Sophia & Joel's Wedding - Tara Lauren Real Love Tara Lauren

Sophia & Joel had one of the most romantic proposals that we have read and their wedding day didn’t disappoint.

Sophia wore the Jolene gown purchased from Sash & Bustle.

This dress was more than I could have ever imagined. It was totally not the style I was looking for because I never thought I could pull off something more fitted, but when I saw it on the rack, I fell in love with all of the applique details and the sleeves and I thought that I would try it on just for fun. It was the first dress I tried on in that store and immediately knew it was everything I wanted.

Names: Sofia and Joel

Wedding Date: February 29, 2020

Guest Numbers: 200 people

Wedding Location: Eglinton West Gallery (EWG), Toronto, ON

Tell Us Your Love Story

How did you meet? We met at University in 2014. Joel was a second year and I was a first year. I first saw him at the orientation week square dance and he noticed me around campus, always with a coffee in hand. We quickly became good friends going out for Bubble Tea regularly and talking about our dreams to travel the world and our shared passion for social justice and our faith. We definitely took turns swooning over the other before officially dating 3 years later.

How did he put a ring on it? On a Sunday, April 24, 2019, Joel gave me the first of 7 letters, each one expressing a reason why he wanted to marry me. Naturally I assumed I would receive one a day until Saturday when he would propose. This is how things started to roll until Wednesday evening. After work I went downtown with two close girlfriends where I received the second letter of the day from the waiter at the restaurant where Joel and I had our first kiss. My heart immediately dropped. My friends then ushered me outside to a car where one of Joel’s closest friends and his sister were waiting with letter number 6. They drove me to a parking lot of a park nearby when they passed me a laptop that had a video of some of our close friends and family that couldn’t be there expressing their love. When the video was finished it said “Meet me at the beach to get the 7th letter”. As I walked to the beach, I realized this was one where we’ve shared many significant memories. As I got closer, Joel was waiting with flowers, sat me down, and read the final letter before getting down on one knee and asking me to marry him. Obviously I said yes without a doubt. He then whisked me away to the restaurant where we had our first date, and our friends were there to greet us! After facetiming some family, we got to spend the evening together, just the two of us, at our favourite restaurant, gushing over what had just happened.

Where did you draw inspiration from? I drew inspiration mostly from things I had seen on instagram. For some of the details, I used gold leaf – this was intentionally to acknowledge the long line of guilders in our family in Malta. We were really inspired by a boho/romantic/modern theme and our wedding planner helped us bring it to life!

What made the wedding personal to you? It was so special having so many people who have influenced us and been significant parts of our lives there. Our family and friends are spread out across the globe so we had majority of our guests fly in from Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Italy, South Carolina, Bermuda, Pittsburgh and more. Because we felt so honoured by their presence, we wanted to create details that would make each guest feel personally seen. I created by hand clay name tags for each table setting, designed and hand ripped all of the menus, and created our table numbers which had lines from poems that Joel had written to me from over the last two years. We also had our friends in Nepal created these handmade tea bags filled with Nepalese tea to bring awareness to an organization that is so close to our hearts. Through all of these details, it felt like each person there got to participate meaningfully in our love story.

We also tried to involve as many people as we could in the ceremony and reception, Joel’s dad shared the message at our ceremony, our good friend was the officiant, we had two close friends sing at the ceremony, and more. It was really significant to involve people who are so close to us beyond just the wedding party which was already huge haha.

What were you most nervous or excited about? I was most nervous about seeing Joel for the first time, but after seeing him at our first look, all my nerves left immediately. After that I was most excited about the flowers and decor (which I was so obsessed with) and seeing all of our guests! We had the best dance party.

Now, the most important part – the Dress!

Tell us about your dress? This dress was more than I could have ever imagined. It was totally not the style I was looking for because I never thought I could pull off something more fitted, but when I saw it on the rack, I fell in love with all of the applique details and the sleeves and I thought that I would try it on just for fun. It was the first dress I tried on in that store and immediately knew it was everything I wanted. The way it sat on me made me feel so feminine and it was the perfect balance of boho and timelessly elegant. When I walked out of the dressing room, my mom, grandma, and close friends all gasped. I tried on a few more dresses after that and each time I came out of the dressing room I would look longingly at this one hanging. We got it then and there and I could not be more thrilled!

What stockist did you get it from? Sash & Bustle in Toronto, ON.

What was your most memorable moment from your day? The vows, for sure. Joel and I did both traditional wedding vows, and wrote our own. Speaking these words to my beloved Joel was intense and so beautiful, and trying to stay composed while listening to the beautiful words he had written was near impossible. In that moment it felt like we were the only two people in the room.