Real Weddings: Caroline and Maurício

Caroline Akisch, a 37-year-old freelance journalist (who writes frequently for Toronto Life), and Maurício Yin Vieira, a 34-year-old market researcher, met on Hinge in 2019. She was in Toronto and he was in Niagara, and after dating long-distance for a year, they moved into Caroline’s apartment as a temporary arrangement that became permanent when the pandemic hit. In August of 2024, Maurício proposed on a trip to Brazil, where he grew up. With their families spread throughout Canada, Brazil and Croatia, the couple decided to tie the knot with two weddings—an intimate winter dinner at Canoe followed by a dance party in a Brazilian beach town two months later. Here’s how it all came together.

Caroline: In the spring of 2019, I approached dating with sheer pragmatism. Toronto is dense with great people, so I set my radius on Hinge to one kilometre. Maurício’s handsome profile said he lived downtown, and we started chatting about food, martial arts and sports.

Maurício: What Caroline didn’t realize was that I didn’t live in Toronto’s downtown—I was in St. Catharines, where I was finishing up my MBA at Brock. A few days earlier, I had gone to a TFC match and stayed near BMO Field, which had temporarily changed my location.

Caroline: We tried scheduling a date, but I was in the Caribbean, then Maurício was in Brazil. Finally, we arranged to meet the day he got back. He asked if he could bring his suitcases to my place, which struck me as odd. I suggested meeting up later so he’d have time to settle in.

Maurício: I told her we’d have to reschedule because it would take too long to get back from St. Catharines.

Caroline: I never would have dated a guy in Niagara! But, by that point, we were messaging constantly. He sent me a video of his backyard churrasco, and I sent one of me hauling up a lobster barehanded. We were clearly trying to impress each other, and I had a feeling that Maurício was special. So despite the distance and my hesitancy, I said yes to the suitcases.

Maurício: That night, Caroline took me around Kensington Market in the pouring rain. We had cardamom lattes at Fika, tostadas at El Rey and poke at a spot that’s since closed.

Caroline: Afterward, we went back to my place and made out. I was sold. We slid into a routine: either I’d drive out for the weekend or he’d take the 5 a.m. bus back to Niagara on Monday after spending the weekend with me.

Maurício: We’d squeeze five days of activities into two. One weekend in Niagara, I watched Caroline play rugby, we went peach-picking, we saw Shuffle Demons perform a rain dance at the Niagara Jazz Festival, then we capped things off with an epic charcuterie spread at my place.

Related: Inside a vibrant, summery wedding celebration at the Toronto Botanical Gardens

Caroline: That unbeatable early relationship energy fuelled us, and we fell for each other and our respective cities. Maurício got to experience Toronto through my eyes, and I got to know Niagara in a new way through him.

Maurício: After graduating, I landed a job with Ferrero Rocher in Toronto that started on March 1, 2020. Caroline offered to let me stay with her while I looked for my own place.

Caroline: Two weeks later, the world shut down, and we went from weekend novelties to full-time cohabitation.

Maurício: Everything was happening at once—new job, new city, new global crisis. Caroline had also just started a marketing company with a friend, and her workload was exhausting.

Caroline: But our relationship anchored us. About three months in, I said, “I guess we live together now?”

Maurício: Our Covid-hobby phase began. I’m a martial artist, and Caroline likes boxing, so we turned our rooftop into a training space.

Caroline: Lockdown love moves fast; two years felt like seven.

Maurício: Around 2023, we casually started referring to each other as “wife” and “husband”—we knew we were more than just girlfriend and boyfriend. We didn’t have a formal conversation about marriage, but I decided to take the next step and bought an engagement ring from Paul and Diamonds, an independent jeweller in São Paulo. I custom designed it over WhatsApp. All I knew was that I wanted an emerald, and I secretly photographed Caroline’s favourite rings to figure out the rest.

Caroline: In August of 2024, we visited Fernando de Noronha, a cluster of volcanic islands with dramatic craggy cliffs just off the northeast coast of Brazil that are commonly called “Brazil’s Galapagos.” Maurício spent time there as a child and had always wanted to take me snorkelling in its crystal-clear waters.

Maurício: I brought the ring on the trip, but I hadn’t planned out the proposal. On our second day, while we were enjoying a beer, something blew into my cornea and hijacked my plans.

Caroline: We had to make a trip to the island’s hospital.

