Northridge Inn Wedding - Mary Anne + Ricardo
Mary Anne + Ricardo's Northridge Inn wedding was full of heart, emotion, personalized touches and tons of beauty. I could never describe their day as perfectly as the bride, so Mary Anne, take it away!
Mary Anne - "For us, it was important to do our wedding our way. There are a lot of elements of traditional weddings that irk us. We aimed to avoid the showiness and waste that often come with massive one-evening parties and to ditch any common practices that didn't mean anything to us. And we didn't want to put our family and friends out by having to spend a lot of money or by taking on a lot of "duties." When we threw out the rule book and went back to the basics, asking: "What do we really want out of this?" The answer was: to make a meaningful commitment to each other and to our future together; and to thank everyone who has played a big role in our story.
So, we focused on slowing things down, prioritizing spending quality time with each other and our loved ones. To do this, we kept it intimate and we planned a four-day holiday [wedding at Northridge Inn, in Muskoka] that we could all enjoy together. And we hired a kick-ass team of vendors to bring it together!
We wanted to reflect our personalities and share our interests with others, which meant lots of outdoor fun - and food! The four-day extravaganza started with a welcome BBQ under the stars, with food and a cocktail stations, a cigar & scotch lounge and a heartwarming welcome speech from my mama. On the morning of our wedding, we hosted yoga on the pier, surrounded by water and trees. Followed by an emotional ceremony with lake views, a tented dinner during which so many laughs and tears were had (anyone was welcome to take the mic and share a story!) and an epic dance party on the deck. The day after, we invited everyone to brunch, followed by a beach bash with lots of boats, floaties, cold drinks and a charcuterie board for 50, a pool party with an ice cream bar and bonfires with singalongs. The four days of fun was finsihed off with a farewell brunch with live music, performed by Ricardo's family.
As this was our thank-you to our tightest circle, we treated our favourite people to what felt like an elevated summer camp for adults! We didn't want them to have to arrange a thing, so we booked their rooms according to their individual styles. We kept all festivities on site so no driving was needed and had daily itineraries for meals and activities. There were custom menus for every meal of every day and we surprised our guests with personal touches throughout. From leaving custom welcome baskets in their rooms, to writing personal heartfelt letters for each of their place settings. We wanted our guests to feel thought of, cared for and celebrated every step of the way. Our wedding wasn't just about the one day or just about us. It was a family holiday."
What was your favourite part of the day?!
Mary Anne - "Most all, I cherish the powerful, emotional moments that had us genuinely reflecting on and sharing our love story. On our wedding morning, I read the incredibly thoughtful letter Ricardo wrote me before our ceremony. Sharing a moment just the two of us alone to connect. During our ceremony, hearing each other's vows for the first time. During dinner, hearing our loved ones' perspectives in the sweetest speeches; plus all of the deep chats and embraces that took place with our nearest and dearest throughout the getaway.
As a close second, I loved how we all let loose and had a blast together - the dancing, the fireside singalongs, the beach bash, the pool party, the family meals and so much more. We played and laughed, and cried and hugged, for four days straight!"
Ric - "To say that those four days were the best four days of my life would be an understatement. It was the most amazing love-filled four days ever. All our nearest and dearest there to enjoy the expertly handcrafted event that my lovely wife sculpted together - it was just amazing! Looking around at everyone having a blast and every detail accounted for, ensuring they not only enjoyed themselves, but also felt thought of and considered, it was magical."
What made you choose Muskoka's Northridge Inn?
Can you elaborate on some of the personal details you included in the day?
"We had a lot of fun honouring our creative and crafty spirits. I drew upon my writing, design and event planning expertise and Ricardo drew upon his 3D printing and other creative building talents to add our own unique touches, tailored to us and our guests, wherever we could. Some of the personalized details we loved most inlude;
- Welcome baskets, left in every guest's room. We gave every guest a personalized tumbler, a custom M+R "Do Not Disturb" sign for their doors, lots of snacks and drinks from our fav local shops to stock their rooms with, umbrellas, floaties for the beach party, covid rapid test (oh, what fun) and more.
- Welcome booklets, which not only gave an itinerary for the four days, but an opportunity to thank key people and pay tribute to some of our loved ones who have passed. Like for Ric's dad, who also had an artistic side... years ago, I promised to let him read some of my poetry, but he sadly passed before I could. In his honour, I wrote a poem for Ric and surprised him and his family with it. Lots of tears!
- Personalized heartfelt letters to each and every guest. We featured these on each guest's place settings at our wedding dinner. It took us a long time to sit down, reflect on what we wanted to say to each person and write it sincerely, but it was worth it - it was a great opportunity to truly tell our closest family and friends what they mean to us. There were lots of tears and genuine gratitude flowing throughout! And along with the guests' names, we wrote "good evening" in their heritage language.
- The Group Whatsapp chat. Everyone was in it and it was a fun way to connect everyone. Messages like "The beach bash is on! The sun is shining, the water is warm, the coolers are full and a giant charcuterie board awaits on the beach - meet us lakeside!" or "let's cool off - ice cream bar is now open by the pool!" And a shared Google album allowed us to see the festivities through different perspectives.
- The custom menus for every meal and treated our guests so it was a truly all-inclusive getaway. Custom brunches and dinners (quirky and unique names for pre-selected dishess and each menu matched our theme, etc.,), beach charcuterie, room & fireside snacks, scotch & cigar bar by the Airstream, poolside ice cream bar and of course late night Thai food because we are obsessed!
- Every guest also got a unique thank-you card, featuring a selection of photos that they were in. We didn't want it to be all about us, but rather our shared experience, and this was another way to highlight how much celebrating with them meant to us. We also detailed all of our favourite moments that we shared with them over the wedding getaway.
- Because music is so important to us, we carefully curated playlists for every single planned meal and activity, so we could share our favourite artists and get the mood and energy just right for every occasion.
- Our rings were engraved and Ricardo's suit was embroidered with sweet notes.
- We also liked including our key people in unique ways (in addition to the more traditional MC, speeches, aisle walks). Examples: my Italian uncle/godfather George was our "Flower Godfather" and walked the aisle to Speak Softly Love (the Godfather theme song); Ricardo's niece was our Lupa-maid and walked our pooch down the aisle; two of my bridesmaids, Natalie and Chanelle, were our "Hype Women" charged with getting everyone excited about what's coming next / getting the party started; our bridesmaids/groomsmen who didn't do speeches on any of the days shared short stories as part of our kissing game; and the more formal speeches we got to scatter over the days so it was never too much at once.
