Real Weddings: Stacey and Iurii

Stacey Staley, a hairstylist and salon owner, and Iurii Prinko, a salon operations manager who goes by Yura, have been together since 2012. Planning a wedding was never at the top of their to-do list, but when they decided to move stateside and buy a salon in San Diego, they thought getting married would smoothen their visa application process. Here’s how it all went.

Yura: I was born and raised in Ukraine, where I studied accounting. I moved to Canada in 2011.

Stacey: The following year, we met at a mutual friend’s birthday party. At the time, I was working in my Corktown hair salon, Blonde, which I’d owned for six years. I wasn’t really looking for a relationship, but it all happened so quickly and naturally. Our first date was on a perfect April day. He showed up at my front door with a bouquet of roses. I immediately could tell that he was chivalrous and an old soul—he held every door open and helped me with my jacket. There’s a tenderness about him that I saw from the beginning.

Yura: It was a special day. I took her to the Toronto Islands, which she had never visited before. We got ice cream, sat on a swing set and walked around. It was beautiful.

Stacey: There was a perfect breeze while we were on the swings, and for a moment I felt like a child again. I already knew I was falling for him, and I was cautiously optimistic. It just felt right.

Yura: And we’ve been together ever since. I was immediately attracted to her confidence and how open minded she was, yet so focused on her life goals. I knew straight away that we would be together forever.

Stacey: Over the years, we’d talked about marriage, but there was never a sense of urgency, especially because we don’t plan to have children. Then, in February 2020, I was offered an opportunity to purchase and manage a salon in San Diego through a friend. Yura and I both love California, and we thought it would be a perfect next step for us. We knew the visa process would be a lot more complicated if we weren’t officially married. We started planning our wedding right away and set a date for two weeks after Valentine’s Day. We were initially looking into Palm Springs or Nevada for the ceremony once the borders open again, but didn’t want to wait for that to happen. Plus, we wanted our dog Chelsea to be with us on our special day in Toronto.

Yura: I’ve heard too many stories from our friends who’d been planning their wedding for years and have had to press pause on everything. That just wasn’t for us.

Stacey: We decided to get married at Md Bespoke, a clothing boutique in Yorkville owned by Marlon Durrant—his wife, Claudine, has been a client at my salon for more than 15 years. He has a studio space with a beautiful wooden statement wall, which made a perfect backdrop. He custom-made Yura’s suit and our face masks, embroidered with our names. I wore a white jumpsuit I’d picked up at an outlet mall in Palm Springs. It was feminine with a classic shape, but still looked different from a traditional wedding dress. Plus, I love a good deal.

Yura: I was so honoured to be in Marlon’s studio. We invited seven close friends, all masked and distanced from each other, of course. We also all got tested before the wedding to make sure everyone was safe. Claudine recommended we use the flower shop across the street; they made made stunning arrangements, and we walked over to pick them up on the morning of our wedding.

Stacey: Apart from the flowers, we kept the decorations fairly simple. We blew up a few balloons before the ceremony. My bouquet of red roses was a full-circle moment from our first date. A friend and fellow hairstylist, Darek Wierzbicki, came to help with my hair, and even made a custom accessory as a gift. The morning flew by. Before we knew it, our officiant, Tade Credgeur, arrived and it was time to get married. She picked the perfect vows for us, and she infused the room with love and energy. She made us feel like we had a hundred guests, rather than seven.

Yura: It was truly a day of celebration. I wanted to treat Stacey with a beautiful new ring, but she told me to surprise her with an upgraded ring. So I resized her great-grandmother’s rings and modernized them for us.

Stacey: After we said our vows, our dog, Chelsea—who wore a flower collar for the special day—knew it was official and ran up to take a photo with us. Everything just fell into place. We’re excited to continue into this next chapter and start our move to San Diego. Hopefully, we can throw a big celebration there with all our family and friends once everything cools down.

After the ceremony, we ordered takeout from our favourite restaurants: a grazing platter from Board and Bloome; appetizers and pizzas from Pizzeria Libretto; vegan chocolate-covered strawberries from Nutbar; black caviar and shucked oysters from Oyster Boy; vegan doughnuts and a rosewater pistachio cake from Bloomers. It was all so delicious.

Yura: We stopped drinking a few months ago, so we thought oyster shots would be a fun twist for the day. Our guests loved it—it’s definitely going to be a new tradition.

Stacey: We were also able to spend on the small finishing touches that mattered to us. We had our favourite Jo Malone candles, beautiful flowers, top-notch food—and that’s really all we wanted, alongside our closest friends.

Yura: A wedding should be a celebration of life, not a cause for stress or burden. This micro-wedding was the best thing to happen to us.

Cheat Sheet

Date: February 28, 2021
Photography: Everglow Photography
Hair: Darek Wierzbicki
Venue: Md Bespoke
Catering: Pizzeria Libretto, Nutbar, Oyster Boy
Wedding Cake: Bloomers
Guests: Seven

Here are some more photos from the day: