Giulia Gucciardi, a 31-year-old talent manager, met Sam McEachern, a 32-year-old automotive editor, at a Toronto housewarming party in 2016. They were introduced by Gucciardi’s cousin, who suspected that they would hit it off. The pair were a match: Sam met all of Giulia’s dating criteria, and he was attracted to her Type B personality. A year later, they moved into an apartment in Liberty Village together. In 2023, Sam proposed on New Year’s Eve in the middle of the Nathan Phillips Square ice rink. The couple wed in a glam 120-person ceremony in Portugal this past October. Here’s how their celebration came together.
Giulia: In June of 2016, my cousin’s cousin, Laura, had a graduation party in Toronto. Minutes after I arrived, she told me that she knew the perfect guy for me—one of her boyfriend’s friends. I was 21, and my mom had just passed away. It was a heavy time for me. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. But, when she pulled up a photo of Sam, I noticed that he was exactly my type—long hair and wearing a cute ’90s wool sweater. A couple of days later, she messaged me on Facebook and said he wanted to meet me.
Sam: I was living in Windsor at the time. My best friend Jesse had a room in his Toronto apartment opening up and asked if I wanted to move in for July 1. I was working as an automotive journalist, and I thought moving to the city would be the best way to advance my career. Jesse’s girlfriend, Laura, mentioned that she thought I would get along with her cousin, Giulia, because we’re both funny, chatty people with Type B personalities. She showed me a photo, and I was definitely interested. I was young and eager, and I wanted to meet someone. After I moved in, Jesse and I threw a housewarming party, and we invited Giulia.
Giulia: We hit it off right away. There were no lulls in the conversation. One of us would say something, and the other would have something related to share. I told him about a solo surf trip to Costa Rica I had recently gone on, and it turned out he had recently taken a solo backpacking trip through Europe. We spent the entire night getting to know each other. There was definitely an attraction on both sides.
Sam: The first thing I noticed was that she was wearing leather overalls. I thought they looked sick. I kind of wanted a pair for myself.
Giulia: After my mom passed away, I felt lost. My therapist suggested that I make a list outlining my ideal future, so I wrote down a list of traits I was looking for in my future partner—loves travel, has a distinct sense of style and is passionate about their job. When I met Sam, he checked everything on my list.
Sam: I was drawn to how laid-back she was. I immediately wanted to take her out on a date. I didn’t play it cool.
Giulia: The day after the party, he texted me to plan our first date. I appreciated his initiative. A week later, we met up at La Carnita on College Street, a trendy taco place.
Sam: We shared a bottle of wine and chatted the whole night. Afterward, I invited her back to my apartment to hang out with me and my roommate and a bunch of other friends. In Windsor, it’s pretty common for people to hang out in big groups, and I already knew I liked her and wanted to introduce her to my friends. Later that night, we ended up at the Dog and Bear Pub on Queen Street, where we had our first kiss.
Giulia: I was living at home in Oakville, so we hung out once a week. After a few dates, I knew I was in love with him. I’m a forward person, so I wrote him a love poem for his birthday in August. After I gave it to him, he said we should take a step back. I was shocked and hurt because I had a strong feeling that he was my soulmate.
Sam: I was a little spooked. It was a sign that things were getting really serious. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that, so I broke things off.
Giulia: I was in disbelief. But I backed off and stopped texting him. I moved back to Toronto in September. At the end of the month, he texted me out of the blue to say that he missed me.
Sam: I was in California on a work trip, where I had time to reflect on the month we were apart. I realized I still really liked her and was being silly. When I got back, I texted Giulia and asked her to come over. After that, I started taking the relationship more seriously.
Giulia: By October, we made it official. I was in school, and he was a writer, so we were always trying to find places to work together outside of our apartments. We both lived in small spaces with roommates, so it always felt like we were in someone’s way. We spent most of our time bouncing between the old Starbucks at Queen and Ossington or Jimmy’s. After a year, we moved in together, into an apartment in Liberty Village Sam’s sister had lived in previously. Our rent was $1,600, but we had no money to furnish it.
Sam: We only had a bed, a table, a couch and a TV—all of which had belonged to my sister. It sounds uncomfortable, but we were happy to have our own space. I did freelance writing on top of my full-time job to make extra money.
Giulia: I was still in university, so I worked a lot of odd jobs. Sam paid our entire rent, and I would pay him back what I could from the tip money I made as a hostess at Terroni. I also got really into reselling thrifted clothes. When I was nannying in Leslieville, I’d go to Value Village before picking up the kids from school, find designer pieces, then walk a couple of blocks to Common Sort to sell them. After my shift, I’d go back to see how much money I’d made. I made about $150 a week.
