A match made in Green heaven
VICTORIA • As church bells tolled Monday, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and her groom emerged smiling from Victoria’s Christ Church, kissed for the crowd and got into the back of a Tesla.
May married John Kidder, a retired technology entrepreneur, longtime party member and brother of the late actress Margot Kidder.
Some 500 guests were encouraged to arrive by bicycle, bus, train or ferry to minimize their carbon footprint. The newlyweds plan to spend their honeymoon on the train from Vancouver to Ottawa.
May and Kidder “intend to be gloriously happy — and very Green,” the bride said in a statement about their Earth Day nuptials.
The Green leader wore a cropped white jacket and long matching gown adorned with greenery, while Kidder work a bone-coloured suit without a tie.
Sue Earle of Salt Spring Island designed the dress after May sketched out the idea for her.
“She wanted it to feel like spring. She said she would like to have some greenery on the bottom of it so it looked like she just walked through a garden,” Earle said.
Earle said she got to work on the dress over the winter, using old bed sheets for a pattern for a fitting. The dress was also appliquéd with tulips, peonies and ferns along the hemline.
Earle, a longtime Green party supporter, said May was pleased with her seasonally themed wedding dress.
“She was very happy with it, which made me very happy with it,” said Earle. “You want the person to feel like a million bucks, and that it embodies everything she is in terms of a goddess in the spring, celebrating love. That’s what I was aiming for.”
Earle said she and a few others held a moment of silence to bless the dress and ensure May has a full day of happiness.
May announced her engagement to Kidder last November. She said she knew Kidder for about five years, but sparks flew at a Green party convention last September.
Kidder, 71, will be the federal Green party candidate in Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Valley in the October general election.
He has deep roots in the Green party, having run previously for a seat in B.C., and is a founder of the provincial party.
May said he is a retired technology entrepreneur who operates a hops farm in Ashcroft, but also spends time in Vancouver.
Kidder has three children and four grandchildren. May has a daughter, three stepchildren and seven grandchildren.
May said she hopes that during next year’s 50th celebration of Earth Day, they can celebrate by turning away from catastrophic climate breakdown and taking the path to a safer and more loving world.