Our Long Weekend Wedding

This was the one weekend I was waiting for this summer. This was the weekend where all my favorite people in the world were all in one place, getting to explore and experience the beauty of Waterton Lakes National Park. A place that I hold so close to me, was the backdrop for Rod’s and I dream wedding. It then turned into something of a “Working Honeymoon” as the papers called it. But before that, here’s a little recap of the days leading up and of course the big day itself.

Thursday, I started by picking up the Aussies who made the 13,873-km trip from Melbourne, Australia. They had a little hiccup with delays, so while my family and maid of honor also flew in, we decided to head to the zoo with the kids to fill up the day until there now arrival time of 6pm (original arrival time was 1245pm).

It was a great day exploring all the animals at the Calgary Zoo, especially with Wyatt who is the biggest animal lover I know even at the age of 2 ½. Once Chervon and Matt finally arrived we made the always fun two-hour drive back to Lethbridge to settle in the for the night.

Friday was a busy busy morning. Chervon and I got up to pick mum up from her hotel to go grocery/Costco shopping for all the Waterton festivities. It was a big trip, with a few different lists of all the food we needed to get, but it was helpful to just have someone pushed the cart while I ran around with my list and filled the cart as we went. The best part was while in Costco the number of people who asked if I worked there – regardless of being in shorts, with no name tag, solely based on the fact that I was carrying around a folder with my typed lists I must work there.

Once shopping was done we headed back to the house where everyone had gathered. Knowing our apartment, it felt extra small when you have that many people all trying to help and you’re not even sure what help you need. In the end, we were able to get the trailer packed with all wedding things, all the food was packed into coolers, I was able to head to my last dress appointment to have my final fitting and take it back home. We then packed everyone up and all headed to Waterton. Hopeful not to forget too many things, but I think we fared okay.

Friday afternoon, everyone spent time helping getting things settled in the cabin as well as all in their adjacent hotel rooms. We all reconvened for dinner at Wieners of Waterton, a must of any visitor in the town. That evening I wandered through town making sure to check in with anyone who was arriving that night. We had a few drinks at the bar, but I wanted to make sure I made it back to the cabin early enough to get a good night sleep, as Saturday was set to be another busy day.

Saturday, was a get to work kind of day. There was plenty of things to organize in terms of what had to make its way to the reception space early Sunday morning, we needed to work on landscaping of the yard, make sure I had everything I needed to take to the hotel suite for the girls to get ready and enjoy the morning. I also tried to do my best to make my way around town for those arriving throughout the day. Rod and I wanted to make sure that all of our wonderful guests got to enjoy our welcome map and contact card.

Saturday was also our rehearsal, I was anticipating a challenge to get that many people and a dog to all listen and work through things a couple times without any major issues, but I was quite surprised how willing everyone was to listen, pay attention and help work out the details. I do have to laugh that even though we practiced it three times, the day of still didn’t go as planned but none of our guest would have known. I just struggled that after spending so much time planning, it was hard to not be a little upset that things didn’t go fully as planned. Following the rehearsal, I left some moms in charge to help get everything ready for the BBQ while I went to check into the suite and get things organized for that night and early morning getting ready fun.

The BBQ was a huge success, I was so thankful that so many people decided to come stop by the cabin to check in and say hi. It gave me a good chance to meet some of the new family I was gaining and to catch up with friends who had made it into town. Usually I over plan for the amount of food needed, so to my surprise we actually ran out of food which meant that more people showed up than anticipated and I was more than okay with that. Burgers, hotdogs, salad and fruit were enjoyed by all as well as a few drinks here and there. The party also continued for longer than expected, but I was more than happy to entertain, to allow everyone the full Waterton cabin experience. While some fun party goers headed to the bar, the girls and I headed back to our suite for some low-key drinks and catchup chatting sessions before bed. I knew it might be a bit of a sleepless night, so we tried to head to bed at a reasonable time to help offset the excitement that was brewing.

The next morning, we were up bright an early to start the day. Rod had a few decorating tasks before getting ready, while the girls and I enjoy breakfast and mimosas.

In writing this post, I realized for the first couple of days we were too busy to take photos, and of course we have some many photos to show you our special day that I feel the photos can tell the story.

Honourable Mentions
Photogs: Willow and Wolf Photography
Cake and Cupcakes: Crazy Cakes
Ceremony and Reception Decorations: Pink Tie Events
Flowers: Funky Petals
Wedding Dress: Frocks
Reception Venue: Bayshore

Getting Ready: