Real Weddings 2013: a contemporary-vintage wedding at Berkeley Church

By Michelle Higgins, Bronwen Jervis, Sharon Monuk and Amanda Panacci | Photography by Nikki Leigh McKean

Date: September 10, 2011 | Location: Berkeley Church | Guests: 118 | Budget: $45,000

Matt Abrams, a 33-year-old telecom executive, first met Petra Cryne, a 32-year-old consultant, at the Foundation Room cocktail lounge during a mutual friend’s birthday party. They lost touch, but a LavaLife match reunited them six months later—though it took some coaxing to get Petra to agree to meet up. “I didn’t want anyone to know that I was online dating,” she says. The pair dated for five years, during which time they moved twice for Matt’s job—first to Peru, then to Washington, D.C. In March 2010, Matt decided to propose, and was determined to make it a surprise—a difficult feat, considering Petra was eagerly waiting for him to pop the question. He managed to catch her off guard by proposing on a trip to Toronto outside the Foundation Room, where they first met. “I was totally surprised,” says Petra. Even though they were still living in Washington, they decided to get married in Toronto, where they fell in love, and found the ideal contemporary-vintage venue in the Berkeley Church. The ceremony included a Skype broadcast for Petra’s grandmother in the Netherlands and a song by the Swedish DJ Avicii for the bride’s entrance. According to Matt, the music played to the beat of his racing heart.

See the wedding album »