Sam: We lived there for about a year. After that, we moved across the street to a condo at the corner of Strachan and Liberty. A year later, we started having serious conversations about the future. But our priorities shifted when the pandemic hit.
Giulia: In March of 2020, I got laid off from my public relations job. Sam was still working but not making much. Everything felt so uncertain. That September, we moved back to my childhood home in Mississauga, near Rattray Marsh, with my stepdad. It felt amazing to be surrounded by nature after spending months trapped in a small one-bedroom. My stepdad charged us $1,200 in rent, but when we moved out two years later, he gave us back all the rent we had paid in one lump sum. He suggested that we invest it in real estate. We couldn’t afford a home in Toronto, so we decided to buy an investment property in Windsor.
Sam: My parents still live there, and we visit them quite often, so it made sense logistically. In September of 2022, we purchased a three-storey home and converted it into a duplex, which we rent out.
Giulia: By that point, we both had good-paying full-time jobs, owned a home and were in our mid-twenties. We had practical reasons for wanting to get married. We hope to move to Europe together in the future, and it would be easier for Sam to get an Italian passport if we were married.
Sam: One morning in March of 2023, the conversation about when we would get married came up. When we had started seriously dating, we’d talked about marriage, but this was the first time we had talked about it seriously. We had been dating for almost six years by this time. We loved each other a lot and wanted to take the next step.
Giulia: I wanted a vintage ring. My stepsister got her engagement ring at Cynthia Findlay Fine Jewellery and Antiques, so we decided to go there in July of 2023. We didn’t have an appointment, but the owner kindly let us try on rings. I narrowed it down to six for Sam to choose from.
Sam: I picked out one with a yellow sapphire jewel. The ring had an interesting story behind it. Over the years, a jeweller came in every month to buy his wife a new ring or a necklace. When she passed away, he brought back some of the jewellery to sell, including Giulia’s ring.
Giulia: In September of 2023, we went to Japan to celebrate Sam’s 30th birthday. I had a feeling we were going to get engaged on the trip, though he hadn’t given me any reason to think this.
Sam: It was my birthday trip, so it wasn’t on my mind. But I did have plans to propose eventually. To celebrate New Year’s Eve, I got us a hotel room at the Fairmont Royal York. We went for dinner at Le Sélect Bistro, then ice skating at Nathan Phillips Square. It was snowing. I took her to the middle of the rink and got down on one knee while a bunch of strangers skated around us.
Giulia: I was confused when he kept trying to push me into the middle of the rink. I had a feeling it was going to happen that night, but I thought it would be during a private moment when it was just the two of us. I was elated and proud. I loved that it didn’t happen when I was expecting it.
Sam: We began discussing details three months after getting engaged. We decided on October 10 as a date, the ninth anniversary of us making it official.
Giulia: It felt right to get married in Portugal. My dad and stepmom have a home in Cascais, where we visit them every summer. My stepsister Rebecca got married there in 2019.
Sam: We started by looking for a venue in Lisbon. This proved more difficult than expected. Our guest list was initially 80 people, and the majority of the options we found were for smaller, more intimate weddings.
Giulia: I went to Portugal for a month to start wedding planning during the summer of 2024. But I’m used to the way people communicate in North America, not in Europe. I don’t speak Portuguese, and most people didn’t respond to emails quickly. I found our photographer, Ricardo, through Instagram. He was able to help us communicate with vendors. It was important for me to meet everyone in person so I could envision what the flowers, candles and table settings would look like. We wanted our wedding to feel like a house party—we’re both social people who love to bop around. For the venue, we landed on an old estate that’s now owned by the Red Cross, with five rooms and an amazing terrace.
Sam: We ended up with 120 guests, the majority of whom were family and family friends.
Giulia: I found my dress at the Modern Bride in Guelph—a classic gown with a long train by Vera Wang. The pearls I wore were made by my mom, who was a jewellery designer. I had a second dress, which was shorter and more fun, for dancing. I bought it second-hand. I decided on a calla lily bouquet, because my mom and my zia Pina, our officiant, both had calla lily bouquets when they got married. It was important to me to have that tie to my mom.
Sam: I wanted a three-piece tuxedo. I bought my suit in July of 2025, a couple of months before the wedding. I went to the same place Giulia’s dad got his suit—Davido Afnani, a menswear shop on King Street.
