Saanich designer organizes free weddings for couples facing terminal illnesses
It was no surprise that Lily Kennedy grew-up to create custom wedding dresses for a living.
“I love love,” the designer says. “I’ve watched true love my whole life.”
Not only did Lily’s parents fall in love at first sight; days later, when her mom Susan left for a trip, her dad Nicolaas wrote Susan letters every day until she came home.
They were engaged six weeks later.
“My whole life, he would say, ‘Look how beautiful [your mom] is,’” Lily smiles.
Nicolaas expressed countless caring words to Susan over the decades, until Alzheimer’s robbed him of all of them, but three.
“The only thing he says now is ‘I love you’ to my mom,” Lily says, fighting back tears.
Which brings us to when Lily happened to hear about Kandy and Donnie — an engaged couple too overwhelmed by cancer treatments to say ‘I do’ — and contacted them.
“I said, ‘I don’t want to overstep at all,’” Lily recalls. “‘I wondered if you wanted me and everyone I know to put on a wedding for you?’”
“And I was like in tears,” Donnie Musgrove remembers, before telling his fiancée Kandy Harry, who was in hospice care in their home. “It was a release of all the doom and gloom and there was hope.”
After Donnie and Kandy said yes to the offer, Lily put out a call to her wedding community for help. A team of professionals agreed to donate all their goods and services, and stage a ceremony for the couple in just four days.
“Everything else was forgotten about. It was amazing,” Donnie says. “That was something [Lily] gifted from her heart.”
While Kandy died a month later, Donnie says the joyful memories their family made that day endure.
“I just want to see other people happy,” Lily says.
Lily has organized three more free wedding since then, for couples in the same situation. She and her team have condensed years worth of planning into days, and donated countless hours and thousands of dollars so people can celebrate their love in a big way before it's too late.
“If you can help somebody and make somebody’s day amazing,” Lily says. “Why wouldn’t you?”
That's why Lily is now committed to continuing to spread the kindness. She launched Anna’s Angels, a venture named after her late sister-in-law, to officially produce special events for people who are terminally ill.
“They don’t have every day to look forward to,” Lily says. “So they just need one special happy day.”
Which brings us back to Lily’s dad who, moments before taking his final breath, somehow found a way to say not just three words to his beloved Susan — but four.
“I love you forever.”
And because of Lily Kennedy, despite a couple’s darkest days, their brightest wedding memories will last forever too.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
Air France flight from Paris to Seattle lands in Iqaluit after heat smell in cabin
A plane travelling from Paris to Seattle was forced to make an emergency landing in Iqaluit after there was a heat smell in the cabin during the flight.