Elegant Harry Potter Wedding at the Horticulture Building

When you think about Harry Potter, you usually think about magic, wands, cloaks, spells and castle. But the two words you would not necessary think about in the same sentence are elegant Harry Potter! But it was exactly the feel Christina and Dominic chose for their wedding on Saturday. This elegant Harry Potter Wedding at the Horticulture Building in Ottawa was one of a kind. 

The Harry Potter theme was really subtle, and was more in the details and could almost be missed if you lived under a rock and have never read or watched Harry Potter!  What I mean by that is that the invitations and wedding website were marauders maps and the invitation envelope had the Hogwarts crest on it, just like the thousands of letters Harry Potter received to invite him to the school. 

The seating chart at the entrance of the reception hall had the Hogwarts crest on it, and the guests were separated in four really long house tables, and a head table. But the seating chart was not the only way to find out your table. Dominic is a computer programmer and he also made a sorting hat that tells the guests which house table where they sit at.

The table themselves were beautifully decorated with a greenery garland and guests would find their table by the colour of the flowers and napkins on their table, instead of table names or numbers. The tables were gorgeous wooden harvest tables with golden accents from the Charivari chairs and the unique gold cutlery. Everything came perfectly together perfertly due to Cait at Bourbon and Bloom and Christina’s hard work. They also had cute owl mail favours on the table, just like the Hogwarts students received every morning in Harry Potter. 

These were the elegant Harry Potter wedding details, but they included many more smaller details throughout the Horticulture Building. They had signage with Harry Potter font and puns for the menu and the bar. They also had the most amazing cake with a golden snitch as a cake topper and a large protea flower made out of sugar. The cake had the word Always written on it which linked back to their wedding hashtag #AlwaysAquilina The cake was on a candy table with candy names and descriptions taken out of the Hogwarts Express candy cart. 

Beyond those details, the groom had Hogwarts cufflinks and Harry Potter socks with a golden bowtie and the bride had little charms on her rose gold bracelets that perfectly complimented all her other rose gold jewelry. Talking about jewelry, Dominic designed a yin and yang engagement and wedding ring duo and gave her the set when he proposed. Christina was finally able to wear the second half when she said I do in front of a gorgeous triangle arch covered in burgundy flowers while the officiant marrying them quoted the wise words of Albus Dumbledore. 

The burgundy florals Capital Florist perfectly complemented the burgundy bridesmaid dresses and bridesman suits. Talking about the bridal party, that had 8 attendants on EACH side, in part because they are awesome and have a bunch of friends, but also because because they were in the Greek system in University and have many close sorority sisters and fraternity brothers. Christina and Dominic also met at a Greek event, and they had the officiant tell the REAL how they met story. I love how they both have guys and girls in their wedding party, but it still felt really cohesive. The brides side were dressed in burgundy with long burgundy dresses and nice burgundy suits for guys, while the groom side were dressed in navy with the same style suite in navy and long navy dresses for the ladies. 

You will want to check out the vendors who put this elegant Harry Potter wedding at the Horticulture Building in Ottawa together and hire them for your wedding because they brought Christina and Dominic’s vision to life beautifully!

Design and wedding planning: Cait O’Malley – Bourbon and Bloom
Florals: Capital Florist
Makeup artist: Neelam Kaur – Red Carpet Glamour
Hair stylist: Showpony Hair
Venue: Horticulture Building
Cake: Girl With the Most Cake
Wedding dress boutique: With Love Bridal Boutique
Dress designer: Essence of Australia
Shoes: Kate Spade
Ring: Raffi Jewellers
Earrings and necklace: Swarovski
Groom’s cufflinks: AltLinx
Groom’s Attire: Surmesur
Groomsmen’s Attire: Le Château
Officiant: Keith Langille – Exceptional Ceremonies
Piano: Kimberley Dunn Music
Rentals: Wild Ivy Events & Sage Design & Ottawa Special Events & Perfect Party Rentals
Limo: Premier Limo
Catering: Thanjai Restaurant
Bar: Ottawa Mobile Bartenders 
Candies: Squish Candies
DJ: DJ KVN
Save the dates: Bride
Invitations: Darren Cooper – MaraudersStudio
Videography: Joseph Fernando – JF Squared Films
Photography: Charlie & Michael Barnett – The Barnett Company