Amber and Christopher's La Toundra Wedding

When you’re planning a January wedding in Montreal, you’ve got to get creative about bringing the outdoors in. Amberand Christopher nailed it at La Toundra, the venue tucked inside Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with its floor-to-ceiling windows flooding the space with natural light even in the dead of winter.

Working with planner Sandy Martindale from Chic & Champagne, they transformed the venue into something that felt like an indoor garden, complete with warm-toned florals, candles, and even realistic fake trees framing the altar. The contrast between the cold outside and the warm, inviting interior created exactly the atmosphere they wanted.

The couple’s meet-cute involved a dog-walking mishap during early COVID lockdowns in Old Montreal, which feels fitting given that their pup Murphy ended up as their ring bearer (complete with bow tie). Their proposal happened over takeout from their favourite Indian restaurant, proving that the best moments don’t need elaborate production.

From Amber’s Hunterleigh gown by Jane Hill (found at Dream It Yourself in Old Montreal) paired with a custom white alpaca coat from Surmesure, to the Viennese waltz they practiced for months to Taylor Swift’s “Lover”, to Christopher’s brother Andrew officiating the ceremony, this wedding was full of personal touches that actually meant something to them.

Their advice to other couples planning a wedding? Identify your five priorities and sweat those things only. Set a hard deadline for when planning stops. And if you’re getting married at La Toundra, hire Sandy.

Thanks to Sarah White Photography for sharing these gorgeous images with us. And make sure you check out Rob Malo‘s stunning video.

Read on for more from Amber and Christopher about how they pulled off their winter wedding.

Where did you get married, and why did you choose that venue?

We got married at La Toundra in the middle of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. We wanted to infuse the wedding with a feeling of nature, but we couldn’t be married outdoors since the ceremony was in January. La Toundra’s floor-to-ceiling windows brought natural light into the venue and invited the outdoors in to give our wedding the theme we wanted.

Tell us about working with your planner and the florals.

We worked with Sandy Martindale from Chic & Champagne. She was fantastic. She has produced countless weddings at La Toundra and considers it her second home, so we knew we were in good hands. Not only did everything go smoothly that day, Sandy deserves all the credit for delivering the experience that we dreamed of. You can make all the mood boards in the world, scrutinize the caterer, do rounds of interviews with the DJ, etc., you still won’t know for sure how things will go. For us, everything exceeded expectations. Walking into the venue was literally like walking into a fairy tale.

Sandy is also a floral expert which is one of the reasons that we decided to go with her. As mentioned before, we wanted our wedding to be influenced by nature so the flower arrangements had a big role to play. And Sandy really delivered. When we first walked into the venue, we were taken aback by how it resembled an indoor garden. The flowers were a bouquet of warm colours, we had candles and greenery on every table, and even some realistic fake trees framing the altar. The venue was stunning. Despite the cold weather outside, the interior felt warm and inviting like a dinner party in an enchanted forest.

How did you two meet?

In February 2020, Christopher had just moved into his new condo in Old Montreal. He had been living in Montreal for almost three years at that point, but this was a new neighbourhood and he didn’t know anyone there. One month later, COVID hit, masks and quarantine became normal, and the opportunity to meet new people diminished.

However, since he was now working from home, it was the perfect opportunity to fulfill a recent wish: get a dog. Christopher adopted Murphy on May 11 and it was a petrifying moment for both. Among the new responsibilities of picking up poo and rescuing shoes from being eaten, Christopher had to take Murphy on walks daily: morning, noon, and night.

One morning, when returning from a walk, Christopher noticed someone struggling to get in through the front door of his condo building. He hadn’t been there long and hadn’t socialized much because of COVID, so he was happy to find out that he had an attractive neighbour. He let her in and, under the guise of chivalry, let her take the first available elevator (that was when only one person was allowed to be in an elevator at a time). However, he was really just checking the display to see what floor she was getting off. It was the first floor. He lived on the first floor. He hadn’t lived there very long, but was pretty sure he would have noticed her by then. So he took the next elevator to the first floor and got out to see her standing at his neighbour’s door, holding his neighbour’s dog, Billy, while talking to the neighbour through a small crack in the door.

