I finished off the 2020 wedding season with an emotional and extremely intimate elopement at the Drake Hotel on infamous Queen Street West in downtown Toronto. Sahar and Christophe had to deal with a bunch of last minute restriction changes due to the pandemic but one thing was for certain, they were going to get married and a few hiccups in the planning process wasn’t going to deter them from this monumental occasion in their lives.
The Drake Hotel is an iconic wedding venue here in Toronto but what made this elopement particularly special was how the usually extremely busy boutique hotel was unusually quiet, a rare sight for one of Toronto’s major hot spot destinations for good food and an top tier experience. A silver lining from having their fall elopement during the pandemic was that the basically had the entire Drake Hotel to themselves. Another perk of doing their elopement at the Drake Hotel was that the bride and groom had access to the new Artist Loft that’s attached to the hotel, a funky loft apartment with an equal amount of character and quirks that are synonymous with the Drake Hotel.
Their ceremony was intimate and held in a private area of the hotel, a handful of friends were in attendance to witness and participate in what ended being a ceremony chalked full of deeply rooted and genuine emotion. Something I personally loved about this elopement was that Sahar and Christophe have French backgrounds (the groom being from France and the bride from Montreal) so I got to brush up on my French, something I rarely get the opportunity to do since moving to Toronto. The vow exchange was really beautiful and personally struck a chord with me. I’m not sure if it’s because the French language evokes a natural beauty but watching the groom tearfully express his love for his bride had me chocked up and like many of their friends in attendance, I too had a tear or two streaming down the side of my face. It’s wild how watching such genuine emotion can have an impact and Sahar and Christophe’s vows were beautiful and truly a highlight of the wedding day.
Like most 2020 weddings the bride and groom had to get creative to ensure their friends and family from far and wide could participate and be present in their wedding. Setting up a livestream via someone’s iPhone, the elopement was broadcast to the bride and groom’s extended family and circle of friends all over the world, including Lebanon, France and various parts of Europe. It’s been incredible to see couples over the past year getting married during this pandemic still making their wedding day accessible to their loved ones who couldn’t be there and it proves that being connected to a special occasion transcends physical presence.
As the ceremony wrapped up the bride and groom enjoyed a toast with their guests and cut their cake before escaping and enjoying the sights and sounds of the golden hour sunset peaking through the alleyways and bustling downtown of Queen Street West. It was such a calming and fun experience to walk the streets with Christophe and Sahar, getting to know them and their personal love story. It’s funny how small things can bring back big memories and the groom felt some serious nostalgia when we stopped at at yellow brick wall to take a few wedding photos, telling us how it reminded him of an exact location in Italy where he’s taken photos of Sahar during one of their travel adventures together. As we strolled through the alleyways an idea spurred into my head and I felt like it was my duty to create a situation for the bride and groom to share in a quiet and traditional moment together, so I brought us back to the now empty Artist Loft and played some music on a speaker and let the bride and groom enjoy an intimate moment together and share in a first dance. There was something really special about watching the bride and groom be carefree and share in some laughs and hugs, it was obvious in that moment that they were in their own world together, embracing the moment and really appreciating their elopement experience.
I sincerely couldn’t of ask for a better pair (and group) of people to spend my final moments of 2020 with and I sincerely mean that. 2020 has been weird and special all at the same time. Sahar and Christophe’s elopement at the Drake Hotel was epitome of intimate and truly proved to me that weddings or elopement don’t have to look a certain way at all but what does matter in the end is being with the one you love, making a commitment to one another and sharing in a mutual experience that sets the path for your lifelong bond. I can’t wait for more of these elopement experiences in 2021.
