When an old mirror fell off the wall and smashed, we turned 7 years bad luck into an invitation to drink. For our wedding we tried to add handmade touches throughout the ceremony to really showcase our personalities.

I turned that nicely textured rectangle, already prepped to hang on a wall, into a DIY sign pointing the way down to the wine cellar where, after the ceremony, guests started the party while we took our photos.

The Berkeley 1871 Lounge, empty here, but for the wedding it was set up with banquets and low profile lounge area seating for guests to mingle, while sipping their drinks to a soundtrack of Bossa – Marley (which we heard on our trip to Spain) and Reggae/BossaNova Fusion. 

The Berkeley Church Wine Cellar

Drinking certainly fits the bill, as we had a wine list inspired by our travels, and our animal theme (very cheeky), all in a feminist, DIY spirit: see Bear Flag Winery (owned and operated by women).

We enjoyed the cheap and cheerful Bear Flag Summer White, among other local Niagara wines, with some Spanish thrown in as a tribute to our last trip.

Our beer list also featured local craft brew from Oast House (Farmhouse Saison is one of our very faves) and Bellwoods Brewery (they have a beer called Cat Lady and another named Monogamy). It was all so punny and perfect.

Bellwoods Brewery.

The perfect beer for two very Cat-loving ladies.

Always a great place to visit, Oast House has charm and some damn delicious beer! It’s also available now in the LCBO. Highly recommend!

Check out http://oasthousebrewers.ca/, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, or the more urban, but equally tasty http://bellwoodsbrewery.com/  (Toronto), where the beer is plentiful and they will definitely treat you right. Both locations have a wonderful spread of food available on site and tasting flights of their beers on tap.

One huge advantage of planning our own alcohol list for the wedding is that we could prohibit the “shots, shots, shots!!!” approach and offer wine tasting and craft beer at the bar so that our guests could try some of our favourites and take their time getting their drink on. Plus, anything we had left over, sadly, had to come home with us.

Cheers! And happy Toronto Pride!