Win Your Wedding competition winners

Our competition winners were such a super couple and even after 30 years, it was obvious to all who met them that they simply adore each other! There is an amazing story to tell about why and how they entered the competition. Beautiful photos from their special day and more from their travels after (their mini honeymoon, if you like!)

It was as if they were meant to win as we had contacted 5 couples prior to them, who had either not responded back to us or who were unable to take the prize. (Not as simple as you'd think running a Win Your Wedding competition!)

Let's begin by introducing them - Alex & Sue Leach from Whitley Bay.

They have four grown children and two grandsons. They had been to Canada once before to see their son skate (that's as Sue first gave me the information, but more about this later) and I'm guessing this photo was taken there.

When they had been married for 25 years, Sue was sick and so Alex promised when she was better, they would do something REALLY special for their next milestone at 30 years. Obviously a man of his word, he enters our competition to try and win. And win, they did. To be perfectly honest, I'd all but given up on getting a winning couple having had FIVE, yes FIVE, couples either not responding or unable to take the prize for one reason or another. I was about to contact Air Transat with whom we had then flights booked to see if by any chance, the dates could be changed. As I scrolled through the Win Your Wedding at Valley Croft email inbox, the mouse seemed to want to stay highlighting an entry so I thought I'd give it one last chance. Off went the email and within 5 minutes, there was one very excited gentleman on the phone asking if it was true? Had they won? Really, had they won? And yes, they had! To be honest I was as excited as he was because I'd almost given up on anyone wanting to claim the prize. And that was just the beginning ..... many emails later, I finally met my prize winners in Toronto.

Sue has volunteered to help write "the story" and the next blog post will be from her.

Some referrals

I'm not usually one to big up myself but it occurred to me that some of you looking here might like to know what past couples have said about Maple Leaf Weddings and the job we do.

So here goes .....

“We both felt that you did over and above what was required of you which is why the wedding was so good. You were incredibly approachable, ….. “

Jodie & Martyn

"It was such an amazing day and was more than we could have hoped for and was made so stress free by your preparation and planning that accounted for all our needs and the children's to. Your attention to detail and personal touches really set the bar high. The photography was amazing and we couldn't of asked for more."

                                                                                                                                                           Becki & Glen

"Maple Leaf Weddings are awesome. Really helpful, went above and beyond to ensure we had as little stress as possible but the best possible time... absolutely would recommend these guys."

Amanda & Emma

"What a wonderful Winter Wonderland Wedding we had in Canada, it's was just great, and was all made possible by Maple Leaf Weddings. We cannot rate them high enough. Pennie, our Wedding Planner, took care of everything, from arranging the whole wedding including taking care of our Marriage certificate, buttonholes, choice of music, limousine and arranging a wonderful Reverend who married us in the most beautiful setting imaginable. A huge thank you to Maple Leaf Weddings, and Pennie for providing such an excellent fun and friendly service. "

Paul & Mike

As you can see, there is quite a variation in the type of wedding you can have - a winter wonderland through to sunny skies! The temperature for the winter weddings, both in February but a  year apart, was somewhere around -14.5 °C and for the summer wedding it was about +37.4°C so really two extremes. The ladies who were married in May had a much more comfortable 22.4 °C. But whatever, the temperatures, Maple Leaf Weddings will rise to the occasion and make your dream, a reality.