An Edmonton Wedding

Continuing on from the previous post...

Our friends, family, priest and myself are patiently waiting at the church. There was only one vital piece missing. Thankfully Chrissy remembered to wake up that morning - She had a bad dream earlier in the week that she slept in and got to the church about 5 hours late and completely missed the wedding. So the little extra for the limo to set her mind at ease was money well spent.

A couple minutes past 1:00 PM my groomsman and I got notice to take our spots in the church.

I patiently watched as the flower girls and bridesmaids took their stroll down the aisle. When the music changed from Beethoeven to Wagner I felt everyone's eyes distinctly move away from me to the back of the church. For what was only a second, it seemed like all of the air pulled out of the room as everyone inhaled in expectation. 

I don't really have the words to describe my thoughts when I first got to see Christina. She of course looked gorgeous, but her beauty wasn't what was I focused on. It was more the surety of the moment...nothing had ever felt more right. I was going to marry the kindest and most special woman I could hope to meet, my best friend...Everything in my life was culminating in that moment. Every stupid thing I ever did, every achievement, every decision had led me there. I was so thankful and so ready for the next step.

Before I even knew what was happening her father was passing on her hand into mine. I honestly have no real recollection of the first moments of the mass. All I remember is the warmth of her hand and the added spark in her eyes when she looked at me. 

Before I even knew it we were getting called up to the altar to recite our vows and sign the official documents.

Our ceremony ended up being quite quick at about 45 minutes. Although short (or maybe because of it) we heard through the day many comments on how much people enjoyed the ceremony and the personality of our celebrant, Father Romano. I like to think that my Dad would have approved.  He always liked the 40 minute masses at Nobleville as opposed to long masses with too much singing.

With this kiss I now present to you Mr and Mrs. Kehrig.

After some quick visiting at the church we jumped into our limo and headed to out first wedding picture spot - The Concordia Lutheran Seminary.

The happy Bride with her Grandparents

Our photographer, Jessica Fern Facette, skillfully herded the large group around setting us up for both traditional and ad hoc fun shots. I snapped a couple shots of her at work here and again at our next location, The Old Army and Navy building downtown.

Our final stop was at the Trolley station in Old Strathcona. Chrissy and I love riding the trolley and with the Maid of Honor's husband being one of the drivers, it was too perfect of a spot not to take pictures at.

It became apparent very quickly that Chrissy and her girls were practically professionals when it came to posing for pictures.

My friends and I only know how to pose for one picture.

Of course we didin't want Daniel to feel left out so we gave him some additional attention.

With pictures done we headed to the hall to get the reception started and were welcomed by our greeters, Liam and Sonia. They did a fantastic job at the front getting signatures for our picture and helping guests find their table. 

Our MC for the reception was my buddy Kevin. He was excellent at keeping the program moving while providing just the right amount of humour. In fact I think we may have ended up setting a record by having the reception and dance be ahead of schedule. It's amazing to consider as everyone helped themselves to 2nds and 3rds of the supper. Well done to Maxine and the full kitchen staff of the St. Johns Cultural Centre! It was by far the best organized  and best tasting 'large' supper I have ever been to.

Before everyone fell into a food coma we got to the cutting of the cake. 

Although the cake didn't look exactly what she had envisioned Chrissy was still happy with it's design. And we were both utterly blown away by the taste. Cake Couture makes the best cakes I have ever eaten...enough said.

Once we were through our first dance (Come Rain or Come Shine - Billie Holiday) and our dance with our parents (The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra) we started to let our hair down, posing for some pictures and partying it up.

EEDC Folks

For the second time this year I got to see all of my siblings again in one place. I am humbled that they all came out to welcome Christina into the family. I know that Christina really took to heart my sisters Stephanie and Monica's welcome speech. I think she'll make a good addition. (Monica's blog on the wedding where I borrowed a bunch of pictures from can be found here & here). 

My neices Mia and Jade are growing up remarkable fast.

Chrissy and I found each other through the night but generally she ruled the dance floor and I held court near the bar.  Much like any wedding the bouquet toss was a highlight for so many reasons.

A special treat for me was being able to see so many of my oldest friends from Humboldt. 

I was blown away by their individual efforts to attend whether it was distance, taking time off work or choosing to miss another special event.  My only regret is that I couldn't find enough time to hear all about the amazing things they are doing and the lives they are leading. You are all awesome and I can't thank you enough for coming.

In the days after the wedding we received many positive comments on: the food, the bouquets (FaBLOOMosity) , the priest, the lovely bride, the dance DJ (City Pro) and the hall. We couldn't agree more. All of our vendors were great and we recommend them all. 

Thanks to all that attended our big day or that couldn't be there but sent their well wishes. We had a great first day as a married couple and look forward to sharing many more with all of you in the future.

I leave this post with one picture and sentiment.

How could I not love this woman?

Note: We hired a professional photographer for our formal wedding photos. This post does not include any of her photographs. All of these pictures are photos from friends and family.

