Sherwood Inn Elopement in Port Carling
Bianca and Sam made their way all the way from Brazil and England to elope at beautiful Sherwood Inn here in Muskoka
Choosing to elope is a big decision, and after a couple years of being engaged during a global pandemic, Bianca and Sam decided they had had enough... they were going to elope! On a beautiful summer afternoon I joined Christina and her Sherwood Inn crew to witness (and photograph) their warm I Dos on the shores of Lake Joseph in Muskoka.
During our photo time I had the opportunity to hear how Bianca and Sam's relationship came to be and knew I had to share their story - but in their own words below...
HOW DID THEY MEET
We met at the pool area of our university dorms, in south Texas, during the fall semester of 2012. We had a lot of mutual friends who were international students like us so it wasn’t hard to bump into each other. Bianca liked Sam right away, which got their mutual friends very excited haha
WHAT DO THEY REMEMBER ABOUT THEIR FIRST DATE
Our first date was actually a movie night with popcorn in Bianca’s dorm apartment, we watched How to Train your Dragon. This was about 10 years ago, but the main memory we both have is having a lot of fun and feeling like it was so easy to talk to each other, like we’d known each other for a while. We have been together ever since.
Elopement Ceremony at Sherwood Inn
THE PROPOSAL, HOW DID IT GO DOWN?
Bianca being from Brazil and Sam from England always made things a little more challenging. After graduation, Bianca’s work visa process in the US didn’t work out, so a good friend of ours suggested we look into Canada. Given that we’d always been big fans of Canada for a good number of reasons, it was a no-brainer. We applied to be permanent residents in Canada and went to Brazil for a few months while we waited for it to be processed.
In June 2019, we went on our regular beach walk at the end of the day at Bianca’s favorite beach in the whole world, where she grew up and has some of her favourite childhood memories. At one point during the walk, Sam got down on one knee and proposed! It was so unexpected and perfect!
ONE THING THEY LOVE ABOUT ONE ANOTHER
Bianca: My favourite thing about Sam is how contagiously positive his energy is. It’s never ever a dull moment when he's around. I could never have asked for a better life partner than him.
Sam: My favourite thing about Bianca is how much fun she is. We have a laugh in everything we do, even during the most typical activity like browsing stores. Her excitement when we are travelling, going to an event or during a holiday season (she loves Fall, Halloween and Christmas) always makes me smile. I love each and every day with her.
WHY DID THEY CHOOSE TO ELOPE?
Being from different countries and choosing a third one to be our home has always been a challenge, and it was no different when we started thinking about a wedding. Adding the worldwide COVID crisis to the equation (which hit just a few months after we got engaged and moved to Canada) only made things even more difficult.
We had pretty much decided to have a wedding in Canada as that’d be easier for us to plan and it seemed like a good mid-point for our families and friends to come to from all over the place. But the longer the COVID crisis lasted, the more uncertain things became and the longer the backlog of pushed weddings became everywhere.
When we hit the end of 2021 and realized we had been engaged for over 2 years, we decided 2022 had to be the year.
In February 2022 we finally decided to stop overthinking and just get married, after all, all we needed was each other to make it happen. The idea of doing something with just a few people didn’t feel right as a lot of important people would be left out, so we came to the conclusion that it had to be either everyone, or no one - we went for no one! We did give a few of our closest friends and family members a heads up once we had a date so they could have a chance to participate in some details such as the cake, and some other ideas.
Sherwood Inn wedding photo
WHAT MADE THEM CHOOSE SHERWOOD INN FOR THEIR ELOPEMENT?
We actually found the Sherwood Inn through Vaughn's website!!! We always knew we wanted to get married surrounded by nature, and when we started researching, we read an article by Vaughn that listed the Sherwood Inn as one of the best places to elope in Ontario.
We also reached out to some other places in February/March looking for a date in the summer, but some of them weren’t available anymore, some didn’t offer anything that seemed helpful, etc. However, Christina at the Sherwood Inn was absolutely incredible from the very first email exchange - and the place looked stunning, so that was an easy decision.
Vaughn being available to be our photographer was the cherry on top, it all came together so beautifully it really was all just meant to be.
We couldn’t be happier we decided to do everything the way we did!
Sherwood Inn Information
Sherwood Inn Address: 1090 Sherwood Rd, Port Carling, ON P0B 1J0
Sherwood Inn Parking: There is plenty of on site parking as well as an overflow lot. There is also EV charging stations and reserved parking available.
Sherwood Inn Accommodations: There is a good mix of cottages as well as hotel style rooms in the two lodges. The boathouse is a popular option for weddings.
Sherwood Inn Reviews: See their Google Reviews
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