Words From Our Couples

Love Stories

Bradie & Nick Haines
Melissa Graham Melissa Graham

Bradie & Nick Haines

MARRIED SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

It was love at first sight! Nick and I met in a cafeteria at Fanshawe College, in 2013. We had been enrolled in the same program, and ended up sitting together in the cafeteria, after our professor didn’t show up for the first class. If our professor had showed up as planned, I don’t know that I would have had an excuse to sit next to the cute guy.

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Samantha & Dylan Richardson
Melissa Graham Melissa Graham

Samantha & Dylan Richardson

MARRIED SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

We met in 2008, at the beginning of grade nine. At the time, we shared mutual friends, but we didn’t have any classes together. When our friends introduced us, we instantly hit if off, quickly becoming high school sweethearts.

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Kourtni & John Zalenko
Melissa Graham Melissa Graham

Kourtni & John Zalenko

MARRIED OCTOBER 5, 2019

We actually met on an online dating app (Tinder) in 2013. I thought John was good looking (obviously), and we ended up having a lot in common. Originally, I didn’t want to go – it was a blind date, and it would be the first time I had ever done anything like that. Thank goodness my best friend convinced me to go!

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Jenn & Mike Tracy
Melissa Graham Melissa Graham

Jenn & Mike Tracy

MARRIED SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

When people ask me how I met my husband, I usually start with, “It’s a really romantic story…”, and then it quickly ends by telling them that we met and got engaged at a trailer park. Mike and I grew up together, spending each summer at a campground that both of our families camped at. High school summer love grew into more, and because we spent so much of our time at the park together, it was the perfect place for him to propose.

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Erica & Chris Hayes
Melissa Graham Melissa Graham

Erica & Chris Hayes

MARRIED DECEMBER 31, 2018

Chris and I met in September of 2011, at the University of Guelph, where we were in the same department completing our graduate studies. It was the first day of orientation when we saw each other for the first time. Chris was sitting behind me and ‘accidentally’ flicked his pen at me – and would you believe, he still remembers what I was wearing that day! Luckily, our interactions continued, as we would see each other around campus and at various department events. Our friendship grew stronger in January of 2012, when we began running together.

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Julia & Dan Van der Werf
Ashton Staffen Ashton Staffen

Julia & Dan Van der Werf

MARRIED OCTOBER 20, 2018

Julia and I met at the University of Guelph, in graduate school, where we were both studying Psychology. The psychology grad students at Guelph had a strange affinity for hosting themed costume parties. Naturally, it did not take long for our paths to cross at several of these parties, with things culminating during a magical Halloween evening where I was dressed as a baby and her as a black swan (more like Natalie Portman, less like the water bird in Stratford).

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Emily & Kevin Alferink
Ashton Staffen Ashton Staffen

Emily & Kevin Alferink

MARRIED SEPTEMBER 8, 2018

Kevin and I met at a church event when I was only 14 years old and he was 16. At the time, I was living in Windsor and Kevin was based in London, so we only got to see each other every other week when I was home to visit my Mom. We talked for a few weeks (the first time either of us had ever been in any sort of relationship!), but the distance between our hometowns was too much for our age, so we decided to break things off.

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Barbara & Leonard Adams
Ashton Staffen Ashton Staffen

Barbara & Leonard Adams

MARRIED JULY 16, 2016

Len and I met at a lounge in downtown Toronto, one night in April 2013. We joke that our eyes met across the crowd, but really it was above the crowd, seeing as we’re both so tall! As we were leaving the lounge that night, he asked me for my number, and promptly sent me a text that said “nice to finally meet you”. Even though I wondered if Len was just really good at pickup lines, when he asked me to go out with him the next day, I agreed. And as it turns out, we really hit it off. We found out that we lived in the same area of the City, which made it so easy for us to begin to spend a lot of time together. It was quite the whirlwind romance, and a lot of the fun getting to know each other while also enjoying our city.

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