Cassandra Francella and Rameen Sabet
Tell us a bit about your love story: Rameen and I have known of each other for years. I am best friends/sisters with his first cousin, Delara. Delara and I met on campus at the University of Toronto Mississauga during our undergrad and we instantly became best friends. Over time, I would hear stories and see photos of Rameen and I knew in my heart, that I was going to marry him – he just didn’t know it yet.
Slowly, over a period of two years, with the help of our families casually dropping my name at family functions along with making subtle advances towards Rameen, he finally got the hint and asked me out. On New Year’s Eve of 2015, we shared a kiss – and the rest is history. We got engaged in August 2017 and booked our wedding for September 2020.
What were your original plans for your wedding day? We come from really big families, I am Greek and Italian and Rameen is Persian, and our family means everything to us. We always imagined a huge wedding sharing traditions and having all of our family and friends there to celebrate with us. We were originally planning for over 250 guests.
We rescheduled our wedding for a year later to Thanksgiving Sunday, 2021. With the pandemic, it was the fear of the unknown that was the most difficult to accept and process. We had waited three years from the time of our engagement to get married because I wanted to wait until I was done graduate school. Throughout 2020 it became more clear by the day that our big wedding couldn’t happen.
Once we had a clear picture of how many guests we could invite, the pressure started to ease because we had the time to adjust our expectations and understand what we could expect our wedding to look like. At our wedding, we had 130 guests and it was the perfect balance: it felt intimate, yet inclusive of all of the most important people in our lives. We danced, cried and laughed the night away.
What was your favourite part of the day? For both of us, it was the ceremony. We were surrounded by our nearest and dearest. We had been together for six years and had been engaged for four. We wanted to get married, our families wanted us to, and finally it was more than a wedding. It was a genuine celebration of our families becoming one. In the exchange of our vows, the emotion was high as love filled the room.
Favourite wedding detail? The florals and décor. The theme of our wedding was “Modern Fall”. Our florist and designer, Sue Gallo, executed our vision perfectly, we couldn’t have done it without her. The room felt warm and elegant. Modern but timeless. Upon our first glance at our room, we were speechless and the guests were equally speechless. Other favourite wedding details of mine were my wedding dress, veil and shoes.
What will guests remember most? The food! Our guests cannot stop talking about how much food we had at our wedding and how amazing it was. They say it was the best and the most food they had a wedding. Because we come from big families who are foodies and hard to please, we wanted to leave no room for any critical feedback.
What advice can you give to couples who are planning their wedding? Don’t get hyper-focused on the details. We know that in this pandemic era it is difficult to imagine what your wedding will be like come the day. You have to expect the unexpected and go with the flow. Surround yourself with those that you trust, who will be there for you, and who can help take the pressure off of you! Definitely get a wedding planner that you can trust – they will be your best friend that has your back.
See more real weddings here!
Number of guests: 130 guests
Photographer: Brittany Williams Photography
Ceremony/reception venue: Château Le Parc, Vaughan, Ontario
Wedding dress designer: Reem Acra
Bride’s shoes: Jimmy Choo
Bridal boutique: White Toronto
Suit designer: Indochino
Flowers and décor: Sue Gallo Designs
Cake: Sweet Celebrations
Planner: Mimi and Co Events
Hair/makeup: Makeup Worx
Furniture and prop rentals: Divine Furniture Rental
Dance floor and ceremony aisle: Special Print Decor
Videographer: MH Wedding Films (Watch the video here!)
DJ and MC: MDB Entertainment
Officiant: Jonny Belinko
Audiovisual: bb Blanc Events
Leave a Reply