Oh Canada (& America)! Part II: The Wedding

So the big day finally arrived and we could not have asked for more beautiful weather. I have to give it to you Calgary... you look good in the sunshine. The groom's side of the family, 15 of whom were bunked up/camped out on my dad and Juanita's property, barreled our way into the party bus (yes, there was a stripper pole...) on our way to the Delta Hotel. For those of you who didn't hear, the wedding was supposed to be hosted at the Calgary Zoo. But unfortunately, due to the insane flooding at the end of June, the building where the wedding should have been was so debilitated that it is now set to demolished. But onwards and upwards! Once again, these photos are a combination of my own and my photo-savvy cousins Kai and Forrest.

The ceremony was held on a private outdoor patio for family and close friends. The groom's party looked on as we all took our seats in the beautiful sunshine, overviewing the spectacular Bow tower downtown Calgary. I was lucky enough to snag one of the best seats in the house, right in front--it's good to know people in high places.

The ring bearers looked unbelievably cool and clearly took their job seriously. And let's be honest, my big bro is a bit of a goof. But he has never looked so handsome and grown up as he did on his wedding day. 

Finally, the lovely bride made her way down the aisle accompanied by her father. A few tears were shed through the short, but sweet ceremony (I won't point any fingers, but let's just say the front row went through a tissue or two).

And the moment we had all been waiting for... Presenting Mr and Mrs Stephen and Kellie Rozitis!

Yay!! Such a proud lil sis! Following the ceremony, we all made our way down to the river, which thankfully had settled down, for the professional photos. We then moseyed around downtown for a few hours until it was time to wine and dine at the reception. 

The theme--peacocks--was terrificly executed throughout the entire wedding, right down to the handmade peacock centerpieces on each table (Juanita, you can stop dreaming of peacocks now!). Dinner was followed by speeches and cake cutting, and then all of the guests were WOWED by the hosts' incredible choreographed first dance. This was followed up with some serious boogying by the rest of the guests, in particular our resident photographers Kai and Forrest (who said Rozitis men can't dance?!?).

And when all the hustle and bustle was over, I made sure to get two of the most special people in my lives together (and our better halves) to capture a glimpse of one of the most wonderful nights of my life.

Typical. Love you guys! xo.

Up next... Kevin and Sam fly over to Vancouver. What will they get up to next? Stay tuned til next time...

Oh Canada (& America)! Part I: WLG-->YYC & The Rehearsal Dinner

Phewf! We're back.

 

After 3.5 weeks of pure socialising and bliss, Kevin and I have settled back into our routine here in Wellington. But routine is boring to talk about via blog, so let me enchant you with our first trip back to the homeland. We had such an amazing time, it is hard to put it into words. There is so much to say and so many photos to post, so I thought it would be best to break it up to keep up the anticipation. It will also force me to be a more responsible blogger and update more regularly. So here we go...

 

After a sleepless 26 hours of travel, we made it from Wellington to Sydney to Vancouver to Calgary quite delirious. A good 3-hour nap and early to bed in the evening got us back to Mountain Time before we jetted off to Canmore for a long weekend of "glamping" with my bestie-in-the-whole-wide-world Deana and her handsome sidekick Cole. The weather was not favourable to camping conditions and the misquitos were rampant, so we spent a good portion of our time hunkered in a motorhome that is likely to be bigger than our old apartment in downtown Vancouver. We thought it be best not to waste red cups, so it was imperative that we find a way to sort out this conundrum (can you guess whose cup is whose?).

 

 

The rest of the week, we were in full wedding prep mode. Each day, a few more family members trickled in and eventually we ended up with about 15 people staying on my dad's property. Friday night, my dad and Juanita hosted a twangy Western hoedown of a rehearsal dinner and we were lucky enough to have beautiful weather, good music, uber-fashionable western apparel, and best of all, campfire smores. The photos below were taken by myself and my ridiculously talented 12 year old cousin Kai.

 

Next up, wedding day! I don't want to give anything away, but it was kind of spectacular.