Tess and Elliot's Four Seasons Hotel Wedding
What was your wedding venue (ceremony & reception) and why did you choose there?
We got married in Montreal at the Four Seasons.
We live in NYC but wanted to get married in Montreal, since most of our friends and family live there – so we chose somewhere that would be easier to plan from afar! They offer all the necessities (like tables, chairs, etc..) so a lot less for us to need to plan and think about!
Did you have a wedding theme/style? If so, tell me about it, please.
Hmm.. not specifically. Both of us like simple and modern aesthetics, so it naturally went in that direction. We kept everything simple and minimal, lots of whites with different textures.
How did you and your now Husband meet?
When he tells the story it sounds more romantic, but we met in the lobby of a hotel where he sold me tickets to a show!
What is your proposal story?
Ah it was so sweet. During lockdown we would take a morning walk together along the water, and would walk up a pier and just look at the city and water for a few moments.
He proposed one morning on our walk at that pier. He had my sister and her husband and dog hiding in the bushes who surprised me after. It was simple and perfect. We spent the rest of the weekend at a nice hotel in the city
From where did you purchase your gown?
I got my dress from Lovely Bride in New York!
Note: Prea James Bridal is no longer stocked at Lovely Bride in NYC.
What do you love most about the gown?
I love that it’s simple, yet has a clear aesthetic.
I love that the details all feel very intentional.
And, I love the material (& how comfortable it was!!)
It felt very ‘me’. Many of my guests told me they pictured me in something exactly like that
Were there any details that you (and friends and family) made yourselves?
A few! The sweetest was a handkerchief that my sister made for Elliot out of the hem of my dress. She sneakily asked the seamstress for the leftovers and sewed and embroidered it herself for him. He’s a cry-er, so she thought he’d need it
Elliot also designed all of our signage – we wanted to write everyone’s names (or funny nicknames) on their menus to personalize them – he spent a whole lot of time on photoshop until they were perfect!
Finally, Do you have any words of wisdom for couples planning their big day? This can be to do with any part of the wedding – eg, planning, budget, or the day itself.
Just what everyone else says – the day goes so fast & try to talk to as many people as you can. One of the most special moments of our night was a moment our photographers gave us after our ceremony. They brought us alone downstairs and let us have some time before thinking about any photos.
Having that time to unwind and just be with each other alone was very special, and if you have the time for it, I’d really recommend it.
Wedding Vendors
Photographer: Joel & Justyna
Absolutely incredible. We reached out to them initially because we loved their type of photography.
Luckily, they were free on our date and hands down one of the best decisions we made for our wedding.
They made us feel so comfortable – which neither of us are naturally in front of the camera. We had so much fun seeing them bounce creative ideas off each other, seeing the natural yet extremely creative ways to take photos & have LOVED seeing the photos.
We were able to make it to our entire cocktail hour because they somehow wrangled every family member in for portraits in 15 minutes. Could make this a whole page long but I won’t…If you are lucky enough that these two are free on your date, BOOK them!!!
Hair & Makeup:
Makeup – Jess Cohen did my makeup and I loved it!! My hairdresser, Cass, recommended her. She told me to blindly book her with no trial, so that’s what I did & couldn’t have been happier.
Hair - Cass did everyone’s hair – she’s an angel and will make your hair look amazing every time.
Bridesmaids Dresses: Bec & Bridge – my go-to for any dresses
Elliot has known him for a while and we knew he would be incredible. He went above and beyond, organizing all the sound for the ceremony, cocktail, and reception, bargaining prices for equipment, and staying well passed his end time to keep the music going. Recommend highly !!
Artist - Clerel - Clerel was incredible. We were so lucky that he agreed to play at our wedding – he is extremely talented. He was genuinely happy to be there, was very flexible with his time – it was truly and honour to hear him live.
