Real Weddings: Jordy and Dan

Jordy Mincer, a 29-year-old branding specialist, and Dan Segal, a 29-year-old investment analyst, have a homegrown love story straight out of a Hallmark movie. The couple played on the same kids’ hockey team when they were eight, then reunited in Grade 11 over their shared love of adventure. They studied at Western University together, then endured four years of long-distance across New York, Australia and San Francisco. In the summer of 2024, Dan devised an elaborate proposal at his family’s cottage in Muskoka. The pair threw a 270-guest wedding at the Toronto Reference Library in November of 2025, including a traditional Jewish ceremony, a narrowly avoided elevator mishap and a dance party that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. Here’s how it all came together.

Jordy: Dan and I have known each other just about our whole lives. We both grew up in Toronto—I was in North York, and Dan was in Thornhill. As eight-year-olds, we played on the same children’s hockey team, the Avenue Road Ducks.

Dan: We also went to different campuses of the same Jewish high school, but our paths didn’t cross again until Grade 11.

Jordy: We were sixteen and hanging out at a mutual friend’s house. At that age, you don’t do your own romantic bidding. Your people tell their people that you both like each other. That happened, and suddenly we were dating.

Dan: On our first real date, we went to a Leafs game. Jordy’s friend was a few rows behind us. She was texting Jordy the whole time with commentary on how she thought our date was going.

Jordy: Afterward, my mom picked me up at the subway stop near our house—that’s how high school it was.

Dan: I loved that we were both into fun activities. In those early days, we also did the EdgeWalk at the CN Tower together.

Jordy: I fell for Dan because he was just as academic as he was athletic. So many guys are just one or the other. I appreciated that he was up for adventure, but he was driven too. Over winter break, we both went on vacation with our respective families.

Dan: I was in Mexico, and Jordy was in the Dominican Republic. Neither of our hotels had solid Wi-Fi, so we were constantly running out to the hotel lobbies trying to get better service to text each other.

Jordy: Our families were definitely suspicious. Later that summer, we worked as counsellors at different summer camps. Couples would often break off their relationships before going away to camp—summer romance with someone new was a real possibility—but we decided to stay exclusive.

Dan: Similarly, a lot of couples decided to part ways before university, but we both got into Western and stayed together. We were lucky—our relationship was smooth sailing for all four years. After graduating in 2019, I landed my dream job at an investment bank in Manhattan. I had always dreamed of working in finance in New York.

Jordy: At the same time, I got into an academic exchange in Australia.

Dan: We’d been together for so long that we felt like we’d have no problem doing long distance for a few years.

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Jordy: When Covid hit, the academic program in Australia was cancelled, so I spent three months travelling around the Gold Coast of Australia, New Zealand and Bali. Then I came home to Toronto and started working for my family’s ice cream store, Booyah. A few years later, I landed a corporate job as an assistant brand manager for a multinational pet product manufacturer.

Dan: After two years in New York, I got offered a contract in San Francisco.

Jordy: It was another incredible opportunity, but he told me that he wouldn’t take it if he thought it would strain our relationship. I wasn’t worried at all. If anything, I was excited to have a free place to crash in California.

Dan: We are obsessed with walking and food, so San Francisco was a great fit. Whenever Jordy visited, we would hike up one of the biggest hills in the city just so we could get pastries at this amazing bakery at the top called B. Patisserie.

Jordy: Because it was Covid and I was working remotely, I had a lot of flexibility to work from the US. I’d visit Dan in San Francisco for two weeks here, six weeks there, and I maxed out all of my vacation time there. We did tons of weekend trips while I was there. One long weekend, we drove around the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping for many snacks along the way.

Dan: Jordy really settled into San Francisco. When our local coffee shop found out I was planning to move back to Toronto, they gave her a huge bag of coffee to take back.

