I Do, Let's Eat

Agnes is 26 years old and works in purchasing. Born in Poland, she moved to Canada with her family at the age of 9. She now lives with her parents and two younger sisters in Aurora, near Toronto. Mauriece, 25, works as a conference and meeting scheduler for a hotel. Born in the Philippines, he also moved to Canada at age 9. He lives with his parents in Toronto. Both families are Roman Catholic.

The couple first met in high school but only began dating three years ago when they ran into each other by chance. “I was completely shocked at how much she’d changed,” says Mauriece with a grin. “She’s gorgeous and you look at me and think – ‘no chance’! But somehow it worked out.”

For Arezou’s Persian family and Haris’ Afghani family, the food at their wedding banquet has to be excellent. So they’ve hired a great caterer. Only one problem…the couple and the caterer are in different cities, five hours apart!

Christine and Jonathan are both 29. She is a software test analyst, and he is a data marketing manager. Christine’s family is originally from the Philippines, while Jonathan’s family is Chinese. The couple have actually known each other since high school. Christine says “I had a huge crush on him….but he didn’t even know I was alive.” Years later, they met again, and this time Jonathan took notice. The couple have been dating now for six years.

In Dauphin, Manitoba, Dawn and Cary host their traditional Prairie Ukrainian wedding banquet, complete with perogies, cabbage rolls, and lots of  small town pride.

Janice is 26 years old and works as a donor relations coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières Canada and Geoff Geoff, 25, is a former football player with a degree in kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario in London, where he met Janice. The couple got engaged in May, 2005 and are planning on getting married in Newcastle. Working with a small budget they are counting on the whole family to help them plan their dream wedding. With the help of Geoff's father's tea shop and his staff they are hoping that they day will go off with out a hitch.

Kirsty and Ken didn’t want a conventional wedding. Instead, they’ve planned a surprise wedding at Fort Gibraltar in Winnipeg. Their guests think they are attending a birthday party. Hopefully, their secret is safe.

Mary and Philip have traveled all over the world, and want to share their experience with their wedding guests. At Grouse Mountain Resort in North Vancouver, they will have an outdoor ceremony, followed by lunch and dinner, featuring dozens of international dishes.

Maureen and Shawn plan to showcase the best of Banff, their adopted home. They’ll say their vows on a mountain top, and host a true Rocky Mountain feast at the Juniper Lodge, right in Banff National Park.

Natalia is 32 and about to embark on a PHD in psychoanalysis. She was born and raised in Indonesia, and educated in Hawaii and England. Jason is 33, born and raised in Iowa. He is ex-military, and a security consultant. Jason and Natalia met in Hawaii, on the beach. Natalia was at university in Hawaii, and Jason was consulting as a government analyst, based in Honolulu. That was over three years ago. In March 2006, Jason got permission from Natalia’s father and proposed to Natalia at a Buddhist temple in Central Java.

Nicole is West Indian and Daniel hails from the southern United States. At their mostly Caribbean-style wedding banquet, they want to serve their guests some authentic southern-fried catfish. Can the Jamaican-born chef satisfy Daniel’s “down home” tastes?

For their wedding, Stephanie and Lloyd are returning to Lloyd’s home province, Nova Scotia. At Oceanstone Inn and Cottages, they’ll tie the knot next to the seashore, then host a maritime feast with a twist. Along with local lobster and scallops, they’ll also serve Arctic Musk Ox!

Vanessa is 22 years old, and works part-time at Huff Estates Winery. She was raised in Grafton, Ontario, a small town on Lake Ontario about 90 minutes from Toronto. Matt, who is 25, grew up nearby, in Cobourg, Ontario. He now works as a sales rep, but had spent several years in the food and hospitality industry. In fact, the couple met when they both worked in the same restaurant, Matt as the cook, and Vanessa as a server.

Although the couple knew in each other in high school, they didn’t start dating until a few years after graduation. They’ve been together eight years now, and say they have been planning their wedding for seven. “We started planning and talking about it really early on, once we knew we were serious” says Natalie, “but, when he actually proposed last year, it was still a surprise!

Natalie and Paolo have chosen something unusual for their culture - a wedding outside of a church. The wedding ceremony will be held right at the Paramount at 3 pm. “We decided that it would be easier for us and our guests to be in one location instead of driving all over town from location to location” says Natalie. At first it didn’t go over well with some of their relatives but now most of them understand.

Fanny is a 29-year-old marketing specialist born and raised in the small city of Chateauguay, Quebec south of Montreal. She lives there with her seven-year-old son Alexy, and her fiancé. Martin is also 29 years old and works as a computer programmer. Fanny and Martin are both French-speaking Quebecers who are fluent in English.

