Julian and Sauwmi's wedding in Kleinburg, Ontario

The story of our wedding

Julian and I met in 2014 at a soccer watch party at pub in Toronto. We knew of each other through mutual friends, this was the first time we were meeting face-to-face. When I came into the pub the first person I saw was Julian and my face lit up immediately. I was very excited to meet him because I was secretly crushing on him because of his funny onine personality. It was amazing to see that his personality online translated well into real life. Fast forward to 3 years, Julian proposed in 2017 October in front of Niagara Falls. We go to Niagara often, but for some reason the three years we were together we have never been to the falls together. So, he planned a very nice dinner at Ruth's Steakhouse and asked if we could take a walk to the falls. I had a feeling he might propose, but wasn't completely sure. I was nervous, and Julian asked me to pick a spot and asked me to take a picture of us two. Once I turned around after the picture he was down on one knee. It was one of the happiest day's of our lives. I actually never wanted a wedding, Julian always wanted the traditional wedding and ALL the celebrations. So did our parents and family members, so I caved and agreed, and I don't regret that decision one bit! We had an engagement party about 8 months after our engagement, I pulled in our colours navy, ivory, and champagne to throw a lavish backyard party at his parents, then I used a marble and gold palette for the bridal shower, and used ivory, champagne and navy for the wedding. It all came out so beautiful and was worth all the stress. Our wedding was full of culture and full of love, also a snow/hail storm. I am Sri Lankan, Julian is Albanian (Macedonian)/ Italian/ Argentinian, so there was a lot to incorporate. We did a church ceremony. We both cried A LOT! When my coordinators opened the doors to the cute chapel at The Doctor's House and I saw Julian I started crying. Then guests started crying as well. When I got to the alter I was just so excited, so I was crying and smiling, just as the day I met him. He was crying and smiling too. We wrote our own vows, he actually couldn't get through all of his because he was so emotional, he ended up cutting it down. I had mine written down, but I barely got through it. It was so exciting to getting to marry my best friend. The whole ceremony was amazing. Afterwards we took all bridal party and couple photos outside in the snow storm. It wasn't too bad, and it was a lot of fun, and the pictures turned out amazing! Fox Photography did an amazing job capturing every little detail and emotion. Our reception was where we played on our culture to add a unique experience. We started the evening with a European style receiving line, hugging and kissing everyone. We did a traditional Sri Lankan entrance to the reception. Where the groom's parents walk-in together and stand in the center of the room and prepare to greet the bride and groom, and the bride's family. The order for walking into the reception is starting off with the bride and groom, followed by bride's parents, bride's siblings, and then followed by all other family members. Once the bride and groom enters the reception, the bride is greeted by the groom's parents, and the bride must do a traditional bow. Once the bow is completed the groom's mother offers the bride a glass of water, and the bride takes a sip of the water. This is a water ceremony and signifies the bride being accepted into the groom's family. Following bride being offered water, the groom also takes a sip to signify the union. Following the water ceremony is another bow, and the bride and groom steps to the side. The groom's parents continue to greet and bow to bride's parents and family. Once that is complete bride and groom, and the parents light candles on a traditional oil lamp. It is started by the bride, then the groom, then groom's family, and finished off by bride's parents. These should burn throughout the evening. This is to ward off evil and send good vibes to the newlyweds. During this whole ceremony traditional Sri Lankan drums play in the background. The ceremony must complete before the drums finish. Other ways we honoured our cultures was we had Italian dinner music playing throughout dinner. The menu was very European inspired, and we started off the dance floor with a traditional Albanian circle dance called Valle. Where all the guests dance in a circle with simple to complicated foot movements (the foot movements depend on the pace of the music), and at times the bride and groom is in the middle. We didn't have enough room on the dance floor, so we ended up going around the room. We also incorporated Sri Lankan baila (dance music) music and we all teared up the dance floor. It was such a fun wedding. I would do anything to go back. We also had a late night station. Everyone was so stuffed from all the food and everyone loved all the food. Our wedding was 90% family, and 10% was our friends and thier families. We had 150 people, but it felt so intimate because we got to celebrate the best day of our lives so far with everyone we love. Even though everything was amazing, looking back by far the highlight is having Julian's grandparents from his mom side (nonna and nonno), and his grandmother (nanshka) from his dad's side at the wedding. His Nonna actually fell earlier in the summer of 2019 and we were very worried she wouldn't be able to make it, but she did! Julian's nonno actually fell ill the night of our wedding and was taken to the hospital, and his nonna was taken to the hospital the following Monday. Nonna never recovered and she wasn't comprehending anything after that, her last memory was our wedding. She passed away early 2020, and nonno passed away in April of 2020. His other grandmother, nanshka is now ill and may not be around too long. So it is absolutely amazing that we got to celebrate such a special day with all of them and that they got to witness our love.