Winter wedding has it all
From Chinese lions, snowboards, photos in the snow, and Filipino religious traditions, this day was special.
Connie Cheung had never been to a winter wedding until she married high school sweetheart Edubart Quiza last November.
Winter weddings are rare. Only 13 per cent of couples exchange vows in the frozen season (11 per cent of them at Christmas), compared to 35 per cent in summer; 29 per cent in spring; and 23 per cent in fall.
“I think a winter wedding is as beautiful as a summer one,” says Connie.
A lot of family members tried to discourage them, arguing it would be too cold and Connie would get sick wearing only a wedding gown outside. But she wouldn’t budge.
She didn’t get sick either, and the powdery snow that fell the day before their big day added to the magic, she says. It also made for some stunning wedding photos.
Connie, a 29-year-old medical lab technologist, and Edubart, a 31-year-old shipper/receiver, were married at St. Joachim Catholic Church on 110th Street, 11 months after they became engaged.
“He proposed after we had a huge fight and I was crying” — over what, she can’t remember, she says.
“The fighting part was unexpected ... but that day just felt like the right time,” Edubart adds laughing.
They chose St. Joachim for the wedding because it is an intimate and beautiful church.
At one point they considered holding the ceremony in Edubart’s oldest sister’s backyard. But the bridal couple had second thoughts, Connie recalls, laughing, when they imagained standing alone outside with Father Nilo Macapinlac of Wetaskiwin as their 140 guests stayed inside to watch the ceremony from the windows.
Connie’s search for a wedding dress started shortly after the engagement and she found her strapless, sweetheart David Tutera gown with train by Mon Cheri at Crystal’s Bridal.
The only thing she knew when she started looking is that she wanted the dress to have lots of lace detail.
Her bouquet of hydrangeas and roses, complete with crystal embellishments, was created by The Wild Orchid.
Connie’s attendants wore blush-coloured, floor-length dresses with black waist bands that were bought on Etsy, an online marketplace.
Edubart was dressed in a charcoal-grey, three-piece Hugo Boss suit. His groomsmen, including the couple’s close friend Anna Leung, wore black suits.
On leaving the church, the newlyweds released two white doves from a heartshaped basket — a Filipino tradition from Edubart’s cultural background — that flew back to their home and trainer in Westlock. Doves are used because they pair for life, Edubart explains.
The wedding party then hit three different locations for photos, including Mercer Tavern (where they also had lunch); Structube Furniture & Accessories; and a small hill in the river valley.
Connie and Edubart are avid snowboarders who head to Jasper and Lake Louise whenever they can, and Connie wanted at least one shot of her boarding in her wedding gown with her attendants.
As the wedding party entered the Edmonton Petroleum Club for the reception, the couple was greeted with a traditional Chinese Lion Dance complete with shots of red confetti, a nod to Connie’s cultural background.
The bride then changed out of her traditional white gown and into a traditional qipao (pronounced chee-pow) — a red, body-hugging, onepiece Chinese dress with a phoenix printed on it.
Connie wanted a traditional three-tier wedding cake to follow their buffet meal, but Edubart really wanted simple cupcakes. They settled on a cake top and individual red velvet, vanilla, and chai-flavoured cupcakes from Style Cakes Custom Bakery in Sherwood Park, arranged in an ombre effect — lighter colours on top graduating to darker colours on the bottom.
Two days later they were flying to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for their honeymoon, a destination Edubart had kept secret from Connie until the last minute.
The Lion Dance and the emotional speeches they heard and gave in response at the reception are what they both remember most from their wedding day.
“Everybody was just so welcoming and had supported our marriage,” Connie says. “There’s just a lot of things that we would normally not say to each other in everyday life, but when it came to the speeches during the wedding all the emotions poured out, all the kind words came out as well.
“I was just crying and even Ed cried a little bit too.”