A Rainy Okanagan Vineyard Wedding With White Umbrellas

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Mackenzie and Tyler got married in Lake Country, British Columbia, Canada, in a summer rainstorm, under white umbrellas, with a full curtain set hung among the trees on the lawn. Photographer Meghan Hemstra treated all of it like a fashion assignment, moving between grainy color, direct flash and crisp black and white while keeping the couple at the center of every frame. Her portraits against the draped backdrop read like pages from a print editorial, and her ceremony images turn a sudden downpour into the strongest visual of the day.

Location: British Columbia, Canada
Style: Editorial, Romantic, European
Time of planning: 1 year
Number of guests: 125
Setting: Vineyard
Season: Summer

Mackenzie and Tyler met unexpectedly and slid into each other’s everyday lives fast, with simple dates turning into a shared routine built on friendship, support and big plans. Tyler proposed on their three year anniversary in Kelowna, British Columbia, after a day that started at CedarCreek Estate Winery and moved to a lookout above Okanagan Lake. Dinner for two closed out the night, which kept the whole thing private and entirely theirs.

For the wedding, the couple wanted something fashion forward and deeply personal, with a European influence, a neutral palette of cream, ivory and soft green, and the Okanagan landscape treated as part of the design. Planning and design came from Created Lovely Events in Kelowna, whose team built the day around draping installations, candlelight, layered textures and florals chosen for movement. Videographer Dan Abraham filmed the celebration, and Love Content Co handled content creation.

Bride's Morning & Fashion

Mackenzie tried on more than 100 dresses while waiting for one that would, in her words, knock her socks off, and the local search kept coming up short. The hunt ended with a virtual appointment at The Ivory Room and a lace gown by Australian label Marquise Bridal, a brand with a cult following built on luxury textiles and obsessive craftsmanship.

Hair by Natasha A. Stylist stayed long and loose in a soft blowout, and makeup by Artistry by Ksenia kept the skin luminous and the lip a soft rose. The one loud beauty moment happened at the mirror, where Mackenzie drew a heart in red lipstick while wearing a lace trimmed silk slip.

Accessories stayed minimal on purpose so the gown could carry the look, which left the shoes in charge of the detail. Neous, the label designed in London and made in Italy that openly cites Mies van der Rohe’s less is more philosophy, supplied pointed white heels with sheer lace panels at the sides, shot on deep green fabric beside a silver tray holding a single pear and a perfume bottle.

The bridesmaids spent the morning in fluffy white robes over white slips, toasting in a stand of pines with an après ski chalet energy that is hilarious in midsummer. For the ceremony they switched into champagne satin gowns that share a color and a fabric while splitting on necklines, with halters next to strapless cuts. Each carried a single calla lily tied with long white ribbon.

Groom’s Fashion

Tyler wore a classic black tuxedo from MacDermott’s Menswear, a Bernard Avenue fixture in Kelowna since 1995, with a black bow tie and a white floral boutonniere. The palette for the men stayed strictly black and white, which lets the satin lapel facing and the crisp shirt front do the talking in every frame.

First Look

The first look happened under tall pines beside a cottage with dark green siding and a deep wraparound porch, a dose of Twin Peaks lodge architecture with none of the mystery. Meghan shot the reveal in black and white, which strips out the summer greens and leaves only expressions, and Tyler’s grin carries the whole sequence. The monochrome choice also previews the visual logic of the gallery, where color shows up for flowers and fabric.

Ceremony

The ceremony took place on the vineyard infinity pad at 50th Parallel Estate Winery in Lake Country, facing Okanagan Lake, the vines and the mountains beyond. Rain arrived just before the ceremony, and for a moment it looked like everything might change, until the couple decided to go ahead exactly as planned. Guests sat under white umbrellas on white folding chairs while officiant Mike Penninga led the vows, and the wet concrete turned into a mirror for the whole scene.

Florals from JAM Florals stayed low, with hydrangea mounds placed directly on the ground so the clusters of cream and pale green blooms look like they pushed up through the pavement. Grounded floral installations are one of the sharpest moves in event design right now, and in the rain they gave the couple a soft frame with the lake directly behind them. Mist rolled across the mountains and turned the horizon into graded bands of grey, the same palette Hiroshi Sugimoto chases in his long exposure seascapes.

The couple names this ceremony as one of the two moments they remember most, and the skies cleared shortly after the vows, which split the wedding into two moods: soft and romantic under the rain, bright and celebratory after it.

Moments Together

Meghan Hemstra built the couple portraits around a cream curtain strung between trees on the lawn, gathered and knotted into soft swags. Black and white frames handle the motion, with the two of them running across the lawn and Mackenzie gathering her skirt mid stride. Back at the lake, the hydrangea mounds from the ceremony became a foreground for wide portraits that place the couple against the valley and the water.

Reception

The reception moved into the event space at 50th Parallel Estate Winery, where full height windows look out over the vines and crystal chandeliers hang in clusters from a dark wood ceiling. Rentals from Perspective Events and The Curated Plate layered the tables with white linens, wooden crossback chairs and textured glassware, while low arrangements of cream hydrangeas and sculptural white calla lilies from JAM Florals sat among the candles.

Curved tables set in a soft half circle ran alongside traditional rounds, a layout that kept a room of 125 guests close and gave the space movement. Catering came straight from 50th Parallel Estate Winery, a property best known for its Pinot Noir.

Table numbers came spelled out in full on oval cards tied with ribbon, a small typographic flex that matches the stationery by Paige Tuzee Designs. The Perth based designer has a soft spot for imperfect calligraphy and monochrome details, and the suite leans into exactly that, from serif capitals on the invitation to envelopes addressed in loose script. Custom cocktail napkins printed with an M and T monogram, a sketched wine bottle and the date got their own moment beside a scatter of dice.

The cake from Cake for Breakfast rose in tall white tiers with a textured finish, set on a table puddled in white satin in front of drapery gathered into scalloped festoons. That curtain style is the Austrian curtain of opera houses, and with a champagne coupe tower on a matching satin table beside it, the whole corner turns into the set of a 1930s Hollywood musical. The dance floor went into the winery’s tank hall, where sheer fabric swags and strings of bulbs hang between stainless steel fermentation tanks, so the party happened inside the working heart of the estate.

Mackenzie changed into a beaded reception dress by Netta BenShabu, the Israeli born couturier whose sparkling short dresses are a favorite for brides who plan to dance. Meghan Hemstra switched to direct flash at the champagne tower, which gives those frames a grainy, paparazzi at the afterparty finish that suits a crystal dress perfectly. The night ran from emotional speeches and quiet moments into cake cutting, cold sparks and the first dance, and DJ John Byrne kept the dance floor packed from there. The couple names that first dance, surrounded by family and friends after a year of planning, as the moment everything finally felt real.

The night ran from emotional speeches and quiet moments into cake cutting, cold sparks and the first dance, and DJ John Byrne kept the dance floor packed from there. The couple names that first dance, surrounded by family and friends after a year of planning, as the moment everything finally felt real.

Advice from the couple:

• Choose details that feel like you.Trends evolve and aesthetics change, but the feeling of the day remains.

• We focused on creating an experience that felt intentional, personal and reflective of our relationship, and that ended up meaning more than any individual detail.

• Also embrace the unexpected. Some of the moments we never planned for became the memories we treasure most.