Let me start off by saying how SORRY we are for all of the lies. You see, when you are planning a surprise wedding you have to lie all the time to everyone you know and love, even strangers! I would meet people and have to stay in character just in case they ran into me on the street later and asked in front of friends or family "How was your wedding?!" So we lied. ALOT.
We got married at the Anza Club in Vancouver(great event space!) on Saturday September 23rd. Our innocent and unknowing friends and family traveled from far and wide for our engagement party slash Jodi's 40th surprise birthday but what they got was so much more.
Our intention was always to get married abroad. Costa Rica, Mexico, France and finally Italy were places we wanted to get hitched. After months of researching destinations we fell in love with this beautiful Air BnB castle located in Petritoli, Italy. Jodi even traveled there to see it and shortly after he came back we received their quotes for the wedding. Over $20,000 is what it would have cost us just for the wedding dinner!!? WTF!? I know that's not much for a reception for most but Jodi had recently found out his department was shutting down and he needed to find a new job. Which caused us to make the decision that we would move to Calgary. Not a great time to spend $20,000 on a party.
One night feeling frustrated and depressed about Italy, I started binge watching Parks & Recreation (not season 1), which always cheers me up. During one of the episodes this guy Andy ( Chris Pratt) and his girlfriend April (Aubrey Plaza) throw a house warming party that turns out to be their wedding! I thought it was such great idea. Super casual and simple with a hint of fun, but we would never.... or would we? I texted Jodi later that day referencing the episode and saying what a cool idea it was. He immediately texted back - LET'S DO IT!
Shortly after we sent out invites to our engagement party, which was really a cover for Jodi's 40th surprise birthday party, which was actually our surprise wedding. Lies upon lies upon lies! We knew friends and family from Vancouver wouldn't miss the chance to party especially since we were moving to Calgary the very next week. We also figured the 40th birthday would convince most of his family and friends who lived elsewhere to fly out for the occasion. The perfect plan....
The day was perfect and at the same time it wasn't, which was how it should be. We rolled with the punches as a team and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We took pictures during the day in Stanley Park with an incredible friend and photographer, Chris Conti (book this guy now, he's amazing!). My shoes caused such bad blisters that I ended up having to walk barefoot everywhere until finally I could get to a store to buy some white Keds while Jodi searched for blister tape! I had an IBS flare up mid-day and started freaking out that it would ruin my night but I quickly calmed myself, meditated, practice some self love and to my surprise, it went away. Also we barely ate all day because we were so nervous and anxious and that led us to both get very intoxicated quickly. It was exactly what it was meant to be.
Jodi wore a custom suit from Indochino and I wore my dream dress, The Alix, from Truvelle Bridal. Shout out to Chloe for convincing Truvelle to let me buy and wear this dress, which is part of their 2018 collection, before it was even released! We had a food truck and catering from Roaming Dragon serving vegan, gluten-free tacos, spring rolls, charcuterie and more. We served Mezcal Margaritas, Faculty Brewing Beer and Oddity Komboucha. We had musical stylings by our best friend Angus Mcneilly and the best personally curated Spotify playlist you could ever ask for. (Search "wedding dance" by jkhoesing to listen). The whole place was decked out by the beautiful designer and best friend Kimberly Hume and our day of wedding coordinator Lindy Sywark. The speeches were hilarious and heartfelt, my besty Chase Mullins officiated the ceremony portion and almost had me peeing my pants! We had a small group of friends and family in the know that helped in so many ways to make this the most memorable day of our lives and we are so thankful and grateful for each and everyone one of them. Again sorry for all the lies. #sorrynotsorry
So now we start our life in Calgary. We left Vancouver this past weekend and are excited to move into our beautiful new condo in this cute neighbourhood called Bridgeland. We are officially home owners! Jodi got a great job at West Jet head office, I transferred to Lululemon on 4th St. and am looking to get into teaching yoga after I finish my 10 day yoga training with 2 of my favourite teachers, Randelle Lusk and Jazz Braden, here in Calgary. Stay tuned on my instagram (melemlyn), for all the Calgary adventures and more epic wedding photos!
Vancouver I will miss you dearly but I'm only a 1hr flight away. Until next time. X
p.s. This was by far one of my favourite moments. Everyone was waiting right inside the front door to surprise Jodi but instead I walked in wearing my wedding dress. #courselanguage #sorrynotsorry #family