Hihi Maury and Jennifer! Congrats lovebirds! You guys must be somewhere mid-air on the way to your Mexican Honeymoon! Here’s a sneak peek shot at St. Joseph Basilica while we found shelter from the afternoon showers. =) Thanks for the amazing time guys! Enjoy Cancun, can’t wait to see you guys again with your lovely tans!
Much love,
~Rina + Anthony
Words by Maureen Young
“From the 1st day I met you at Big Valley Jamboree I knew you were the one I wanted to spend my life with.
Asking you to marry me was the easiest decision I have ever made.
The bets advice my dad gave me was to marry a friend.
Someone I can laugh with, and who enjoys the same things I do.
Well, today I get to marry my best friend”
-Shaun Thompson
We first met Carmen + Shaun in Autumn in a Corvette and found a beautiful couple who shared a love of fast cars, country music and a little pup named Oscar. Friday was a fast and furious day as the 14 members of the bridal party let off some steam on the race track. Even as the bride-to-be Carmen didn’t get any special treatment and had a couple of bruises after!
The girls booked into a downtown hotel and had an early night, the boys operated on Thompson time (i.e. late) and went to bed roughly about the time Carmen woke up! Marriage is the start of all sorts, but Carmen is adamant it doesn’t mean a new way of keeping time!
While having their hair done, Carmen was abuzz with seeing a year of planning come to fruition and the bridesmaids were placing bets on whether Shaun would cry. All the girls were near tears when Kara, the maid of honour, gave Carmen a Tiffany box from Shaun. Inside was a pearl bracelet and a note from Shaun;
After having their hair done, Jodi, Shaun’s sister and a bridesmaid, took the girls from beautiful to gorgeous with her flair for make-up. Back at Carmen’s parents house it was a family affair as relatives were on hand to catch a glimpse of the bride, ensure all the bridesmaids were fed and simply enjoy each other’s company.  Carmen was given her grandmother’s ring, and this something blue was tied to her garter for her big day.
Despite a late night, the boys were at the Air Hanger in Fort Edmonton Park transforming a space into something amazing… by tieing 300 chair covers. 7 boys in 3 corvettes then headed back to Shaun’s and starred in their own version of Old School. Girls, it’s true, when it’s just the guys they order pizza, beer and hang around in their boxers. (Sorry boys, this doesn’t mean your illusion of pillow fights and sleepovers is true, it just means girls are always right, hee hee).
The boys getting ready was a comedy of errors, proving that it was a good thing Carmen’s sisters were helping out with the ironing of shirts for the day when Rudy and Dave both got their shirts soaked trying to steam out the wrinkles! When Morgan could only find a pair of nose trimmers to trim his sideburns, Rudy was the go to guy and turned barber to trim both Morgan and Dave’s.
Lee, the best man, couldn’t shake his engineer training and drew a schematic for Dave to review since he missed the rehearsal. Lee talked Dave through it all and, as a fellow engg, Anton translated to ‘stand here.’
The ceremony at the Citadel was a gorgeous affair as Carmen walked down the aisle accompanied by her mum and dad.
Lee, although an Engineer, locked his keys in his Corvette and no Engineer can break the lock on a Corvette (translated to pop the lock). Instead of 3 Corvettes we did a photoshoot with 2 and the biggest bridal party we’ve ever accompanied!
Stay tuned for Part II coming soon.
Your dear friends,
~Anton + Rina
Words by Maureen Young
Ken’s idea of a wedding schedule? Go from Hotel McDonald to McDonald’s for some McChicken. So en route to doing creative portraits with the bridal party and immediate family, they stopped off at McDs. Note to all chicken Mcnugget lovers, mosquitos find you irresistible after! We know this from first hand experience and no, loading up on bug spray does not work!
The reception opened with The Wonder Girls – Lisa’s bridesmaids had choreographed a phenomenal routine to ‘Nobody’ which definitely set the standard! As Lisa + Ken both have a dance background (she does Chinese dancing, he breakdances), guests had to dance if they wanted the couple to kiss.
Ryosuke, a breakdancer himself, was up for the challenge. His routine, including back flips and some seriously wicked spins, took it up a notch and wowed the other guests as they all waited for the Lisa + Ken quiz to get the couple to kiss.
