Wedding | Catherine & Zoë

1 day ago

6 min read

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We met when we were 15 years old in 2012, after being placed in the same cabin as campers at a remote summer camp in Algonquin Park in Canada. For six years, we were best friends, and then in the summer of 2017, while working together at that same camp, we fell in love. We were only 20 years old and both leading 22-day canoe trips through the wilderness of Quebec at the time! We've been together ever since and now live in a small town in Ontario with our cat, Maggie after moving up north from Toronto in 2024.

Some of our favourite ways to spend our time together are going on hikes, making a great meal, discovering new music, travelling, adventuring, or simply doing absolutely nothing together. And, of course, we still make time for a canoe trip every summer. Zo is a Landscape Architect, and I manage a cottage rental company.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We spend so much of our time in Canadian nature/wilderness that we knew we wanted a completely different change of scenery for our wedding. It was really important to us to find a place with beautiful, warm architecture that was also close to the water, and The Sea Ranch Lodge checked every box. We wanted the setting itself to provide the wow factor, so we could keep the décor simple and let the natural beauty of the venue speak for itself.

As Canadians, we also loved the idea of giving our closest friends and family an excuse to experience California with us. We kicked off the celebrations with our welcome party in San Francisco, a city Zo and I have always admired for its vibrant and celebrated queer community, before heading up the coast for the wedding.

How many guests did you have?

40 guests.

What was your budget?

$35k CAD

Tell us about your outfits.

It was really important to Catherine to wear something that had already lived a life before her. She is sentimental in that way, and loved the idea of giving a beautiful piece another story. For the dress, She wanted something flowy, light, and comfortable enough to wear from the ceremony all the way through the dance floor. She definitely put that to the test when she ended up doing the worm in it later that night! She found my dress at a vintage shop in Toronto, and their team took such wonderful care of her. They made the whole experience feel relaxed and special, and she left feeling like a million bucks.

For Zoë, they wanted a suit that felt distinctive, playful, and a little unexpected. They found an Acne Studios suit with an oversized jacket and fitted, cropped pants that had exactly the silhouette they were looking for. They paired it with a bolo tie that was especially meaningful, as it had originally been given to their dad by his father.

We both also wanted to bring a little pop of colour into our looks. For Zoë, that meant bright red socks, and for me, it was my blue shoes.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

We wanted everything about the day to feel genuine and true to us, which meant keeping things simple and never too complicated or overdone. Since most of our budget went toward the venue, we embraced doing a lot ourselves, including the florals and stationery. One of our favourite memories was going to the San Francisco Flower Market together and picking out all of the flowers for the wedding. It made everything feel that much more personal. I also loved doing my own makeup and getting to feel completely like myself on the day.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

Since we weren't legally getting married in the States, as we had already done the paperwork back home in Canada, we had the freedom to choose someone we loved and trusted to officiate our ceremony. We chose Zoë's dad because he has witnessed our entire story unfold, from our years as best friends to falling in love, and he has always been such an incredible pillar of support and calm for both of us. Having him marry us made the ceremony feel incredibly personal.

We also had one of our good friends, who happens to be a professional wedding singer, serenade us with Olivia Dean's “I've Seen It All,” which was such a beautiful and special moment. When it came to the party, we wanted it to feel like the dances we grew up going to at summer camp: carefree, nostalgic, and full of songs everyone would lose their minds to. We skipped the traditional first dance and parent dances and went straight into celebrating with everyone.

We also incorporated calla lilies throughout the day because they were both of our grandmothers' favourite flowers. They have both passed away, so including the flowers felt like a small but meaningful way to have them there with us.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Don't do anything because you feel pressured to, it's you and your partners day! And don't take yourselves too seriously! You can absolutely take the wedding itself seriously, but remember that you're doing your best and give yourself some grace throughout the process. Try not to compare your wedding to anyone else's, and find ways to actually enjoy the planning, because it lasts so much longer than the wedding day itself.

Most importantly, don't lose sight of what the whole thing is about: celebrating your love for each other, surrounded by the people you love most. When there's that much love in one place, it's pretty hard to go wrong.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

We truly can't say enough about our photographer, Daniel Bergin. From the moment we flew out to NYC to meet him, we knew we were in the best hands. One of our biggest anxieties going into the wedding was simply being perceived all day, especially having a camera on us. Danny requires his couples to do a portrait session with him before the wedding, giving everyone a chance to get comfortable and actually get to know one another. We cannot overstate how valuable that was. By the time the wedding arrived, Danny didn't feel like a vendor showing up to photograph us. He felt like a friend who just happened to be taking incredible photos along the way. He fit in so effortlessly with our friends and family and somehow became one of the stars of the night, outside of Zo and me, of course.

Then came the photos. There's so much anticipation around receiving your wedding images that it's almost impossible not to feel a little nervous opening them for the first time. But the second we saw Danny's, we were right back there. The people, the energy, the tiny moments we had forgotten, and all the emotions came rushing back. That's Danny's magic. He doesn't just capture what the day looked like. He somehow captures exactly what it felt like.

We were also grateful for Catherines Hairstylist, Laura Paniagua. She took her time and it really showed. The environment of Sea Ranch can get humid and very (very) windy and having a hair style that could withstand both the heat and wind was crucial. Laura was no stranger to this task and did a fantastic job. She was also just an absolute ray of sunshine to be around!