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\nWhile actor Noah Reid already walked down the aisle once this year as character Patrick on the Emmy-nominated sitcom Schitt’s Creek<\/em><\/a>, he made his way to the altar in real life to say “I do” to fianc\u00e9e Clare Stone, a psychiatric nurse and researcher, on July 25, 2020. Although the casual affair barred little similarity to Noah’s on-screen vows, the couple does have Schitt’s Creek<\/em> to thank for their wedding theme: The day was inspired by their trip to Tuscany after the series wrapped last summer.\n<\/p>\n \n“We wanted our wedding to feel like a\u00a0laid-back, outdoor dinner party\u00a0at a Tuscan villa,” says Clare. “We throw a lot of dinner parties and enjoy nothing more than sitting across from our friends eating beautiful food, drinking beautiful wine, and laughing late into the night.”\n<\/p>\n \nFor the couple, there was no better location than Noah’s family home on Lake Huron<\/a>, which his parents purchased the year he was born, to gather with guests and do just that. Not only was the property an “oasis” for Noah all his life, but the site was also where the pair first said, “I love you.” Rather than working with a wedding planner, Noah and Clare undertook the responsibilities<\/a> and tapped friends and family to help out. “Every single person who attended our wedding did something for it,” adds the bride.\u00a0“People landscaped, made place cards, raked the beach, created playlists, led our\u00a0ceremony…the list goes on.”\n<\/p>\n \nHowever, COVID-19<\/a> was “definitely a bit of a curveball” in their plans, admits Noah. After much thought, the couple took social distancing precautions<\/a> into consideration and forged ahead with a “miniature version” of their original plans, inviting just 25 guests to join them for a night on Lake Huron.\n<\/p>\n \n“Every day we were questioning what was safe, what was do-able, what would change, whether it was worth it. It just felt like it was our time to get married, though, and we kept coming back to that,” Noah explains. “The day that we uninvited so many of our close friends and family members was probably the hardest of them all. Next year, if restrictions allow it, we\u2019ll host a big backyard party to celebrate our one-year anniversary.”\n<\/p>\n \nKeep reading for all the details on Noah and Clare’s lakeside micro wedding, which included a surprise serenade from the groom (he is a musician, too!) and plenty of DIY projects<\/a> by the bride and her mother. While different than their original plans, every aspect of the celebration was personal and unique\u2014just as the couple had hoped.\n<\/p>\n \nNoah’s sister Thea, an artist and printmaker, designed the couple’s wedding invitations<\/a>, which featured a recreation of a picture the pair took while vacationing early in their relationship. “I\u2019ve always loved that photo. We\u2019re just being ridiculous and having a great time together, so it was very cool to see it translated into the emblem of our wedding,” Noah adds.\n<\/p>\n Every time I put it on, I feel a little bit taller and a whole lot classier, and never more than that night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \nWhen Noah purchased his Gucci<\/a> tuxedo a few years ago, he had two intentions: Find a suit for award shows thanks to Schitt’s Creek<\/em> and for his upcoming wedding! “Every time I put it on, I feel a little bit taller and a whole lot classier, and never more than that night,” he shares. For the wedding, Noah completed his look with a classic black bow tie<\/a>. “I tied my own bow tie and got it on the second try, so I\u2019m\u00a0pretty proud\u00a0of myself,” he admits. “I also enjoyed partying late into the night with an untied bow tie, smoking a cigar, and feeling like Frank Sinatra.”\n<\/p>\n There\u2019s something so powerful about feeling like yourself on your wedding day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n“I\u00a0love it because it\u2019s an upscale and more glamorous version of the types of things I typically wear,” says Clare of her minimalist Alexandra Grecco<\/a> crepe silk gown. To create the illusion of a slip dress, she added thin, delicate straps\u2014a task that was completed mere minutes before the ceremony began. She adds, “There\u2019s something so powerful about feeling like yourself on your wedding day.”\n<\/p>\n \nDespite finding her wedding gown months before the big day, Clare’s actual dress didn’t arrive until three weeks before the nuptials. “In the meantime,\u00a0I\u2019d purchased about ten white dresses from Zara that I tried to convince myself I would be\u00a0easy going enough to wear in a pinch,” she says of her back-up plan. Her effortless bridal look was topped off with a custom tulle veil<\/a>, minimal gold jewelry, and natural makeup by her sister.