Lis Simon Bride Alyssa
Fellas, make sure to take the time to go over this wedding — today’s blog is an epitome of perfection. These lovers sealed their promise in the heart of Banff National Park, Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Alyssa and François incorporated their personal touches that made their wedding even more magical.
The simplicity of the Maria dress complements Alyssa’s exquisite beauty.
THE LOVE STORY
It all started when Alyssa met François in law school back in 2018. One day, (for reasons unbeknownst to Alyssa now), she joined the Law and Climbing club for a spontaneous one-off rock climbing session. François was the coach of the competitive team of the rock climbing gym they went to and happened to be at the gym that day. He was a mutual friend of one of the law students who came to the climbing session and they were introduced. They had their first date at La Boule Bakery in Edmonton and Alyssa knew he was THE one: “I think I instantly fell in love with him when I saw that he had bought two desserts for me before I even sat down”. Alyssa and François lost track of time and their date lasted for five and a half hours until the manager of the bakery told them that they were closing. “We just never really stopped talking after that!”
THE PROPOSAL
January 5th, 2021
François decided to plan a little Jasper ski getaway for them to celebrate the New Year and to distract Alyssa from the post-Christmas blues – “I am the biggest Christmas freak ever”. When they arrived, Francois suggested they take a night walk out on Pyramid Lake. It was cold, but the snow was light and the sky was filled with stars.
François started telling her about how he learnt to skate on Pyramid Lake with his parents and returning to it made him think of how excited he was for them to bring their kids there one day. François told her that he had a small surprise and pulled out a box with a Darth Vader ring inside of it – Rewind for context: the summer before they got engaged, Alyssa had a weird dream that François proposed with a Star Wars themed engagement ring. She burst out laughing, a bit confused, but when she turned back around, François was on his knee with a beautiful diamond ring designed by her longtime family jeweller and said "Actually, here's your real one – will you marry me?"
“I was an instant puddle of tears! It was such a funny and thoughtful way to propose and it was so reflective of the kind of person he is”.
THE DRESS
“Dress shopping is one of the most special memories I have of the whole wedding planning process. I loved the whole thing, although it turned out to be an incredibly short day!”
Alyssa went to The White Gallery in Edmonton, accompanied by her mom and sister, and was helped by Chantelle who pulled out dresses in line with what she initially envisioned (A-line, lacy and whimsical). Before trying them on, she asked Chantelle if there were any that they hadn’t picked and would suggest for her to try on. That’s when she pulled the “Maria”. Alyssa had only tried on 3 other dresses, but the moment she put on “Maria”, she immediately thought “I have to marry François in this dress”
It was an unforgettable moment for Alyssa when Chantelle pulled back the curtain and both of her mom and sister saw her in the Maria dress. Their faces gave her all the confirmation she needed that it was THE dress – so elegant and classy. “When I looked in the mirror, it was the first time I could actually see myself walking down the aisle in Mt. Stephen Hall”
WEDDING & RECEPTION
September 4, 2022 at Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel – Mt. Stephen Hall
“There is literally no better feeling than being with your partner, surrounded by all of the people who love you the most in one room and our reception was a whole night of that feeling!”
The reception started off with their guests coming into Mt. Stephen Hall with champagne butler service and made their “grand entrance” by toasting everyone from the balcony above the room. “The food was delicious, the speeches were heartfelt and everyone was so happy!” As the night progressed, people were dancing, drinking, and celebrating (they used Confetti Call instead of a guest book, for their guests could leave them “voicemails”). They ended their night with their friends lifting them up on chairs and everyone belting out her favourite song of all time, ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ by Mariah Carey (and yes, it was September).
FAVOURITE MOMENTS
Anecdotes from the bride:
Seeing both my dad and François cry when they each saw me in my dress for the first time. I did a first look with my dad before the ceremony and even though my dad has always been a super affectionate father growing up, I had never seen him cry before! It was such a genuinely sweet moment and was even more special because my mom was there too.
Then when we were walking down the aisle and seeing François' face as I rounded the corner- all I could think was "Oh my god, I can't believe I found someone who looks at me like that". I'm so glad Nikki took such great pictures of both of these moments!
PREPARATIONS & INSPIRATIONS
Alyssa and François wanted their wedding to be timeless and romantic, classic and filled with meaningful elements that they can look back on when they’re grey and old, and still feel like they embodied who they are.
For florals, they opted for white flowers because the first time François said I love you, they were on a hike and were surrounded by white wildflowers. As family is also important to them, they included little things to commemorate François late grandmothers throughout, and they obviously had to have their puppy to be the ring-bearer!
For curating her dream wedding, She “used anything and everything! Instagram, Tiktok, blogs and wedding websites!”
HONEYMOON
“We postponed our big honeymoon to the end of 2023 when we'll be going to Southern France and Croatia”
The two embarked on a few mini trips after the wedding including New York. Alyssa used to live there and François had never been – it was a nice trip to show him around. At their wedding, their harpist played a rendition of ‘All I Ask of You’ from Phantom of the Opera as she was walking down the aisle, so they went to see it on Broadway before it closes.
From Alyssa
Definitely make sure that you take deliberate moments throughout your wedding to just soak everything in with your partner! Before the wedding day, François and I decided that we would run away for little 5-10 minute intervals throughout the day just to be together.
During the reception, we would run up to the second floor to take a moment together, dance, talk and look down at all of our friends and family enjoying the night. A bunch of our friends actually have pictures of us sneaking away and they're some of our favourite candids of the day. Your wedding is all about celebrating your love so make sure you do what makes you happy!
Special thanks to:
We were so lucky and found Joelle (our wedding planner) and Nikki (our photographer) through referrals from other couples who had used them before. From there, Joelle and Nikki were so generous and basically either directly or inadvertently put us in touch with every vendor we ended up hiring for our big day! We had the most incredible team of vendors and they totally put together a day that even surpassed the wedding of our dreams. Forever grateful for their talent but also for them all being just the sweetest human beings too!
Planner: Joy by Joelle
Photographer: Nikki Collette
Harpist: Harp Angel
Florist: Flower Artistry
Hair and Makeup: Bellamore Beauty & Cobblestone Ave Beauty Bar
Cake: Kake by Darci
DJ: DJ Kwake
Guestbook: Confetti Call
Décor Rentals: Mountain Event Rentals
