We were so grateful to be invited to Keith and Elena's wedding this past Saturday, July 19th. Kyle has known Keith since they were young and they played hockey growing up. We loved Elena the moment Keith introduced us to her several years ago. They were always happy to see us when we came to visit in Vancouver. They invited us to stay with them back in 2012 when Claire was 6 months old and they were wonderful hosts. Since then we have always kept in touch through email, text and phone calls. They have come to Winnipeg to visit too. I remember the day Elena called me to say her and Keith were expecting this fall I was soooo excited and happy for them I might have said some shocking words. Keith had been an important part in our wedding back in 2008 and when he asked Kyle to stand up for him at the wedding Kyle was so honoured. Then to top it all off they had asked if Claire could be a flower girl as well.
Here is how the beautiful day unfolded.
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| Abby and I getting ready |
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| Claire slowly waking up from her nap |
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Claire hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa
before the ceremony |
Kyle was picked up by Keith around 1:30 pm to go for pictures with the wedding party. I stayed back at the condo with his parents to get the girls ready for the wedding.
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Claire playing with her ribbon
before the ceremony |
Claire woke up from her nap and we washed her hair and
I styled it to make it nice and curly. I painted her toe nails, she had been hesitant about it for several days but I finally convinced her. We put on her gorgeous white dress that Elena's mom had sewn by hand and her brand new pink sandals.
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| Claire and Anelin |
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| Abby hanging out before the ceremony |
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Claire going to daddy after
she walked down the aisle with me |
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Claire and Anelin playing
with their ribbons |
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Claire waiting just before walking
down the aisle |
The ceremony began at 4:30 p.m. Claire was suppose to walk down the aisle with Anelin. Unfortunately, Anelin was carried down by her dad and Claire would only go down the aisle while I held her hand. Kyle met her at the end of the aisle. She wasn't too happy to do it and wouldn't smile for the photographer. Oh she can be quite silly sometimes. I think I may have brought her too soon to the venue and she was getting bored by the time the ceremony began. Overall she did pretty good considering she's only 2 years old, I shouldn't be too hard on myself that it didn't go perfectly. Elena and Keith were happy with how both girls did so that's all that matters.
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Elena and her dad walking down
the aisle |
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| Keith and Elena exchanging vows |
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Claire, Abby, Anelin with Elena's
mom Ene. (She made both girls dresses) |
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| The married couple |
The wedding venus was gorgeous. The VanDusen Botanical Gardens on Oak Ave in downtown Vancouver. The ceremony took place on this outdoor terrace with a glass covered roof. Then they had the reception set up in their restaurant and the dance floor was in the back. The ceremony was perfect, Elena looked stunning and Keith looked as handsome as ever. Kyle and the maid of honour read a poem about love before Keith and Elena exchanged their vows together.
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| Claire playing with her baggie of goodies |
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| Claire and I hanging out at our table |
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| The goodies in Claire's bag |
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Kyle and Abby hanging out
before dinner was served |
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Abby having a nap in the stroller
after the ceremony |
The ceremony was a nice length of time, not too long and not too short. After the ceremony they had champagne and appies for everyone. Keith and Elena went to take photos with family. Then they asked the girls to come to the back to take photos with the bride and groom. It was quite entertaining to see them take photos, we would get one of them to be looking at the camera and then the other one would look away or walk the other direction.
Dinner was delicious! They had waiters come around and take your dinner order, we had a selection of 3 items. Salmon, beef sirloin or chicken. I ordered the salmon and prawns, it was so yummy. Elena ordered Claire mac and cheese to eat for dinner, she loved it. She even ate some of my salmon. For dessert they served cheesecake with berries, it was homemade, you could tell by the crust. It was amazing! Claire was given a little baggie full of goodies to play with before dinner and during speeches. It was so thoughtful and something I wished I had thought of for the little kids at my wedding. Once the music came on Claire was right up there busting a move. She is adorable when she dances. After a couple songs we sent both girls home with Linda and Ray for the night, so they could put them to bed while we stayed at the wedding. Kyle and I ordered drinks, I had a pinot grigio from a local B.C. winery and Kyle had a gin caesar. We cheered to a fun evening without little ones. It was a great day and evening and we were so happy to be a part of Keith and Elena's special day. We both chatted on the way home about how fast the wedding seem to come up and then quickly be over.
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Trying to take photos of the
flower girls and ring bearer |
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I love this picture of the two girls
talking to Elena |
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| Kyle with the maid of honour |
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| The lobby of VanDusen |
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| Elena, Keith, Brad at the head table |
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| Yummy Salmon and Prawn dinner |
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Keith giving a sweet speech to
his new wife |
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Elena's friend made this sign
for the wedding |
Keith and Elena had a perfect day, the weather co-operated and everything ran very smoothly. They were so happy and couldn't stop smiling the whole day. We are excited to meet their new little one in October. We are also traveling with them to Hawaii this coming January. We are looking forward to catching up them then.
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