This is katehavercroft's Green Wedding!

so my parents moved to penticton a while back, which if you don`t know, is in BC, Canada. if you don`t know BC, well, its wild and beautiful and one of the most amazing places on earth.

the specific area they are in is the Okanagan Valley. This valley is almost like a desert, very dry but cool at night, perfect for growing grapes. Hence, it is one of the best regions in the world for wine.

My dad went up to get into the wine business, is doing great, and so when Pete and I got engaged, we didn`t hesitate to pick Penticton as our destination. Since his family is from Ontario, we figured if they`re coming all this way, we might as well take them somewhere beautiful!

not to mention my parents bought an old restored farm house overlooking the valley, complete with a barn and all! its simply stunning, so here we go: two urban kids throwing a rustic, country wedding.

so that`s how we ended up with a vineyard wedding.
we`re really excited about Penticton, its simply gorgeous!

bought from a local store, its a no-name brand, and i LOVE IT!

it also was on sale, and i saved a pretty penny.
which makes it even better!

i also bought long lengths of soft pink silk, to add a big flouncy bow!

yessssssssssss.

It started with an innocent trip to Penticton, BC. My parents moved there this summer to a wonderful home up on the hills above the small town, and we wanted to get away for a weekend during the mid-winter blues - and as a birthday gift for me. We flew up on thursday and my parents pick us up and we spent the night stuffing ourselves with grilled prawns and relaxing in my parent’s beautiful house.

Friday we got free passes up Apex mountain, so i dragged pete up and made him strap on a board. I gave him some lessons and he really did great - he was turning within half an hour. I did some runs alone while he practice and then we did one run together at the end of the day. He did great, but was sore and tired by the end of the day.

We drove home and went for dinner with my parents at Theo’s, a greek restaurant. Somewhere during the main course - where pete ordered something called lamb shoulder that turned out to be pretty much a full lamb - my dad flat out asked him if he was planning on giving me a ring anytime soon. Pete was a bit stunned, but laughed and asked if that would be okay. My dad said sure, and they shook on it. I took a picture.

I knew Pete was asking permission this weekend, and i figured that was the big deal for the trip. I knew pete had a ring (because i helped pick it) and now he had permission - but i really thought he was going to wait longer, maybe even until i was done school (i graduate in May). Soon enough, i found out i was wrong.

Saturday we went to Kelowna, a small city nearby, and did some … well … shopping. After that we grabbed hot chocolated (pete got dark and i got white) and walked through the older part of the city (and with the most character). The sun was starting to go down so we decided to drive back while there was light.

I fell asleep on the way home and woke up as the sun was starting to set. I randomly mentioned that we handed walked Nico (my dog) yet on this trip and we should do it tonight. Pete didn’t say much but we got back to my parent’s house 20 minutes later, he said ‘let’s do it’. We dropped off our bags and grabbed the dog and headed down to the lake. There is a trail called the Kettle Valley Trail that my parents love, so we went there.

We let Nico run loose and walked up to a cliff where we took a picture in the summer. I kinda thought about it, but nothing happened so i dismissed it pretty quickly. We even walked up to a second cliff that was even prettier but, once again, Pete was just like “We might fall, let’s get down”. The sunset was beautiful though, hot pink and orange behind the mountains, and we were having a great walk together, laughing and making up songs about my dog. It was starting to get a bit cold and the sun was just about gone, so i suggested we turn back. Pete pointed out a park up ahead and said we should at least go that far. I agreed, but only because there were these beautiful trees i wanted to take some photos of.

Pete walked up the hill in the park and i snapped a bunch of photos from far away. He finally yelled at me to hurry up, so i made my way up the hill just looking at the shots on my camera. I got to the top and took some more shots because it was a great look out. I was facing away from him when he said “Well, i think you know this is coming…”

My heart kind of stopped a bit, and i turned around slowly to see him holding the box. I covered my mouth with my scarf because i was blushing and smiling and probably looking like a doofus, and Pete said “Whaddya say?”

I laughed but didn’t say anything (because, really, he’s gotta do better than that). Pete said “Wait, let me do this proper” and got down on one knee. I immediately pulled out my camera and tried to take a picture of him. He stood up in a huff and told me to put it away. I kept laughing and put it away, and then Pete pretended to drop the ring in the grass. I had a small heartattack and dropped to my knees to find it - “DON’T MOVE!”

Turns out he was joking and i stood back up and he got back down and we carried on. We were both laughing and i covered my face again and Pete launched into his speech. It was something along the lines of “you could probably do better than me, and i can’t give you much but i’ll always take care of you” - i think :)

We hugged forever and began the long walk back to the car. I called my best friend Suzi and Pete called his parents, and we didn’t call mine because pete had already told them beforehand! We were so consumed with ourselves, we forgot the dog, but made it back to my parents house and were greeted with champagne and a huge feast my mom had made! The second we walked through their door, my sister called and immediately asked “Did he do it??” - how she knew, we’ll never know.

It was fantastic and wonderful and such a great night. We were stuffed and retired to the barn to watch Heroes for the rest of the night. Perfect!!