Stacey & Craig celebrated their love and marriage this past year, and the GMG team couldn’t be happier to have had a change to share in the magic. A love that began when they met as young children grew over the years into a friendship and partnership to last a life time. After spending years together, Craig proposed to Stacey using a combination of things they love doing together. “Craig is pretty creative when he really puts his mind to something like surprising someone or playing a practical joke. This was definitely no different!” Stacey recalls. Craig and Stacie designed a custom Tacori engagement ring with the help of GMG expert, Alex. “I absolutely love it!” Stacey says, reminding that she saw the finished product of their hard work for the first time during Craig’s proposal. We touched base with Stacey to look back on their special day and share the special moments with you all.

From the Bride, Stacey:

What did you enjoy most about wedding planning?

“I really enjoyed pretty much all of it because I just really love event planning and decorating! Crafting, designing, shopping, scheduling, booking vendors... I'm honestly into it all. Probably a little too much! But if I had to pick one thing that I loved the most, it was just the thought of hosting all of our family and friends under one roof for one big celebratory day of love with good food, drinks and music all night long! Oh and working with Alex and everyone at GMG on my engagement ring and both our wedding bands was super fun as well!”

What were three of the most important aspects for you?

“It's hard to narrow it down because it was all pretty important with me excitedly planning one of the biggest days of my life. One thing that we both agreed on from the start was that we wanted it to be just like a small town wedding where you can go all night, bring in your own food and really make the whole event your own. It's not uncommon to have the keys of a small town hall all weekend long so the good times roll into the early hours of the morning most of the time!  It's definitely a little more work and planning than booking at a hotel or something since they typically take care of a lot of details. But having free reign with the space and saving on a lot of costs was worth it to me. We also just didn't want to be faced with having to make cuts on our guest list especially with a large extended family. So it was going to be a big wedding and we would need some big venues! In the end we decided it would be nice to be in the city to be close to conveniences like accommodations and the airport for people who were travelling. The ceremony was held at Knox United Church which was big enough to hold all of our guests. The officiant and organist were amazing and the church is just beautiful. The reception was held at the Sutherland Curling Club. It's not as fancy as a hotel ballroom you might say, but we decorated so much to the point you kind of forgot you were in a curling rink! I love white so I had kind of a white, gold and blush theme going on. We got everything we wanted including being able to invite 350+ guests, bring in our own bar and caterer and not have to shut down at midnight. The dancefloor was hopping until at least 3:30am I think. So needless to say, everyone had a great time and for that reason it was exactly what we wanted.”

What have you enjoyed most about married-life?

“We've had a lot of change happen in our life lately between moving out of the city and closer to our hometowns, changing jobs and planning some big events and starting some renovations. It's been the best thing to have each other throughout that process. Not that we wouldn't have had each other to lean on if we weren't married, but the cliché thing that everyone says is true. There's not a really lot that changes in your relationship immediately when you get married, especially when you have been together as long as we have, but there is sort of an unspoken sense of greater

commitment and security for some reason. Even as you get older and wiser, any time you have to do something new and drastic it's a bit scary and hard not to feel a little stupid sometimes. We are 28 and 29 years old and sometimes we are both like "do you ever think we should maybe know how to do some of this "life" stuff already?" We can talk about it with each other and support one another more freely than ever though it seems. We are a team and it's just so exciting to look forward to officially building our life together.”

On behalf of everyone at GMG we want to congratulate Stacey and Craig and wish them many years of happiness and love.