Maurício: They froze my eye and poked around, and I thought the issue was resolved. But, when the anesthesia wore off, the pain came roaring back. I was devastated; I thought the proposal was ruined.

Caroline: I couldn’t understand why he was being so apologetic. I kept saying, “It’s fine! We’re in paradise!”

Maurício: Fernando de Noronha is the kind of place you might only visit once in your life, so I decided I had to propose the next day, red eye and all.

Caroline: We went to a gorgeous restaurant with a sunset view and live music. Maurício had an ice-cold bottle of Corona pressed gently to his eye.

Maurício: I tried to convince Caroline to visit a lookout point near our table, but she insisted on staying put, so I decided to propose right there. I said something like, “Things aren’t always going to be perfect, but at least you’re here by my side, and I can plan the rest with you,” and handed her a ring box.

Caroline: I opened it, overjoyed, but instead of a ring I found a little plastic whale.

Maurício: Years earlier, we started a joke where we hide a toy whale we found on the shores of Lake Ontario in each other’s stuff.

Caroline: I laughed—best hidden whale yet. Then Maurício brought out a second box, which held the real ring. I was surprised and overjoyed.

Maurício: We both cried quiet, happy tears. No one else in the restaurant noticed, which is great because neither of us like the spotlight.

Caroline: While Maurício was crying, whatever was stuck in his eye dislodged. Love literally cured him.

Maurício: With our friends and family scattered across continents, we knew we’d have two weddings.

Caroline: I never dreamed about a big, gushy wedding. I just wanted to throw a great party and stay within our budget. When we got back to Toronto, I learned that Canoe was running a winter wedding promotion. They were offering $200 per guest for passed canapés, a three-course meal, late-night stations, an open bar and a sparkling wine toast. The only date left was February 22, so we snagged it.

Maurício: We decided to piggyback our Brazil wedding onto an April trip we’d already planned for my friend’s wedding. We also had a month-long trip to Southeast Asia booked for January, which meant that we had to plan the two weddings around our travels.

Caroline: You could call us both Type A—we used Excel so much that Microsoft could have sponsored our wedding. We managed to get most of the Toronto celebration planned by Christmas, before leaving for Southeast Asia. We handled everything ourselves.

Maurício: The invitations came first, and the theme followed. We both love cliff jumping, so we had an illustration made of us doing it.

Caroline: We also wanted to honour the people we love, so we decided to hire lion dancers as a surprise for our guests and a nod to Maurício’s mom’s Chinese heritage. Card games were a staple of our daily lives during lockdown, so we commissioned a custom deck of Italian playing cards themed around our lives to hand out at both weddings.

Related: Inside a ballet power couple’s romantic bash at the Great Hall

Maurício: My last name means “scallop” in Portuguese, so scallops became the coin suit, and Caroline’s nickname in Croatian comes from “zucchini,” so zucchini blossoms were the baton suit.

Caroline: I originally wanted a dress for each wedding, but I ultimately decided on one dress for both to keep costs down. First, I ordered a dress from an online store that recreates designer styles, but instead of an elegant dupe, the company sent photos of what looked like a discounted renaissance fair dress. Then I came across David’s Bridal in Mississauga, where I found a white floor-length halter dress with a lace back that fit me perfectly for $300. My seamstress friends worked magic on it and made the polyester look like custom couture.

Maurício: While we were in Southeast Asia, Caroline planned for me to get custom-made suits in Bangkok. I got a classic black tux for Canoe and a dark-green silk and linen suit with a yellow tie for Brazil.

Caroline: Leading up to our Canoe wedding, our living room became a DIY floral arrangement assembly line of deconstructed Costco bouquets and a Facebook-sourced wedding arch.

Maurício: On the day of, our friends unpacked our supplies at the venue while we got ready separately at the Royal York Hotel.

Caroline: Since we had our spreadsheets and extremely competent friends helping out, I was able to put my phone away and let our photographer, Inna Krochek, capture us in the glow of it all. Before heading to Canoe, I noticed that the Royal York still had their Valentine’s Day decor up, including a giant floral arch in the lobby. We snapped a few photos under it, and everyone thought it was part of our wedding set-up.

Maurício: It snowed a ton that week—like two metres’ worth—so we decided to walk from the hotel through the city’s fairy tale snow globe. Some teens spotted us and gave us high-fives, shouting, “Are you getting married? That’s awesome!”