Jordy: Toronto is home. Living together for long stretches gave us a good taste of what it would be like to live together. We both knew we wanted to be downtown, so in the spring of 2023, we moved into a two-bedroom apartment in the Entertainment District. After over a decade of dating, we were so happy to finally have a place that was both of ours.

Dan: We both come from big families—two siblings each and many aunts and uncles. Family traditions have always meant a lot to us, so we assumed in an unspoken way that we’d have a traditional Jewish wedding surrounded by the people we love most.

Jordy: Even though it was something our families were expecting, we wanted the romantic eternal pledge for ourselves too. So when we moved in together, I started putting on the pressure. Our 2025 calendar already had 15 weddings in it, and I knew we needed to get things moving if we were going to secure a good wedding date. On the weekends, we’d walk to our favourite coffee shop, Neo on Spadina, for a coffee and a pastry, and I’d joke that my ring finger was looking pretty empty.

Dan: When it came to the proposal, Jordy had several requirements—she wanted to be surprised, she wanted her family to be there and she wanted a photographer. She also wanted to be involved with the wedding ring, which naturally made surprising her tricky. I had to stage a full-on deception campaign for the proposal to try to catch her off guard. I started organizing it in 2024.

Jordy: A tall order, I know. I was dropping hints by sending dream rings to my sister-in-law over Instagram. I wanted a thin band with an elongated cushion-shaped diamond.

Dan: In July, I threw Jordy off the scent by mentioning that the ring she wanted wouldn’t be ready for a long time. But, secretly, I had commissioned Greene Avenue Jewellers to make it.

Jordy: For the August long weekend, we planned to visit Dan’s family cottage in Muskoka. We’d been going up regularly for years, and I didn’t think this visit would be any different.

Dan: I had arranged for both of our families to be at the cottage. My sister even flew up from New York. The morning of the proposal, they had to wait down the street to keep everything a secret.

Jordy: We normally share our locations, so everyone in my family had to turn off their cell service. Only my brother was allowed to use GPS to navigate.

Dan: There’s a nature path that ends in a platform overlooking a lagoon about two kilometres away, so I planned for it to happen after a hike. I hired a Muskoka elopement photographer, who agreed to wait in the forest and photograph us.

Jordy: I was having a slower-than-usual start to the day that morning, but Dan was antsy to get out for a walk.

Dan: Jordy was taking her sweet time with a puzzle. She kept saying, “Just five more pieces.”

Jordy: Eventually I gave in, but I was going to walk in my pyjamas. Dan hinted that I should get dressed. I didn’t catch on, but in retrospect it’s funny to think that he was suggesting what I should wear.

Dan: We almost didn’t make it onto the trail—Jordy was convinced that she would get too many mosquito bites. Plus, she was suspicious of the photographer’s truck. I had to lie and say it was a normal maintenance vehicle.

Jordy: When we finally got to the platform overlooking the lagoon, Dan started saying how happy he was that we were best friends and that he wanted us to be best friends for the rest of our lives. That’s when I knew it was happening.

Dan: I almost got through everything I’d prepared, but when I saw the photographer pop out of the woods, I skipped ahead to, “Will you marry me?”

Jordy: After I said yes and we hugged, I immediately asked, “Where’s my family?” Right then, I saw their car driving by at the edge of the woods. The timing worked so perfectly.

Dan: When we got back to the cottage, our families were thrilled. Everyone knew except for my grandmother. Let’s just say it’s easy for her to let family details slip, so I couldn’t risk her spoiling the surprise. She was hysterically upset with us for leaving her out of the bit, but we got to relive the sweetness of the proposal by explaining to her what was going on.

Jordy: There was a lot of love in the air the rest of the weekend.

Dan: Ten days later, we had a big engagement party—quick turnaround on that one.

Jordy: Then it felt like a mad dash to secure our wedding date and venue. I couldn’t settle into the joy of being engaged until we had that locked in.

Dan: Because we had RSVP’d to so many weddings, there were only three dates left in 2025 that wouldn’t overlap with our friends. First we chose Labour Day weekend and started looking at venues that could accommodate our over-200-person guest list. We wanted outdoor space and somewhere with a strong sense of character.

