Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/162483
I n July 2005, Kathryn Morgan was working for a Vancouver restaurant that had been hired to cater a large wedding. On the day of the event, she arrived onsite early as part of the catering crew. David Ricci, one of the groomsmen that day, had also shown up early, and he and Kathryn immediately recognized each other from the high school they'd attended a decade earlier. "I was mortified running into someone that I knew who was a guest at a wedding I was working at," Kathryn recalls. Still, the two chatted on and off over the course of the day and before the reception was over, David had asked for her phone number. He called the following week — and so it all began. By 2010, it was clear that they wanted to spend their lives together. That December, David organized a Christmas Eve dinner for his and Kathryn's parents. Before the gathering, he and Kathryn took their dogs for an afternoon walk. "David wanted to go a certain route, which would have taken longer, and I was afraid we would be late for dinner," Kathryn remembers. But David was relentless, so she gave in. There, off the beaten track, David proposed with a ring he'd had made with a diamond from his grandmother's ring. The couple joyfully announced their engagement to their parents that evening. "My mother wasn't completely surprised by the news," says David. "She'd had a hand in helping design the engagement ring. Dad must've known something was up too, because he'd asked if he should have champagne in the fridge that night." Initially, Kathryn and David had intended to plan the wedding themselves. However, Kathryn was living in Whistler and serving as a child protection worker in Pemberton, while David, who works in logistics for the container terminal, was putting in shifts in Vancouver. "We were always commuting on days off, so planning soon got to be too much," explains David. Luckily, David's sister had used wedding planner Soha Lavin of Countdown Events for her own big day. "My sister and mom suggested Soha could even be helpful for day-of coordination," he says. "But in meeting with Soha, we realized that we needed more than just day-of help." Kathryn and David wanted a clean, contemporary look for their day; they imagined an intimate gathering in a single ceremony and reception location. "Soha was wonderful," Kathryn says. "We were able to give her general ideas about colour and details; she'd come back with specific, unique suggestions that seemed tailored to us." Kathryn and David scouted several venues for their event. Originally, they considered marrying Top: The glowing bride in Whistler but realized that would pose logistical found a quick way to cool down en route problems for their guests. They decided upon Lift to her big day. Bar and Grill, a chic restaurant located on the Right: Kathryn's father accompanied her to the water in Vancouver's Coal Harbour. Lift's archiceremony on the rooftop tecture set against the view of the harbour fit perpatio overlooking Coal Harbour. fectly with the clean modern look they wanted. R E AL WE D D I N G S . CA p56-63_Law of Attraction One Fine Day.indd 61 61 4/24/12 3:18:06 PM