Matt and Heather Tie the Knot!

With all my excitement of posting about my Ironman, I skipped one of the loveliest parts of our summer trip - Matt and Heather's wedding! We felt so honored to be able to celebrate with them, and flew from Vancouver to Edmonton to join them on their wedding day.

One of their old neighbors was nice enough to pick us up at the airport and deposit us at a small dinner they were having with family and the bridal party. We got to meet family and close friends, and enjoyed wine and food. Little did we know that Matt and Heather had a big night planned for us!

The whole bridal party and family was heading to a country bar called Cook County Saloon. There was some awesome bull riding, mixed drinks, and line dancing. The only bad part was that some idiot stepped on Heather's foot and broke one of her toenails. She was enjoying herself so much, she put put a bit of ice on it and then kept going. We headed out early as we were still quite tired from the travel that day.

The next day was the BIG DAY, and I spent most of the morning recovering in the pool/sauna area. It turns out that when mixed drinks are so cheap, you drink more than you think. Paul got us some lunch, and we mostly huddled inside as a huge thunderstorm hit the area. As time ticked closer to the wedding the weather eased up and the storm passed on. We got ready and walked the few blocks down to the wedding/reception location.

We arrived and everything was so beautiful. We got to see Matt and spend some time with him before it had all started. It turns out the building we were in for the wedding had been hit by lightning, and there had been a few problems. They wanted the wedding outside, but everything was flooded and wet, so it all moved indoors. Really, all that matters is that you get married in the end, so a change of plans didn't shake them. We were asked to take our seats for the ceremony. It was so exciting!

Heather appeared at the end of the hall, looking gorgeous. I tried to take a few good pictures, but my camera is so slow to turn on! Then their ceremony was beautiful, and the vows, and I tried not to cry (okay, I cried).

Paul and I during the cocktails and snack hour.

Matt and Heather waiting to be introduced.

Speech time! The speeches were fantastic :) I might have cried again....

Matt and Heather play a fun game to see who knows the other one best.

Gin or water? My favourite new game!

Bride and her dad dancing... aww more crying!

The rest of the night was great - there was lots of dancing and chatting and just enjoying celebrating Matt and Heather. We all had a fantastic time, and the food was gorgeous. We went home at a reasonable hour and I fell dead asleep.

The next day we went to the fringe festival, lots of street performers and yummy food. We had a great time!

More fringe festival...

Our goodbye dinner eating mexican and margaritas. Yum yum yum!

And finally on our flight back to London. These folks were at the wedding with us and we were all pretty wiped out by then. At least this flight had little TVs (better than before). 

Overall, an incredible trip - I'd do it again in a heartbeat.