Win Your Wedding

WIN YOUR WEDDING

small town | BIG DAY | WIN YOUR WEDDING & mini moon

Meet the Couples & Vote for the Winner

Dreaming of an intimate wedding that feels romantic, meaningful, and truly unforgettable?

Downtown Carleton Place BIA and WOW FM are pleased to announce your chance to win a storybook riverside small-town wedding in the heart of Carleton Place — complete with a curated celebration and mini-moon experience full of local and memorable experiences

Meet the Couples | Cast your Vote

We appreciate your participation!

Displaying 1 – 10 of 10

Shawn & Vladyslava

Engaged 4 years together

Four years ago, my life took a turn I never expected.

I was working for Bell Canada and had been temporarily transferred from Windsor to Ottawa. I was working long, demanding days—12-hour shifts, seven days a week—living out of a hotel in Kanata, focused entirely on work and routine.

One day, I was dispatched to Carleton Place for an internet fibre installation. That call would change everything.

When I first contacted Vlada, she explained she couldn’t be home for the appointment. I told her I would have to return the job to the system, which usually meant she wouldn’t see a technician again for a few days. She understood, even though she urgently needed her internet service.

I moved on to my next assignment in Ottawa.

But later that same day, something unusual happened—the same job came back to my board.

I called her again, just to confirm. This time, she was available. You could hear the relief and excitement in her voice. She needed the service, and the timing finally worked.

When I arrived at her home in Carleton Place, I walked her through the installation. To bring the fibre line inside, I had to drill through the exterior wall. But as I did, the interior plaster around the window frame gave way and collapsed badly.

Everything stopped in that moment.

I called her in immediately and showed her what had happened. I told her clearly—I would take responsibility and make it right.

After that, I expected it to be handled through normal channels. But a week later, I followed up to see if repairs had been completed. She told me she couldn’t find anyone willing to fix it.

At that time, I was already working extremely long shifts—finishing late at night, staying in Kanata, and still covering jobs across Ottawa. But even with that workload, I made a decision: I would help her myself.

After finishing my shifts, I would clean up, drive the 25 minutes to Carleton Place, and spend my evenings repairing what had been damaged.

What started as a service call slowly became something more.

During those visits, we talked. We laughed. We got to know each other. I met her daughter, and over time, what began as a mistake turned into trust, connection, and genuine care.

Vlada had come to Canada from Ukraine to start over because of the war. She was rebuilding her life from the ground up, trying to create stability and a future for her and her daughter.

And somehow, in the middle of all of that… we found each other.

Our first real date was simple but unforgettable—we went for shawarma on Bridge Street in Carleton Place, then walked along the river together. That night ended with our first kiss.

Eventually, I transferred permanently to Carleton Place. I left the constant travel behind, and we built our life together.

We’ve now been living on Victoria Street in Carleton Place for four years, raising our family and building something real, steady, and full of love.

I even kept pieces of that broken wall. Later, I turned them into a heart-shaped necklace that I gave her on our anniversary—a reminder of where everything began.

Winning this would became the final chapter that turned Carleton Place into our true love story.

Emerald & Keith

Engaged 8 years together

Keith and I met summer of 2018 at Bluesfest. I bumped into a friend who was dating (now married) to Keith’s brother and ever since then Keith and I have been inseparable. We now have 2 dogs, a beagle and a walker hound, 2 white bengals and our beautiful 5 month old girl Lainey. Keith proposed at our gender reveal in July so that we could have all of our closest friends and family there. For the last 8 years we have been by each others side through every event. High school and college graduation, job loss due to COVID, family health issues, COVID and we wouldn’t want to spend our days without anyone else but each other. Keith works long hours every day and winning this would mean everything to us so we could have our happy little wedding.

Rebecca & Joshua

Engaged 2 years together

We met on March 25, 2024, it was a Saturday evening and we both went to the Thirsty Moose for after work munchies and a drink with a friend. We all were seated at the bar and from where Joshua was sitting he had a direct line of sight to Rebecca. It was golden hour and Rebecca was glowing. When she went to the bathroom he engaged with her friend in conversation, “how does one obtain a boating license?!”. Upon her return they all kept chatting and they quickly realized that they both have a joy for dad jokes. Joshua has a lot of them to tell! After eating, drinking and laughing we all decided to head to Final Score to sing karaoke. Joshua sang Ice Ice Baby, Rebecca sang Stop by the Spice Girls, and then she asked him to sing a duet together. At the end of the evening Joshua gave Rebecca his phone number, she wasted no time and texted him the very next day.

This is where our story began, and we continue to choose
one another every day. We feel free to be ourselves around each other. We sing and dance like no one is watching. In the two years we have been together we have had so many experiences that have helped us grow as individuals and as a couple. We encourage each
other to try new things and don’t hold each other back.

