Ivan and Lily's wedding in Toronto, Ontario

The story of our wedding

We were never the type of people who dreamed of a big wedding. We wanted to keep it small and make sure that our families were happy. We ended up having a wedding of 100 guests and 3 ceremonies...Chinese tea ceremony, the western ceremony as well as a Russian ceremony. About a year of planning later, our day went by so quickly that it literally felt like a dream. We didn't hire a wedding coordinator or planner and had no idea what kind of research needed to be done. But on the day of the wedding, everything came together so smoothly and most importantly, everyone was really happy! After 10 years of dating, we were finally able to celebrate with all of our close family and friends! Our favourite moment of the day was during the western ceremony. I was so nervous in front of the crowd that I was shaking while our officiant was talking. My now-husband looked at me, squeezed my hands and took deep breaths. I saw his face, and I just followed his breaths. A few moments went by and it was like everyone sitting in the ceremony disappeared! We were able to laugh during our vows and had a great time!