Marie-Eve & Alexandre’s ice and snow winter wedding

The offbeat bride:
Marie-Eve, associate producer at Beenox (video game studio)

Her offbeat partner:
Alexandre, programmer at Beenox (yes we met at work!)

Location & date of wedding:
The Ice Chapel in the Ice Hotel in Quebec, Canada — February 7th 2009

What made our wedding offbeat:
Our marriage was under the theme of “ice and snow.” It took place in the ice chapel of the Ice Hotel in Quebec Canada. The structure is made of snow, and two walls and the benches made of ice, with animal skin to make them comfortable.

We believe winter to be part of our northern culture and decided to embrace it totally!

We decided to embrace the cold, the invitations made on icy translucent paper, the tables dressing were blue tablecloth with “icy texture,” the clothes in white and blue with ice patterns, the topsy-turvy air-brush painted cake with snowflakes edible decoration, the flowers with snow decorated pine cones, the table center made of melted glass (which looked like ice), even my victorian corset was blue stripped.

Our geek nature forced us to put a Final Fantasy song at the opening! We had a non-religious marriage but still with a complete ceremony and held a cocktail in the ice bar with a drink in an ice glass afterward. The meal and party took place in a nearby big log cabin. Our gift to the guests was a music album, composed and recorded by us (me at the piano and Alex at the trumpet.)

Mostly everyone involved in the wedding were close friends: the graphist, the dj, the vj, the magician, the cameraman, the photographers, the decorators, the hairdresser, the makeup artist etc.

Our biggest challenge: Preparing for the cold. Temperature here can be unpredictable, and drop to -40 Celsius in winter (we got lucky with a -5) so we had to prepare clothing in consequence — warm boots, warm coats, warm socks, warm underwear — usually warm clothes aren’t sexy nor pretty so this was quite a challenge!

We each had two pairs of boots/shoes and socks and switched when going back indoor for the meal. Alex also had a muskrat hat. We also bought boxes of hot pads, small bags that become very hot for a few hours when the contents are shaken, put them in our shoes and gloves and offered the rest to the guests.

Flowers had to be specially prepared, hand dipped in wax so that they didn’t freeze on the spot. The bouquet was also attached to a custom fur “manchon” so that I could carry it without freezing my hands.

Also, since there are often storms, winter makes it difficult to travel, we rented a multi-room cabin nearby so that people could arrive the day before, and leave the day after, just in case.

My favorite moment: A big surprise awaited me when I reach the place. My friend from Belgium was there! Many friends knew about this, but they kept it secret from me. She crossed half the earth to be there, that was amazing!

My offbeat advice: We were really scared that, doing the wedding at a non-convenient time of the year, and because of the non-religious aspect of it, many people would be scared away, but results were completely reverse. The wedding was really hipped, and many many people came! Don’t be afraid to embrace what makes you special.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?:

• The Ice Hotel, they have special wedding package (but we decided not to sleep there, because I don’t imagine my honeymoon in a sleeping bag with hat and scarf).
• Station Duchesnay, on the other side of the street, were we had the party and were we slept instead, in a luxuous suite.
• Winter coat, scarf and boots were bought at Le Chateau, a very inexpensive fashion boutique, at the beginning of winter.
• Flowers were bought at Bardou they are the only ones that do waxed flowers to my knowledge.
• Hot socks and underwear came from a sport shop.
• Table centerpiece were hand made by my friend Chantal Vallières, she also makes pretty glass necklaces.
• Leathers gloves and custom “manchon” were made at Laliberté.
• Custom corset was made by Mekkration, the best corstier in the world (I believe).
• The guys rented their tuxedo and fancy winter coat at Marquis de Brumell.
• Tablecloths were rented at Decorum.
• Cake by De Blanchet, and taste even better than it looked.

I continue to wear all the winter clothes I bought, so it was an investment!