Fortunately, Murphy and Billy were great friends and Murphy immediately pulled towards the neighbour’s door. Not being one to disappoint, Christopher didn’t fight Murphy’s wishes and followed his lead to the neighbour. Seamlessly inserting himself into the conversation, Christopher discovered that the attractive woman from downstairs was named Amber and she was there to pick up the neighbour’s dog, Billy, to take him for a walk as the neighbour was in quarantine.

And that’s how Amber and Christopher met, once again proving that dogs are a great way to meet women.

How did you get engaged? (as told by Christopher)

At the end of 2022, anticipating an economic downturn, I decided to sell my apartment. As my listing sat on the market, I started looking for a rental and found myself wondering whether I should be searching for a place just for me or a home that could become ours.

Amber and I joked often about the “right” timing for taking that next step together. I felt strongly about wanting to know I could build a home with someone before proposing, and she had her own philosophy about how major milestones should unfold. It became one of our most memorable and lighthearted debates as a couple. For the record, it’s also the only one I’ve ever technically “won.”

During my search, I stumbled upon what felt like our dream home. Everything just clicked, and the decision suddenly felt easy.

To celebrate settling into that home, I ordered takeout from our favourite Indian restaurant. It’s only a few blocks away, so we walked over together with our dog to pick it up. On the way, I casually tossed out questions about our future, just enough to get her thinking long-term and to calm my nerves, since I knew I’d be proposing later that evening. She had no idea.

When we got home, we ate by candlelight. After dinner, I thanked her because that home and everything it represented would never have been possible without her. I reminded her of that playful debate we’d had about timing and told her that even though I technically won, tonight was my chance to make amends.

Then I got down on one knee and proposed.

Tell us about your dress.

My dress was the Hunterleigh by Jane Hill, and I found it at a beautiful little boutique in Old Montreal called Dream It Yourself. The entire experience was beyond anything I expected, the team felt like instant friends, genuinely invested in helping me look and feel my absolute best.

I tried on a few gowns, and although there were two close seconds, including one that felt very Audrey-esque, my mom said the Hunterleigh was truly Amber-esque. That sealed it. Even though it was outside my original budget, she insisted, and she was absolutely right. I felt instantly elegant, modern, and completely myself.

Dream It Yourself also helped customize the dress so it felt even more “me.” We added detachable custom sleeves and a more modest neckline for walking down the aisle, along with a beautiful extended train. And the cherry on top was my white alpaca coat. Since it was a winter wedding, our friends at Surmesure crafted the most stunning custom piece to complement the dress perfectly. Shoutout to Simon P. for bringing that vision to life!

Who was your photographer?

We were fortunate enough to work with Sarah White Photography for our wedding. Sarah is a truly gifted photographer in both setting the scene and capturing it. We fell in love with her because her portfolio has multiple pictures that looked like they were taken from out of a fairy tale, couples in nature, surrounded by mist, with the sun providing a few rays through breaks in the clouds.

Sarah and her team did everything to capture our day in a magical way. We’re grateful for all the hours they had to endure outdoors, running around with smoke bombs in the dead of winter to give us our fairy tale moments.

Did you have a videographer?

We chose to hire a videographer at the last second, so we were truly lucky that Rob Malo was available. Rob came recommended by Sarah White (photographer) and we moved forward almost instantly. This is one of those rare moments where a decision made in haste turned out to be a great decision. Rob captured our wedding in a truly special way. We have watched the short-form version of our video countless times. He did an exceptional job of telling the story of the day, those moments that he captured, and it really allows us to relive the wedding. The movie is so wonderfully directed and edited that every single second of footage pulls us back into the best day of our lives. Sarah’s photos are timeless; Rob’s video is an experience.

Watch Rob’s video below:

Who styled your hair and makeup?

Hair was done by the incredible talent at Atelier 731 in Old Montreal. This is our regular hair salon so they know us well. Amy and Corentin made sure that we looked our best on our big day. But it goes way beyond that. The bridal party started the day at the salon that Corentin opened early for us. There, he had wine, finger foods, speakers and music waiting for Amber and her friends as they turned the entire space into a party makeover experience. It was the perfect way to kick off the day.

Makeup was done by Amber’s close friend Tamsen Rae. Tamsen no longer does makeup professionally, but for Amber, she couldn’t say no. Tamsen went above and beyond and followed Amber through the early parts of the evening, touching her (and other guests!) up as needed.

What did the groom wear?

Rented tuxedo from Waxman House.

What was your wedding cake like?

We had a carrot cake for the wedding made by Cakes by Kirsten. She is an artist with a spatula. Her cakes are exquisitely designed sculptures. For our wedding, we had a nude cake with floral accents. Atop the cake were two Funko pops, a bride and a groom.

What did you do for entertainment?

Entertainment was simple. We had a disk jockey, DJ Rocco. Once again, we got exceptionally lucky with someone who really met our needs. We interviewed numerous DJs for the critical role with none really hitting the mark. After one meeting with DJ Rocco, we knew we had found our guy. We wanted a DJ who wanted to enhance our event, not be the star. He managed the crowd and the dance floor perfectly and didn’t distract with unwanted banter with the crowd. He played the role we wanted him to play to the letter and not a poor song aired.

Who walked you down the aisle?

Each set of parents walked us, respectively, down the aisle. Although no person in the group likes the spotlight, it was a meaningful experience that all wanted to be a part of.

Murphy, our dog, was the ring bearer and he, in his bow-tied grandeur, was walked down the aisle by Christopher’s nephew.

What was your ceremony and first dance music?

Our song is “Lover” by Taylor Swift. It stems from the song coming out around the time that we started dating and a mutual love for the artist. Taylor can often be heard playing through speakers at our home, so we knew that it had to have a big place at the wedding.

Elements of the song were featured throughout the entire event. From lyrics adorning the stationary (“At every table, I’ll save you a seat” was on the seating chart) to Easter eggs in the decorations (“we can leave the Christmas lights up to January”) there were callbacks to the song everywhere.

Christopher walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of Lewis Capaldi’s “Somebody You Loved” and Amber walked down to an instrumental version of “Lover” by Taylor Swift. In both cases, only string instruments were used to give the fairy tale feel to the moment.

Then, the song for the first dance was the studio version. We had spent months practicing a Viennese waltz for which we downloaded an instructional video from the internet. Months of practice was not enough!

Tell us about your vows.

They were awesome. Jokes were told that may not have landed perfectly. Tears were cried, but only of love. A dog whined to cut the tension.

Who officiated your wedding?

Christopher’s younger brother, Andrew, officiated the wedding. He, too, knocked it out of the park with a funny, heartfelt speech.

With Andrew officiating, all the immediate family members had a prominent role in the wedding. Christopher’s younger brother officiated the ceremony, Amber’s mother and brothers and Christopher’s father and older brother gave speeches, and Amber’s father and Christopher’s mother had dances with their newlywed children.

What was your favourite moment of the day?

While it is truly impossible to pick a favourite moment of the day, one moment that does stand out is when we got to sit down together at the couples table to await our meal. We had had the wedding rehearsal the day before, but then, as per tradition, went our separate ways not to see each other until the altar. That moment at the couples table was the first chance that we got to slow down and enjoy each other since the rehearsal. It’s amazing how much can happen in just 24 hours and that’s when we got to share it all.

Do you have any advice for couples planning their wedding?

Before you start planning, identify the five things you value the most. Sweat those things, nothing else.

Give yourself a deadline. It’s easy to keep tweaking up until 30 seconds before saying “I do.” Pick a deadline by which to get things done. For us, it was the Wednesday three days before the wedding. What’s not done by then remains not done.

Hire Sandy from Chic & Champagne!

Wedding Vendors

La Toundra (Venue)

Chic & Champagne (Wedding Planner – Sandy Martindale)

Dream It Yourself (Bridal Boutique)

Jane Hill (Dress Designer)

Surmesur (Custom Coat)

Sarah White Photography (Photographer)

Rob Malo Films (Videographer)

Atelier 731 (Hair Salon)

Waxman House (Tuxedo Rental)

Cakes by Kirsten (Wedding Cake)

DJ Rocco (DJ/Entertainment)

A huge thanks to Amber and Christopher for taking the time to share all the details of their La Toundra wedding with us. Your practical advice about focusing on your top five priorities and setting a hard deadline is going to help a lot of couples avoid unnecessary stress. And that tip about hiring Sandy? Duly noted.

If you’re planning a winter wedding in Montreal and want to see how Amber and Christopher pulled off their indoor garden aesthetic in January, save this post for inspiration. And if you’ve worked with any of these vendors, we’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below.