Montreal Wedding: A Tale of Two Travelers

Pascale Faine & Jean-Francois Raymond - July 19, 2008

Photography by Montreal wedding photographers At First Sight Studio
Story by Davina Palik, At First Sight Studio

Pascale Faine was born in Chile and raised in Sweden; Jean-Francois Raymond from Quebec. They met in Paris, travelled the world together, and made friends everywhere they went. So when he popped the question in New York City, the biggest question of all was where they would tie the knot! They finally settled on Montreal, the city they currently call home.

To make it all happen, they enlisted the help of Montreal wedding planner Elyna Kudish of Unity Weddings. The couple envisioned something retro yet modern, romantic yet fun, and elegant yet personal.

After falling in love with the garden at the Chateau Ramezay, a museum in the old port of Montreal, they decided to hold their ceremony there among the flowers. True to Chilean tradition, the bride arrived fashionably late and walked herself down the aisle in Manolo Blahniks and a custom-made gown from Kleinfeld Bridal in New York City (as featured on TLC's Say Yes to the Dress).

After their first kiss as husband and wife, Jean-Francois carried Pascale down the aisle and they rode away to the reception in a Fiat 500.

Version restaurant, also in Montreal's Old Port, closed its doors to the public for the evening in order to host the couple's reception. During cocktail hour, guests had a blast in the At First Sight photobooth, taking pictures of themselves in front of a backdrop selected especially for the occasion.

The couple's love of travel was evident in everything from the tables, identified by names of places they have traveled together incorporated into the centerpeices made by Montreal florist Alain Simon - to the baggage tags embossed with the words "Live Life" for guests to take home with them. Speeches were given by the couple and their families in English, French, Spanish and Swedish, which only began to cover all languages spoken among the guests!

True to their vision, Unity Weddings succeeded in achieving an event which reflected their unique backgrounds and relationship and photos which captured it all. Looking back on her day Pascale says, "I had huge expectations for my weddings, but it managed to exceed them a million times! And the photos! I never realized how important they were until the day was over and I wanted to look back on it. I have gotten hundreds of comments on how amazing they are! They captured the day perfectly and I will cherish them forever."