Newlyweds take their big day to the streets
Couple and their guests dance their way through their Leslieville neighbourhood
Diana Wright and Evert Houston’s wedding day was a celebration of love, for each other and their neighbourhood.
After saying their “I dos” in the backyard of their Leslieville house on Sunday, they led the 75 guests through their home and into the streets, accompanied by a local NewOrleans-style big brass band, Hogtown Sound.
A video captured by one of their neighbours shows the newlyweds at the head of the march, with bridesmaids and groomsmen, shimmying down Rushbrooke Ave. to the tune of Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.”
“We didn’t really get any permits or anything. We joked that if we got arrested, it would be a really cool story,” Houston, 35, told the Star from Hawaii, where he and Wright are on their honeymoon.
As they danced up the block, neighbours waved from their porches, and one shirtless jogger stopped to join the fun.
When they reached Queen St., drivers honked their horns in celebration and streetcars dinged their bells. People in restaurants leaned out of windows to toast the happy couple.
The scene felt like a Federico Fellini movie, said Houston, a film producer. Wright’s 82-year-old Italian grandfather told the groom, “This is just like what we do back home in Italy.” The newlyweds met about twoand-a-half years ago through mutual friends on Wright’s birthday, and danced the night away. They have been practically inseparable since, Wright said. “When we weren’t together — which was rare — we’d be on the phone talking for two hours, trying to figure out everything about each other,” she said. “It was like being teenagers.”
Both quickly fell for Leslieville, too, but nearly lost hope of living in a neighbourhood with some of the hottest real estate on the market.
After losing two previous bidding wars, they found a three-bedroom semi. “The people are so warm and friendly there, and it’s not like a scene where you have to be anything,” said Wright, 30, who works for TD Bank.
Part of the inspiration for their wedding parade was a trip Wright took with her mom to New Orleans years before she had met her future husband, when they danced in a parade through the Garden District. “I thought you’d never get this anywhere else,” said Wright, “but honestly, ours was even better.” She saw the band Hogtown Sound busking on a street corner while she was out shopping for a wedding dress, and knew they were perfect to lead her own parade.
Even the musicians, who have played many weddings before, got wrapped up in the experience.
“I was definitely moved,” said saxophonist Loui Koutsouflakis. “It was exactly like in the movies.”
“It was the most fun I’ve ever had shooting a wedding,” added the couple’s wedding photographer, Simon Remark.
“I love that these two took a chance and it paid off. They brought so much joy to the neighbourhood.”
After the party, Wright’s younger and unmarried cousins told her, “Oh my God, how are we ever going to top this?” She told them not to worry. “If you just create a wedding that represents you, it makes you so happy, and everyone can feel it.”