When Vancouver stylist Jessie Carlson first met her future husband Ben Yardley, one of her initial thoughts was “What’s with all the eyeliner?” Jessie was with a group of friends checking out Ben’s indie-rock band Chinatown. Onstage, Ben was decked out in rock star stage regalia which included eye makeup and nail polish.

“I knew who Jessie was through a mutual friend,” Ben recalls. “I’d said that I thought Jessie was super-hot, but asked my friend not to say anything. Of course, she told Jessie right away.”

So Ben’s attraction was already in the open when a few weeks later he and Jessie were among a group of friends out to see a friend’s band perform. That night Ben asked Jessie out, and the next week they went on their first date.

“He wasn’t the type of person I thought I would ever date,” Jessie reminisces. “He was a musician and was always on tour and had all these girls following after him. But when I got to know him, he was so intelligent, and kind and sweet. No rock star cooler-than-thou attitude. He was just a really, really good man.”

They dated for a year-and-a-half, then moved in together. “That was a big decision for me,” says Jessie. “But things felt so right: There wasn’t a lot of drama… things just flowed between us.” Ben concurs, “We were so happy.”

They began discussing marriage, and started shopping for engagement rings, eventually finding a beautiful vintage ring at La Contessa Antiques in West Vancouver. “I used to go back to the store to look at the ring because I loved it so much,” says Jessie. “Then one day I found out it was sold; I was devastated.”

It turns out that Ben had bought the ring and snuck it home with elaborate proposal scenarios playing in his mind. “I was thinking, ‘It’s got to be perfect.’ Maybe out on a boat or in a fancy restaurant or on a trip—something out of a movie.” That evening he and Jessie had dinner guests over. “I kept sneaking off to look at the ring,” Ben recalls. “I was so excited. When our guests finally left, as soon as the door closed, I said to Jessie, ‘Guess what I got?’ I couldn’t wait any longer. I proposed to her right there in the hallway.”

They started planning their wedding with the guideline that it be “really real, really authentic and comfortable for people.” According to Jessie, “Things fell into place once we found the location.”

The couple often spent weekends on Salt Spring Island, where Ben grew up and where his family still lives. One afternoon while riding around the island on Ben’s motorcycle they stopped at Stowel Lake Farm where he used to ride horses as a child. About 10 years ago the barn was converted into a reception and event venue with huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lush grounds. Jessie immediately fell in love with the farm. “We looked at each other and I said, ‘This is where we’re going to get married.’”

They prepared the barn with chandeliers and linens for the reception, and were wed amidst the natural beauty of the perennial garden. The day was filled with personal touches from the whimsical rice crispy cake to the galvanized steel buckets of white roses, hydrangeas, orchids and verbena placed around the site. Jessie’s gown, designed by Vancouver couturier Manuel Mendoza, was accentuated by a black belt, adorned with turquoise and silver conchas.

After dinner and speeches, the couple shared their first dance as husband and wife. When the band kicked up, Ben picked up his guitar and joined his bandmates. He dedicated the Faces song “Ooh La La” to Jessie. “In the song, a grandfather tells his grandson about women,” Ben explains. “It talks about growing up and has resonance about the important events in life.”

Jessie and Ben shared this most important event—their union—in style, with laughter and music floating to the idyllic, starry Salt Spring sky.