Thursday, September 6, 2012

A Wedding for Two

In the last week we covered a lot of miles going to visit relatives and to attend a wedding. After returning home for one night, we then went south to Whidbey Island in Washington State.

Here is a map for those of you unfamiliar with the geography.  This  map give you a sense of the size of the Province of British Columbia  and also, of the State of Washington, to the south.  Believe it or not, I cannot remember when I last took a trip south of the border. I do know that it was long before 9/11.  Of course after that tragic event, I did not have the heart to deal with border crossings and high security checks.  I am pleased to say the trip was very pleasant and there were no unnecessary delays at the border dealing with customs officials.



The map above gives an overview of the the trip from point A (Vancouver) to point B (Kamloops). It is a distance of 710 kilometres or 441 miles round trip.   The trip south was about half of the distance but it is made longer by being "processed" at the border crossing. We didn't have unreasonable delays but it still takes time to wait your turn in the queue.


The weather in Kamloops was fantastic throughout the several days we were there. The area is a semi-arid climate and it often very hot, especially in summer months. We were fortunate to have hit a cooler bit of temperature. Just the week prior to visiting, the temperatures were in the high 30s.  While we were there, the temperatures were in the mid-20s (celsius).


In my last post I showed a sneak peek of the wedding.  Here are more photos. I hope you like them. I have a lot more photos but tried to pick those that would give you an idea of the overall theme of the wedding.

The chair ties are made of cedar boughs which are very important to native people. Traditionally the native people in this area made baskets out of cedar roots. The colours of the bow represent the white, black and teal blue wedding colours.

Little dog, Maisie. She was very friendly but she would not let me pick her up. Her owner said she won't let anyone pick her up.

 
Before he was a Marriage Commissioner, this man was a world reknowned Indian dancer. He opened the wedding ceremony with a song in his native tongue.

The sweet little ring bearer. I thought he was so cute.

The beautiful bride is walked down the aisle with her father. Her stepfather was also included as he walked her part way down the aisle and then handed the bride to her father.

The Marriage Commissioner is explaining the smudging process (purification) before the wedding ceremony begins.

A lighthearted moment for the bride and groom. The Marriage Commissioner said he wanted to make sure they were relaxed.

I don't know what the Commissioner said, but he made my nephew laugh.

The wedding party after signing "the book" and before posing for photos.

Newly married couple.

Signing the register.
A fun photo of the groom with his new bride and her bridesmaids at the reception.


I mentioned in my previous post that my nephew is a cowboy. He marked the occasion of his wedding with a horse race and won! I caught the end of the race on film.  He heard about it and came over to view the film on my Blackberry Playbook. He was excited about that.



Victorious in the race, my nephew raises his hand in the air.

I enjoyed the wedding a lot because my nephew and his new bride infused their own personal tastes into every aspect of their ceremony. I also liked the relaxed atmosphere that everyone tried to create so that all could relax and have fun.

I haven't been to a wedding in a long while and it was especially nice to see my eldest nephew get married. I pray a long and happy union for him and his new bride.

Come back next time when I will share photos of my journey south.

17 comments:

Gattina said...

What a wonderful wedding ! real special ! much better than the conventional once in black and white and whatever ! It certainly was a lot of fun for everybody !

Catherine said...

That is an amazing and lovely wedding! The most unusual I've seen in the western hemisphere - I've seen weddings in Africa and Laos and Bangladesh which would be totally culturally unique but this is like a regular wedding ceremony but I love the groom's casual denims and hat! Bride looks beautiful too. Happy days and years to them both!
Catherine x

Diane said...

What an amazing wedding, I have never seen anything other than traditional dress in Europe, so to see a cowboy in dress is something quite new. I have of course seen weddings in Africa where they wear tribal clothes and that is quite different yet again. Great photos and very interesting, thanks. have a great day Diane

OneStonedCrow said...

A lovely wedding - thanks for sharing Penny ...

A nice touch that the Bride's stepfather was included in the ceremony.

Goodness!! - Canada is a BIG country.

emilyclare said...

What an absolutely beautiful wedding! I love all the personal touches and the cultural significances too :) Just lovely, thanks for sharing it! And i'm sure your outfit looked wonderful too.

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

That looks like a mighty fine celebration!

affectioknit said...

Beautiful!

~Have a lovely day!

joy said...

Very intereresting wedding. Wonderful couple. Just wonder why the bridesmaid wore black? Anyway, good luck to the couple:)

Carole M. said...

the weather looked perfect for your nephew's wedding day; what a joyous occasion and so lovely to see your photographs

Joyful said...

Hi Joy, black for the bridesmaids has been a very popular colour choice in NA for weddings for some years. In addition, it goes well with the turquoise colour. Thanks for dropping by.

Vores have said...

Hello Joyful
Oh, what wonderful pictures you show.
Thank you took with this beautiful / different wedding.
Wish you a good weekend :)
Hugs Hanne Bente

Jan said...

Ooh I love a map! Quite a distance for your journey. I would love to spend the rest of my life exploring.
Wow what a beautiful couple and fabulous photos. I am interested in the theme and history. I am viewing your posts backwards. x

Susan said...

Oh my gosh, what a wonderful wedding! The bride is beautiful and the groom, a handsome cowboy. Wow! That must have been quite an affair to remember always. Thanks for sharing your super photos, too. Susan

Pat said...

This sounds like a fun and unique wedding. Everyone looks so happy! Your nephew's wife is quite beautiful. I love the colors, especially the turquoise. What fun to have a horse race at the wedding.

Denise said...

Such an awesome wedding, thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Love it! Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Dear Friend,
Wow, what a wedding,
It was neat that both the step and real dad walked the bride down the isle, and the t-pees and the singing of the Indian song, how neat. The bride looked beautiful!! and the dress was perfect!! a wedding that you will not forget. me

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