THE MAID OF HONOUR AND THE BEST MAN | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

“The way god works, he gives you tasks you cannot do, and then when it comes together you realize it wasn’t you.”

SHAWN BUCKLEY

Within the first week I started to see the tides turning, and by the second week miracles were on the horizon. My godfather found us a venue more beautiful than the reception hall we had previously booked; and the owner, a friend of his, agreed to make it a private party with a gourmet ten course meal. Most of our key family members were ready and willing to attend the wedding ceremony and dinner; and my brother made plans to fly in from Nova Scotia.

PARENTS OF THE GROOM | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

Two weeks before the wedding I went in to pick up my wedding dress, and with great distress the shop seamstress showed me an iron print that had landed on the front skirt while it was being pressed. She offered to order new fabric and have everything resewn, but the fabric had to be shipped from Europe. That was a gamble I was not willing to take, especially during the pandemic. I suggested instead that we carry the lace pattern down from the body and design it in such a way that the iron print was covered up. We spent over an hour in front of the mirror pinning and laying out scrape pieces of lace; and then the seamstress—God love her—spent three days hand stitching the lace to the gown. When she was finished not only did it look stunning, but I had a custom-designed wedding dress at no extra charge.

In the weeks leading up to our wedding ceremony there were so many moments where I could have been swept up in a sea of fear, frustration, and negativity. You may well remember around that time, opinions were strong around masking and vaccination status; thus, the logistical challenges of organizing a wedding seating plan would be amplified a hundred-fold.

Days before the wedding my matron of honour had to find a new dress; and the hotel screwed up my room reservation leaving me with a small—and unexpectedly dingy—space for my “bride getting ready photos”. The couple who used the chapel before us left behind an unexpected mess, which my wedding day assistant had to clean up when she arrived to set up for the ceremony; and the heat was not working in the bridal day room in mid-November. The many challenges seemed forever stacked against us.

FAMILY OF THE GROOM | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

With each incident that arose I willed myself to focus on how to transform the situation and/or trusted that someone else had it covered. Thank God I had the foresight to hire a good photographer. The extra money spent was so worth it. The day of our wedding was a wet cold November day and it rained and/or snowed continuously into the evening. The photographer was able to work with the diffused light to make all the colours explode, and the photos turned out gorgeous. She even made my hotel room look decent.

PARENTS OF THE BRIDE | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

On November 14th, 2021, my husband and I were married in a beautiful chapel, by a wonderful minister, in front of our most important guests. The wedding ceremony was perfect. My matron of honour, makeup artist and hairstylist, all women I had known for at least a decade, went above and beyond in their attention to detail and care. Many people told us throughout the day that rain on your wedding day was a blessing from God and in my heart, I felt like this was truth.

Even though there were lots of little things that didn’t go perfectly that day—like the bunny ears in our chapel flowers, the mud and water stains on my wedding train, the cold bridal room, my veil being caught up in my hair piece for half the ceremony, and me having to pee in a ditch enroute to the restaurant, in my wedding dress, during a snow storm—my husband and I are both left with a treasure chest of beautiful memories and some really funny stories.

BROTHER OF THE BRIDE | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

Pulling one such memory from that treasure chest: I am sitting in a beautiful, warm, candlelit restaurant feeling so blessed to have my husband beside me. We are being served the most incredible food by the most incredible people, and the room is buzzing with happy energy and smiling faces. As I look around at our guests—and take in this moment that I willed into my existence—tears well up in my eyes. My heart is overflowing with a sense of immense joy, gratitude, and peace. There is nothing I would change; it is a rare moment of perfection.

THE GROOMS VOVO | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

It has taken me two years to put this story down on paper, edit almost a thousand wedding photos, prepare the six layouts, and orchestrate the platform where this story will now live. As I publish the last of these six wedding posts to the world wide web on February 14, 2024, Justin and I will have just celebrated our second wedding anniversary, and we will be celebrating our seven-year relationship anniversary which started on Valentine’s Day.

When I think back on all that has happened in the past four years—starting with our first wedding cancellation at the beginning of the pandemic—this now feels like one small inspiring story in an ocean of stories. So much has happened personally and spiritually, that I feel like a shell of my old self. What is crystal clear is that there is so much more to come, and so much more to share.

THE BRIDES GOD FATHER | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

The journey through The Tower—a.k.a, the dark night of the soul—was very real and precise. The old was destroyed, the security of the past toppled, and the ego shaken to its very foundation. While the fire burned, it also purified and healed; and leading the way in the darkness, blessings twinkled all around like stars in the night sky.

CLOSE FRIEND OF THE GROOM | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

Through it all, you could say that a phoenix rose out of the ashes—liberated, transformed, awake, and purpose-filled.  After an intermission that has lasted two decades, I am once again focused on my spiritual path, along with a renewed faith in something greater than myself. On this next part of the journey, as we collectively welcome in the new age of Aquarius, I am coupled with my beautiful husband, and powered by a bright, shining star called Nuith.

PHOTOS ARE DONE AND BACK INSIDE THE CHAPEL WHERE IT’S WARM | PHOTO BY JENNIFER SEE STUDIOS

Continue reading My Wedding Story | Part Five

Blessings and gratitude to my maid of honour for all her help with the last-minute wedding details and décor and teaching me how to assemble beautiful bouquets with everlasting floral materials.

PAPILIO | WEDDING DRESS BOUTIQUE
Looking for a wedding dress? I loved Papilio Boutique. The were very professional, and their gowns are beautiful and reasonably priced. As you will read in my story, there was an issue with my dress at the 11th hour, and even though their staff was not directly responsible, they went above and beyond to make it right. I would shop there again in a heartbeat.

MY WEDDING STORY | PART ONE
MY WEDDING STORY | PART TWO
MY WEDDING STORY | PART THREE
MY WEDDING STORY | PART FOUR
MY WEDDING STORY | PART FIVE
MY WEDDING STORY | PART SIX