A core visual motif grounded our day: the circle.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
I’m Anjali, born and raised in a small town on the Canadian prairies. As the daughter of Indian immigrants, from an early age I learned how to navigate two worlds: the richness of my cultural heritage and life in a tight-knit Canadian town. This drew me to work focused on intercultural cooperation. Most recently, this has taken shape in living alongside refugee claimants in transitional housing as a host and serving as a refugee caseworker in Egypt.
I’m Matthias, originally from a public service town in Ontario, Canada. My personal draw towards public service has taken me around the world, most recently based in Kyiv, supporting the Government of Ukraine. Beyond work, I enjoy spending time outside, be it skiing or hiking, connecting with friends over board games, and (of course!) in good Canadian fashion, avidly following hockey.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We met while undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia through a mutual friend (Thank you, Cassie!). After a group hangout, I (Matthias) was smitten. I (Anjali) had no idea Matthias was into me. A few weeks later, while at a campus event, I (Matthias) was able to snag Anjali’s number, and the rest is history. Our first date was tea and homemade brownies on the beach, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We talked about all the things you aren’t supposed to on a first date, like faith, politics, and our ideal spouses. There was astonishing alignment.
In the middle of our first date, Matthias asked me (Anjali) for a second, coming prepared with intel from our mutual friend on my favourite restaurant. One date led to another, with many adventures along the way: graduation, our first post-college jobs, global service, and plenty of long distance. We grew up and grew together. As we began to consider marriage, we worked with a pre-marital couples counsellor to discern if it was the next right step. It was an incredible opportunity to explore the hopes, dreams, past and patterns we were bringing into a marriage relationship. We got engaged in November 2023, with one year of long distance before the wedding day.
What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).
A core visual motif grounded our day: the circle. From our ceremony site arranged in a circle, to dinner in the round, to a beautiful handmade floral wreath on our venue, we chose this shape to foster a sense of equality, connectedness, and the union of marriage.
We also playfully integrated ways to explore cultural fusion. Traditional flowers in Anjali’s Indian heritage (like marigolds) were featured in our florals. A family friend hand-painted our modern Haldi stools with beautiful mandalas.
Through all these pieces, we tried to visually represent what we were vowing our marriage to be about: the union of two people, two cultures, and two communities, surrounded on all sides by love.
What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?
The most enjoyable part of the planning process was going back to first principles: What is a wedding for? We knew why we were getting married, but why have a wedding? Why not do it in private? Why not with our immediate family?
Together, we arrived at a purpose statement that informed why we were choosing to mark our marriage through a wedding: “Bringing our disparate identities and communities together to inaugurate the foundation of what our marriage will be about: faith, service, and cultural identity.”
We used this to inform decisions big and small: What do we focus on? Who joins us? What do we do? What do we eat? What do we wear? It was such a helpful filter to stay true to our values when wading through the planning process – offering clarity amidst multiple trends, traditions, and voices.
Our top tip to couples starting their wedding planning journey: start with why. It’s so easy to jump to venue, food, photographer etc. These things matter! But, they are in service of a larger reason for why you are choosing to have a wedding. Spending time going deep makes decisions down the line so much more grounded.
We found reading Priya Parker’s “The Art of Gathering” instrumental in our process. 100% a must-read, not only for weddings!
Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?
Our officiant, Darren DeMelo, worked with us to craft a beautiful cultural fusion ceremony that invited our guests into the beauty of our shared faith and the richness of Indian traditions. Our ceremony was the focal point of our wedding weekend, and Darren brought together the many threads of our lives and histories in a ceremony that continues to deepen into our souls with its wisdom and beauty.
We are so grateful to our venue, Bullock Lake Farm, for offering up their space for our day. This is not just a wedding venue, but an active working farm that feeds Salt Spring Island. Molly, the farm owner, welcomed us like close friends, using the best of the farm (including flowers and produce) to make our day deeply rooted in the land on which it took place.
Our wedding day chef, Haidee Hart of Woodshed Provisions, worked with us to curate a delicious locally-sourced Indian fusion menu: with greens harvested on the farm, lamb from the Island, and fresh naan wood-fired on site. Food is such an important part of Indian culture, and Haidee reflected this in the most beautiful curries.
Our wedding day desserts from Adina of Love’s Galettes were truly such a spectacular fusion of culture, such as a rasgulla-inspired cardamom saffron cheesecake tart with a saffron peach jam swirl in a cardamom & black pepper tart shell! She runs her business with a deep commitment to justice. It was a privilege to work with her.