We are each others person, I hope everyone else finds their person.

Hannah & Joshua

Engaged 10 years together

Growing up Josh was friends with my brother. Over the years we lost touch but as adults we reconnected. After our third date I remember feeling like we have been together for years! Our love for one another came so naturally. 10 years later we have two beautiful girls, sparks still fly and still much love! We got engaged 5 years ago next to the beautiful rapids in Perth. We are so blessed to have the family we have built, and would be so grateful to be able to take the next step and tie the knot to focus on celebrating our love for one another and continue our love story!

Patrick & Emilie

Engaged 5 years together

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.

Kristin & Cole

Engaged 4 years together

Seemingly enough the tim hortons 'curse' got us. I work at the local tim hortons and the deal with alot of the long time girls there is they have met their husbands at tims. 5 years go, cole used to come threw the drive threw in his loud desiel truck and it was so frustrating trying to hear is order and even the order behind him. I calle him out one day (jokingly). I asked him what are you gonna do if I forget your order (large regular) and give you the wrong coffee cause I can't hear you over your truck. We had a giggle. The next day and from there on after he always come inside. We ended up striking small talk and became really good friends, also figuring out we met each other when we were younger. We ended up creating a cool bond and friendship over our separations. I (8 months prior) finally left a 10 year very abusive and addiction fueled relationship. Got clean and sober and left the guy. One of the most difficult things someone can go threw, im very happy I had the support of my family amd my co workers/bosses. He was in the process of leaving his situation as it was becoming toxic for his kids. Sometimes someone just needs support and someone to talk to. After a year and a half, it seemingly ended up being that we were together every time either of us didnt have our kids with us amd just naturally something had formed. It was blissful, it was heaven, we introduced our kids eventually and they bonded instantly. It was truly memt to be. Not realizing tho that neither of us had let out wounds from the pervious relationship heal. About a year ago, we separated for just under 6 months. We thought we were putting our kids first cause we didnt want to be toxic for them. My son who was 13 at the time was hiding it very well but was actually devastated. He didnt have a good relationship with his father and had not seen him in over a year at that point, and had a great bond with Cole. After about a month, Cole messaged me just checking in and asking how to do groceries for the boys. He came to realize he was spending way to much and didnt really know how to budget for groceries. Of course because I came to love his 2 boys as my own and wanted the best for them, I helped. It ended up being that every friday after work we would meet at freshco and do our shopping together. As we were both trying to live life on our own, it ended up being that we just couldn't stay away from each other. Around March last year as of course I ended up not being able to hide my feelings I decided it was best that I separate my self fully from him cause I was having a hard time not loving him but not being able to move on. I explained this to him and he hid his emotions very well and respected my wishes. That following may, on mother's day to be precise, I received a text from him, first time since March. He wished me a wonderful mother's day and all the happiness In the world. Outta left field he said im in carleton place, the kids are at a birthday party come have coffee with me id love to see you. I was over static. Of course I wanted to see this man, even tho it was my choice to not communicate, I had missed our conversations, everything. I grabbed coffee and met with him. It was a lil awkward at first, I could tell he had something on his mind but wasn't saying anything, so I called him out. He then proceeded to confess his love for me, telling me how much he missed me, the kids missed me, he was an idiot for letting me and my son go. He poured his heart out to me (which was not like him, he was raised men keep feelings to themselves). He said he was going to marry me (even tho we both agreed years prior to never marry, just live as a blended family). The deal was sealed, we decided to take it slow. We moved back in together, the kids were happy, we were happy. We are both horror nuts. I had been waiting since Christmas for the love of my life to hand me a ring and say marry me. I was done waiting. I found a couple set of rings that suited both of us and after a crazy day with the kids, school, homework, hockey arena dinner and everything in between, friday February 13th after the kids went to bed, we went out for a smoke before turning our selves in I read a lil notes speech on My phone and I didnt even get to finish and he interrupted and said im so sorry I didnt get around to this earlier of course ill marry you!!! And here we are.

Let me note that in all this time it wasn't blissful. We both dealth with alot of loss with loved ones in the middle of all of this. I lost 2 of my best friends and we watched his mother slowly passaway with cancer. Those times definitely strained us, not knowing how to help each other and grieving can be difficult for everyone, but we stayed strong, communicated, amd supported each other.

My grandmother alwasy told me growing up dont marry the person you just have fun with, marry the person who you can also go threw hard times with. We have both finally found our person, and our families couldn't be happier.

