The Wedding Album: Natalie & Nathan’s small, unfussy union at the Drake
Natalie & Nathan | August 20, 2011 | The Drake Hotel Café
View their wedding album »
Natalie Sammut and Nathan Vella were 15 and 16 when they met at Waterloo Collegiate Institute. Their romance started over a shared pack of Hubba Bubba. Even though they were apart during university (Natalie went to McMaster, Nathan to Ryerson), they remained a couple and moved into an Annex apartment the day Natalie finished school. On a trip to New York in 2010 (their 15th year together), they visited a vintage jewellery store, where an art deco piece caught Natalie’s eye. “Once I saw the ring on her finger, some switch in my brain flipped,” says Nathan. A two-month wait and sleepless nights followed until he finally proposed in bed on a Sunday morning. “It was perfect,” says Natalie, “other than the part where I forgot to open the ring box.” When it came to the wedding, they opted for something true to their style: a small, unfussy affair set deep in the heart of city. “The Drake took care of everything,” she says. “It was almost too easy for us.”
Sources:
Photography: Joseph + Jaime
Bride’s dress: Alice + Olivia Groom’s attire: Hugo Boss suit and tie; custom shirt from Holt Renfrew
Bridesmaid dresses: Co-maids of honour wore their own dresses and shoes
Venue and Caterer: The Drake Hotel Café
Flowers: Jerry Furtado, who works in special events at The Drake
Dessert: A “bake sale” table with doughnuts, brownies and cookies from the café
Music: A mostly indie iPod playlist
Invitations: DIY, with the help of artist Vic Nguyen
Guests: 46
Cost: $16,000
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- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- The venue was the non-typical setting the couple was looking for; it came with a backdrop of streetcars, bikes and hectic Queen West
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- Quirky, pixellated portraits of the couple, designed by Vic Nguyen, an artist friend, reflected their playful personalities
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- Natalie’s sister, Melanie Sammut (far left), and best friend, Katie Cauk, were co-maids of honour
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- Guests dipped into a jar of toonies and fed them into the photo booth at the venue; the photographs became their keepsakes
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- “It was a hot August evening, so we helped guests cool down with wooden fans and ice-cold sangria” <em>—Natalie</em>
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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- <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/daily/tag/weddings-2012/" style="color:#5ac4be; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size:12px;">SEE MORE WEDDINGS 2012</a>
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
- The Wedding Album | Natalie & Nathan
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, they remained a couple and moved into an Annex apartment the day Natalie finished school. On a trip to New York in 2010 (their 15th year together), they visited a vintage jewellery store, where an art deco piece caught Natalie’s eye. “Once I saw the ring on her finger, some switch in my brain flipped,” says Nathan. A two-month wait and sleepless nights followed until he finally proposed in bed on a Sunday morning. “It was perfect,” says Natalie, “other than the part where I forgot to open the ring box.” When it came to the wedding, they opted for something true to their style: a small, unfussy affair set deep in the heart of city. “The Drake took care of everything,” she says. “It was almost too easy for us.”
Sources:
Photography: Joseph + Jaime
Bride’s dress: Alice + Olivia Groom’s attire: Hugo Boss suit and tie; custom shirt from Holt Renfrew
Bridesmaid dresses: Co-maids of honour wore their own dresses and shoes
Venue and Caterer: The Drake Hotel Café
Flowers: Jerry Furtado, who works in special events at The Drake
Dessert: A “bake sale” table with doughnuts, brownies and cookies from the café
Music: A mostly indie iPod playlist
Invitations: DIY, with the help of artist Vic Nguyen
Guests: 46
Cost: $16,000
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$16,000 for 46 guests? Unfussy? I had 9 times the guests for 4 times the cost…including other dinners. Wowza.
$16,000? For 46 guests? Tell me that was a typo! Looks like a great time but where did the money go?
16000 thousand , omg thats nuts
Congrats to Natalie & Nathan! Cute that they met at WCI ;)