Lorraine and Jeff are such a beautiful example of love. Their hearts for each, their family, and their friends spans the distance that they brought them. You see, Lorraine and Jeff live in Canada! They traveled all the way to the E.B. Morgan House where Jeff proposed and they brought 30 of their closest family and friends with them! That afternoon Lorraine’s heart shone through every moment, the getting ready part was a mixture of laughter and tears and set the tone for the whole day. Everywhere I turned I just saw this intense love in everyone’s eyes. They were wed in the cutest little Catholic church I’ve ever seen right down the street and then celebrated with good wine, better food, and the best company one could ask for. I can tell you all about all of the stories, toasts, and jokes that were told. I can tell you about the gorgeous sunset and the fantastic dancing, but nothing matches that closeness, joy, and above all else love that I felt that day! Thank you so much Lorraine and Jeff! Your wedding was truly a treasure!
xoxoxo,
Mabyn
How did your fiance propose? It was September 26, 2011, we were at the start of a short getaway that had us going to Aurora in the Finger Lakes then on to Cape Anne in New England. On the first day of our getaway and shortly after our arrival at the EB Morgan House in Aurora, we were sitting on the back porch enjoying the scenery, peacefulness and a glass of wine. All I wanted to do was sit and relax but Jeff seemed a bit restless. He suggested a walk down the lawn to sit closer to the lake but first had to go retrieve the camera from our room which he had “forgotten”. When he returned, he was carrying a white plastic grocery bag that appeared to contain a box of golf balls, very strange but maybe not so odd as we intended to play golf while we were away?!? I asked him why he had a box of golf balls with him and now that I think about it, he didn’t answer me. We walked onto the lawn and headed toward the lake, he stopped part way near some Adirondack chairs. He put the grocery bag down, pulled me into his arms and thanked me for being so patient with him over the years. My response was “what did you do?” and as I started to realize what was happening and as my emotions started to overtake me, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was overwhelmed and completely taken by surprise because we were already ensconced in a very happy long-term committed relationship and had never seriously talked about getting married. It took me a minute or so to fully absorb what was happening. Jeff was still down on one knee and at some point he reminded me that I hadn’t actually given him an answer, of course I said YES! Then he took the golf ball box out of the white plastic bag, opened the box in which he had hidden the engagement ring box and placed the ring on my finger. We sat together in the Adirondack chairs for some time, I couldn’t believe what had just happened. We just kept repeating “we’re engaged” and laughing.
Jeff knows how much I don’t like surprises and how hard it is to really surprise me but this had me totally taken aback – I guess some surprises aren’t that bad after all!
Tell me a bit about the planning process for your wedding (how did you pick the venue, colors, funny stories, etc..): Since we had never talked about getting married we started, almost immediately, to talk about the kind of wedding we envisioned. We knew we were probably looking at a date in August 2012 because we thought that Jeff’s only brother Colin, sister-in-law Jessica and nephews Vance and James would be visiting Canada from Taiwan about that time. Although I have a large family, we agreed that we wanted to keep the wedding quite small. We started talking about options of what we could do in Toronto and agreed that anything we planned at home would be bigger than we really wanted so we started to think about other options. Our Innkeeper at the EB Morgan House, Lynda planted the seed about having our wedding there and provided us with some information. Were we really going to consider this “destination” wedding? Wouldn’t it be romantic to return to the place where we became engaged? Would our families and friends enjoy the location? It only took us two days of discussing and before we left Aurora on September 29th for the next leg of our getaway, Jeff and I had decided on a three-day wedding “event” for our families and friends, held all of the accommodation at the EB Morgan House and The Aurora Inn, selected a wedding date of August 22, 2012, identified a guest list and selected the EB Morgan House for our reception. It took us a couple of months to confirm our intentions and arrange for a Catholic wedding ceremony at St. Patrick’s Church in Aurora. Then the realization set in about how much was really involved in planning a wedding with the added complexity of a destination wedding outside of our home country. Even our wedding party crossed the country, our maid of honour Ivanka lives in Vancouver, BC and our best man David lives in Halifax, NS. Jeff said it a number of times over the months, he just thought we would go from getting engaged to being married, he had no idea about the amount of work and the details involved to get us from point A to point B. It was totally worth it because we had a great day and wouldn’t change a thing.
Our colour scheme was very simple, we had shades of purple with accents in our flowers of greens and whites. I’ve always just gravitated toward purple and my garden at home usually has plenty of these colours so the choice was pretty easy to make. I just loved our flowers, Michaleen did a wonderful job. It took me some time to find the right purple shoes and at one point, I thought I was going to have to give up the quest, but in late June, I finally found them!
What was the most memorable moment(s) of your day? We feel an incredible “high” about the whole day. We’ve picked a few moments that stand out: Jeff kicking the soccer ball around with his best man David prior to getting ready; seeing my bridal bouquet for the first time; Jeff seeing me in my wedding dress as I walked up the aisle on the arm of my younger brother Mark; my brother Mark kissing me on the cheek as he “gave me away” to Jeff; reciting our vows; placing the rings on each other’s fingers; hearing Fr. Shatzel announce us as Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Gullberg for the first time; sneaking away for the sunset photos; Jeff’s “Dance Party Playlist”, we had a blast dancing.
Funniest memory from your wedding day? We don’t have a “funniest memory” – we simply had a great day and enjoyed ourselves very much. There was laughter, there were tears, our guests have been very complimentary about the whole experience.
If you had to do it all over again would you change anything? We wouldn’t change a thing, we enjoyed every moment!
Any advice for future bride & grooms? Be true to yourselves, follow your instincts and plan the wedding that you want.
What was your favorite part about working with Mabyn Ludke Photography? Neither Jeff nor I like to be the centre of attention, we’re “behind the scenes” people so we were a bit anxious about having the spotlight on us and I don’t particularly care to have my photo taken. I was feeling overwhelmed with emotion and Mabyn totally understood. Mabyn was terrific, very accommodating, very calming, very professional, she blended-in and was not “intrusive” at all, it just felt like Mabyn was a natural part of the event.
Hair: Sara Scollan – Auburn, NY//Makeup Artist: Sara Scollan – Auburn, NY//Dress Designer & Store Location: Barbra Allin/ Becker’s Bridal – Toronto, ON//Jewelry: mother’s pearl necklace as something old; sister Patricia’s pearl earrings as something borrowed//Veil or Hair accessories: crystal hair comb – Felicia’s – Toronto, ON//Shoes: purple wedding shoes Brown’s – Toronto, ON; purple flip flops from Guess//Bridesmaids Dresses: maid of honour’s dress – Ralph Lauren – The Bay – Vancouver, BC//Grooms Attire: suit-Ermenegildo Zegna; tie-Brioni; shoes-Bruno Magli//Ceremony Venue: St. Patrick’s Catholic Church – Aurora, NY//Reception Venue: EB Morgan House – Aurora, NY//Additional photo venue: the grounds at The Aurora Inn, Aurora, NY//Florist: Michaleen’s – Ithaca, NY//DJ: Jeff’s play list//Caterer: The Aurora Inn//Cake: Trina Myers, The Aurora Inn//Invitations & Stationary: The Papery – Toronto, ON//Other: Fr. Richard Shatzel – Officiant//Heather Davidson, Director of Special Events, The Aurora Inn
