Patrick & Emilie

Our Story

Hi! I'm Patrick, and my beautiful fiancée is Emilie. We met in January 2021, at the height of the pandemic, while playing online Survivor-style games over Skype. What began as a friendship and in-game alliance quickly grew into something more. Emilie was living in Niagara Falls and I was in Ottawa, so our relationship required commitment from the start. Twice-weekly virtual dates during lockdowns eventually became monthly visits, with countless kilometres travelled to spend time together. Work schedules often meant late-night drives and weekends that felt far too short, but every visit reinforced that what we were building was worth the effort.

In 2023, I moved to Carleton Place, with Emilie joining me soon after. It didn't take long for us to fall in love with the community. Through everyday moments... workouts at Heritage Fitness, coffee dates at Dark & Deadly and Foundry, walks along the Mississippi River, friendly conversations with neighbours and local business owners... we found a place that felt like home. Carleton Place offers something special: a welcoming community, a slower pace and a place where building a future together felt (and feels) possible.

Just as our connection to Carleton Place continued to grow, so did our relationship. On August 7, 2025, I proposed in a field of sunflowers, Emilie's favourite flower, and luckily for me she said yes. Since then, we've been planning the next chapter of our lives together.

Winning this contest would give us the opportunity to celebrate our wedding in the community that has welcomed us so warmly and become such an important part of our story. We built our relationship across hundreds of kilometres, but we built our life in Carleton Place.