Karley Seabrook says she never felt the urge to tie the knot with the father of her two children – that is until she was confronted with cancer.

The 38-year-old Mission, B.C. woman says her mixed feelings about marriage changed after she went for a pap smear and found out she had a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

"He was just there for me, no matter how I was. And that made me ... love him even more, and I was like of course, what am I waiting for?" Seabrook told CTV News. "I'm not going to let fear stop me from doing things that matter."

She said in the past, she thought her relationship with long-time partner Ian MacLachlan was just fine.

"The divorce rate is super high. Everything is going really good, like it's working well, so why do we need to get married?" she said.

MacLachlan, however, said he was a little disappointed with the idea.

"I think I was a little bit more enthusiastic about the idea of having a wedding and celebrating our union in front of all our family and friends. So I felt a little bit disappointed about it, but at the same time I could understand Karley's feelings."

After deciding to take the plunge, it took Seabrook nearly a year to organize the wedding, which required a password-protected website, a secret bank account and frequently deleting her computer's browser history.

"I was so happy," she said. "I was so excited to honour him."

She surprised MacLachlan with a proposal and a wedding on his 50th birthday.

"I thought, 'Oh gee, we are having a little surprise dinner," he said. "But they had it all planned out."

When MacLachlan arrived to the Vancouver venue on Feb. 1, he was greeted by his two children who each handed him a card.

One read: 'Will you,' and the other read 'marry mommy?'

It didn't take too long for MacLachlan to come up with his answer.

"When she proposed I said yes and I was in with both feet," he said.

The couple was then greeted by the rest of their loved ones, who had been watching MacLachlan’s response on a video screen in another room.

Seabrook said she hopes the couple's story helps others overcome fears they may be holding onto.

She said her cancer scare helped her realize what was most important to her: "The connections we have with other people and the love we share."

With a report from CTV's Melanie Nagy