Giulia: A month before the wedding, we flew to Portugal and stayed at my parents’ home. We spent most of the time working but used the time difference to work out in the mornings, go to the beach and iron out wedding details. The only thing we had ready when we arrived were 200 custom matchbooks featuring our cats, Mini and Chester, to give out as party favours.
Sam: Most of our guests were flying in from Windsor or Toronto and arrived the week of the wedding.
Giulia: On Wednesday, we had our bachelor and bachelorette parties. My co–maids of honour, Rebecca and my best friend Frances, hosted a dinner at Léon for all of the women. Later, we met up with the guys at Pensão Amor, an old brothel on Pink Street. We partied all night.
Sam: We went to bed at 5 a.m. We were pretty hungover and had to push through the rehearsal dinner the next day.
Giulia: A couple of days before the wedding, we left my parents’ place and moved to an old boutique hotel called Pestana Palace Lisboa. The night before our wedding, I stayed with Frances, who gave me a 41-page scrapbook filled with photos and letters from people in my life. It was so special. There were even beautiful photos of my mom when she was younger, some of which I’d never seen before. The morning of the wedding, I woke up stressed. I got up at 8 a.m. to get my hair and makeup done. But I was still dealing with a lot of moving parts. When our photographer showed up to take solo shots, I was finally able to have a glass of champagne and get into bride mode.
Sam: The night before, I stayed at my best man’s apartment. I was pretty nervous the morning of the wedding. I was putting the finishing touches on my vows and tying up loose ends with vendors. The photographer, Ricardo, met me at my parents’ Airbnb and took some photos of us all getting ready. Then we wandered the streets of Lisbon for solo shots.
Giulia: Right before the ceremony, I asked my friends, Olivia and Summer, to buy as many cigarettes as they could. We put them on silver trays, inspired by a detail in Charli XCX’s wedding. At the ceremony, my zia Julia, whom I’m named after, read a poem that brought me to tears. As we read our vows, which were very vulnerable, everyone was crying.
Sam: I’m a big fan of vintage cars. After the ceremony, we hopped in a rented vintage Rolls-Royce to zip around and take photos in.
Giulia: Everyone was throwing flowers as we walked outside. One of the venue staff handed us glasses of champagne and congratulated us.
Sam: For dinner, we served three courses—vegetarian quinoa salad, salted cod and steak frites—plus a massive dessert and cheese table. We were so busy mingling with everyone that we didn’t get a chance to try the dessert.
Giulia: We hired our friend to DJ. He played a lot of dance music and early 2000s hits. At one point, everyone crowded around us as we belted out “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne. Throughout the night, people were bopping around from the dance floor to the terrace to smoke. Thanks to the cigarette trays, I’ve never seen so many people smoking in my life. We were supposed to be out by 12:30 a.m., but the venue was kind enough to extend it by an hour.
Sam: Right before the lights went up, my friends and I were doing a traditional Greek money dance called Zeibekiko, where you dance around a glass. I had learned it earlier that year at my friend Manny’s wedding. It was such a fun way to close out the dance floor.
Giulia: By the end, there were 40 people left at the venue. We went out to a club and raged all night. Some people drifted away as the night continued. We stayed up to watch the sunrise by the water, and we got McDonald’s at 5:30 a.m. Sam and I walked back to the hotel at 7 or 8 a.m. We slept for three hours before meeting everyone at the beach.
Sam: We were pretty tired after the wedding, so for our honeymoon we didn’t go far. We opted to go to Madeira, a tropical island in Portugal. We relaxed at the hotel most of the week.
Giulia: After our honeymoon, we went to my parents’ house for two days before flying home to Toronto.
Sam: It feels appropriate to be married after nearly a decade together.
Giulia: I hated calling him my boyfriend by the end of our engagement, because we’ve been together for so long. I’m happy to finally be married. It feels like the next step in our lives.
Cheat Sheet
Date: October 10, 2025
Photography: Ricardo Catarro, Maria Salgueiro
Videographer: Ivo Reis
Planner: Giulia Gucciardi
Venue, catering and decor: Palácio Conde D’Óbidos
Coordinator: Casa do Marquês
Florals: Bloomery
Matchbooks: The Perfect Occasion
Officiant: Zia Pina (Josie Macri)
Giulia’s makeup: Laura Lucaz
Giulia’s hair: Mara Silva
Giulia’s dresses: Vera Wang, Still White
Sam’s suit: Davido Afnani
DJ: Colin Macdonald
