On August 4th 2005, we had the privilege of joining our lives together. Our immediate families, relatives and closest friends traveled from places like Vancouver, Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Miami and Puerto Rico to share these days with us. God granted me all I asked for...the sweetest fiancé to marry, the safe arrival of all our guests, perfect temperature, gorgeous weather, a celebration surrounded by the most stunning nature however, I forgot to pray for something...the mosquitoes. If mosquitoes in Texas are big, wait until you see the Canadians!
Click here to watch us in action!
Click here for my planning bio
Our wedding highlights video
I won dress of the month!!
Professional wedding pics taken by Jay Reilly with the assistance of Stephanie Cragg.
Any pictures used from here, please credit my photographers and/or reference my bio.
Bride Getting Ready
After a late night with the last minute preparations, our mornings started close to 8am with the arrival of our videographers, Crush Pictures. As the morning went on, the happiness went up and a little nerves too! Make up artist arrived, then our photographers too, flowers, coordinator etc etc. It was a busy and very exciting beautiful morning!
Groom Getting Ready
Ceremony Shots
We got married at the terrace of the Rimrock Resort located in Banff, Alberta. There is nothing better than to get married outdoors especially when all you have are the amazing Rocky Mountains as a background. The ceremony scheduled to start at 2:00pm started at 2:45pm. Not the brides fault! :)
Some post ceremony shots
Chinese Tea Ceremony
Our Chinese tea ceremony was followed by our traditional ceremony also at the Rimrock's terrace. Something new for my side of the family of course and even for me...I even learned some Chinese sentences used during the ceremony!
Us
Banff is a magical place. If the drive towards Banff from Calgary is amazing imagine the actual town! All of these pictures were taken around Banff and some of its most famous places such as Surprise Corner, Hoodoos, Mt. Norquay, Central Park and my favorite...Vermillion Lakes.
Reception photos
The cocktail reception started at 6:30pm. Our guests enjoyed a variety of cold hors d'oeuvres and drinks to their taste. Then our reception began around 7:15pm with our first dance, which was a rumba to the beat of Marc Anthony's "I need you". We practiced our dancing moves for few months before the wedding and it really paid off. We surprised everyone and we were even more surprised to see the reactions when we did our so-called "dip". That was fun!!
Then dinner started. We had a yummie buffet and our guests enjoyed dishes such as Greek salad, baby shrimp salad, prime rib, chicken and salmon, rice, potatoes and some delicious desserts especially prepared for our guests. And for the kids, what they like macaroni & cheese, chicken tenders and pizza.
After dinner, the dancers hit the floor for a little bit until we started playing some of the Chinese games that are part of traditional Chinese weddings. Some games can be a little XXXtra special... since we had few kids running around we took a little easy...just a little! We spent the entire evening between the dance floor, the games and the traditional bouquet and garter toss, cake cutting and chitchatting with our guests. Our evening finished close to 1am. Since it was a weekday, some of our guests either had early morning flights or had to work the next day. My 9 y/o niece gave the DJ the last call-she was too tired to keep on dancing, she dance more than I did, and that means a lot :)-
We headed to our honeymoon suite back at the hotel...Marriage life already started!!
Non Professional Pictures
We took thousands of pics during our wedding week. Some of my favorites are posted below. If you see tons of pictures, blame it on my hubby as he is into photography.
With two of my closest friends
Playing tourist
Sister, Hubby, nieces and nephew
August 3rd, 2005/ Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner Pics
This is my bridal party along with two of my wedding coordinators
The youngest members of our wedding party
These are Madeline, Ybelka(friend and hair stylist) and me in the middle
My sister, yo and my new two sisters in law
Eddie and Mom
Sister, Mom and moi
Mom and nephew
My Titi, my Mom, Eddies Mama and Grandma
My cousin and fiancé
My sweetest cousin
Learning to dance to the rhythm of Zorba and plate smashing. Too fun!
Plate smash! OPA!
Plate Smashing Keepsake
Non pro pics of our wedding day
A great day has to start with a yummie breakfast
Some random pics before the ceremony
Jan Pearce, our harpist....very lovely!
Partial view of the terrace
Some words of advice I guess
Some words of advice from nephew...“ don’t ever forget to buy your toys whether she likes it or not”
The newest addition to the family. I want one just like her!
My two other friends from Puerto Rico
The ring bearer, the best man and the groom
The rings
It’s show time Eddie!!
Our officiant getting ready
Brandon counting 1..2..3.. to keep his pace...so cute!
Best man down the aisle
Eddie & Mom
Mi chinito lindo
My gorgeous niece Keyla
Las nenas de titi :)
Love my niece’s expression here. Making fun of me while I was bawling during my vows :)
Rings exchange
The kiss
Unity candle that never lit
Time to sign
Done!! We are married!!
Few pics from photo session
Chinese tea ceremony
And the party!!
Our entrance to the ballroom
Our first dance
And the dip!!!
Our M.C. Mark did the English/Cantonese version and Damaris the English/Spanish
A kiss....
And another kiss :)
Something yummie
Our cake...pretty isnt
Madeline, moi and Ybelka, my hair stylist for the wedding
At the end of the night....where did all the shoes go?!
And of course....My Keyla showing off the Latin flavor!!
August 5th/The day after the wedding
Lets go hiking! Up the mountain...here we go!
Some pictures from the gondola
Banff Springs Hotel...Gorgeous hotel. If you ever visit Banff Springs, their buffet at the Bow Valley Grill is the best!
We've made it to the top of Sulphur Mountain. The Summit elevation is 2,281 meters (7,486 feet) above sea level.
Honeymoon stills
We spent three weeks visiting seven countries around Europe. We took a break after the wedding to enjoy each other at home and recharged batteries for our honeymoon in September. We had the time of our lives!! OPA!!
Take a look at our honeymoon pics!!
Honeymoon route
My maps
US visited
Canadian provinces visited
European countries visited
We were very lucky to be able to work and share our day with some of the best professionals in the industry. At the same time and since anything’s perfect, some of them didn’t do their best. If you are planning a Banff wedding, let me know as I will be happy to assist! :)