just like my grandparents on my father's side. Actually, the story is that I eloped, she got married: I didn't tell anyone on my side, she told her parents. Well, ok that's not quite true. I showed my mom the wedding rings, my new suit and told her that we were going away for 2 weeks. Amazingly, she didn't connect the dots.

To answer your question, we were married in the [link|http://community.webshots.com/photo/83620308/83620308IFZkHk|Cascade Garden] in Banff. (that's not my picture, but I think that is the exact spot. how 'bout that) by the Justice of the Peace who knew Sydney when she was a kid. Sydney was born in Banff. Our two witnesses where her Great Aunt Mary and Great Uncle Duncan (brother & sister). As it turns out, July 17^th was his birthday.

We were heading to [link|http://maps.google.com/maps?q=swift+current,+saskatchewan&spn=0.110722,0.175438&t=k&hl=en|Swift Current] to visit my grandparents. When we returned to Chilliwack Sydney's parents hosted a reception for us in a park by the Vedder River. My mom and almost all of her 11 brothers and sisters attended, my dad did not. My mom and dad divorced about 9 years previously. There were a couple of reasons Sydney & I chose to elope. Dealing with the awkwardness of my parents was one of them. The other was dealing the controlling nature of her grandmother. If we had had a regular wedding, we felt that we wouldn't be able to have the wedding we wanted. So we took matters into our own hands as it were.

Sydney & I moved to Victoria. My dad was living in Vancouver, her parents and my mom lived in Chilliwack. For some reason it never occurred to us to get our familys together.