EDITORIAL: The best day ever – July 13, 2013

July 18, 2013 · 0 Comments

Last Saturday, July 13th, I had the honour and privileged of marrying my sweetheart and best friend, Craig.

Our wedding day was the most perfect day ever – from the weather to the vows and the family, friends and honoured guests that came to celebrate our union.

Although I did not have a bridal party, my three sons – Brodie, age 13, Braedon, age 12 and Logan, age 9, stood up for me. My mother-in-law, Mary, walked me down the aisle and presented me to her son. My life-long friend, Andrea Jacks and sister Sheri Soloduik signed our wedding registry, making it official.

We were married at A Taste of Freedom and I would like to thank the owner Carl Viveiros and his staff (Alison, Meaghan, and Leigh) for making the event so special. My guests are still raving about how terrific the food was and how lovely your restaurant and adjoining garden are.

The day wouldn’t have been complete without my cake, created by my special friend Terry Allamby. Terry and I have maintained a friendship since her husband David Allamby, a regular contributor to our ‘Letters to the Editor’ section, passed away. I have saved the top layer of the cake for our first anniversary!

Darlene Rupke, owner of Season’s Floral in Tottenham spent tireless hours creating the decor for my special day. As we’ve all come to expect from Darlene, her vision was spectacular and seeing her creations throughout the garden truly made my day. Everything – from my bouquet, to the flowers on the tables to the glittering crystals and flower boards – was perfect. Darlene also created the flower arrangements that we gave out to our honoured guests – Craig’s aunt and uncle, Maria and Bill, who celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary that day with us, my Auntie Pauline Apperly who stood in for my mother on my big day, Craig’s mother Mary Gabrek, and our sisters, Sheri and Jeannine Drew.

My photographer, Peter Finnie, owner of Biffspandex Photography and Peter Finnie Artistic Photography did a fantastic job of capturing the moments that I will hold dear forever. Since I am usually behind the lens and not in front of it, I was anxious about posing for pictures, but Peter made it easy for me and we opted for a more casual approach. I can’t wait to see all of the photos from the day, but the ones I’ve seen thus fr are awesome. Thank you Peter.

Since my new husband is Scottish, we had to have a bag piper at the wedding! Brian Kirk, a bag pipe instructor from the Tottenham Legion made the day – and made Craig cry! He went out just ahead of me and alerted the guests the big moment was ready to happen. I’d like to thank Brian for sticking around to play a few more songs for my guests afterwards, and allowing my kids to give the bag pipes a try. Who knows, maybe there’s a future piper amoungst us…

I’d like to thank my guests, who came from all corners of our great nation, for taking the time to be with us on our special day and for all of their generous gifts and well-wishes.

A special thank you to Donna-Marie and Andrea Jacks for so graciously hosting me the night before the wedding and getting me to the venue on time. You are my family.

Finally, I’d like to thank my husband for marrying me and making me whole. Your love and acceptance matters most to me over all else. I love you.