Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/162483
When they needed an escape from city life, the pair would venture to the wilds of Quadra Island, and it was there that Merle proposed at the pinnacle of a mountain they had hiked. Taken by surprise, Tamara recalls he was emotional and nervous until she enthusiastically accepted. "It was a perfect setting," she says. "We were standing on a cliff overlooking a channel of water, with nothing but arbutus trees around us and our dog. We'd been together five years by then, and we knew we'd spend our lives together. But I hadn't known when the proposal would come." A year later, on August 27, 2011, Merle and Tamara made the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Vancouver to convene in Pemberton with 70 friends and family members for their wedding at North Arm Farm. Set at the foot of Mount Currie, the 60-acre working organic farm is also a scenic setting for weddings and other events. "I wanted to showcase this amazing province we call home," explains Tamara. "Most people don't know how gorgeous Pemberton is, nor how close it is." The couple hired wedding coordinator Marcie Gaukrodger with Whistler-based Bliss Event Planning to execute a wedding that combined rustic touches and vintage elegance. A self-confessed Type A personality, Tamara went so far as to develop a PowerPoint presentation to ensure Marcie truly understood her chosen theme. "I organized the organizer," she jokes. "But Marcie knew my theme well and executed it amazingly." The morning of the wedding, Tamara donned her strapless Vera Wang gown with its layers of French tulle, feeling light and graceful. The couple had rented Cedar View Estate, a lodge in Pemberton, and Merle surprised his bride by sending a white 1969 Jaguar he had hired from Vancouver to pick her up for the ceremony. Once the couple and guests arrived at North Arm Farm, Tamara's cousin, Art Napoleon, a well-known aboriginal country-blues musician, played drum songs for the wedding party before reciting a prayer in Cree. Then he presented the couple with burning sweetgrass so they could wash themselves in the smoke and cleanse their spirits and souls, a First Nations tradition known as smudging. Many other special aboriginal elements formed part of the wedding, from moose hide on Tamara's bridal bouquet to a menu with an aboriginal-fusion theme, consisting of scallop and venison appetizers and entrees of bison and West Coast salmon. Tamara wore a Tsimshian gold carved bracelet on her wrist and was presented with a button blanket emblazoned with the Tsimshian raven family crest as a welcome gift from Merle's family. Keeping it in the family, Tamara's aunt and uncle officiated the wedding and Merle and Tamara recited the vows they had written, before exchanging rings. "The vows were very emotionally intense for me," says Merle. "We were facing our entire family, giving our love and committing ourselves, which was very moving." After the ceremony, while the couple had their photographs taken, guests mingled at a cocktail reception as Art played a set on the lawn at their reception venue, the Green Water Resort, a serene Top: The couple danced property along the Lillooet River, a short drive north of to music by Big Mountain Whistler. And later, Big Mountain Rhythm, a Whistler Rhythm, a Whistler-based band. band, entertained guests with music and dancing beneath Middle: At the reception, a marquee. Merle's family presented Tamara with a Tsimshian That night, after dinner, Tamara meandered towards ceremonial blanket they the banks of the river, where a bonfire was burning. "I had made for her. Bottom left: For dessert, stood there looking at the glowing tent where everyone the couple and their guests was dancing their hearts out," she recalls. "To see our feasted on a coconut wedding cake prepared celebration come together, that was a moment when I was by Pemberton's Blackbird overcome by how tremendous it was." rw Bakery. p56-63_Law of Attraction One Fine Day.indd 58 4/24/12 3:15:31 PM