Words From Our Couples

Love Stories

Natasha & Andrew Gravett
Melissa Graham Melissa Graham

Natasha & Andrew Gravett

MARRIED OCTOBER 1, 2021

I was having lunch with a friend at Fanshawe College, when Andrew stopped by our table to say hi to my friend. As soon as he left, I felt a strong desire to learn more about him. About a month later, I made the decision to text him, and now, here we are!

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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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Jessica & Tim Dyck
Melissa Graham Melissa Graham

Jessica & Tim Dyck

MARRIED SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

Tim and I met in the summer of 2014, while we were students at the University of Waterloo. Many of our spring-term days were spent in the sunshine playing beach volleyball with friends, and Tim says that from the moment he saw me through the net he knew I was the one! I can’t say the same, but I certainly noticed him (tall, handsome, and good at volleyball!), and by the end of the summer, I worked up the courage to text him.

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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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Amy & Blake Leontowicz
Melissa Graham Melissa Graham

Amy & Blake Leontowicz

MARRIED JUNE 30, 2019

Blake and I met on Tinder, so we like to say that ours is a modern-day love story. But with or without Tinder, our paths were always meant to cross. On our first date, we realized that we only lived one street over from each other, and we couldn’t believe we never had met before! From then on, we were inseparable.

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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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Kelly & Patrick Darby
Ashton Staffen Ashton Staffen

Kelly & Patrick Darby

MARRIED JULY 21, 2018

Our wedding story began back in 2013 when we were set up by my sister and brother-in-law. Patrick had been a friend of theirs since high school, but since he was a few years older than me, we had never had a chance to meet. It wasn’t until we had both graduated from university seven years later, that my sister and brother-in-law suggested to both Patrick and I, separately, that they knew we would be the perfect match. Phone numbers were exchanged, and eventually Patrick and I went out.

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Samantha & Spencer Ball
Ashton Staffen Ashton Staffen

Samantha & Spencer Ball

MARRIED MAY 11, 2018

I guess you could say that our love story began as a total cliché. Spencer and I met at the tender age of 14, in grade nine science class, where he sat directly behind me. At the time, Spencer was nursing a particularly bad ankle sprain, after being injured playing for the Huron Perth AAA Lakers. Being that he was on crutches, I figured that he could use some extra help carrying his books to and from class. So, I volunteered to help him out on many occasions and we got to know each other a little better. Spencer’s hilarious sense of humour, caring and charming personality, and beautiful blue eyes had me hooked, and I began to realize that I wanted to get to know him on an even deeper level.

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