The couple met three years ago on the Internet and last Christmas, Martin surprised Fanny by proposing in front of both of their families. In lieu of a present, he got down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage. "She was very emotional and started crying," Martin says. "But she said yes!"

Heather is a 38-year-old hair stylist who lives in Vancouver with David, a 36-year-old who owns a roofing company. The couple’s courtship has been longer than most: they met 14 years ago and have been engaged for 5 years. Along the way, there have been several twists and turns in their relationship.

Thirty-year-old Jasdeep is Indian and works as a payroll administrator. Brendan is also 30 years old.  He works as a teaching assistant, while completing his Ph.D. in Italian History. He is Canadian, originally from Saskatchewan. They met online on a dating website. Jas and Brendan are both very open to each other’s cultures. For their dinner reception for 400 guests, Jas and Brendan have chosen a popular Indian banquet hall, La Suhaag. They have both been to other weddings at this hall, and always liked it. Jas explains "Indian weddings are all about the food. That’s why we chose La Suhaag. It’s a very large hall, with great food."

It's a mix of old world and new, for Jessica (whose family originates from China) and Jason (of Korean background). They met at a mutual friends' party and now six years later are ready to have the perfect wedding - as well as delicious traditional food from both of their backgrounds.

Jill is 29 and works for a financial services company. Alain is 27, a marine mechanic. He owns “Offshore Obsessions”, a marina that specializes in offshore power boats. They live in Milton, Ontario, about an hour west of Toronto. The couple met less than a year ago, but the chemistry was instant. In January, Alain proposed while they were visiting New York City. Jill says,”It was like a movie. We were in Central Park. It started to rain, and he got down on one knee…I was totally shocked!” 

Karla and Louie first met four years ago when he started attending the naturopathic clinic where she worked. When he discovered that Karla had recently split up with her boyfriend, Louie decided to take the plunge. He asked her out for tea – and the rest is history. “On our very first date, I knew early into the night that I was going to marry her,” says Louie, still smiling. “She was beautiful, intelligent, very kind and thoughtful.”

Mariana is a 31-year-old fashion designer. She was born and raised in Canada, and is of Chinese descent. At the age of 18, Mariana left Canada to attend the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Adam is 37, the Director of Facilities for a media/advertising company in New York. He met Mariana back in 1998, at a pub in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan. After a few false starts, Adam proposed in November of 2005, presenting Mariana with a cake topped with a fortune cookie. Inside the cookie was the message "Will you marry me?" This is a first wedding for both families.

Marsha is 31 years old and works as a director of a large staffing agency. She lives in Brampton, Ontario with Chad, who is 33 years old and works as an operating room technician. Both Marsha and Chad are proud of their Jamaican heritage and this will be reflected in their wedding ceremony and meal. Chad surprised Marsha by proposing on a Maid of the Mist boat ride in Niagara Falls. The boat pulled close to the falls and Chad pulled out the ring just as Marsha was hit with a big spray of water. “I was so shocked,” she says, “I just froze.” When she accepted his proposal, a boatload of tourists cheered.

Melanie is 24 years old and has a Bachelor of Science in physiology. Born and raised in Montreal, Melanie is of Moroccan descent.  Serge is a 26 year old dentist who also lives in Montreal and is also of Moroccan descent. They met four years ago at a Jewish youth group and became good friends. In August 2005, Serge proposed in a park near his family’s home.Melanie and Serge decided to take advantage of a growing trend in Montreal in which historic synagogues are remodeled into elegant wedding venues. Couples can enjoy ‘one-stop shopping’ with a traditional religious ceremony and beautiful dinner reception all in one building. 

Olivia is a market researcher who lives in Toronto. She is of Korean descent. Rowan is 33 years old and works in information technology development for a large consulting firm. The couple met five years ago on the job. She was working as an intern while he was a senior executive at a financial firm.  In August 2004, on a trip to London, Rowan proposed on the historic Tower Bridge overlooking the Thames River. The wedding is a big event for both families and the couple has been planning intently for almost two years.

Sofia and Dan are both Italian, from very traditional, close-knit families. Sofia lives with her family in Oro, a small community 90 minutes north of Toronto. Dan lives with his family in Brampton, Ontario. They have bought a house and will move in together after their wedding. The wedding party is large, 14 people, and there are 500 hundred invited guests. Sofia shrugs, "That's the Italian way – everyone and their grandmother are invited."

Stanka is so excited about her wedding she is a walking exclamation mark. "I am marrying an amazing man! The location is so beautiful! The food will be wonderful!" John, the groom, grins, "She’s very enthusiastic. I'm a lucky guy, I think she likes me." Stanka certainly does love John, but she also loves John's 14-year-old daughter, Natalie. She says, "I'm marrying both of them."Stanka's family is Slovenian, while John’s is "Old School Italian." The ceremony will be at the Slana family's Slovenian church in Hamilton.

