This Montreal citrus theme wedding had private vows and a family-style meal

citrus wedding theme 14 — Photos by Street Adventure Photography

We met on OkCupid while we were both in the same master’s program. Nearly a decade later, after a trip to Colorado, I casually said on our way home: “We should get married.” Alex said, “Really?” I said, “Yeah,” and he answered, “Sure.” That was it. No grand gestures, just a simple moment that felt right. From there, we started saving, and planning began about a year later.

From the start of planning, we knew we didn’t want a traditional wedding. What mattered most was food, abundance, and gathering our people together. We chose Casa d’Italia in Montréal because it has the bones of an old Italian social club, which was perfect for our vision of a dinner party that happened to have a wedding in the middle of it.

Our citrus theme emerged naturally from that idea: citrus as a symbol of joy, vibrant textiles, and a focus on feasting and celebration.

Keeping the wedding ethical was important to us. I avoided Amazon and Temu, instead sourcing décor second-hand through Facebook Marketplace or making it myself. My dad built our altar frame, and I sewed the bold orange damask fabric that draped it. Our favours were recipe booklets featuring a dish we created together years ago, that I designed on Canva.

Tell us about the ceremony:

We exchanged private vows in the form of letters on the morning of the wedding, and read them while we separated to get ready before the first look. Our public ceremony was intentionally short, about five minutes long. No aisle, no rings, no big entrance. Our best friend officiated from the stage while guests stayed seated at their banquet tables, which blurred the line between ceremony and celebration.

The altar was built by my dad and draped in fabric I sewed myself, accented by two medium-sized floral arrangements in bright yellows and tangerines, one set on a pedestal. It was simple, personal, and felt handcrafted without being fussy.

The ceremony itself was lighthearted and to the point. After the legal wording was read, and we signed the legal document, we sealed it with a handshake and a kiss before diving straight into our first dance — a tango. It was theatrical, joyful, and exactly how we wanted to start the party. The legal wording in Quebec is also a bit funny, so we had our guests laughing throughout.

For us, the best part of the ceremony was how true it felt to our personalities: no performance, no excess, just laughter and a legal commitment.

Tell us about the cannoli & cocktails reception:

Our reception felt like a sprawling Italian dinner party. Guests sat at long banquet tables named after movies with weddings in them, from Shrek to The Godfather, which got everyone laughing before the food even hit the table. Dinner was served family-style, which broke the ice and made conversation flow naturally.

The design was lush and bold: vintage orange damask textiles with gold fringe, velvet chair ribbons, dozens of LED tealights, citrus accents, and wild bud-vase florals in yellow and tangerine. Our signature cocktail, a lemony gin drink with yuzu syrup and cucumber bitters designed by the groom, kept the bar buzzing all night.

After heartfelt toasts, the dance floor filled up and stayed packed. Instead of a cake, dessert was delivered via a walking cannoli bar that appeared on the dance floor later in the evening, handing out sweets mid-dance. Our favours were recipe booklets featuring a dish we created years ago, so every guest left with something deeply personal to us.

About an hour before the official end time, the fire alarm went off (too much smoke in the room). Instead of calling it a night, we took the party with us to a karaoke bar, where we sang God Only Knows to a cheering crowd. It was chaotic, unpolished, and perfect.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?

Our biggest challenge was editing down our ideas. At the beginning, we wanted to do everything, every quirky detail, every fun concept, but the wedding would have exploded under its own weight. The key was learning to let go of great ideas in order to make room for the best ones.

Our planner gave us an anchoring statement that saved us: “Our wedding will be an easy-breezy rollicking good time.” That became our filter for every decision. If something didn’t feel easy-breezy, it got cut. That’s why we skipped things like cake, a guestbook, vows, rings, and a grand entrance, they didn’t fit our vibe, so they didn’t make the list. Instead, we focused on the pieces that mattered most to us: a tango, recipe booklets, a walking cannoli bar.

Our advice: don’t keep something just because it’s “supposed” to be there. Replace it with something that actually feels like you. It’s better to do a few things wholeheartedly than overload your day with traditions that don’t resonate. The freedom to edit was the best gift we gave ourselves.