Finally, we cannot help but shout out our photographer, Mason of MasonxMata. We had a beautiful pen pal relationship in the year ahead of our wedding, sharing photos and updates from our lives. Mason deeply understood, listened to our priorities and values, came with an understanding of cultural traditions, and perfectly captured what we were hoping for with our wedding photos: deeply personal, candid moments that brought us back to how each moment felt.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?
Anjali: My Haldi outfit opened my eyes to the world of Indian fashion, something I wasn’t as exposed to during my upbringing in small-town Canada. It is a pre-draped saree by Jade by Ashima in a custom Haldi yellow!
For my wedding dress, I had one weekend to select an outfit before travelling for a year-long assignment in Egypt! I picked this one up off the rack from an Indian strip mall in an industrial park (if you know, you know). I was surprised to find something that weekend, but when I tried it on, I started crying – thinking about greeting Matthias at the end of the aisle. It was the dress.
Matthias: I was looking to bring something from my time in Ukraine to the wedding. I ended up choosing a great suit from Andreas Moskin, a Ukrainian menswear brand that makes all of its suits in Lviv, Ukraine. The brown shade matched the earthiness of our venue. When I put it on, I knew it was the perfect fit.
Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.
We didn’t do traditional wedding rings, but instead exchanged floral garlands (jai malas) made with fresh-picked flowers from the farm. Rather than a ring, every time we see a flower, we recall our vows.
For engagement rings, Anjali was content to go without, not drawn to traditional options. I (Matthias) surprised her by making a ring for her myself! I took a class to learn how to weld her gold band.
I (Anjali) gave Matthias my dad’s gold ring when we had a traditional engagement ceremony with family. My parents continue to debate whose it actually is, but based on the size, I’m pretty sure Dad is winning the argument. It fit Matthias perfectly.
What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).
The most important element of our wedding was our ceremony. We spent the most time and soul crafting an intentional ceremony that reflected the values we intend to build our marriage upon. We were also happy to spend resources on this moment, from chai to greet guests when they walked in, to a beautiful mandap handmade and adorned with flowers right from the farm (Lost Field Studio), planted with the moment in mind.
The second most important element was food! We had a wonderful wedding feast filled with delicious local ingredients. For both of our families, food is such a central part of gathering. We are still dreaming of our lamb curry and palak paneer.
Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?
Near the end of our ceremony, we stepped into the middle of our circle of guests, put our arms around each other, and shared a blessing in the over 20 languages of our community: English, Odia, German, Hindi, Arabic, Farsi, Bahasa, French, Gaelic, Greek, Italian, Konkanee, Korean, Malayalam, Mandarin, Marathi, Punjabi, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Yoruba.
After, our guests sprinkled us with flower petals as a traditional ashirwad.
We will always remember the pure elation of being freshly married, literally surrounded by the love of our closest and covered in blessings.
And then, we kissed!
What does being married mean to you, and are there any special rituals you have that you would like to share?
For us, marriage is a commitment to love the infinitely imperfect, infinitely lovable other person for the rest of our lives. We are walking alongside each other as we become the fullness of who we were intended to be.
For our marriage, we have committed to building a shared life rooted in a love that inevitably extends beyond us. We believe that this partnership is not designed to serve us, but a vision much larger. This means a life of faith, service and cultural deepening.
Since our wedding day, we have lived in community, supported each other’s vocation through new jobs and education, and deepened our understanding of each other’s familial history, including a visit to Anjali’s father’s childhood village in India. Our marriage was not a fairytale ending but the beginning of an action-packed next chapter. We are so excited to see how our story unfolds and how the vows and values that underpinned our wedding day continue to inform our lives.
LOCATION Bullock Lake Farm, @bullocklakefarm BRIDE Anjali GROOM Matthias PHOTOGRAPHER MasonxMata – Mason Neufeld, @masonneufeld FLORIST Lost Field Studio – Bullock Lake Farm, @bullocklakefarm CATERING Wedding – The Woodshed, @woodshedprovisions; Haldi – Chef Deb CELEBRANT Pastor Darren DeMelo ENTERTAINMENT DJ – Living Water Media DESSERT Love’s Galettes, @lovesgalettes BRIDE’S HALDI OUTFIT Saree from Jade by Ashima, @jadebyashimaofficial BRIDE’S WEDDING OUTFIT Lehenga from Calgary Strip Mall BRIDE’S ACCESSORIES Bride’s mom’s wedding gold HAIR & MAKEUP Caitlin LeBlanc, @caitlinrose_96 GROOM’S OUTFIT Andreas Moskin, @andreasmoskin_official GROOM’S HAIR Caitlin LeBlanc, @caitlinrose_96