Elina & Dylan

Engaged 8 years together

Dylan and I first met back in High School 16 years ago. I was in grade 9 and Dylan was in grade 10. We became friends and stayed close over the years, and 8 years later decided to take a chance on a relationship. It turned out to be the best decision we ever made. We quickly fell in love, built a home together and started our little family with our dog Oreo. We are each other’s best friend and biggest supporters. Whether it was starting a business, completing 4 years of college, beginning new careers, or working through life's challenges, we have always stood by each other. Our relationship has been built on love, friendship, loyalty and growing together. We celebrate each other's successes, support each other through difficult times and never take the time we spend together for granted. On Valentine’s Day last year, Dylan proposed and it was one of the happiest moments of my life. We are extremely excited to begin this next chapter together as husband and wife. Our dream has always been to get married here in Carleton place in our home town. Winning this wedding would be a dream come true and would allow us to celebrate our love surrounded by our family and friends.

Madison & Zackary

Engaged 7.5 years together

Zac and i played hockey against eachother growing up. When we were 14 and 15, we met officially and started dating soon after.. even tho we couldnt drive and lived an hour apart (savings went to paying our parents to drive us to see eachother). Weve watched eachother grow up and have experienced so many stages of life together. Weve been together 7.5 years and have 2 pups and a beautiful home. We got engaged at Moraine Lake in banff alberta last summer, and are currently planning our perfect wedding!!

Christian & Gabrielle

In a committed relationship / partnered 1.5 years together

We met on November 25, 2025 on a snowy night in downtown Ottawa. The cafe we were going to go to was doing an open mike night, so we couldn't get a table. We went down the street to a Pour Boy, an artsy dive bar. It was almost empty and there was a guy yelling from a balcony across the street. We sat in a corner table and chatted. I was really shy because Gabi is super pretty. Eventually I opened up more, and as we were saying bye I asked Gabi if I could see her again she asked what kind of relationship I was looking for. I hadn't expected the question and stuttered out an answer, then asked her the same question back. She just stared me in the eyes and said "oh, I'm dating for marriage". I texted her that night saying that I appreciated her confidence and honesty, and that's what I was looking for too. We saw each other the next week, and every week after. Eventually I started staying over, but I worked almost two hours from Gabi's apartment, and started at 7, so I'd wake up at 4. While she was still living in Ottawa we went snowboarding, made 300 buttertarts for the Glebe garage sale, went skating on the canal, played pool, and had lots of other adventures/dates. While going on our adventures, we discovered that our values are incredibly similar, and our areas of interests, while not identical, parallel each other. Most importantly, we learned that we share a willingness to try new things, get out of our comfort zones, and learn and grow together.

I was madly in love, so after 4 months I asked if hypothetically she'd want to move in. After 6 months she moved in with me in Carleton Place. That summer we went on our first backcountry camping trip together, and while we were out there we got stuck in the biggest thunderstorm of our lives. We were on an island and couldn't see shore. We were surrounded by thunder and lightning. The waves were 4 feet tall, our tarp blew over and our tent almost blew away. We were huddled together in a hole, trying not to get hit by a tree. During that trip, we decided we could get through anything together.

We've enjoyed every adventure, and relationship milestone, and are excited to see where the future takes us!
Cheers,
Christian and Gabi

Satya & Aaron

In a committed relationship / partnered 4 years together

Aaron and I met through a client/friend—Ray Folkins. During our very first conversations, he immediately felt to me as though he were my male version. He felt the same about me—his female version.

When we first met in person, my heart was guarded, not fully believing that this time was for real. Yet, the connection between us kept unfolding beyond any of our control — allowing the guards to drop down.

We just celebrated our 4th year together, and our love continues to grow deeper and stronger, even though we are in each other’s presence 24/7. Through life’s challenges, we have learned to hold space for one another with ease, without needing the other to change. We respect and support each other’s growth, each at our own rhythm.

For the first time in my life, I truly feel ready to get married. Yet, I am currently in the process of writing a transformational memoir/self-help book about love and the healing of the heart, and without a stable income at this time, we unfortunately do not have the financial means for a wedding celebration—nor do my parents.

Aaron’s work is to manage and maintain the acres of land that belonged to his ancestors—the very place where he grew up, raised by his grandparents. I love sharing this kind of hands-on work with him—clearing dead trees, driving tractors, and maintaining the land with care.

When I saw the video for this incredible contest opportunity, I had shivers all over my body. I could feel, deeply, how truly ready I am for this new chapter in our lives.

It would mean the world to us to be chosen to win this contest and walk down the aisle hand in hand, with this precious man by my side.

To officially step into this new chapter as husband and wife, while celebrating and honouring the life we are building together—and continuing to spread love into the world.

Please help us make this dream come true.
Vote for us!

Bless you all