Jordy: With that big of a guest list, it’s hard to find places that aren’t banquet halls. But we held out for a space with a cool story. We were considering Casa Loma—it’s so romantic—but it was already booked, and so was everything else.

Dan: We pivoted to one of the other open dates, November 8. We inquired at the ROM, but they were under construction. It felt like everywhere we wanted was under construction. Typical Toronto.

Jordy: Then we realized that our cool venue was just up the street—the Toronto Reference Library.

Dan: We were immediately drawn to its iconic architecture. There’s no other building like it.

Jordy: Plus, it had multiple floors, so we didn’t have to clear anyone out for a room flip.

Dan: Then we moved on to the fun parts of planning.

Jordy: I tried on over 250 dresses. Because I’m short, the proportions of formalwear often look strange on my body. I was struggling. Then, on a trip to Miami with my mom and sister in January of 2025, I found my dream dress—a trumpet dress with a sweetheart neckline—but the designer’s line wasn’t available in Canada. That broke my heart. Instead, I decided to go the custom route with a great designer, Tomé, who was recommended to me. I gave him a full mood board, including photos of the Miami dress. I didn’t know what the dress would look like until six weeks before the wedding. He used a heavyweight Mikado silk and crafted an intricate bustle for the train that wrapped elegantly into a rose shape.

Dan: My tux was a simpler affair—I tried on way fewer than 250. Jordy asked me to wear navy because she likes the way it brings out my eyes. With the help of a great associate at Harry Rosen named Christopher Stephen, I found a navy-blue Zegna tux.

Jordy: My dress designer also made me a second look for the party afterward. I told him I wanted a fun two-piece set that was a little different. He created a top with a lace overlay and flowers hanging over it and a mini skirt with a scalloped hem.

Dan: When our big day in November came, we both stayed at the W Hotel the night before.

Jordy: There’s no way I slept for more than a few hours. I got up early with my bridal party of 15 women—it felt like a big sleepover.

Dan: I slept in until about 10, then had brunch at the W’s rooftop restaurant with my parents and brother. Around noon, I started getting ready, then we had our first look around 1 p.m.

Jordy: I started getting anxious an hour before the first look. I just wanted to see Dan. When I saw him, he looked so handsome, and all of my stress faded away. We gave each other first-look cards and gifts. Dan gave me some lovely diamond stud earrings and, in his card, talked about how excited he was to marry me.

Dan: Jordy made a picture book of different stages of our relationship. She also got me a white Liverpool jersey—my favourite team—that I ended up donning much later that night.

Jordy: The library was open to the public until 5 p.m., so we headed over around 5:30 for portraits with our wedding parties and families. Our ceremony started later, at 7 p.m.

Dan: The Toronto Reference Library has these mod glass elevators, so instead of walking down an 85-foot aisle, we lit the elevator with a spotlight and had Jordy descend from the top floor into the foyer. The elevator stalled for about ten seconds, and it felt like time stopped as we waited for her to lower. I’m not a religious person, but I literally started praying that the elevator would start moving. I didn’t want some mechanical issue to mess up the ceremony.

Jordy: When I eventually reached the foyer, everyone was sighing and wiping their brows. My family are such criers, so I was expecting them to get emotional, but everyone was just smiling out of relief.

Dan: Jordy knew our rabbi, Adam Cutler, from her childhood synagogue. After he led us through the signing of our marriage contracts, we followed our three grandmothers and wedding party down the aisle to the chuppah, an ethereal fluted white structure flanked by huge cream-coloured bouquets.

Jordy: Live singing was a non-negotiable for both of our moms, so we had one formal singer accompanying us with the rabbi to traditional wedding songs. Another Jewish tradition involves the bride walking around the groom seven times, which made me surprisingly dizzy. After four circles, I was certain I had done them all, and everyone was playfully yelling at me to keep going.