\n<\/p>\n \nWhen it came to the color scheme, Clare found inspiration in Lake Huron sunsets and opted for a warm palette of pink, orange, and yellow hues. Her flower of choice? Ranunculus! “It\u2019s this delicate, sensual flower with a petal structure that goes on and on, hopefully\u00a0like our marriage,” she says. Every floral arrangement was made with the help of her mother with one exception: the bridal bouquet<\/a>, a task Clare took on herself that morning. “I\u00a0felt so proud of what I had created,” she shares.\n<\/p>\n \n“It never felt right to me to choose what my sister and girlfriends would wear,” Clare says of her bridesmaids. Rather, she asked her bridal party to “wear something in a color from the sunset,” which resulted in “a killer combination of dresses<\/a>\u00a0in different shades of pink.” The bride adds, “Their look\u00a0reflected the individualized and authentic nature of the\u00a0wedding.”\n<\/p>\n As soon as we saw each other for the first time on our wedding day, the stress all melted away and we felt pure, unadulterated joy for the rest of the\u00a0night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \nWhile it was a hectic morning finalizing last-minute details, the couple says their emotional first look<\/a> eased all their worries. “As soon as we saw each other for the first time on our wedding day, the stress all melted away and we felt pure, unadulterated joy for the rest of the\u00a0night,” they agree.\n<\/p>\n \nThe couple first met on the set of Canadian police drama Rookie Blue<\/em> in 2012. “We were guest stars on an episode where Noah played Wyatt, the unruly and outraged boyfriend of my character, Stella, the daughter of a powerful criminal,” recalls the bride. Shortly after, Clare left acting to study science at the University of Toronto and their romantic relationship began, ultimately leading to a Christmas morning proposal<\/a> in 2018.\n<\/p>\n \n“When we first started planning, we made a commitment to one another that we would try as hard as we could to enjoy the process, and I\u2019d say we were doing\u00a0pretty well\u00a0until COVID hit,” explains Noah.\n<\/p>\n \nEven without the pressure of planning an event mid-pandemic, the couple admits that wedding planning can be a difficult task. “It\u2019s no secret that planning a wedding<\/a> is hard.\u00a0I\u00a0think if nothing else, we want to remind other couples that it\u2019s okay not to enjoy every moment of the process,” they share. “There is immense societal pressure for everything to be glamorous and photogenic, and the reality is often messy, rushed, and emotionally chaotic. What\u2019s important, at the end of the day, is that you\u2019re in it together and that you continue to choose to do it together.”\n<\/p>\n \nThe ceremony took place on the shores of Lake Huron underneath a floral-covered arch<\/a>. The couple kept the d\u00e9cor minimal, using the winding beach staircase as the aisle and simple harvest benches for seating as to not take away from the natural beauty of the venue. “Lake Huron is unique in that it seems like there is nothing on the other side of the horizon; it just goes on and on,” offers Clare. “It\u2019s transcendent.”\n<\/p>\n \nClare made her way to the beach hand-in-hand with her parents and sister. “It was my family who walked with me;\u00a0my sister and maid of\u00a0honor\u00a0Julia\u00a0holding my veil so it didn\u2019t get caught on any branches, and my mum and dad trailing behind us\u00a0excitedly,” she recalls. “It was a special moment for the four of us. Once we got to the bottom, I walked confidently to the altar myself instead of being ‘given away.'”\n<\/p>\n \nMeanwhile, Noah surprised Clare by singing “The Book of Love” by Magnetic Fields. He performed the tune with a 1987\u00a0Manzer\u00a0guitar\u2014a wedding gift<\/a> from his parents\u2014while guests sang along simple harmonies. “I had trouble making it all the way through or carrying the tune once I saw Clare, but it felt very special,” the groom remembers.\n<\/p>\n \nOnce at the altar, Noah and Clare played a quick round of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” to decide who would recite their vows<\/a> last. Clare won.\n<\/p>\n \n“Going last was a mistake. Noah\u2019s a beautiful songwriter and a tough act to follow. You\u2019ve never seen people cry like they did when Noah read his vows,” she says. “I elected to go the comedic route, likening our love\u2014and my commitment to him to the relationship between beloved Toronto\u00a0Raptors, Kyle Lowry, and\u00a0Demar\u00a0Derozan. It broke the ice for sure.\u00a0So\u00a0his [vows] made people cry, mine made people laugh, it all evened out.”