Buildup to the Wedding

Already I can tell that marrying Christina is the best decision I will ever make. That coupled with the fun of seeing all of my family and such a large group of my friends having a great time at the wedding fully makes up for the stress of holding a wedding.

Though I should qualify that statement...I assisted in organising our wedding and had very little stress regarding the wedding. Chrissy took on the majority of the organising and took on way too much stress. My only real stress was through osmosis absorbing Chrissy's stress or being the recipient of her stress (hereby dubbed Chrissyosis). It was an early lesson in the old adage "happy wife, happy life".

Going into the last week before the wedding Chrissy was putting in full days doing any number of activities; meeting with vendors, designing programs, cleaning everything in sight, even arts and crafts church decorations.

For some reason or another we decided to take on the extra task of hosting our own wedding rehearsal dinner in our backyard the Thursday before the wedding. Due to wedding planning our backyard wasn't as well kept as it could have been. To help make the yard look more festive and picturesque we borrowed a bunch of flowers from Chrissy's parents. The delivery of the plants even included a special guest - Chrissy's Uncle Ed from Poland.

Ed doesn't speak a word of english but a vodka welcome is universal.

The rehearsal supper turned out well. My steak and chicken kebabs didn't kill anyone (even though the jerk sauce made it touch and go for some) and the weather was great.

Great camera presence by Bryce (above) and Andrea (below)

A visit to the church during the rehearsal and the inclusion of my Saskatchewan buddies and Geoff's family made the wedding a lot more immediate and real for me. It was finally really happening.

The Friday consisted of a list of errands from Chrissy and then making up the hall for the reception. Thankfully we had lots of help from bridesmaids, family and our German visitor Hendrick.

 

After a full day of running around and a bit of visiting I checked in back at the house where Chrissy's bridesmaids were settling in to stay the night.

Even with our living in sin (gluttony) over the years I still felt some traditional thoughts on the overall ritual of a wedding. All through our engagement I had gone out of my way to not learn anything about Chrissy's wedding dress. I wanted my first vision of Chrissy on our wedding day to be her in the dress walking down the aisle toward me. So, with an innocent kiss on the cheek, and maybe a little tush squeeze, I grabbed my overnight bag and headed to a hotel for my last night as a single guy. I was not to see my lady again till the altar.

I woke early on Saturday morning, the day of the wedding, and left the hotel to pick up my brother Richard and do some more errands (pick up flowers from Costco and deliver to the church). Hanging with Richard was maybe the best thing I could have done that morning. As a bit of a tour guide and host I got to enjoy just spending time with my brother rather than stressing over inane wedding details or getting too lost in my own thoughts.

The only down side of our morning drive was a traffic camera speeding ticket that I received in the mail 2 weeks later. What can I say though, after so many years I was eager to get on with marrying Chrissy (Insert sappy aaaaah here). 

Back at the Hotel I started to get ready.  As I have talked about before, my family gifted me a pair of cuff links with my fathers signature on them to wear during the wedding. Monica was there to capture the moment of me putting them on and to take a last picture of Mom with her single 'baby'.

Meanwhile across town Christina was getting ready with her family and friends. 

Finally it was time to head out to St. John Bosco Church. 

As if we could do anything else, my groomsman and I kept it light at the church and got in some last minute pictures including our customary Christmas picture.

I have known all of my groomsmen for the majority of my life and I feel privileged that they would stand up for me on my wedding day. Their easy going demeanor,  good humour and general strength of character is admirable and though I may not see them as much I would like I value them a great deal. 

Thank you Daniel, Rob, and Bryce for being there on my day and for each in your own way providing an example of the man I hope to become as I spend the rest of my life with Chrissy.

Next post - The wedding.

Note: We hired a professional photographer for our formal wedding photos. This post does not include any of her photographs. All of these pictures are photos from friends and family.

Marriage

So I got married a couple of days ago....that happened!

Chrissy and I are still a little overwhelmed by the great turnout and the more than expected affection, generosity and love directed our way. For now, please accept a large general THANK YOU from us until we can find the proper words.

As we get ready to honeymoon I will leave you with our wedding reception 'growing up' video.

Engagement Photos

Just mere days away from the wedding I present the full final set of engagement photos taken by my talented sister Monica.

Coney Island Candy on Whyte Avenue (now closed)

Enjoying the river valley in the Crestwood area.

Our 'courtship' occurred mostly in the Downtown of Edmonton. We have some great memories of spending time in the downtown and felt it was a good place to capture and preserve the special occasion of our engagement.

Special Days of Our Lives John Black and Marlena (Doc) pose.

The intoxicating scent of love

The master and constant inspiration

We spent many an hour after work at Sherlock Holmes. Often we would find ourselves in the last/worst seat in the house located under the stairs...somehow it turned into our favorite.

 

We first met in my second interview for a position at EEDC located in Edmonton's World Trade Centre. She was dragged in to give her thoughts on her potential new colleague. I could tell she was infatuated with me from the onset and I got the job.

Thanks to Monica for taking the pictures. Thanks to Christina for saying YES.