Caroline: Our friend and her newborn were bringing the rings, but they got lost in the Path. Before the ceremony, the officiant, modern nun Charity Adams, asked, “Where are the rings?” and I said, “They’re with the girl with the baby.” She just stared at me.

Maurício: They showed up in the nick of time, but the rings didn’t fit. My parents had brought them from Brazil, so we hadn’t tried them on.

Caroline: But we didn’t have time to worry about it. Despite the chaos of guests shuffling in late due to the weather, what I remember most is picking a piece of lint off Maurício’s jacket and sharing a quick kiss before we walked in—a quiet, grounding beat just for us. I don’t remember anyone else in the crowd; I zeroed in on Maurício and the feeling of love surrounding us.

Maurício: It finally sunk in for me too. I was overcome with the knowledge that we were about to become husband and wife.

Caroline: One of my oldest friends, Darcy Streitenfeld, who’s an incredible jazz singer, sang our processional song—Cat Power’s cover of “Sea of Love.” Then we read the vows we’d written.

Maurício: Caroline had laced red thread around my boutonnière and her bouquet, which was a nod to the Chinese legend of the red string of fate that symbolizes two destined lovers.

Caroline: The idea is that we’re meant to be connected across time and space by a thread that may tangle but will never break. It hit us both. I whispered to Mauricio, “Don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry.”

Maurício: Darcy sang us out into the dining room with “Fly Me to the Moon” for cocktails and canapés. As the city lights glowed through the big windows, the night became more and more magical. I couldn’t wait to dive into the Canadiana menu. It started with hearty French onion soup followed by a choice of Atlantic salmon with asparagus, pork chops with dainty onion rings or grilled flat-iron steak with creamed onions. I used my special groom privileges to order two mains, but Caroline and I were too wired to eat anything.

Caroline: At 9:15 p.m., we surprised everyone with the lion dancers.

Maurício: My mom was touched. It meant a lot to both of us to include elements of each other’s cultures.

Caroline: The rest of the night was filled with dancing. I play rugby, so my girls picked me up and swung me around the dance floor. Instead of a traditional bouquet toss, I did a “lip sync for your life” contest to Céline Dion. But, in the end, I just hurled my bouquet into the crowd and the hands of a 70-year-old friend of my father’s.

Maurício: We watched old friends reconnect, and seeing my friends from home in my new world exceeded anything I could have imagined.

Caroline: The staff had to pry Maurício and me off the dance floor. Afterward, we walked back to our hotel through the Path. The next morning, we had dim sum at Pearl with both of our families. We didn’t have a reservation, but we managed to snag the biggest table.

Maurício: Kismet tends to follow us around.

Caroline: We had two months to recharge, then it was time for round two. Our second wedding was happening a week after our friend’s Brazil wedding, in a beach town called Barra Do Sahy, just outside of São Paulo, that Maurício grew up visiting.

Maurício: We had a planner this time, and my mom was a huge help. She took the lead, but we still had many decisions to make via endless WhatsApp chats. In Brazil, every element has a separate contract.

Caroline: The location came with its own complexities. Not only were we planning a wedding remotely, but it wasn’t even in a major city, so we also had to play travel agents.

Maurício: It felt like planning a 95-person retreat. The guest list only had a bit of overlap, with about 20 guests attending both. The Canadians were set to fly in on Thursday for a barbecue, the rehearsal dinner and wedding set-up on Friday, the wedding on Saturday and a special day trip on Sunday. We housed 26 of our guests in three cliffside Airbnbs that were connected to the beach by a winding staircase.

Caroline: For the reception, we rented a restaurant 400 metres from the ocean with a river flowing beside it.

Maurício: The forecast was calling for rain, but we were begging for clear skies. If it rained, we’d have to shell out $6,000 for a rain cover.

Caroline: Maurício’s mom left eggs on her windowsill every night leading up to the wedding as an offering to Santa Clara, the saint who’s said to bring clear skies.

Maurício: And it worked! Friday, Sunday and Monday were pouring, but the day of our wedding was perfect.

Caroline: I’d asked the florist to make my bridal party flower crowns, but they came out a little cultish. My friends leaned into the Midsommar vibe, but I tramped to the edge of the mangrove to pick flowers and build a new bouquet. I wore earrings from Croatia as a nod to my heritage.

Maurício: Our Canadian friend Emaan El-Houni and our Brazilian friend João Paulo Biselli Sauaia officiated. We gave them some guidelines, but they mostly spoke from the heart.

