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A Fashionable Wedding in Toronto

Updated Jun 15, 2015

| By Alison McGill

A passion for fashion is in Natasha Penzo’s blood, so it was only natural that she would rock a stunning designer look from head to toe on her fashionable wedding day. The former FASHION Magazine intern, who now works as a media relations manager at Toronto’s ASC Public Relations—a boutique agency that represents fashionable clients like Max Mara, Pink Tartan and Greta Constantine—shares it was not just her that went designer for the big day; her mother, grandmother and bridesmaids did, too.

“Having a strong fashion feel to our wedding was important,” Natasha says. “Graeme looked super-stylish in his McIntosh family tartan; my mom had an Elie Saab dress; my grandmother wore St. John and my bridesmaids’ dresses were custom-made by Joeffer Caoc. I fell in love with a Marchesa dress and finished my look with lace peep-toe Dior shoes, which—to me—were the ultimate in couture.”

To help plan her tony soiree, Natasha hired wedding planner Melissa Haggerty almost immediately after Graeme proposed. Speaking of which, the proposal itself was an event of epic proportions. As an employee of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, Graeme pulled some strings to have access to a dark Air Canada Centre one Friday night. The ice was down, the Maple Leafs were away, and it was just the two of them sitting on the players’ bench when the Jumbotron lit up with a slide show of Natasha and Graeme played to the sounds of “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Just The Two of Us.” As the show finished, Graeme popped the question. “We spent an hour laughing and crying there, and then it was off to a surprise party with friends and family at the Park Hyatt Hotel that Graeme had organized,” Natasha shares.

The morning after their engagement, Natasha began planning the fashionable wedding celebration. “We both wanted a cozy and warm celebration,” Natasha explains. “We immediately picked our wedding day, which was three years to the day of our first meeting.”

Fast-forward to the day when Natasha arrived with her dad in a vintage Rolls-Royce at Toronto’s Cathedral Church of St. James for a 4:30 p.m. ceremony. Graeme says one of his best wedding-day moments was when his bride made her grand entrance. “When Natasha walked into the cathedral my mind was racing,” he shares. “The sunlight was streaming through the doors behind her, and I felt like I was in the middle of a fairy tale.”

After a 40-minute ceremony, the party moved to a private Toronto golf club for photos, while guests enjoyed cocktails before the dinner reception. To give the night a more casual and intimate feel, Natasha and Graeme seated their 150 fashionable wedding guests at one long table decorated with candles and lush arrangements of blush dahlias and roses accented with blooms in dark green and eggplant hues. In a nod to Graeme’s love of sports—and his unique proposal—all the guests rose to sing “O Canada” before dinner instead of saying grace. “Singing the national anthem has always been a favourite moment leading up to a big game, so I figured why not at our wedding?” Graeme smiles.

Following the gourmet meal Graeme painstakingly planned with Chef Victor De Guzman, it was time to cut the cake—a seven-layer beauty inspired by Chanel and decked with rows of laser-cut flowers. The pair sliced into the confection with an heirloom sword from the McIntosh family. “The sword belonged to my great-great-grandfather and has been used in many family weddings, so I wanted to incorporate it into our day, too,” Graeme explains.

Après-cake, the icing on the evening was getting all their guests on the dance floor, and the fun didn’t end there. Many of the guests danced over to Natasha’s parents’ house where her mom hosted an unofficial after-party that rocked on until 6:00 a.m.! “Our day was absolutely perfect,” Natasha says. “I wouldn’t have changed a single thing.”

Natasha Penzo and Graeme McIntosh, October 1, 2011, Toronto, Ontario.

Photography courtesy of Storey Wilkins Photography (www.storeywilkins.com)

Vendors
Ceremony location: St. James Cathedral
Wedding planner: Melissa Haggerty from Spectacular Spectacular Dress: Marchesa from White Toronto
Groom's tux: McIntosh Clan Tartan Bridal party attire: Joeffer Caoc Inc.
Hair: Vanessa Jarman from Page One Management Makeup: Vanessa Jarman from Page One Management
Music: DJ Daniel Buckman from BELLOSOUND Cake: Bobbette and Belle
Favours: Donation to Rethink Breast Cancer
Flowers: FIORI Floral Stationery: Pantry Press Inc.