So, where did we leave off? Oh yeah,  Friday night.  Rehearsal night began on the beach where the ceremony would take place the following day, followed by a Mexican dinner in Tofino hosted by Andrew’s mom, Mary. We were invited, but it was back to work for us after checking out the beach.

Anais and Andrew’s families were so great to work with!  The event was hosted by Anais’s grandparent’s, Olivia and Carey McKinley,  her Mom Erica, her uncle Walker and his beautiful wife Jeannie and their 2 year old daughter Scarlett, who very nearly stole the show.  Andrew’s Mom Mary and brother Matt pitched in everywhere, and were busy behind the scenes.

Our schedule was to set up the tables for the reception before noon for the photographer Jana Vackova (by the way these are NOT her photos, hers will be up on the website soon), get the bouquets over to the bridal party at Middle Beach Lodge and then head down to to the beach and set up the ceremony site.  We would then pick up the ceremony decor and race back to the reception and finish off the whole look.  We wanted Anais to stop in her tracks and cry when she saw what we had done. Oh, and somewhere in there we needed to find time to pull ourselves together and look like we were guests at the wedding.

The entire wedding was a small, very intimate gathering and the overall vision for the day was elegant simplicity.  Our plan was to use just a few varieties of flowers and use them in huge quantities, starting with about 80 stems of pure white phaleonopsis orchids in huge vases down at the beach.  Anais had us a little concerned when she decided that her and Andrew were going to build the stands for the arrangements out of driftwood!  She ended up twisting a few arms and getting some help and the result was so stunning we wanted to take them home with us, but they proved a wee bit heavy.  Here we are setting up the ceremony.

The end result was breathtaking!

Sometimes it is hard to get us out of the pictures.

Here is Anais in her gorgeous Vera Wang gown with her Grandpa.

What a touching moment when Grandpa and Anais first saw each other.  There was not a dry eye in the room!

Andrew and Anais, now husband and wife.

Now back to the reception where we had transformed the deck ….. kept you waiting long enough!  Here it is.  Can we talk about how cute Andrew and Anais are?

Beautiful bridesmaids Ananda and Katie.  I know, and yes they really are that pretty.  And that sweet.

details of the tables …. green orchids at every place setting.

stunning view of Meares Island.

Sunset.  Could it get more perfect?

We will have the professional pictures by Jana up soon on the website.

And yes, Anais cried.  She was thrilled.  It was so much fun, we are kind of sad it is all over!