Real Weddings 2013: a carnival-themed wedding on a farm in Schomberg

Real Weddings 2013: a carnival-themed wedding on a farm in Schomberg

Real Weddings 2013: Joline and Markus
(Image: Sara Wilde)

Location: Puck’s Farm in Schomberg, Ontario | Guests: 200 | Date: September 15, 2012 | Budget: $28,000


The first sign that Markus Raty, president of Mombacho cigars, was serious about advertising director Joline Matika: after dating a few months, he asked if she’d be his partner at the Canadian championships for the illustrious Finnish sport of wife-carrying. (They won.) Joline cemented her reputation as a good sport by surviving a stint in a stifling sauna, a tradition in Markus’s Finnish family. His mom deemed her wife material, which just left Markus to plan a show-stopping proposal. He pulled it off during a trip to Europe, where the couple went on a private tour of the caves at the Veuve Cliquot chateau. When they came upon a candlelit cave, Joline turned around to find Markus on bended knee holding the ring, which he’d been hiding in his sock the entire journey. For their wedding, the couple wanted their friends and family to cut loose. They chose a farm just outside the city and invited everyone to pitch a tent and stay the night. They were married in the fields by Markus’s family pastor, held the reception in the dirt-floored barn, and created a carnival vibe with midway games, wandering animals, candy apples, bocci ball and dancing late into the night. Their friends are already begging them to do it again.

See the wedding album »