Caroline: I read my vows in shaky Portuguese. Writing and delivering an emotional speech in a second language is hard, but I wanted to show my love not just for Maurício but for his family, community and culture.

Maurício: I wrote mine in Portuguese too, and even though it’s my first language, I found it more difficult than writing in English. When we had our rings resized, we engraved a secret message inside each other’s bands that we’d see for the first time at the ceremony.

Caroline: I engraved “O amor é o nosso norte,” meaning “Love is our north,” on Maurício’s ring. It’s a simple reminder that love is our compass.

Maurício: I engraved “Presence and Gratitude” in Portuguese on Caroline’s wedding band and in English on her engagement ring. In Southeast Asia, we learned that each day of the week has a corresponding Buddha. Even though we share a birthday, we were born in different years, so we have different Buddhas. Mine represents presence, and Caroline’s represents gratitude. We kept seeing those two Buddhas side-by-side, and it formed a metaphor for our marriage.

Caroline: After the ceremony, we snuck upstairs for a quiet moment. Our wedding planner brought us samples of the menu, sparkling wine and fresh coconut water. This time we were actually able to eat.

Maurício: When we entered the reception, Caroline sabred a bottle of champagne with a giant barbecue knife because we’d forgotten to bring my grandfather’s machete. The space had giant jackfruit trees and monstera leaves, and we decorated it with orchids, ginger flowers and hanging candles.

Caroline: Buffets are common at Brazilian weddings, so we started with a massive salad buffet of cheeses, meats and carpaccio, plus all of our favourites like casquinhas de siri (baked crab gratins in shells), crispy bolinhos de risoto and bolinhos de carne (similar to dumplings). Later we passed around bobó de camarão (a creamy Bahian shrimp stew with coconut milk) and arroz cremoso (a rich mushroom and parmesan rice), but the Canadians had filled up on the buffet, not realizing how much was still to come.

Maurício: The planner gave us one directive: don’t leave the dance floor. The band, Júnior Castro, played festive Brazilian party songs all night, and we danced for hours. Our open bar was stocked with 100 fresh coconuts, which our guests demolished. For boozy options, we had passion fruit, lime and pineapple caipirinhas.

Caroline: The next morning, caterers made breakfast and a light lunch for our guests. We capped the day off with a boat trip to a nearby island, then came back to the houses for a barbecue, where we polished off the remaining keg, wine and about 13 kilos of meat—ribs, picanha and sausages—from the wedding.

Maurício: Being married, our love has stayed the same—steady and playful—but our two worlds feel more interconnected. We’re a multi-continental, bi-cultural couple, and having our friends and families mesh into one community has been a highlight.

Caroline: The best thing we built wasn’t the two weddings but a whole world around them.

Cheat Sheet

Canadian wedding

Date: February 22, 2025 Photography: Inna Krochek Venue and caterer: Canoe Dessert: Canoe and Cannoli Queens Party favours: Custom 40-card deck of Italian playing cards designed by Caroline and Maurício, printed in China Florals: Costco, Caroline and friends Bride’s dress: David’s Bridal, alterations by Lise Godel Bride’s shoes: Naturalizer Groom’s tux: Best Tailor Bangkok, Signature’s Collection Groom’s shoes: Lancio (purchased from Tom’s Place) Rings: Paul and Diamonds (Brazil) Bride’s hair: Duyen Huynh Groom’s hair: John Steinberg Makeup: Angela Lee DJ: KoolTemp Officiant: Charity Adams

Brazilian wedding

Date: April 26, 2025 Photography: Diogo Massarelli (@diogo_massarelli) Venue and caterer: Casa Hüls I Backÿard Planner: Sabrina Cristina Quirino Dessert: Lizandra Figueiroa de Andrade Invitations: Lado 9 Florals: Michele Elisa Fernandes Couto Decor: Michele Elisa Fernandes Couto Bride’s dress: David’s Bridal, lace additions by Emaan El-Houni Bride’s shoes: Naturalizer Groom’s suit: Best Tailor Bangkok, Signature’s Collection Groom’s shoes: Costco Rings: Paul and Diamonds (Brazil) Hair: Sergio Di Vicentin Makeup: Sergio Di Vicentin DJ: DJ Beto Band: Júnior Castro Officiants: Emaan El-Houni and João Paulo Biselli Sauaia