Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/171645
W hen Geneve McNally, principal planner at DreamGroup Productions, first received a call from bride-to-be Erin MacKinnon in November 2009, she could hear right away there wasn't a waver of doubt in Erin's voice. "She and Burke were hiring a planner for all the right reasons," she reflects. "They knew they were too busy to take on the wedding organization themselves, but both wanted their wedding to be of a certain calibre. They hired me because they knew my work and trusted me, but they also knew what they wanted and were able to articulate it. That made the planning experience all the more fun." In many ways, Erin, 29, was a dream client: decisive, practical and with a great sense of humour. "I knew it was best to get experts involved when it came to planning my wedding," says Erin, who married Burke Telfer, 27, in June 2010. "Having never planned a wedding before, I had no idea about all the logistics that would go into it." Erin is a marketing specialist at a gold mining company, while Burke owns a real estate investment firm. Each of them easily works 50-to-60 hours a week, and while they knew they wanted a romantic, classic, elegant event with a fun and inviting atmosphere, they had no idea how to create it from scratch. McNally was pregnant with her second child at the time but was nevertheless excited to take on the wedding planning. As she got to know the couple, McNally learned that Burke and Erin had met through a mutual acquaintance at a Rod Stewart concert. Erin, learning Burke was looking for work, offered him a position as a contract promotional rep for her company. Within days their relationship deepened and became more serious, at which point Erin informed him they would no longer be working together. "I loved being his boss, because I got to spend time with him at work, but I much preferred being his girlfriend," she says with a laugh. A year later, as the couple was in Portugal at the tail end of a 12-month trip, Burke proposed at Peneda Geres, a spectacular national park, and Erin enthusiastically accepted. Back in Vancouver, after hiring McNally, they chose the Terminal City Club as their ceremony and reception venue. With its location in central downtown and its hotel on site, the Terminal City Club was a convenient and easy choice that made sense for in-town and out-of-town guests. RW21_part 1.indd 51 9/19/11 3:24:05 PM