Real wedding: from grocery shopping to true love

Andréa Staffiere & Andrew Infusino

Who knew that romance could spark while talking about grocery shopping? That was the case for Andréa and Andrew. That moment lead to a wedding during a pandemic, where plans had to be changed, but a beautiful wedding was able to take place. Andréa shares their story below.

Tell us a bit about your love story: It all started at a Super Bowl Party held by some mutual friends of ours. Although it was supposed to be an “all girls” event, Andrew managed to find his way in. He went on and on about the difficulties of living on his own, how surprisingly expensive fruit and cheese were and how hard it was to pick the right toilet paper and laundry detergent. As the end of the night came closer I prepared a “take home” bag for him full of pineapple and other fruits that I saw him picking at. Needless to say, he may have fallen in love right then and there. We ended up chatting in the following weeks, even as I flew out to Coachella in California or he vacationed to Barcelona, we always made sure to talk daily. Before I knew it, we were spending weekends together, visiting vineyards in Niagara and I was teaching him how to grocery shop – like an adult!

What were your original plans for your wedding day? Originally, we had planned to be married at a luxurious indoor event space – anticipating 350 of our closest family and friends. Like many others, our plans changed. It was important for us to be married in a Catholic church so to our luck, we were able to still have that fulfilled.

When you had to change your plans, how did you feel before and after? I’m sure it goes without saying that every bride envisions her wedding day to be as “magical” as possible. When the pandemic hit, we were forced to change our wedding day not once, but twice. We dealt with not only disappointment and frustration, but also the fear of the unknown.

As a nurse I knew that it was likely I was not going to have the wedding I had always dreamed of for sometime. In the late summer of 2020, as COVID numbers declined and restriction measures lightened, we knew this was going to be our chance. We once again changed our plans and replanned our wedding within 5 weeks.

After the wedding was over it felt as though the weight of the world was off of our shoulders. We were thankful for our family, friends and vendors who supported us during the process

What was your favourite part of the day? When the night was over and the guests had left. The two of us took a deep breath and realized w had did it. After all the heartbreak of what was supposed to be we were able to finally say we were husband and wife.

What will guests remember most? We think the guest will remember being present. When the world had stopped and couples were forced to cancel their celebrations of love. Our 60 closest family members were able to watch our love conquer all obstacles.

What advice can you give to couples planning a wedding? Do it! No matter what was originally planned or dreamed of just do it. It doesn’t matter how many people are there, what the décor looked like or what you ate that day. The most important thing is that you’re doing it for each other. Because you want to spend the rest of your life with your best friend.

Venue: Royal Ambassador Event Centre, Caledon, On.
Photography: Cacie Carroll Photography
Planning: Alyssa & Co. Events
Décor & florals: Precious Flowers
Cake: Juicy Desserts
Stationery: Lyonsheart
Dress: Superior Bridal
Suit: 4 Men United