\n<\/p>\n \nWhile comedic, Clare’s vows still made Noah tear up.\u00a0“I cried through\u00a0both of them,” he admits. “I\u2019m very emotional about the Raptors.”\u00a0\n<\/p>\n It was important for both of us to speak in our own words about the love we have for each other and the commitment we were making to each other, with our families and closest people present to witness it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \nThe couple very much planned their lakefront ceremony, with Noah saying, “We most\u00a0definitely [wrote our own vows]. It was important for both of us to speak in our own words about the love we have for each other and the commitment we were making to each other, with our families and closest people present to witness it.” In fact, he says they skipped over traditional language in favor of more “honest and personal” expressions.\n<\/p>\n \nThat said, not everything went as planned on the big day\u2014when it came time to exchange rings<\/a>, there were no bands to trade! “One of my\u00a0all-time\u00a0favorite memories of the wedding was the moment that my sister realized she had forgotten the rings back up at the house and had to sprint up the\u00a0long set of\u00a0beach stairs to get them,” Clare recalls. “It was very in keeping with the tone of the ceremony, not too serious or staid, emotional and joyful, unrehearsed and unpredictable.”\n<\/p>\n \nMuch of the couple’s personal ceremony reflected Clare’s British heritage. Her grandfather, who was unable to fly in for the wedding, chose both the Bible verses<\/a> and traditional English hymn (which was sung by three friends!) used in the ceremony. “Though neither Noah nor\u00a0I are religious, it felt like a nice connection to the traditions of the generations before us,” adds the bride.\n<\/p>\n \nThe marriage was marked with a kiss, Champagne toast, and a petal toss<\/a>\u2014another British wedding tradition.\n<\/p>\n \nBefore heading to their outdoor reception, the newlyweds and their guests stayed on the beach for a few more glasses of bubbly while Clare’s hand-curated playlist<\/a>\u2014titled “Post-Ceremony Love Bangers”\u2014played. “[The playlist] is maybe my life\u2019s best work,” she adds with a laugh. “I should make it public.”\n<\/p>\n \nOnce the beach party concluded, cocktail hour commenced on the property’s lawn with an array of natural wine from Montreal graciously brought by a friend, Emilie. As Emilie spoke about the producers of the wines, Noah walked around “displaying the bottles like an increasingly disgruntled Vana White,” as Clare puts it. Their friend even brought a sword to saber Champagne<\/a>! “It was a real hit, and by the end of the night, almost every guest had sabered something,” recalls the bride. “Who knew swords were such an essential wedding accessory?\u202f”\n<\/p>\n \nWhile the couple originally envisioned a dinner al fresco<\/a>, they decided to err on the safe side, opting for a clear-top tent covered in lights instead.\n<\/p>\n \nWith the bride and groom at the head, each guest sat at one large wooden table decorated with a runner of Italian\u00a0Ruscus and white ranunculus<\/a>. Votive candles were placed in dozens of glass jars that the couple collected over the past year and the place cards<\/a> featured hand-pressed flowers made by a dear friend of Clare.\n<\/p>\n \nClare’s father was tasked with creating the perfect playlist (“Think Louis Prima and Andrea Bocelli,” she says) to accompany the Italian meal of grilled mortadella with red pepper jelly, beef tenderloin,\u00a0Ontario peach and burrata salad, and radicchio risotto.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nThe bride, however, took over DJ duties when the dancing portion of the evening began. The newlyweds chose “Have I Told You Lately” by Van Morrison for their first dance<\/a>, and other hits of the night included Justin Timberlake’s “Se\u00f1orita” and Noah’s “Got You.” “One of my favorite moments was when the men and women stood on opposite sides of the dance floor singing and dancing Justin Timberlake\u2019s ‘Se\u00f1orita,'” Clare recalls. “Playing Noah\u2019s song \u201cGot You\u201d and everyone doing the dance\u00a0my sister and I\u00a0made for his music video was a pretty\u00a0fantastic moment too.”\n<\/p>\n \nThe newlyweds stayed on the same shore of Lake Huron for their honeymoon, celebrating with friends for a few days before having the home to themselves for a few more. “Noah and I stayed up for a week on our own, admiring our wedding bands in the water and trying out the ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ titles,” Clare recalls. “It was blissful.”\n<\/p>\n \n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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