A Cambridge, Ont. couple were married inside the Dave Rocks studio in Kitchener on Friday morning.
Kyle Gutscher, 30, and Lauren Hunter, 27, found out Monday they had been chosen from dozens of entries in the radio station’s Nail ‘Em Down wedding contest.
The couple said they initially met in 2011 while Hunter was shopping at a local mall.
“We kind of just exchanged BBM pins that night because that was the big thing,” Hunter said. “We stayed up talking all night,” she said. “And the next thing we knew, we were together every day.”
But it was not meant to be for the pair, at least not in 2011, as Hunter was headed to North Bay for school a couple of months after they met.
“The distance was kind of hard being that young, and we just drifted apart.”
So Gutscher and Hunter went on their own separate journeys. Hunter had a son, Eli, who is now four, while Gutscher moved to Toronto for a few years to work.
But last year, the pair met again at Hunter’s sister’s birthday party.
Gutscher says he almost skipped the party. “I came home from an away work trip, so I was super tired and it was kind of late,” he explained.
The pair were engaged in December and had planned to get married sometime down the road when Gutscher‘s mom told them about the contest.
They applied, and before they knew it, the radio station called to say they were finalists.
The couple found out on Monday morning that they had won. The contest covered the ceremony, the location and the rings, and the couple took care of several details including finding outfits.
While it would seem like finding a dress would be the harder task, that was not the case for the newlyweds. The bride found one right off the bat.
“My mom took me shopping. We made an appointment to go to David’s Bridal just to see what was out there,” Hunter explained. “Obviously, only having four days to buy a dress is kind of nerve-racking. So when we got there and I saw it, it was just one of those things, purple being my favorite colour. I just knew I had to try it on.”
It wasn’t quite that easy for the groom. Gutscher had a few issues finding his perfect outfit for Friday’s big event. He said the hardest thing to find was a white-buttoned shirt with a pocket.
The couple was married Friday morning in the Dave Rocks studio with little Eli serving as the ring bearer.
Afterward, Gutscher described the feeling of being newly married as “surreal.”
The ceremony was officiated by Dave Rocks Morning Buzz announcer Darryl Law, who was acting as officiant for the first time.
“I was nervous, but you know what? It was easier than I thought,” Law said.
“I’m like literally walking on a cloud right now. It’s just so cool.”
Law brought in some backup to make sure things went smoothly. Ron Roy, a veteran pastoral chaplain, was at his side during the ceremony.
“He came in from Stratford just to make sure I was okay,” Law said. “We co-sort-of-officiated the ceremony, which really took a lot of a lot of pressure off of me. But it was great.”