WINE-COUNTRY WEDDING
Okanagan vineyard a splendid setting
For Helena and Jason Byrne, getting married in a vineyard was a no-brainer.
The couple had, after all, been oenophiles since a trip to Napa Valley early in their relationship.
Well, maybe not “oenophiles” straight away.
“We fell in love with the experience of wine-tasting …. Although, when you’re 26, it’s more like winedrinking,” says Jason.
“We were with all these wine connoisseurs, they were swilling it in their mouths and spitting it out,” adds Helena, laughing. “And we were trying to get our money’s worth.”
Jokes aside, it did spark their love for grapes and many future vineyard trips in far-o locales.
But their relationship started nowhere near a grape vine. Helena, who is from High Level, met Jason during a night out in 2006, while on a trip down to Edmonton. They exchanged information and began emailing back and forth.
After a year and a half of keeping in touch via email and phone and the odd Edmonton date when she was in town — Jason, who works for Royal Bank, took Helena to his Christmas party one year, and to the Citadel’s A Christmas Carol play the next — Helena, who works in the automotive industry, was offered a job in Edmonton in February of 2008. The two started dating shortly after.
Not long into their relationship, Jason and Helena took a road trip down the West Coast to California.
It was the first time the couple went to Napa Valley — the same place Jason would propose five years later, in July of 2013.
For that trip, he came up with a pretty elaborate ruse, not even disclosing his plans to his parents — Nancy Byrne and former MacEwan University president and CEO Paul Byrne — with whom the only child says he’s very close.
“We had planned to visit my parents in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island,” says Jason. “So I told Helena we’d drive to Seattle first, do some shopping, then drive on to Nanaimo.”
The Seattle stop was necessary to convince Helena to bring her passport. But there were other parts of the plan that were a bit harder to sell.
For instance, Jason had booked a hotel near the Seattle airport so the two could easily jump on a plane to California.
“I had to justify it because we could have stayed more central to downtown Seattle. She’s kinda curious, like, ‘why are we staying way the hell out here?’ ”
Even the next morning, when he told her they were boarding a plane, Jason still didn’t reveal their destination. “I deliberately flew into Oakland as opposed to San Francisco.”
But eventually, sometime after picking up the rental convertible and passing the sign that said “San Francisco — Napa Valley,” Helena knew something was up.
He waited three agonizing days to pop the question, but finally proposed between vines at their favourite winery in the region, Viader Vineyards, with a photographer waiting in the wings to capture the moment.
The wedding planning began promptly. Their first thought was to have their wedding in Napa, but to make it more convenient for their families (especially Helena’s three brothers, who all have children), they opted instead for Kelowna.
Their choice? Ex Nihilo winery, just outside Kelowna, which a) hadn’t yet been booked for Labour Day weekend and b) could handle both the ceremony and the reception. The setting was gorgeous — sloping rows of vines overlooking Lake Okanagan.
The couple planned a small, tight-knit celebration, with just their immediate families and closest friends. There were 56 guests, with Helena and Jason each having only one person standing up for them.
With such an intimate group, bonding came easily.
“The day before the wedding, we rented a houseboat for a couple of hours and everybody got together to drink, eat, listen to music, and got to know each other,” says Jason. “I’ve heard feedback from friends or guests that the next day they reacquainted with people, so everyone was having more fun.”
The wedding itself was an elegant affair with vintage touches. Helena’s Mikaella by Paloma Blanca dress from Novelle Bridal Shop was covered in lace, giving it a vintage feel, and she borrowed a veil from Jason’s mom, who had worn it on her own wedding day 40 years earlier.
“It hadn’t discoloured,” says Helena. “The lace matched my dress almost perfectly. I had bought the dress already and I had no idea she had a veil. And I remember her bringing it over to our house and I was just in awe — it’s the most beautiful veil.”
Helena’s father walked her down an “aisle” of vines outdoors. It was Jason’s idea to put up a white curtain so the guests couldn’t see her beforehand.
Though it had been raining earlier in the day, “the clouds parted” for the ceremony, says Jason. Guests told them afterward that there’d even been a rainbow while Somewhere Over the Rainbow was playing.
For the reception, Helena made candle holders by tying ribbon around mason jars, and the flowers by Classic Creations Floral Design were in pale rose and cream colours. The pair hired a string trio to entertain their guests.
But neither the dress, nor the scenery, nor the flowers, nor the delicious farm-fresh seasonal menu by Joy Road Catering was, as it turns out, the highlight.
“My favourite moment was when we were seated and looking into the room and just seeing all our friends and family there,” says Helena.
Jason agrees. “When you’re at the podium looking out and you’re addressing the group and you know everyone there so intimately well and they’re there supporting you. That was really powerful,” he says.
And the wine, of course. Everyone enjoyed the wine.
Says Jason, “I’ve got some boozy friends but everyone drank a lot and had a really good time. So everyone had a lot of fun at the wedding.”
And yes, they hired a coach bus to drive everyone home.