Real Weddings: Lauren & Alex Medieval-Themed Wedding

This blog post was originally created by Madeleine Villa.

Lauren and Alex shared an intimate fall wedding with close family and friends at Alex's parents home in Caledon, ON. The twist? The wedding was a tasteful medieval theme with crowns, swords, and decedent seven-course meal. Check out how they incorporated Henkaa infinity dresses into their big day.

Can you tell us a bit about the two of you?

Bride with crown laughing in ornate wedding dress featured on Henkaa A Brides Story: Lauren & Alex on the Henkaa infinity dress blog.

Lauren: Creative, passionate, and organized

Marketing communications professional
Model/actress
Loves to write, do yoga, take long walks, drink smoothies, and be a mom.

Alex Malnik husband in medieval outfit holding baby Mars Melnik during wedding. Featured on Henkaa A Brides Story: Lauren & Alex on the Henkaa infinity dress blog.

Alex: Eccentric, smart, goofy, hardworking

project manager
Self-proclaimed “opportunistic entrepreneur”

Alex and Lauren Melnik lay on the grass as husband and wife during tasteful medieval themed wedding featured on the Henkaa infinity dress blog.

Together: Weird, fun-loving, busy, entrepreneurial, landlords, parents, gooses (inside joke).

We believe in freedom, family, and adventure.

Alex, Lauren and Mars Melnik share an intimate moment at their wedding wearing traditional medieval clothing for their medieval themed wedding featured on the Henkaa infinity dress blog.

We met on Tinder in 2015 and fell in love with each other’s “weirdness”. We’ve enjoyed traveling all around Canada with friends and family, and have an innate pull towards the outdoors and trying new things. Some of our favorite activities are enjoying quiet nights in (exciting I know), exploring new hiking paths, learning about and executing new business opportunities, and of course, enjoying good food and wine wherever life takes us.

Who proposed, can you describe the moment?

Alex Melnik and Lauren Melnik show off their wedding rings hand-over-hand on Alex's medieval armour.

On September 12, 2017, Alex surprised me with a wedding proposal. It is hard to surprise me - so this was super special! After a long day of work, dog-walking and baby-shower planning, Alex got down on one knee in our kitchen (on our backdoor mat to be exact). He opened the ring box upside down and backwards and asked me if I'd be his Goose forever. Despite being five months pregnant, nauseous, sweaty... a complete mess, I couldn't have planned a better moment. I said, "YES!"

Where did your wedding take place?

The Melniks sit on a rock fence in the field of Alexs parents house in Caledon Ontario.

Alex’s parents’ property in Caledon ON - The ceremony took place in the woods behind the house, and we set up the tent and dance floor on the driveway. This is where Alex and his siblings grew up, so it was super cool for him to create even more magical memories at home.

Describe your day and how it came together?

Alex and Lauren Melnik stand with the bridal party and groomsmen. Bridesmaids in Henkaa Night Black Sakura Maxi infinity dresses and groomsmen in traditional medieval clothing with swords.

We knew from the get-go that we wanted our wedding to be different. Enter: Medieval/Modern theme, tiny guest list, and top-notch food and drink. We wanted to treat the day like an elegant party full of everything we love vs a ‘traditional wedding’. I worked really hard (with a new baby!) to make our dreams come true. Sourcing and then coordinating with so many great vendors made it also a lot of fun. Inspired by LOTR, The Hobbit and other fantasy stories, we had Alex in a partial suit of armour, the groomsmen wielding swords, flags hanging everywhere, goblets on the tables, dragon puppets for the babies, dried wheat for days, and medieval music being played (and that’s only part of it).

Lauren Melnik breastfeeding her child on the day of her wedding as featured on the Henkaa infinity dress blog.

Our daughter came down with a bad cold the day before the wedding. She was such a sweetie on the wedding day and was able to get a lot of much-needed sleep. While getting ready for the ceremony, she needed to nurse, which probably delayed things a little, but our photographers were so great and captured those very special moments between me and her.

Lauren and Alex Melnik exchange medieval themed gifts during their tasteful middle-ages themed wedding featured on the Henkaa blog.

The ceremony was ethereal, followed by cocktails, food and a knighting ceremony - where I knighted Alex and gifted him his very own sword. He then gifted me a book he wrote titled “The Lady and The Knight” (guess we were on the same page). Next - was one of my most favorite parts of the day - a wine and cheese tasting in the front courtyard...yummy.

Lauren and Alex Melnik share their first dance together as husband and wife as featured on the Henkaa blog.

The night before the wedding we coordinated a quick dance to kick off the evening - which took place on a black and white checkered dance floor (shout out to my in-laws for letting us paint their driveway and fulfilling yet another one of our crazy/brilliant ideas).

Attendees at a medieval themed wedding cheers with their glasses over harvest table.

Before we knew it, our seven-course tasting menu, prepared and presented by Chef Jan Willem-Stulp of Grand Oak Culinary Market in Vineland, Ontario began. We chose a selection of all our favorite foods and even made the perogies for the pierogi course ourselves. Each course was paired with wine or drink and Alex’s groomsman gifted him with home-brewed craft beer and cider with custom labels - a very fun touch!

Wife, Lauren Melnik blushes as husband Alex Melnik sings his speech -a special rendition of 'Drops of Jupiter' to his new wife.

Speeches are always a highlight for me at weddings, and no one disappointed. There was so much love and laughter to go around that day. Alex changed the words to ‘Drops of Jupiter’ and sang his way through his speech to me.

A moment shared between husband and wife on their wedding day shot by photographers John and Samantha Butler as featured on the Henkaa blog.

The food was eaten, no shortage of drink, and we danced the night away, sat around the fire and by the end of the night, as I stood in the middle of my black and white dance floor with lights above - I couldn’t leave. So I stayed, for a couple of hours before heading inside to bed.

We didn’t have to wait long at all for our photos and vid and I love reliving the day by going through them and watching the videos.

What was your favorite moment or most memorable detail?

The Medieval themed wedding ceremony took place in Caledon Ontario in Alex Melniks parents forest. This wedding was featured on the Henkaa infinity dress blog.

Our medieval themed ceremony was bone chilling magical. 26 guests total, no cellphones or cameras, a 60-second walk down a forest path with the sun streaming down behind us. The string quartet played ‘Tale as Old as Time’ from Beauty and the Beast, Alex was in armor holding our daughter, the groomsmen wore swords, and maids of honor were in elegant black Henkaa dresses and held lanterns. Alex wore a floral armband - a token of mine and Mars’ love for him and Alex’s talented cousin, Annie sang a Celtic Rankin Family song during the signing of the registry and guests tossed wheat over our newly married heads. I will never forget the feeling that existed in the forest during the ceremony.

Other highlights were the knighting ceremony, and the wine and cheese tasting!

Why did you choose Henkaa?

When I asked my three maids of honor what type of dress they wanted to wear for our wedding - they were all excited to try a “convertible dress”. After being bridesmaids in multiple other weddings, I wanted to make sure they were wearing something that they loved the look of, felt comfortable in, and could actually wear again!

They were happy to hear I was picturing them in black as well. We all agreed that the fabric, price point and slight sheen of the long Henkaa black dresses would fit the bill perfectly.