Love at first sight: an Ottawa real wedding

Melinda & Jessy

It was love at first sight for this couple. Melinda shares their love story below.

Jessy walked into the gym one day wearing neon green shorts; I spotted him as I was climbing on the stair machine, and he spotted me, too. In his words, “The sun was beaming down on you like an angel.” His friend left a note with the front desk with his Instagram handle and a note that said, “Jessy has a school boy crush on you.” The rest is history. The proposal was December 30. I was blindfolded and brought to the rooftop of Brookstreet Hotel. I was greeted with 30 dozen roses lining an aisle with fairy lights, an arch full of pictures of us throughout the years and gold foil letter balloons that said, ‘MARRY ME’. Despite being blindfolded, my brain did not register what was happening and I cried instantly when I saw Jessy standing at the end waiting for me.

The wedding inspiration was a cozy, classic, neutral autumn vibe. I wanted the cozy autumn feel of warm wood tones, wooden chairs and a beautiful wooden harvest sweetheart table. Gold accents pulled in by frames and candles, and of course the golden glow of Edison bulbs strung across the glass ceiling. All details were tied together with a beautiful neutral taupe colour, which was brought in through bridesmaids’ dresses, cheesecloth runners and the little touches of chiffon ribbon. We threw in a mix of blush pink through the florals and, of course, the lush greenery that surrounded us in the beautiful Aquatopia Water Garden.

The florals played a huge role and everything was planned around them. I knew I wanted a full circle arch behind us, full of neutral flowers with pops of blush and taupe. The flowers were hand dyed to ensure the perfect colour palette to keep everything cohesive. Greenery was placed wherever possible because it is a classic piece, in my opinion. Each table had a variety of centrepieces, some were mismatched bud vases and others were beautiful bouquets in gold compotes. All the florals created by the Aquatopia team took my breath away!

We had Luxe Duo play live music for our ceremony and it was definitely my favourite personal touch. I think it is something that everyone will remember. We included framed black and white photos throughout the reception space and had a shelf dedicated to our grandparents who couldn’t be with us. We put bridesmaids standing beside the groom so that I could see my girls’ faces as I married the love of my life! We took lessons for our first dance and it was so worth it; it gave us that movie moment! We also had foam glow sticks for the dance floor, which was so much fun for our guests.

My Essense of Australia dress was fitted, low back, and full of detail: beads, pearls, glitter, a beautiful, long scalloped train with lace detailing. Jewelry was dainty with pearls to pull in the detailed bedding through the dress. My hair was a loose, messy bun with the perfect amount of face-framing pieces, all pulled together with an ivory cathedral-length veil.

We did a “first touch” instead of the classic first look. We stood back to back before the ceremony and read each other letters. This was so special to hold his hand and have a moment with just us before, his voice brought me so much comfort. This moment made the emotions high and made walking down the aisle extremely emotional. We have 3-year-old twins, and I will never forget when they realized it was me and they pointed at me with their little smiles. Best day ever. I was just so happy to finally be marrying Jessy.”