Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/307716
realweddings.ca 49 The first time Curtis Doucette and Cristina Samper Pearl met, they each walked away knowing they'd be together one day. e pair met in a beauty salon where Cristina was working part time while studying at UBC. While Curtis waited in the salon for his sister, he sparked up a conversation with the charming receptionist. "I just spent the entire time talking to her. I was so engrossed with this young woman," Curtis recalls. "At some point I made sure I let her know it was my sister I was there with, not a girlfriend! When we left, I literally got less than half a block down the street before I said to my sister, 'at's the type of girl I can see myself marrying someday.' " And it appears the feeling was mutual. "As soon as Curtis left the salon, I turned to a friend I was working with and said, 'I'm going to date that guy'," Cristina adds. And she was right. e couple began dating, and three years later, Curtis surprised Cristina with a beautiful and personal proposal. Both sharing a love of Michael Jackson, the couple had purchased tickets to his scheduled performance in London in 2010. Curtis had secretly planned to propose while on vacation in the U.K., but sadly, the iconic pop star passed away suddenly, just weeks before the concert series was set to launch. So, Curtis had to come up with a new way to execute his "grand MJ plan to propose." Instead, he took Cristina to a Michael Jackson-themed Cirque du Soleil show that was visiting Vancouver. "He definitely surprised me!" Cristina says of the unique proposal. Shortly after their engagement in November 2011, Cristina, an event planner by profession at Vancouver's Fluent Productions, was given an opportunity to move to Mexico for six months. e offer being too good to refuse, the couple delayed their wedding plans until 2013, a move that also allowed friends and relatives more time to plan a trip to Colombia, where the wedding would take place. "My parents were both born and raised in Colombia, and it's been such a huge part of my upbringing," Cristina says. "It's what I identify with the most." Showcasing his wife-to-be's culture to his family was important to Vancouverite Curtis, who was completely taken with the closeness of Cristina's large extended family the first time he attended a Christmas gathering in the capital city of Bogota. "Weddings are a lot more than two people coming together," says Curtis. "I wanted all of my family to be able to experience what Colombia is really like, and I wanted to bring a little bit of that into my family also." Making the wedding all the more special was the presence of the same padre who had married Cristina's parents. Although he no longer worked in Bogota, Cristina's parents flew the padre back The bride wore a Lazaro gown with Vince Camuto sandals, while the groom chose Ermenegildo Zegna; the invitations were designed by Uniquity and printed in Colombia; flowers were provided by a florist friend of the family. p46-51_Cristina+Curtis.indd 49 14-04-17 12:45 PM