Steve and Julie's wedding in Toronto, Ontario

The story of our wedding

We got engaged in June 2019 and luckily planned to get married two years later, in July 2021. Despite having so much time to plan and pivot, we were still affected by the pandemic. Originally, we had planned a full ceremony and reception for over 100 guests. Being the planners we are, we had all of our timelines ready, vendors lined up, decor purchased, and so forth. Despite our optimism, we realized in May 2021 that there was still so much uncertainty and Ontario did not seem to be easing up on restrictions any time soon, especially after multiple extensions of the lockdown. To not take any chances and to keep all of the guests and vendors safe, we decided to postpone the reception to next year (2022) and just hold the ceremony with fewer guests. Updating all of our vendors and plans was stressful, to say the least. We did not know what the restrictions would be less than one month out from our wedding date of July 10th - and then projected thunderstorms that entire weekend for our outdoor ceremony at Graydon Hall Manor. However, we were so lucky that everything turned out beautifully! The restrictions eased up enough to allow 50 guests outdoors, July 10th was the day that was sunny that week, and we were able to reserve a patio for the wedding party at Cabana Waterfront Patio as a mini-reception. Despite a smaller, ceremony only event this year, our guests still loved the live music, the snack boxes we put together ourselves, our dog (who was the ring bearer and best man), the beautiful venue, the perfect weather, and just being able to see each other after a long lockdown.