Hayley & Mackenzie

There’s no love song sweeter than Hayley Giles and Mackenzie Hepditch’s.
The pair met while adding their voices to Halifax’s Xara Choral Theatre, and were friends at first, but the “when you know, you know” cliche eventually came knocking. “It’s sort of part of my coming-out story, I’d only dated men to that point—but I knew 100 percent I wanted to be with her,” says Hayley, looking back.

The couple casually chatted about tying the knot, but a “really romantic” scavenger hunt around Dalhousie campus—which led Hayley to Mackenzie at the end— sealed the deal. The minor details of wedding planning were just that, minor: They wanted to get married at Hayley’s parents’ farm in River John with all of their loved ones in attendance, and the rest “just wasn’t that important,” she says, adding that their sisters and mothers stepped in with logistical help.

Time slowed down on the hot and muggy late summer day, where the brides’ besties were dressed in a sea of deep purples and warm wines, the food ran out and goats were among the distinguished guests. “There was something about just getting up and promising to love each other forever in front of everyone that’s important in your life,” says Hayley.

“It was kind of like, we’re allowed to—so let’s just do it now, that’s been the thing I’ve learned after coming out,” adds Mackenzie. “The more people see it, people getting married and being themselves, that’s the only way the general culture can change.”