Intimate Kelowna Wedding
Kelowna, BC
Denon + Aileen
Photographers: Page & Holmes
Wedding Dress: Relic
Flowers: Bride & Minim Designs
Earrings & Groom’s pin: Michael Michaud
Decor: Aileen and Hillary Twa
Denon and Aileen’s intimate backyard wedding in Kelowna was poetry come to life. Every detail of their Okanagan celebration was an inspiring expression of creativity, mixed with so much thought and heart.
When a wedding dress designer gets married there’s obvious anticipation around what she will wear… and Aileen’s gown was a showstopper! Its whimsical and romantic feel was a perfect match for her gentle, artistic soul. We also loved their custom-made olive green John Fluevog shoes!
“Kris and AJ were such an essential part of our wedding day. We are so in love with the photos and how perfectly they captured every moment and all the emotion of our day. They were so supportive and kind in the months leading up to our wedding. Their promise to capture the real "big moments" and "unseen details" of the day is taken to heart and the results are beautiful. The mix of artful portraits and raw emotional photos is everything we wanted. Our photos will be cherished forever!”
Aileen Twa
They say a person is known by the company they keep and these two we were surrounded by the best kind of people. It was such a joy to capture their day and witness the shared love of the community around them.
The wabi sabi inspired wedding decor was a living display, showcasing the combined talent of Aileen, her bridesmaids and Minim Designs. Aileen thrifted the vases, vessels and candle holders on their long wedding table. She incorporated beautiful textiles, including handmade linen napkins which were thread into ceramic holders, custom made by Emmalee Maden of Pinto Designs. (Yes, she was a bridesmaid too!) Cont’d after gallery.
Aileen shares the inspiration behind their intimate Kelowna wedding:
I kind of hate to say it, but I’m that girl. The one who has been planning her wedding since she was very young.
My dream was to have an old wrought iron and glass greenhouse for the venue. I began pinning pictures of old Victorian greenhouses, overgrown gardens and antique French pottery. I also have a huge fascination with old wabi sabi wood textures and aged pottery; overgrown with moss and lichen. We never found an accessible greenhouse. So, we had to get creative and chose the next best thing – an old 1930’s chapel! Our hope was to fill with foliage ourselves.
But, when Covid hit we realised we were going to have to be even more flexible with our planning. I didn’t want to have a cliché looking wedding. So, for our wedding decor, I collected items I loved from around my home. From there, I built out the look with all kinds of thrifted treasures! From the images I collected on Pinterest, I created a colour palette of greens, sages, and creams. Ultimately, this is what inspired the bridal party’s look. I also wanted them in as many different textures as possible.
Favourite wedding memories:
Aside from the classic moments of seeing each other for the first time and seeing my dad’s reaction to me all dressed up, which were all indeed special, there were a couple of moments that we both look back on often.
One of the things people always say is that your wedding day will feel like a blur. After our ceremony, we had had some time to relax before leaving to take photos. Taking that moment to sit back and soak it all in with our closest friends made us really cherish the size of our small wedding. Time slowed down in that moment and we remember it so vividly.
Another favourite memory of ours was when we were announced and came around the corner into the backyard to “This Will Be” blasting! Seeing all our friends and family lined next to the long dinner table all set how I had imagined it was surreal. I just remember thinking everything was absolutely perfect!