jawnbc | A wedding

It was wonderful!

Going to the ~~Chapel~~Park: We were married at Seasons in the Park, one of Vancouver's better restaurants (It hosted the official dinner between Clinton and Yeltsin during their 1995 summit). West coast fusion cuisine (though with "real" portions) and a casual elegance environment are their unique offerings to diners.

But what really sets Seasons apart is the setting. Queen Elizabeth Park sits atop Little Mountain, near the geographic centre of the city of Vancouver. It's about 500m above sea level, so it offers panoramic views of the Lower Mainland--especially the harbour and North Shore (Coast) mountains. On a clear day, the snow-capped peaks, sparkling harbour and the verdant surrounding (Seasons is literally surrounded by the lush vegetation of QE Park), have a magical effect. In fact, many couples choose to either marry in the public areas of the Park, or come to QE Park for their wedding photos.

Get me to the ~~Church~~ Park on time: Having organized all the details in advance allowed

querrelle and I to arrive just before drinks started at 15h30. Which is good, because we had a few unanticipated wardrobe issues (cufflinks in button holes) that delayed our arrival. Still we were there to start greeting folks, though I immediately liaised with the staff to ensure the rooms were all set to our specifications. We also had to put the table assignments out. We had drinks in the lounge, then we would be married on the outdoor patio, and our guests would join us for dinner in the Gazebo and dancing in the Boardroom. Cocktails were accompanied by hot hors d'oeuvres--the most popular of which were mini Yorkshire puddings stuffed with roast beef and gravy. Yum!

When such disparate groups of people meet, there's always a risk that intermingling will be limited. It didn't happen on our day, with the exception of a handful of single gay guys (who didn't make any effort to socialize beyond themselves).

querrelle's friends and colleagues from the UK mixed well with my family, and our Vancouver friends. Everyone looked fabulous and seemed pleased to be with us. An auspiscious beginning to the festivities.

Our civil celebrant (Diane Brown) was phenomenal. Serene, funny, genuinely happy to be with us and to help us consecrate our love. Very quickly it was 16h15 and time for the big moment. As our loved ones gathered around, Diane entered the patio, followed by our best men (Mike and

toneyvr, and finally us.

We held each other's hands as we faced each other and recited our vows:

MAX you are my one true love.
I will love you with all my heart, adore you, protect you and treasure you.
I will trust you with my dreams, and support you in the pursuit of yours
I will inspire and encourage you to be the man you want to be, and....together we will build a home that is welcoming to all, a place of laughter and joy, compassion and respect, for each other and others.
I will be your best friend and to do my utmost to make you as happy every day as you have made me today.
And so I call on those present , to witness that I John Egan, take you Maximilian Parsons,to be my lawful wedded husband

And then we kissed, to applause and cheers. Apparently we were only supposed to kiss once (according to my family), but we kissed three times.--I mean, after 2 blokes decide to get married, flouting convention seems downright normal!

Food, glorious food: For dinner we offered our guests a micro-menu, from which they ordered directly (no chicken or beef ticked response cards).

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Menu
Appetizers
Simple organic greens
Seasons’ Famous Stuffed Mushrooms crab, shrimp, scallions, emmenthal & cream cheese
Baked Chinatown BBQ Duck Rolls

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Mains
Cashew Nut Crusted Wild B.C. Salmon
Lentil phyllo
Roast tenderloin of beef

~

Seasons' staff really outdid themselves, providing typical (friendly, professional and 100% on top of everything) Vancouver-level service. In fact, several guests who usually stop at 1 or 2 glasses of wine found themselves quite tipsy--they lost track of the top-ups liberally offered during the meal. As luck would have it, we weren't spending money fast enough (the room was booked on a "minimum buyout" for food/beverage), so we had no choice--a Dom Perignon toast it was! We availed of two very important people (

querrelle's former boss Peter and my brother Tommy) to offer a couple of toasts. Which were . . . so deeply moving. I offered brief words of thanks on mine and

querrelle's behalf.

Let them eat cake: One of the few non-negotiable conditions for me was that our cake be light and tasty--I loathe fruitcake. And it was: lovely vanilla sponge, but filled with a layer of fresh fruit (strawberries and oranges) and topped with strawberries and dark blue grapes, keeping in line with our red and black waistcoats. By the time we were finishing dinner it was drooping ever-so-slightly, so we carved it up pretty quickly. But not a single piece was left!

Ce soir on danse: Soon it was time to adjourn to the Boardroom, where our DJ was already spinning tunes. Once everyone had made their way downstairs, it was time to have our first dance, which we sang to one another:

My love grows Stronger Every Minute
And it won't ever die
I want you to stay with me
Not just today, but for all my life

The Egans needed no prompting and were already whooping it up on the dancefloor. Most of our other guests joined in thereafter. We'd expected the folks who'd travelled from afar would turn into pumpkins no later than 21h00; in reality we sort of had to kick folks out at 23h30 because we were knackered!

But happy, really, really happy.