Words by Maureen Young

“But now I know just who you are
And I know you hold my heart
Finally this is where I belong
It is you I have loved all along”

~ It Is You (I haved loved) by Dana Glover

The Oasis conference centre was transformed into a glamorous and personal enchanted forest that Steph + Ryan had created for their family and friends.  The ambiance evoked a sense of love, thought, happiness and magic.  The ice sculpture added to the elegance and had pride of place, greeting guests as they entered the reception.

The table numbers (all 30 of them!) marked the signifcant places in the couple’s relationship; from first sighting to honeymoon locale.  All of the details, from decor to favours were handcrafted with love by Steph + Ryan.

The MC’s did a fantastic job of keeping everyone entertained and the festivities going.  The wedding games were designed to create embarassing moments and get the couple to kiss.  As Ryan is such a joker, it was pay back time and as his wife, Steph was swept along for the ride.  The giant dice had 6 tasks and ‘sword play’ was rolled – we’ve never seen such fierce looking tongues!  There was also wrist to lips where Ryan looked rather chivalrous completing that task.  The helium game was designed to test Steph’s ability to tell Ryan apart from the other chimpunks and his laugh set him easily apart.  The pretzel game involved both sets of parents as well as the newlywed’s, who ended up not with the shortest end but crumbs.

Maid of Honour Ashley toasted her older sister, recounting childhood memories of looking up to Steph and aspiring to be like her. Her recollections of adventures and sharing memories with Steph brought tears to the bride’s eyes.  Welcoming Ryan into the family, Ashley considered him not just her sister’s ideal match, but also the older brother she never had.

Best Man James toasted his best friend who is a 3 year old trapped in a man’s body, recounting how Ryan’s infectious enthusiasm and phrases such as “That’s soooooo AWESOME,”  “Are you SERIOUS?” amd “OH REALLY” were often duplicated and never replicated.

Both bride and groom’s parents gave a speech.  Ryan’s parents spoke about how they complement one another from personality (Ryan is an extrovert, Steph an introvert) to names (Ryan means little prince, Stephanie means wisdom).  Steph’s parents noted what a true gentleman their new son-in-law was, 6 years ago Ryan went around to ask their permission to date their daughter.

The newlyweds thanked everyone who had helped them out to create their special day, giving a big thanks to their families.   Ryan’s eyes teared up as he spoke about his parents and Auntie Paula.  Steph spoke about how she would still be doing video game slumber parties with her brothers and girly movie nights with her sister even though she’s a married woman.

After dinner the dancing shoes went on and Steph + Ryan, who used to dance for the UofA dance club had everyone on their feet ready to celebrate!  We reckon it’s Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ (or a cat?!) that inspired the moment, but as Ryan puts it  “I have absolutely NO idea what I was thinking.. lolz…”  Maybe it was just sheer happiness?

The couple’s choreographed dance was done to a medley of tunes; It is you (that I have loved), Bittersweet Faith and an instrumental version of Jai Ho.  During Jai Ho, everyone who had gathered alongside the dance floor to watch joined Steph + Ryan in a scene reminscient of a Bollywood film.  Even their parents were on the dance floor, mimicking the fab choreography by Wilson + Connie.

Let the party begin…

Classic – Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ gets everyone in zombie pose.

Thank you Steph + Ryan for sharing your beautiful day with us – it was an inspiring vision to be a part of and we are honoured to have been a witness to this chapter of your love story.  You two pose like supermodels and have some of the biggest hearts we’ve met and to us, you’re super stars!  We’ve made some great friends in documenting your love story.  We love that you’re both big kids with loving personalities & we can’t wait to meet the football team of kids Ryan mentioned you’ll be having  during the tea ceremony.

Have a blast in your honeymoon in Mexico and Disneyland  (the happiest place on earth!) .

Kids at heart too,

A+R