Mackenzie + Zach

Jellyfish Restaurant Punta Cana

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M+Z… I don’t even know where to begin. Maybe just LOVE. You two are beyond sweet & I can honestly say, we felt like a part of your family by the end of the night. We had the most incredible time & love you to bits. …. no-one tells your story quite like you do, so let’s soak it all in. XOXO r+m

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We met back in second year at Western University at the sport medicine clinic. We both had knee surgeries after sports injuries, and wound up in physiotherapy at the same time. We kept seeing each other, and with the not-so-gentle nudge of our therapists, and a few drinks of liquid courage at a local bar one evening, we both had the courage to talk to each other about more than the positives of ice-baths and lunges. We went on our first date but it was quickly followed by the Christmas break from school where we were both heading back to our home towns an hour apart. Zach invited me out for a visit over the break (to meet your family already?!) and there I was driving in circles in a snow storm with zero visibility to Niagara to meet this boy. We had separate New Years Eve plans with our friends as we had just met, but Zach showed up at my house New Years day telling me he did not want to spend another New Years without me and the rest is history!

We had been dating for nearly seven years but we had just bought our first home together in October of 2014 so needless to say we had a lot on our plates. We were finally back in the same city together after years of long distance post-university and we could not be happier about that! On Christmas eve, Zach’s family’s usual festivities were well under way by the time I had arrived, and long story short, he was more than half in the bag! As you can imagine, there were no red flags going up in my mind with regards to a potential proposal as my boyfriend is borderline unconscious. For some reason he kept pushing to go back to our own house to sleep, “It’s our first Christmas in our new home” he kept saying… so back to our house we go and he was asleep before my shoes came off. We had agreed to only do stockings this year as we just make a sizeable purchase with the new home, so I stayed up filling his stocking with the BEST stocking stuffers (or so I thought).. the usual favourite chocolate, favourite deodorant, razors, etc. and a Fitbit (nailed it!) and then I went to sleep. I had been asking for a new Ipod but I honestly did not think he even bought much for me, and if he did I assumed he wouldn’t be waking up to stuff them into anything that night, let alone a stocking. Let me tell you, this must have been a part of some master plan to foil me. I wake up in the morning to Zach making us coffees and he tells me to open my stocking first.. perfume, chocolate, the usual.. then I feel one last box in the bottom and I just know it’s my Ipod.. but it turned out to be a little wooden box! Even at this point, the only thought in my mind was honestly any jewellery other than a ring! He takes the box from my hand and gets down on one knee (the bad knee) and says a lot of nice things that I don’t remember (but wish I did for future leverage purposes) because I was in utter shock and he asks me to marry him! Or so I think?! I guess I sat there with tears running down my face just staring at him quite some time that he had to ask me again.. and I said yes!

I said yes to my best friend. It is as easy as that! Our love has always been so simple because all Zach ever wants is for me to be happy. This is what I love the most about our relationship. Since the beginning, we have fit together so naturally and deep down I always knew he was the one.

The entire day was the greatest day of our lives! We kept stopping and just looking at each other saying, “this is honestly the best day”! We were naturally expecting some kind of hiccup but nothing went wrong that I can even think of! The wedding was perfection and every detail was more than I could have hoped for! We are so happy with our choice of having a destination wedding with our ceremony and reception being held off-resort at the Jellyfish. I loved spending the morning with my beautiful bridesmaids and the mom’s as we got ready. It was surprisingly calming and felt surreal to walk on the beach in our robes between getting our hair and make-up done. We both have to say one of our favourite parts was having our dance floor out on the beach.. you could not get us off that thing! It was truly the perfect day for us in every way, and we could not have imagined a better way to celebrate our marriage than with all of our closest friends and family on a beautiful beach in the Caribbean!

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>>—–> Dream Team <—–<<

Jellyfish team & the girls, Giana, Clara, Janel, truly the BEST wedding venue we could have ever dreamed of and such a great team! All of their staff, from setup to the kitchen, to the bar… I am sure that I am forgetting people! The décor was truly unbelievable and surpassed my expectations! From the table settings to the floral arrangements, the girls blew me away! I could go on and on about them! (Pinterest dream!) The venue was private and beautiful and provided the perfect setting for our wedding. Zach and I are both low-key people who enjoy being outside with great friends and great food and that is exactly what happened! The backdrop for our ceremony was breathtaking, the appys were delicious, the cocktails were borderline addicting, and the dinner was the best meal we had the entire trip! Steak and lobster like you’ve never had before! Our friends are still raving about their meals! @Jellyfish

