Sabrina and Stevan

Sweet Inspiration

Sabrina Abraham found prince charming at Dairy Queen. He was her boss and she was a 14-year-old with a crush. Stevan Dostanic wasn’t interested. After all, he was 20 and in post-secondary school. But Sabrina told everybody she knew she wanted to marry him.

Six years later, Stevan found her on Facebook and sent her a message. Two years after that, on September 11, 2009, he handed her a card. “I opened it and inside was a letter that ended with “Will you marry me?” She glanced over and he was on one knee with a beautiful ring.

As the blizzard of wedding preparations began, Sabrina and Stevan looked to DQ for sweet inspiration. “We wanted ice cream to be part of it,” says Sabrina, so their special day included ice cream scoopers as favours, table numbers featuring fun pictures of the couple and an ice cream sundae buffet at midnight. The wedding film, produced by Media Ball, incorporated footage shot
at DQ.

The celebration also honoured their family heritage. Sabrina’s family comes from Lebanon, Stevan’s father is from Serbia and his mother was born in northern Québec. Although they got married at St-Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, a Serbian orthodox priest was invited as well. The ceremony was delivered in English, Arabic and Serbian.

Sabrina wore Mirabella by Maggie Sottero, a strapless, A-line gown with embellished lace descending into a tulle skirt. Her favourite colour is purple and she found two beautiful pairs of purple heels for the day. The theme colours, plum purple, lime green and champagne, were featured in the flowers, by Flowers Talk, and decor, by Details Ottawa. Purple bridesmaids’ dresses by Alfred Angelo (model 7016) were purchased at Laysieng Couturier. The flower girl wore a white gown with a purple ribbon. 

The meal and reception were held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (now the Delta Ottawa City Centre). A magician performed during the cocktail hour and for dancing, a DJ played Arabic, English, French and Serbian music, accompanied by a musician playing the Goblet drum, a traditional Arabic instrument. Guests loved it. Another highlight was the belly dance show, performed by a close girlfriend of Sabrina who is part of a local dance troupe.

The bride and groom created their own wedding cards and designed a logo, S², with help from Sabrina’s brother, which was featured on the cards, wine bottles and favours. Cake and cupcakes were by Denis Clement, and Mark Cooper Photography did the photos. For Sabrina and Stevan, the day was a dream come true and now Sabrina is making it happen for other couples. She has started a wedding planning business, including speech writing, called Walk on a Cloud weddings.

Photos by Amy Murray
for Mark Cooper Photography

Compiled by Pam Dillon