"When it comes to planning this wedding, I'm a bridezilla," says Tammy with a grin, "Jake is lucky if he has any say at all." Tammy and Jake, both 30 years old, have been together for over a decade, and live together with Tammy's 12-year-old son Dillon. But they've known each other since childhood. Tammy and Jake both grew up in Picton, and their wedding is a first for both families. Tammy says she was immediately intrigued with Jake because his family lived on their own exotic animal sanctuary. So it's quite fitting that the sanctuary will be the site of their wedding ceremony.

Amy was born and raised in Ontario while Chris was born in Hong Kong, and moved to Canada when he was a teenager. For both Amy and Chris, food is extremely important and expectations to respect Chinese traditions are high for Chris and Amy’s wedding banquet.

Beatrice and Yves are both in their mid-twenties. They first met in high school and have been together ever since. Both are of Haitian descent—Beatrice was born in Haiti, Yves in Montreal, and both grew up in Quebec.

Along with their Haitian roots, Beatrice and Yves also wish to express their Canadian citizenship. That’s why they chose Bean Town Ranch, just outside Ottawa, to hold their wedding and reception. "To me, Bean Town is typically Canadian, with its log houses and woods surrounding the property. And we chose June 30 so our party would continue into Canada Day on July 1st. That way our wedding shows both our sides—Haitian and Canadian," says Beatrice.

Charmaine’s family came from Jamaica when she was a little girl. Steven grew up in the Bahamas, but left to go to university in the United States. Wanting a Caribbean feel to their wedding, they are having Jamaican-born chef Selwyn Richards to present a meal with all the flavour and fun of the islands.

Emily Ingersoll is an event planner who says she has been planning her wedding for 10 years. She met her groom, Markian Shafranasky, in Ottawa, while she was in university, and he was in chef school. They now live in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, a picture postcard town on the Bay of Fundy, NS. Markian is co-chef at the Rossmount Inn, and Emily is excited to have their dinner reception there. But with Mark planning to prep and cook his own banquet will this husband-to-be keep his cool on the big day?

Peter and Gina are both 37, although they both look younger. He’s a dentist with his own practice, she teaches French to grades 2 to 6. They met just a year ago, and got engaged last September. They’ve planned their wedding in just 4 months. Peter and Gina will have a traditional Portuguese wedding feast at the Pearson Convention Center, a venue well-known for its’ Portuguese banquets.

Jennifer and Manuel are both 26. They met in Cancun, Mexico. Manuel, who was born and raised in Mexico, was living in Cancun and working as a DJ in a club when Jennifer, who was on vacation, came into his bar where it was love at first sight for both of them. With Manuel deciding to move to Canada, she wants to make their wedding as Mexican as possible to give him a taste of home. 

Meet Jennifer and William.The couple are both ethnically Chinese, but come from very different backgrounds. Jennifer was born in the Philippines, and has very strong ties to Filipino culture. William was born in Canada, to Cantonese parents.  They have different traditions and ideas that all need to be sorted out by the wedding.

Karen and Pierre have been together for 10 years, and have a daughter who is about to turn three. They live in the country on a lovely five-acre wooded property. Karen and Pierre plan an out-door, medieval themed wedding. Watch this modern-day couple plan a wedding that's straight out of a story filled with knights, lords, ladies - and the odd surprise as well. 

Jim and Kim are both in their forties. This is a first marriage for both of them. They confess, a little sheepishly, that they met online. "We’re not really the generation that’s used to that" Kim says, and Jim interjects, "but look what I got as a result!" Kim and Jim wanted to do things a little differently for their wedding. "We both waited for so long, so we want it to be perfect—perfect setting, perfect food, a perfect experience," says Jim.

Monica and Raj are both of Indian descent and are planning a traditional Hindu ceremony, followed by a vegetarian South Asian/Thai banquet. Since Monica and Raj are so busy, it is Monica’s mother Anju who is really in charge of the wedding planning - and she has very high standards, is passionate about food, and accustomed to getting what she wants. 

Seema met Navdeep in Winnipeg five years ago, when they were both students at university and are now getting married. Seema is a cotrol freak and has planned to have everything perfect for her special night. With so many extras, and so much at stake, this wedding is a recipe for disaster! 

Sophia and Pino are both in their mid-20s. They have been dating for seven years, since they first started high school.  With both of their families flying in from Italy, watch as the fun unfolds with the celebration of traditional Italian culture and this modern-minded couple!

Tammy and Aaron are engaged to be married.  Tammy's parents are very traditional and her mother had made almost all decisions concerning the wedding, right down to the $6000 wedding gown! Aaron's family is most concerned about the food and want to ensure that their Russian heritage is reflected in the banquet. Will this mesh with Tammy's moms request that a Rabbi perform the ceremony and that the meal be kosher?