Hannah & Sam’s Upscale & Modern Wedding

Nothing says excellent food, drink and guest experience like a wedding at SMITH Restaurant in downtown Winnipeg. Click here to read all about Hannah and Sam’s upscale, modern restaurant wedding.

We love everything about the interior of SMITH Restaurant, so we opted to schedule their first look and portraits inside the woodsy - chic eatery. This also kept the itinerary running smoothly and simplified the afternoon schedule before the big party. It was also a super hot day, so the indoor option kept the couple comfortable and the flowers looking fresh.

Hannah’s bouquet was textural and imperfect, featuring assorted white blooms including dahlias, roses, lisianthus and assorted eucalyptus stems and Sam’s boutonniere featured a premium ranunculus bloom. @BeyondFlowers did an incredible job with these arrangements!

The couple continued to take portraits throughout the restaurant and hotel and a few shots outside, (did we mention we love all the photo options at this property)? They didn’t have a wedding party, which helped to shorten the portrait time, allowing them more time to rest, enjoy a beverage and be present with each other before the ketubah signing and ceremony.

After the formal portraits concluded, the couple and their family relaxed while we put the final touches on the chuppah and ceremony set up. The chuppah was easily our favourite design element of this wedding! A simple and striking white pole structure from @SomethingBorrowed with a soft white canopy above. The florist designed all white floral arrangements at the base, some sitting on acrylic cubes for assorted heights and we placed the chuppah on white risers from @CreatingAScene for added presence. Look how stunning it looked in front of the windows in the restaurant.

We invited guests to arrive slightly before the ceremony, so they could enjoy a glass of prosecco, mingle and get familiar with the cocktail style format. Guests were greeted at the entrance with a white and green grouping of floral arrangements, featuring black stands, welcome signage and a petite black tray holding the kippahs. Since Hannah and Sam’s floral look was modern and minimal, we opted for a print suite with a classic black and white design and their name in a modern script that matched the invitations.

Our goal was to create a great flow that naturally lead to a fun, relaxed atmosphere through the use of the existing low and tall wood tables, additional cocktail tables and assorted dark and light wood padded chairs with seating for approximately 50% of our guests. We had a few high impact floral areas (bars, welcome area, sweets) and placed the fabulous DJ JPQ near the dance floor to play ceremony, reception and manage sound throughout the evening. Guests also had access to the patio for additional space to mingle and sit.

Meanwhile, Hannah and Sam signed their ketubah and civil license with close family and friends present before they walked down the aisle, escorted by their parents. We love when couples take time to enjoy these special moments with just each other or with a small group.

With the cocktail style format, all guests stood for the brief ceremony, with the exception of one row of chairs for siblings and Grandparents. Our favourite moment of the ceremony was when the couple asked select family and friends to recite the sheva brachot, (7 blessings). It created a meaningful way for Grandparents and close friends to be involved.

Hannah and Sam are married! Following the ceremony, the couple headed to Yechud (seclusion) while the DJ played and guests enjoyed the bar offerings which featured a dirty martini station, (Hannah’s fave), negronis and spicy margaritas as additional signature cocktails. After ten minutes, Hannah and Sam joined their guests to mingle and officially start the celebrations!

Meanwhile, staff worked quickly to 'flip' the ceremony and make it reception ready. The chuppah was removed, leaving only the white risers and remaining cocktail table for speeches. The row of chairs were moved to the perimeter of the space to make room for the dance floor and the Chuppah flowers were moved to the bar. The bar also featured assorted candles and matching signature cocktail signage.

We always want our tray passed food to be beautiful, colourful and delicious. We also like offering LOTS of variety when hosting a cocktail style reception to keep guests engaged and surprised. We started with the first round of passed food, including a mushroom tart, asparagus tempura, chicken skewers and bruschetta. This menu satisfied many dietary requests and was light enough that guests wouldn’t get too full, but also kept guests satisfied while they indulged at the bar.

We didn’t have assigned seating, but we still wanted to decorate the tables. The aesthetic inside SMITH is warm and modern and we added decor touches to give more 'life' to the space but not to compete with the elements already there. Petite floral arrangements in assorted white and clear glass vases were placed on the tables. We alsol clustered assorted clear and smoke ribbed votive holders on tables and placed signage and candles on black trays for a chic, modern feel. We added stemmed candles and cylinders on bar and sweets tables and used warm white up lighting around the space to help amplify the 'vibe' and provide a finishing touch.

The couple had their brothers emcee and we kept the formal portion brief with toasts delivered by the parents and the couple.

After the toasts, we served another round of passed food, but this time heartier, which included mini reubens and falafel. At this time we also opened the food stations which included a braised beef and polenta mashed potato station, assorted flatbreads and a salad station. This gave our guests variety, accommodated dietary restrictions and we scattered the stations throughout the restaurant to ensure guests could easily move around the space.

We set the dessert station and coffee tables while the guests were enjoying the first dances and the horah. The sweets were arranged on the large harvest table under the grand staircase and to decorate, we repurposed two small acrylic cubes from the ceremony for added height and added assorted candles along this table, along with white and black trays.

Thanks to JPQ, the dance floor was packed all night. For the late night snack, we had servers pass around take out containers of chicken fingers, fries and honey dill to ensure the party stayed on the dance floor!

This wedding goes down as one of the biggest dance parties of the season for us and the set up at SMITH, including fabulous food and entertainment, really set the tone for an epic party with all Hannah and Sam’s nearest and dearest.