Eva & Carter’s circus-themed multicultural wedding and brewery tour

The Offbeat Bride: Eva, Graphic Designer

Her offbeat partner: Carter, Geophysicist

Date and location of wedding: Outdoor city memorial park in Calgary, Alberta — September 6, 2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Our wedding reception was like a six-year-old's birthday party: circus-themed with a magician, caricaturist, lots of candy, and a whimsical cake. We thought about saving money and trying out the cocktail reception-style instead of the sit-down dinner but that turned out to be about the same price as the sit-down meal packages the hotel offered. Then we re-evaluated and figured that we typically aren't stuffy sit-down party people anyway.

We decided to make our wedding reception as fun as it could possibly be, and invite as many children as we know to act like children with us. We loved throwing themed parties at our house (like Deep Fried Turkey Day and Bacon+Beer) and thought it would be fun to do the same with our wedding. We also wanted to include a traditional Chinese tea ceremony to pay tribute to my cultural roots. We included this at our reception and there were some special moments shared with my family members.

We also invited Chinese dragon dancers to give a show at the reception!

Tell us about the ceremony:
It was a very private ceremony, with just immediate family and the wedding party in attendance. Behind Calgary's oldest library, inside Calgary's oldest park, a war memorial park. I remember being extremely nervous, then feeling elated to seeing Carter waiting for me. There was a struggle to keep my emotions in check and because of that I barely remember the ceremony! I can't recall much of what happened, only the feelings I felt.

We had a letter opening ceremony as well. Prior to the wedding, Carter and I wrote two letters each, one to each other for the day of the wedding, and one to open on our first wedding anniversary. During our wedding ceremony, we each read aloud our letters from the other, and then put into a box our letters for one year later. Every year on our anniversary, we plan on opening up the previous year's letter and also putting another letter in for the next year's anniversary.

Our biggest challenge:
What is the opposite of being a bridezilla called? That was definitely the biggest challenge. I got so tired of thinking about wedding stuff and making decisions. It helped relieve stress when Carter and I would jokingly refer to the wedding as “The Six-Year-Old's Birthday Party.” He actually said out loud to someone one time “It's for an event,” the looks on their faces when I corrected him with “you mean wedding” was priceless.

My favorite moment:
Eva: Seeing Carter looking so handsome in his tux, waiting for me next to the commissioner of oaths. He looked so happy and content! I couldn't get my ugly cry face under control. I can't really pick out the most meaningful moment of the reception, but I just remember feeling so overjoyed and amazed that all those people present were people who loved Carter and I and came especially for us.

Carter: Looking at Eva during the ceremony and realizing that from that moment on, we were going to be together forever.

My funniest moment:
Eva: When my maid of honor punched me in the face with a Hulk hand in our slow motion video booth. She tricked me — along with the bridesmaid, we had discussed posing in front of the slow motion camera and doing some kissy faces. But instead, she punched me in the face hard enough to make my cheeks jiggle. We spent the next 10 minutes holding our stomachs in pain from laughing too hard. You can see our slow motion booth footage here:

Carter: When the kid's food table quickly became overrun with adults. The corn dogs, hot dogs, and candy floss did not last long.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Planner and Decor: Monica Hui, Wishahmon Wedding Creations
• Cake: Melissa Lam, Melissa's Bakery
• Dress: Alfred Angelo
• Dress Store: Wishahmon Glorious Gowns
• Photography: Photographik
• Slow Motion Video Booth: Photographik

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

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