Loveshack – B-52’s
Respect – Aretha Franklin
Could You be Love – Bob Marley
Around the World – Daft Punk
Da Funk – Daft Punk
One More Time – Daft Punk
1990 – Jean Leloup
Money – Beatles
Jail House Rock – Elvis
Down on the Corner – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Miserlou (Pulp Fiction Theme) – Dick Dale & his Del-Tones
Blue Moon – Chris Isaak
I Wish You Love – Natalie Cole
Emmenez Moi – Charles Aznavour
Jump in the Line – Harry Bellafonte
Hora Medley – Various Artist

Vendors:
Venue: Montreal Science Center
Planner / Decorator: Blanc Events
Photographer: davina + daniel
Band: Rusty Band
Flowers: Alain Simon
Catering & Cake: Bice
Bride’s Dress: Alita Graham (from Kleinfeld’s Kollection)
Bride’s Shoes: Stuart Weitzman
Headpiece & Veil: Kleinfelds
Bridesmaid Dress: Alfred Angelo
Groom’s Suit: BCBG from Le Tux in Atlanta; Kilts from Kilt Rental USA
Groom’s Shoes: Sketchers (gotta love it!! My brothers even changed into Converse for the reception)
Hair & Make-up: Avanti