REAL BRIDE: Mackenzie & John
How did you and your partner meet?
Oh boy.. my 21st birthday celebrations at The Stampede Ranch, downtown Guelph was where it all started. We locked eyes on the dance floor, chatted and laughed all night, exchanged numbers and went on our first date the week after. We became best friends and inseparable immediately, and here we are, 9 years later, married and still making each other laugh until we cry.
Tell us about the proposal?
It was New Years Eve, and I was SO sick, but John managed to drag me out on a walk that afternoon with our dog Charlie, something we both love to do on a daily basis so I did not suspect a thing!
Light snow had just started to fall, and I walked a few steps ahead and finally turned around to see if John was cashing up, to find him on one knee with a ring in his hand and Charlie jumping all over him with excitement. Everything said after that was a blur, I was too stunned to remember any details!
Turns out, John had carried the ring in his coat pocket for weeks on our dog walks waiting for the right moment to pop the question.
Give us an overview of your wedding vision and how it came to life.
I’m not sure we really had a vision for our wedding day until after we had gotten engaged and started touring some potential venue locations. We visited a few but weren’t feeling like we really LOVED any of them. Until we toured The Hideaway at St. Mary’s Golf & Country Club, with the exposed wood beams and huge open glass doors, it was both rustic and modern and we both fell in love with it.
John and I are both very laid back and simple, and we wanted our wedding to match our personalities in just that way. After wedding planning during multiple lockdowns, the most important thing to us was to finally be able to gather our closest family and friends, and we were able to pull that off while still having the wedding venue of our dreams, and we would not have had it any other way.
Tell us about your experience dress shopping at TMB.
My experience at TMB is actually kind of a funny story.. I had booked an appointment on a Monday, not knowing that the boutique is normally closed. A few days before my appointment was approaching, my stylist reached out to me letting me know that the day I booked there was a glitch in the website which is why it let me book an appointment on the Monday.
TMB let me keep my appointment for Monday so my Mom and I had the entire boutique to ourselves and it was such a lovely experience. My stylist made me feel so so comfortable and calm while trying on dresses, with no pressure at all.
I tried on Ranunculus by Alena Leena first and immediately fell in love with it. After trying on a few others after that, there was no question in my mind that Ranunculus was the dress I was going to wear on my wedding day!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MOMENT OF YOUR WEDDING DAY?
I loved loved loved having a big slumber party the night before our wedding day with my closest lifelong friends (shockingly, we did not pull an all-nighter). We spent the morning getting glammed up with some champagne, snacks, favourite playlists and of course, tons of giggles.
But honestly, I grew up with 3 brothers, so my closest girlfriends have always been my sisters through everything in life, including when first meeting John. They helped me keep my nerves (and tears) in check all morning and I couldn’t have done it without them. BUT my favourite part of our wedding day, was seeing John’s reaction as I walked down the aisle with my dad, cliche I know… but if you saw his reaction you would understand! He is not an emotional guy so to say I was shocked when I saw him standing up there with tears in his eyes is an understatement. My heart could burst out of my chest just thinking about it again!
What advice would you give to couples planning a wedding?
The biggest things you will cherish from your wedding day is getting to marry your best friend and getting to share your love with all your closest family and friends.
Do not stress over the little details, stay present in the moment, and have the time of your life!
Vendors:
Photo: @haleythuss
Venue: @stmaryswedding
Florals: @fromthepottingshed
Hair: @hair_by_caitlin
Makeup: @kaylatopknots
Dress & Veil @tmodernbride