It's not often people pick out what they'll wear on their wedding day while watching the nightly news.
But for Aaron Dahl, the owner of Not Your Father's Barber shop in Ottawa, he was having some trouble finding the perfect tie. He and his fiancee, Brenna Fraser, hadn't hit upon the right piece to match his suit to her dress.
While watching the April 15 CBC National newscast he noticed the tie Vancouver-based anchor Ian Hanomansing was wearing and thought he'd reach out to Hanomansing via a Twitter direct message.
"I figured probably CBC has something to do with the wardrobe," Dahl says. "I was hoping he could find out where he got it."
Hanomansing had a much more direct solution though.
"He responded right away; he said 'send address, I'll send the tie,'" Dahl explains.
Dahl sent his address and moved on with life.
"I kinda forgot about it," he says. "About 10 days later a package showed up on the front step."
Inside was the tie and a handwritten note from Hanomansing congratulating the soon-to-be-wed couple, taking Dahl a bit by surprise, as he had figured the odd request might have been lost in the shuffle of a busy life.
"The fact he took the time to follow up, to say congrats, to hand-write a card, it's a lovely gesture," says Dahl. "Even if he just reached back to say I don't know that would have been great.
"The fact he went out of his way to enhance our day and give us a great story to tell is wonderful."
The wedding went forward, in Cape Breton, without a hitch.
"It was fantastic, beautiful weather," says Dahl, adding the wedding was exactly what the couple wanted.
And the tie added to that.
"In fact, it even looked better when I saw it in person, it was very complimentary to the day," says Dahl.
The family loved the story behind the tie, and Dahl looks forward to breaking it out in the future.
"I'll break it out on the odd special occasion, and when the conversation has a lull I'll tell the story," he says.
On Twitter Dahl shared a photo of the newlyweds and thanked Hanomansing again for the special tie, leading to even more congratulations from the online community and Hanomansing.
