July 31, 2019 Amy + Graham

Words from the bride, Amy:

Graham and I first met in September of 2016—we were set up by mutual friends. I think our first impressions/or first thoughts of were a feeling of immediate comfort around the other person. Conversation was easy and natural and it just felt ‘right’.

I knew Graham was the one shortly after he met my daughter and I watched them instantly connect! He says that he knew I was the one after we spent our first Christmas together.

Graham proposed to me 2 years after we started dating, while we were on a hike in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park. We had hiked up to a vantage point overlooking the lake, and I turned around to find him on one knee! He also did a second mini proposal when we got home, so he could include my daughter, Grace. He gave her a special necklace that evening too.

Getting married in the Vernon area was important to us as we both have a special connection to that area. He grew up there, and I spent childhood summers at my family's Vernon lake house. We've always loved that we have that in common!

We chose to get married at the 50th Parallel Winery because it's such a gorgeous spot overlooking Okanagan Lake. We wanted the wedding to feel romantic, elegant and simple—not too fussy or over-planned! We really wanted the day and everything that went with it to feel like ‘us’. We loved sharing our story and vows with friends and family. Everything was perfect!

I have so many favourite moments from the wedding day! I think our ceremony was so heartfelt and personalized that we truly felt that it was a highlight of the day (many of our guests also said the same thing!). Our officiant spent a lot of time getting to know us beforehand in order to craft a personalized ceremony for us, and it was beautiful.

I loved the first moments we shared during our first look, where we exchanged vows in private and took photos. I also loved having my daughter as part of the day! It was meaningful to both of us not only for us being united as a couple but for Grace to feel like we were now a ‘family’. So we exchanged a ring with her too, and she read little ‘vows’ to us which was just wonderful.