Real Weddings: Bianca and Brandon

Bianca Arabia, a 33-year-old insurance business development manager, met Brandon Donnelly, a 41-year-old real estate developer, on Hinge in 2020. The two became official within two months, bonded over their love of travel and got engaged in 2023. In June of 2024, they wed in an intimate ceremony at St. Michael’s Cathedral, followed by an elegant second wedding one week later at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Here’s how their celebrations came together.

Bianca: In the summer of 2020, as the world was opening back up after the first wave of the pandemic, I matched with Brandon on Hinge. I was ready to get into a relationship, but I wasn’t in any particular rush.

Brandon: Patios were in full swing, so after chatting online, Bianca and I met at Gusto 501 for our first date. She made up some excuse, saying that she needed to leave in exactly two hours.

Bianca: If the date went south, I needed an easy out. But I was pleasantly surprised. I immediately noticed that he had a gentle and kind aura, and the conversation flowed effortlessly.

Brandon: We connected right away. We discovered our shared interests—design, architecture, travel and wine.

Bianca: Three weeks after our first date, we travelled to Montreal for the weekend. We knew it would be either amazing or a disaster.

Brandon: We climbed Mount Royal and someone took a photo of us—our first ever photo together. We went to a restaurant and stayed right until it closed.

Bianca: Shortly after returning from that trip, we became official.

Brandon: A lot of our dates in Toronto included trying different cuisines or cocktails around the city and then trying to cook them at home together. For our first New Years Eve, we went to Mont-Tremblant to ski and snowboard.

Bianca: We moved in together after about six months of dating. We had both lived alone for a long time, so sharing space was a big deal. But it was so comfortable right away.

Brandon: By 2023, we went to look at rings so that I could make an educated purchase when the time was right to propose. A few months later, I asked for her parents’ blessing.

Bianca: In May of that year, we were on vacation in Venice. Champagne arrived at the door of our hotel room. I thought it was just the hotel providing great service.

Brandon: Little did she know I had pre-ordered the champagne for when I popped the question. So I told Bianca that we were celebrating spending the rest of our lives together, and then I asked her to be my wife.

Bianca: I was totally caught off guard. I am a major planner, so there’s usually never an opportunity to surprise me. It was super emotional. Brandon: By December of 2023, we started planning the wedding. We considered getting married overseas but ultimately decided on Toronto.

Bianca: We are Toronto people through and through, and we wanted all of our friends and family to be able to come. When we reached out to the AGO, they happened to have the date we were thinking of available.

Brandon: We planned the wedding ourselves. The AGO also assigns you coordinators to help things go smoothly, and they really hold your hand throughout the process. We chose the AGO mainly for the architecture. We also loved the idea of a massive dinner party with all our closest family and friends, and the AGO could accommodate a single long table.

Bianca: But it was also important to us to have a traditional Catholic ceremony, so we had the wedding in two parts. This past June, we held our first wedding at St. Michael’s Cathedral, with just our immediate families in attendance.

Brandon: We chose to walk down the aisle together at the intimate church ceremony, which was a really special moment. Afterward, everyone came back to our condo in the Junction for champagne and cake.

Bianca: We ate charcuterie and danced in the living room to ABBA and Peggy Gou. I wore a vintage Oscar de la Renta gown. It was perfect.

Brandon: I wore a midnight-blue tuxedo.

Bianca: One week later, we had our second big day at the AGO. We woke up separately—Brandon had stayed at the Ace Hotel while I was at the condo with my mom, stepmom, stepsister and a few friends. I had a relaxing morning drinking coffee and getting my hair and makeup done.

Brandon: A couple of my friends were visiting from out of town. We’re all architecture nerds, so we wandered around the city and toured places like the Well and Stackt Market. I felt like I had all the time in the world! Then I donned my custom-made black tuxedo, and we went over to the AGO. We took photos in the library and enjoyed a pre-ceremony cocktail hour with the other guests before Bianca arrived.

Bianca: I wore a Katherine Tash bridal gown, a simple tulle veil and Jimmy Choo pumps. I wanted something modern and timeless. I also wore a clutch that was my stepmom’s from the 1980s. When it was time to walk down the aisle, I felt extremely nervous. It felt like I was about to give a presentation in front of 100 people.

Brandon: I definitely felt butterflies and choked up seeing Bianca. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. Once we were standing face-to-face, though, it was like we were the only two people in the room.

Bianca: After the ceremony, we had a second cocktail hour while we took family portraits. Our guests could also go on curated art tours to learn about art pieces at the AGO that we felt reflected us as a couple. For example, one of the pieces we chose was La demoiselle de magasin, an oil painting from the 1800s that represents our love for Paris. Our friends poke fun at us for visiting so often, but we just love Paris.

Brandon: The AGO is so beautiful on its own, so we didn’t add much decor. We had cream coloured linens and tableware plus flowers for pops of colour.

Bianca: We had custom stationery for our program and menu, which a friend designed, as well as custom-made matchboxes.

Brandon: We really wanted our day to reflect who we are as opposed to being a cookie-cutter wedding you might see on Pinterest. I think we succeeded in that. Our guest book was a Kaws art book, which all our guests signed.

Bianca: We curated our dinner menu with the AGO events team. It featured a variety of spices and flavours that we’ve discovered in our travels. We created a custom yuzu salad dressing inspired by a drink we’d made at a cocktail class in Paris.

Bianca: We kept dessert simple: lemon-and-raspberry gelato with fresh mint.

Brandon: Of course, we had an open bar. We had wine from France as well as from the Niagara Benchlands. We love to support local businesses, so it was important to us to have some local wine.

Bianca: After Brandon’s speech, we had our first dance.

Brandon: By this point, everyone was ready to get up. We’d hired a British DJ to create a cool speakeasy atmosphere until dinner and then play mostly dance and electronic music afterward. At the end of the night, he came up to us and told us we were “proper ravers.”

Bianca: We offered some late-night eats, including chicken shawarma, chow mein and battered fish sandwiches—the Filet-O-Fish is our favourite midnight snack.

Brandon: The party went until almost 2 a.m. There were maybe 15 people left by then, and we went across the street to finish the night at Village Idiot Pub.

Bianca: The whole day went perfectly. It went so fast that I had to keep consciously reminding myself to take in the beauty of having all our people together in one room to celebrate our love.

Brandon: A couple of months later, we boarded a plane for our month-long honeymoon.

Bianca: We started in Mallorca, then bounced around to Marrakesh, Biarritz and Bordeaux. We met up with friends in Switzerland and then ended our trip in Barcelona.

Brandon: Even though our day-to-day hasn’t changed, it feels like something profound has shifted.

Bianca: It’s comforting to know that everything we are doing is for the benefit of our future together. In January, we have a big Japan trip planned for skiing and sushi. We’ll have lots more travel in our future, and eventually we’ll start a family. But, for now, we’re just focused on enjoying married life.

Cheat Sheet

Photography: Catherine Goce Photography Officiant: Aaron Milic, True Ceremonies Catering: AGO’s in-house culinary team DJ: DJ NRC, Bellosound Florals: Anthi Flower Boutique Coordinator: The Event Design Co. Stationery designs: Everyday Enfant Bride’s hair: Sarah Amson Bride’s makeup: Brittany Sinclair Bride’s dresses: Early 2000s Oscar de la Renta, VSP Consignment and Katherine Tash, The Modern Bride Groom’s (church) wedding suit: Hugo Boss Groom’s (AGO) wedding suit: Indochino