Real Weddings
TorontoEntrepreneur and Influencer Karla Married Her Childhood Sweetheart Corbin at One King West Hotel in Toronto, Canada
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As the new kid in the neighbourhood taking the bus to school for the first time, seventh-grader Karla happened to take a seat next to Corbin, whom she later discovered was “the coolest kid in school.” Years of shared bus rides led to a close friendship between the pair before they eventually began dating secretly. (They both came from strict households, and Karla wasn’t allowed to date!).
“Once it became public that we had been secretly dating and meeting up for so long, everyone knew it was meant to be,” says Karla. “Corbin’s mom Michele told my mom Marsha we would get married one day, and she said she had known from day one.”
Corbin proposed to Karla during a staycation at Niagara-on-the-Lake on a rainy October day. Unfortunately, the unpredictable weather caused Corbin to try three times in three locations before he could pop the question! His first attempt took place by a pond behind rows of chardonnay vines. The second was by a fountain at a classic French château-style winery, both spoiled by the pouring rain. Before his third try, Karla nearly discovered what was going on when, wanting a jacket, she reached into Corbin’s pocket (containing the ring) for the car keys, and he flinched! Eventually, Corbin recovered by taking Karla to a park with views of the fall foliage, where Mother Nature finally gave him the go-ahead, and Karla said, “Yes!”
The couple was married on September 4, 2022, and incorporated traditions from their Sephardi, Ashkenazi, and Italian backgrounds into the day. The wedding took place at
ONE KING WEST HOTEL
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in Toronto, Ontario, which inspired the day’s overall design theme of “Cinematic Roaring Twenties.” (The venue was originally a bank that opened in the early 20th century and retains much of its original architecture, including the vaults.) Much like the 1920s, an underlying “everything in excess” theme was woven throughout, in the form of three wedding cakes, three wedding dresses, and a variety of traditional cultural integrations, including a Kabbalat Panim and a Moroccan henna ceremony. 424 EVENT GROUP provided event planning and design for the event.
Karla’s custom-designed engagement ring from GAMZO & CO features a natural, conflict-free 3-carat oval diamond with 144 smaller diamonds representing eight multiples of the lucky number eighteen or “chai.”
Karla gathered six of her closest friends to form her bridal party alongside her best friend and maid of honor, her sister.
Gold evil-eye amulets were attached to the bridesmaid’s bouquets.
The wedding invitations featured a vellum overlay of a photograph of the venue dated 1914. The black envelopes were sealed with custom- designed wax seals that featured a variety of symbols that were meaningful to the couple, like grapes for their wine-country engagement, the couple’s initials, an olive branch, and a pomegranate for their Jewish ancestry.
Wanting a modest dress for her traditional Jewish ceremony, Karla commissioned Toronto- based designer IVANNA ANDRUSYAK at ANA KOI to create a custom ballgown to suit the occasion. Since Andrusyak’s family manufacture her designs in Ukraine, Karla was informed that the process had come to a halt shortly after the war between Russia and Ukraine began. Eventually, Andrusyak’s family were safe enough to resume production and the dress was delivered just in time for the wedding. “It didn’t need a single alteration,” notes Karla. “It was meant to be.”
“We really loved incorporating Jewish traditions, having our parents walk us down the aisle and them surrounding us under the chuppah; the part where I circled the groom seven times was really special,” shares Karla. “It connected me to all the women that came before me who did the exact same thing on their wedding day.”
The tallit used in Karla and Corbin’s ceremony is a family heirloom. They also drank from a Kiddush cup that is over one hundred years old.
Karla and Corbin became close with Rabbi David Kline and his wife while renting an apartment in New York City. So, they flew him in to spend the week leading up to the wedding in Toronto. “We knew he would be the perfect person to make our love official,” shares Karla.“He was such a glowing part of our ceremony.”
Cases of specialty wines were flown in from the couple’s favorite kosher winery in Italy for the cocktail reception held in the venue’s Austin Gallery Mezzanine against a Frank Sinatra playlist while the couple and their bridal party posed for portraits.
Karla wore a second gown by MIKAELLA BY PALOMA BLANCA from KLEINFELD BRIDAL. “I love Canadian fashion, and so I knew I needed something made right here in Toronto,” she explains.
The gown’s puffed sleeves and playful bow detail were also a style nod to her mother’s 1992 wedding gown and her reputation as “the ultimate bow queen.”
Karla’s third look was a traditional Moroccan kaftan made in Casablanca, reminiscent of the kaftans worn by her grandmother and previous generations of women in her family.
