Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/508032
realweddings.ca 27 WHEN ALEXANDRA COLLINS moved from Burnaby to New York to pursue a career in model- ling in 2007, she never imagined the ‡rst friend she'd make would turn out to be her future husband. "I had only just graduated from high school, so my mom came with me to New York for 10 months and we met Nick in the ‡rst two weeks," recalls Alexandra, who now models for both Richard's International Model Management in Vancouver and MC2 Model Management in New York. Nick Bonnesen, originally from Minnesota, had moved to the Big Apple three years earlier. As fate would have it, he "stumbled into fashion," as an account executive – which led to his meeting Alexandra. "Alex did a showroom job for the company I was working for, and her mom was hanging around the showroom waiting. I struck up a conversation and got talking to them both with suggestions of things to see and do in New York." Before long Nick was joining Alexandra and her mother for Sunday dinners, and six months later, the pair began dating. še engagement came ‡ve years later during a holiday to Tulum, Mexico. Alexandra had planned on surprising Nick with the trip but managed to spill all of the details a couple of weeks prior to departure. It was she who ended up with the biggest surprise, however, when Nick proposed with a family ring on the ‡rst day of their vacation. "He was cool as a cucumber the whole day. He didn't give anything away," Alexandra says of the special moment. Wanting to share the beauty of the Paci‡c Northwest with their American friends, the Brooklyn-based couple quickly settled on Vancouver as their wedding destination. "We wanted to showcase the water and the mountains, as that's what's clearly so gorgeous about Vancouver," says Nick. "We were about to sign a contract on a di¢erent venue when Alex's mom suggested the Vancouver Convention Centre." "Mom visited it for us the next day," adds Alexandra, "and we based our Alexandra came across her eye-catching lace Inbal Dror gown online before purchasing it from a New York bridal boutique. The couple's wedding party (right) included the bride's two sisters and Nick's best friends from New York and his university days.