Dan: Our friends started grabbing hands and singing and dancing in the audience. It was so much more light-hearted than I expected.

Jordy: We figured people would be hungry by that point, so we went big on the hors d’oeuvres during the cocktail hour upstairs. In addition to canapés, we had boxes of noodles and a burrata bar.

Dan: There were five cocktails on offer, two of which were signature drinks: a fruity and floral vodka sour for Jordy and a spicy margarita for me.

Jordy: During planning, Dan and I disagreed about live music. I didn’t want a band because I didn’t want guests to feel like they had to face a stage and watch a performance. We compromised by having soloists play from various positions in the crowd. It ended up being so fun. The musicians were really soulful, dancing around. They got everyone dancing.

Dan: The reception was in the library’s Appel Salon, and it had been transformed into a dark and moody dining room surrounded by lush greenery with a vinyl checkerboard dance floor in the middle.

Jordy: We didn’t want a traditional sit-down dinner where guests were bound to their seats. We also didn’t want to serve just one type of cuisine, so we set up stations all around the dance floor: salad and veggies, sushi rolls, pasta, tacos, miso cod, and phyllo-wrapped mushrooms. Dan and I didn’t really have time to eat anything—but it was such a food-centric wedding.

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Dan: Our brothers co-emceed. Jordy’s mom gave a legendary speech. We were running behind, so we asked her to speed things up. When she got to the mic, she started comically throwing her papers and pretending to rush through her notes.

Jordy: We kept the end of our speeches secret from each other leading up to the wedding. Turns out Dan had collected all of the cards we’d exchanged over the last 12 years.

Dan: I read from a card I’d written Jordy on her 18th birthday. It had a list of “all the things I like about you,” and it was all still so true.

Jordy: As the party ramped up, our friends hit the dance floor. We had a post-dinner bagel bar with schmears and accoutrements from the Bagel House, pickles on a stick—I’m obsessed with pickles—and an ice cream sandwich set-up from Booyah. We also handed out alcoholic freezies.

Dan: It got lively but never tipped into bad behaviour. We did the hora on two giant inflatable pool toys—a horse and a bull. It lasted 25 minutes. The crowd tossed around all sorts of props, like toy seagulls in honour of my last name, while we were hoisted about.

Jordy: Dan’s lanky friend also got picked up by two friends, and Dan jumped back and forth over him like a human skipping rope.

Dan: And there was a teetering human pyramid at one point.

Jordy: My cousin was showing everyone that she could do the splits.

Dan: Even our grandmothers stayed until the staff turned the lights on around 2:30 a.m.

Jordy: We hadn’t had quite enough by that point, so we brought about 60 people back to our hotel suite for an after-party with the leftover bottles, which went until 5 a.m. It was so loud that the hotel threatened to kick us out.

Dan: We ordered McDonald’s and pizza to the hotel, which saved us for the next morning, when we had breakfast plans with our families. We were total zombies. But happy zombies.

Jordy: Marriage feels the same as being in a long-term relationship, but it was a lovely excuse to get our friends and family together for a great party.

Dan: When we went on our honeymoon, a trek around South America, the chapter of getting married felt complete. I never got used to saying fiancée while we were engaged, but calling Jordy my wife feels more natural. It’s a bit of a new adventure in itself.

Cheat Sheet

Wedding date: November 8, 2025 Venue: Toronto Reference Library Planning: Gillian Kideckel, Events by G Catering: Encore Catering Mixology: CD Bartending Photography: Barb Simkova Videography: Big Ticket Productions Florals: Nymph Florals Entertainment: Main Event Music Chuppah: Applewood Design Stationery: EH Invitations Vinyl: Axe Media Furniture rentals: Divine Furniture Draping: Element Event Solutions Hair: Bridal Hair Toronto Makeup: Lily Ho Rings: Greene Avenue Jewellers Jordy’s dress and second outfit: Tomé Dan’s suit: Harry Rosen