Romy Young, awesome friend and photographer extraordinaire, did a great job as mc, keeping guests entertained with humour and introducing the games. The newlyweds were set against one another as they competed to see who could drink water the fastest… out of the thinnest and longest straw imaginable! When Lisa won, Ken had to drink a powdered grass drink, which tasted as bad as it looked!
The couple also had to take turns popping balloons on each other’s laps and Ken tried to enjoy Lisa feeding him a cupcake but it was a messy go.
The speeches showed how important family + friends are to Lisa + Ken. As they made their thank you speeches, tears welled up and when Ken thanked his beautiful wife, all the bridesmaids wiped away tears.
As a surprise, Ken and his groom’s men put together 2 music videos for his bride; recreating ‘As Long As You Love Me’ and ‘I Want it That Way’ move by cheesy boy band move, for Lisa’s delight.
As Lisa + Ken have such strong dance backgrounds, their first dance was an amazing routine showcasing all their rhythm and skills.
After all the games and an amazing first dance by the newlyweds, everyone took to the dance floor to celebrate into the night.
Lisa + Ken, thank you for an amazing day! Your dance moves were incredible and if you ever want to take on the challenge of teaching a two left feet couple to dance, we’ll be the first in line. Sharing in the happiness of your big day and capturing moments that definitely made us go ‘wow’ is an absolute pleasure and we can’t wait to share the images with you.
To Rachelle + Len, our lighting assistants, you guys rock! It was great to see those muscles you stretched in Mexico are still in top form ;) and thanks to Mattaw as well – you guys do good work!
McLove,
Anthony + Rina
Words by Maureen Young
When you’ve lived in the shadows before having an epiphany, codenames are par for course. Lisa + Ken, aka Bridezilla + Godzilla, made us laugh when we got the zilla itinerary. There was more laughs than roars though on their wedding day.
Lisa and her 5 bridemaids filled the salon with the sound of giggles as they chatted about how 3 of them (including Lisa) were married this year alone. It was brilliant to seeing Rachelle again, who was still aglow from marrying Len in Cancun. Having started hair at 8.30am, the girls were running late getting back to the house for make up and door games, so they put pedal to the metal in a bid to have everything prepped in time.
Ken and his 5 groom’s men duelled with Ken’s Japanese sword collection (Street Fighter was too tame for them!) and spent the morning horsing around – boys will be boys! Matt, one of the groom’s men, performed surgery on his boutinnere when he accidentally broke the flower off – take note, krazy glue can fix anything, including your wedding day aesthetics!
The boys had a Murphy’s law morning when, after the surgery, the limo didn’t turn up! The limo driver, clearly having heard how gorgeous the girls looked, went straight to Lisa’s and left the boys stranded at Ken’s! Anton donned his chauffeur’s cap (figuratively speaking of course, Anton never covers up his anime hair do) and came to the rescue. The magical TSX transported all 7 of them safe and sound to Lisa’s.
Having overcome 2 challenges, the boys had reached the final level – ‘Door Games To Steal Lisa from Evil Elia,’ as Ken affectionately titled it. To prep for this final stage, they powered up at McDs and, having been told the girls could be bribed with Starbucks, ordered take away from there. Given the calibre of door games, not sure if the bribery worked!
Ryosuke, having flown in from Japan, endured a leg wax! All the groom’s men were vamped up and had full make up done by a blindfolded Ken before enduring wasabi infused sushi. Having duelled with Japanese sword play earlier that day, the boys kissed and made up by passing seaweed from lips to lips. If leg waxing is a less intense door game, not sure we want to know what the more intense option was!
The girls, suitably bribed and entertained, granted Ken a pass through the door for his first glimpse at his beautiful bride.
From Lisa’s everyone headed to McDonald’s… Hotel McDonald… where guests joined Lisa + Ken to witness their new beginning. Ken, even after seeing his bride, coudn’t keep his emotions contained and when Lisa walked in, tears welled up in his eyes.
There was a definite McDs theme on the wedding day – any guesses where Part II starts out??
Much Love,
A+R