Krystie Ann was a dream to work with and basically stepped in as my personal therapist and wedding planner. She helped to calm me down and provided info and guidance as to how the day was going to flow. She definitely helped ease a lot of stress with such kindness and understanding. With regards to her hair and makeup.. she is phenomenal! She did such an amazing job prepping all of my girls who all loved their hair and makeup. She knocked my own ideas out of the park as well. She even squeezed in the moms hair and makeup while the bridal party was doing photos, as they had difficulty getting in the resort spa! One woman successfully taking on 7 of our hair and makeup application?! Rockstar! @KrystieAnnHM

Rick York, our Pastor, did such a wonderful job officiating the ceremony for the most important day of our lives! He was so kind and genuine and it was so obvious that he loved what he did. He helped keep everything and everyone organized, which took a lot of stress off as well. Everyone is still speaking about how wonderful he was and they were shocked that we had just met him that day as he made the ceremony so personal! @RickYork

Ana Belo, our cake decorator, was sort of a behind-the-scenes member of our team. We never actually met her in person, we only spoke over email, but she made us the most beautiful “naked” wedding cake with fresh flowers to match our décor! This was one area of wedding planning that Zach willingly helped with. When I asked him what flavour cake he wanted, he simply said chocolate with chocolate, so that was it! And it tasted just as wonderful as it looked!! @cake.studio.bavaro

Ariel Martez & his sidekick Rodery, videography, these two guys were part of the crew immediately! They both showed such love and kindness towards myself, Zach and the rest of our crazy group. People are still talking about how wonderful they were. These guys stayed hours longer than intended without even a second thought! We cannot wait to relive every moment watching their footage. @ArielMartez

Rob & Mel, our wonderful photographers, they are truly the most amazing people! They showed so much love and genuine consideration (and a LOT of help) to myself, Zach and our group! We knew we were not going to be the most photogenic couple, and our attempts at “being sexy” for the camera would inevitably fail every time, but with Rob and Mel we still had so much fun shooting! These two also spent way more time with us than intended (I am talking hours and hours) which we knew they did NOT have to do, but they did it without a second thought and without a care! We will forever appreciate everything they did for us! All of our guests loved these two, as they fit in as just another couple of our friends! And that is what they are to us now! We love them! @ShoeBoxPhoto

We are so thankful for everyone involved in our wedding day team, and all the services provided. We could have not picked a better team to decorate our venue, provide us with unbelievable food and a delicious cake, make us look beautiful, capture our entire day, and simply spend time with! We will forever remember our wedding dream team!

Special Mentions

The best MC in the biz … @mcjcabrera

The best DJ in the biz … @DJARIEL

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…ADVICE FROM THE BRIDE…

We decided to tie the knot abroad because we simply could not think of a better way to celebrate than with all of the most important people in our lives together on a beach! This way, not only were we able to celebrate our wedding day, but also spend an entire week with all of our closest family and friends! When else would we get the chance to do this?! My advice for future destination wedding brides is just let it be! I am one of those people that stresses about every detail and I am convinced that I know the best way to do things.. but this is so not true! You book your dream venue (for us it was Jellyfish) and team of vendors early on, and simply let it be! I used to want to strangle Zach every time he would say “don’t worry, everything will fall into place”, but now I am a believer that this can happen if you let it! The day-of wedding details are out of your hands whether you like it or not.. you are countries away and cannot micro-manage everything! This was so hard for me to get over, but it made the day so much more special! I was truly surprised by every detail! I emailed the girls at Jellyfish hundred of pictures over the last year and so many questions, and sometimes it would be an instant reply and sometimes it would be a week or so.. “island time” I kept telling myself.. but stress eventually slipped away and I trusted the girls whole-heartedly! With regards to the day of the wedding, as cliché as it sounds, try your hardest to be in the moment! For example, getting our hair and makeup done in the bridal suite at the Jellyfish, I was worried earlier in the planning process that I had too many girls and was worried we were starting too early (7am) but let me tell you.. this time flies by so enjoy every single second! Honestly I do not know where the time went! Next thing I knew, Krystie Ann was popping my veil on and pushing me out the door and I was walking down the isle! The entire day flies by like this, so make sure to soak it all in! Take time to stop and smell the roses, breath in the salty ocean air, soak up the sun and all of the love that you are surrounded with!

xo M&Z