Lobster story is first chapter in wedding tale
Alberta couple ties knot by the tank in Sobey’s where they first met
EDMONTON— Four years ago, Tara Dutkiewicz visited a local grocery store to pick up a birthday cake for her son. It was, by all accounts, a normal day. That is until her daughter, 7 years old at the time, approached the lobster tank.
“By the time I got to her, there was this bald, bearded guy taking out a lobster to show her,” Tara said. “I was really touched by the moment.” Fast-forward to Monday, when Tara, and Travis Dutkiewicz — the bald, bearded guy — tied the knot in front of the same lobster tank at a Sobey’s store in southern Red Deer.
Their guests included friends from social media who watched the couple’s journey unfold on Twitter over the last few years, as well as other shoppers, who found themselves witnesses to an unlikely wedding ceremony at the grocery store.
“We just wanted to make people smile,” Travis said.
In lieu of gifts, the couple asked attendees to donate $5 Sobey’s gift cards to the food bank for the holidays.
The event was streamed on Facebook, which certainly brought a smile to their families’ faces, since they live far away from central Alberta. Tara’s family is from Manitoba, and Travis’s family is from Moncton, N.B. — making the lobster theme a perfect fit for their wedding, Tara said.
“For a Maritime boy marrying a Prairie girl ... There was no better place for us,” she said.
They said it was special to share the wedding with their followers on Twitter, especially since the social media platform played a big role in helping them connect.
After their initial meeting at the lobster tank, Tara connected with the Sobey’s store manager at the time on Twitter, asking him who the kind worker was that she met earlier in the day.
They eventually connected, and three days later, Tara said she showed up to the lobster tank to take a photo. “Now we’ve got a baby and we’re married,” she laughed.
For Travis, the initial meeting was nothing out of the ordinary. “You’re busy, you see 300, 400 people a day,” Travis said. Finding his life partner that day was the last thing he expected.
While Sobey’s wasn’t the couple’s first choice for a venue (they initially hoped for a mountain wedding), tying the knot where it all began seemed appropriate for the two. The couple was all smiles throughout the small ceremony, symbolizing a full-circle moment for their union.
“This is where we met, this is where we married,” Travis said. The wedding reception was also held at the Sobey’s, where light refreshments were served, complete with a wedding cake that featured two happy lobsters as toppers.
The couple said they’ve delayed plans for a honeymoon as they take care of their 5-monthold baby girl.
“It was kind of life goes back to normal,” Tara said. “As soon as we were done the wedding, we picked up a kid from school and came home and ate pizza.”
But for Travis and Tara, their unlikely tying-the-knot experience was a perfect representation of their relationship, where “choosing happiness” is at the epicentre of everything they do.
“Regardless of your situation, as long as you’re choosing happiness, there’s nothing more you can ask for in life,” Tara said.