A $5000 budget, a family cabin and a whole lotta love went into creating Cory and Ailsa’s dream wedding. Their beach ceremony comprised of a homemade arch and the ceremony itself was officiated by one of the bride’s mother’s oldest friends.
The family cabin and barn that served as their venue is located at the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. “Our wedding was completely DIY”, said the bride. “We wanted to focus on having everything made for the wedding. We didn’t want to have anything ordered or hire anyone we didn’t know to do anything.”
“The cabin has been in our family since 1930 so it was really special to get married there. We used trees from the property to make the benches. The entire wedding party camped with us the night before and the night of the wedding, and all of the 57 guests helped with something.”
“The ceremony was on the beach. Our friend built an arbour for us to stand in front of out of massive branches from driftwood and trees on the property. The benches were chainsawed into shape where they sat. The ceremony was beautiful and the weather was perfect. The Bay of Fundy has the biggest tides in the world and we let the tide wash everything away when the ceremony was done.”
“Having a venue in a family location and making all the food ourselves saved us so much money”, she explained. “The decorations were also all done by us and our friends. Even the photographers and the person who made my dress were already our friends.”
“There is nothing we’d do differently and I’d advise other couples to not sweat the small stuff”, she concluded. “Nothing has to be traditional if you don’t want it to be. Try to find somewhere special, not a venue that pumps out weddings every weekend of the summer and invite only the people that you know will feel special to be there.”
