Dear friends,

One of the highlights of my North American trip was to be able to attend the wedding celebrations of a dear colleague and friend Andrée to her charming partner Denis.  Together with a few other Red Cross colleagues we spent several days with Andrée and Denis at their home in Bromont, Quebec, and then joined the other fifty friends and relations from the region for the ceremony and party. They chose to wed in a barn at a local vineyard and it was fun to be able to assist with the decorations and even the singing to accompany Andree and her father as they wlked together into the ceremony.

The entrance to the Vineyard

Approaching the barn in what is clearly a working vineyard which also offers tours and tasting to visitors .

The barn where the wedding was organised

Using nets hung from branches and draped with creeper, two wine casks swathed in white table clothes, flower vases set into wine buckets and a ‘tree of life’ carpet from their house, we transformed the outside of the barn into a bower for the ceremony.

Andrée and Denis had fashioned their own ring holders from rounds of silver birch, with a red velvet inset.

Inside the barn, Denis’s daughter Sarah adds packets of her homemade chocolates to the table decorations,
behind a bike leaning against the wall attests to how the couple, both keen distance cyclists, met several years back.

The flowers were gleaned from Andrée and Denis’s garden as well as from the gardens of other friends
and made a bright centrepiece on each of the 8 tables.

The guests were invited for 4.00 pm with the ceremony foreseen at 4.30, and all was ready and guests arrived in good time.  However, looking out into the vineyard it became rather obvious the the weather was not quite so accommodating.

Storm clouds building …

… and at about 4.15 down came the rain, in buckets!

Our colleague Jean-Charles was photograher-in-chief, here waiting out the rain with the rest of us.

Andrée and her Dad sharing some moments in the barn as they waited for the rain to ease off,
which it did, and the ceremony began almost on time.

 

Denis’ daughter Sarah was the celebrant for the marriage ceremony which was lovely for them all …

… and her emotion on this occasion was evident in her eyes.

Several shots of the couple during the ceremony, their love shining through their smiles and emotional tears, as they read their vows to each other, and then exchanged rings, brought to them by Andree’s nephew.

And then they were married and it was time for the champagne and hor’s d’oeuvres and lots of chat on the terrace.

The centrepiece of the delicious meal was the roast suckling pig which had been turning on a spit outside since about midday. expertly cooked and carved by Chef Mario, a friend of the couple.

This was accompanied by wonderful fresh and colourful salads, vegetables and sauces.

Rather than a wedding cake, the couple had opted for a range of dainty cup-cakes, with many flavours including, of course, one with a maple syrup icing. This was a Canadian wedding afterall.

The evening continued with dancing and refreshment under the watchful eye of the bison.

I caught this lovely shot of a mother and her daughter dancing outside on the terrace. 

And outside the evening was drawing to a close in with a beautiful sunset. 

A wonderful day of celebration and wishing a happy life ahead for Andrée and Denis. To close I will share one of me taken by Jean-Charles just after the ceremony, happy to have shared this occasion with them.

My next blog will show the town and surrounds of Bromont, the lovely little town where they live.

 

Until then, all good wishes,