Backyard Toronto Micro Wedding | Nicole & Sean

Backyard Toronto Micro Wedding | Nicole & Sean

Nicole and Sean got engaged back in 2018 in Hawaii and were excited for their July 31, 2020 wedding. It was supposed to be a big bash with all their family and friends. But then the world changed – both travel and large gatherings were banned because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“We initially had a large wedding planned with approximately 210 guests”, Nicole says. “Fast forward to 2020 and our plans were clearly changing day to day. Ultimately, we decided that after ten years of being together, we just wanted to get married and start our lives together! So long as our parents, siblings and my grandma (who is 93!) could attend, we wanted to move forward safely. When we hit phase two in Ontario at the end of June, we got our marriage license, confirmed with the church that we could still move forward on our day and then it was planning full steam ahead.”

As the virus was unpredictable and the case numbers kept changing, they were unsure what would be allowed when their day (they decided to keep their original date) finally came around.

“Every single day we nervously awaited the changes and updates to regulations on the news,” she says. “Finally, we hit phase three of reopening on our wedding day and we were able to have our ceremony at the church surrounded by 110 of our loved ones (masked of course!). Following our ceremony, we had the most perfect backyard setup for our intimate dinner of 15 and we couldn’t be more grateful for all of it.”

I can only imagine how that must have felt – both the sadness about the possibility of needing to drastically reduce guest count and then the relief and joy at being able to have over 100 people witness their ceremony!

They still decided to have an intimate backyard celebration with their ‘Covid bubble’ – parents, grandmother, siblings and their partners & kids. They enlisted the help of a planner to make it magazine-worthy beautiful. I was in awe when I stepped out into the backyard and saw it!

“We just wanted beautiful, bright warm colours with the glow of candles for a fun summer evening. Our flowers were one of my favourite elements and we worked closely with Amna of Lemon Truffle Designs to bring our vision to life. When Sean and I saw the backyard reception reveal we were so in love—it felt so special and magical.”

They had a delicious dinner with some of their faves from Agora: “It was like our favourite tasting menu brought to life!”

And despite it being a micro wedding, they still had a grand entrance, cake cutting, first dance, parent dances and speeches.

Even though it wasn’t the wedding day they initially planned for, it was truly an unforgettable special day. “Being able to share our speeches in such an intimate setting for 15 was beautiful,” Nicole says. “I asked my grandma before she left our reception dinner if she was tired after such a long day and she answered by saying ‘I wouldn’t have missed it.’ Having these memories and being able to capture these photos, including my first hug with my grandma since March, will always be truly special for us.”

Nicole and Sean, I know this must’ve been truly difficult to go through, but you made it and love prevailed. It has been such an honour to know you and to help document your beautiful love story!