Melissa + Devon

How did you meet?

We have crossed paths multiple times throughout the past 7 years at various snowboard contests. He was a coach, I was the Event manager. We finally connected via online almost 6 years ago and after our first date, we both realized how many of the same events, parties and contests we had been at together. Our second date was spent snowboarding and instantly felt like we had been friends for years. It felt so easy.

When did you know they were the one?

We were hanging out in the kitchen and both randomly looked at each other and started to do an Irish jig simultaneously. His weird, matched mine perfectly.

What are your three favourite attributes of your partner?

His is so kind, the most patient and encourages me to be my weird goofy self.

Who proposed and how?

He proposed in the snowy mountains of Emerald Lake in Golden British Columbia. It felt right that we were engaged in the mountains when we spend so much time oh hill snowboarding. We both work in the snow sports industry.

Where did you fall in love with your dress and why?

I had a horrible experience at a big brand name bridal salon. The consultant kept trying to push me out of my budget, she kept pulling dresses double my budget and kept putting pressure on me to “just try it”. I left discouraged and frustrated. I went to The Modern Bride in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I called just to ask a few questions about budget, designers and the process and it felt like I was talking a lifelong friend. There were no airs and they couldn’t do enough for me. I had my own team of “hype girl” consultants. I tried on 4 different gowns from Made with Love, but when Scottie V2 came out – it just felt different. It could have been that I was the perfect size for their sample – but it fit me like a glove and hit everything I wanted. It was light weight with detail without heavy beading. It has the sexy factor but with illusion netting so I didn’t feel like I was giving it all away, and most of all it stretched and moved so I would be able to dance the night away. I knew it would travel well based on the material without worrying about creasing or sweat marks knowing we were going to a tropical destination.

What were your favourite details?

The Scottie looked like it had all this detail and beading, but it’s all stitched and lacey, so it was incredibly beautiful without being incredibly heavy and restrictive.

What advice would you tell other brides?

I cannot recommend doing a destination wedding enough. It was so magical and special to be on vacation with 70 of our family and friends. It gave us an opportunity to really spend time with everyone throughout the week, rather than bouncing around a party for 1 night. We had a wedding planner and photographer with us for the entire week, so we were able to ensure that everyone left with amazing memories and photos to look back on.

Any standout vendors?

VC Events – https://www.vceventsandco.com/ – Victoria made everything a smooth and dreamlike process. II shared a basic Pinterest board with her, and she went above and beyond to make sure everything came to be a reality. She had something planned everyday for our group from w beach welcome party, private shuttles, deep sea fishing, boat cruises etc. I can’t recommend her enough.

Photographer – Capture By Kirsten – https://capturedbykirsten.ca/ – She never stopped shooting the entire week. Aside form amazing wedding photos, we have so many memories from each day of the trip. She never not had her camera. We wanted to be able to send everyone beautiful photos of them and their families or loved ones from throughout the trip and we have that and more.