A Very Special Day
Today was our wedding day, the day I married my best friend. The process on how we got to this day may have been long, but the saying is true that good things come to those who wait. Planning a wedding can be stressful, but we managed to go about like we have done with everything else when challenged - we will just figure it out. We started planning 10 months before in January, and Béla agreed to come to the Bridal show in Montreal - more to get ideas on how we wanted things- and how we did not. The fashion show in itself was epic - nothing there was ANYTHING we wanted, especially the mens collection. We did however see the representative for the sugar shack we like to attend once a year - Le Constantin - and we signed up for a tasting dinner in February. In the next month, we did consider two other locations, but for one reason or another they did not quite have what we were looking for, were to far away, or just simply out of budget. We are both nature lovers, and the sugar shack experience was a hit with Béla from the very first time he experienced it in 2014. The idea for a wedding reception there was different, the location, the food, the ambience - everything spoke to us about this venue, and if you now anything about us, having our wedding at a sugar shack is the perfect fit for us.
In the following months, we added our personal touches to make this day truly ours. Everything had a rustic theme to it, from our wedding invites down to the cake. Our guest list was small for the simple reason that we wanted to have family and close friends - those with whom we celebrate big moments with. We chose tea pots for our centrepieces - and names of places we have visited together as our table markers. Our colours were warm, like the fall foliage and had a rustic yet elegant theme to it.
Our out of town guests arrived the day before the wedding and we were able to have dinner with some of them at the hotel restaurant. This allowed both of the family sides and bridal party to meet each. After dinner was done, I kissed my groom one last kiss and Ildikó and Miszi whisked me off home and Béla stayed at the hotel with Greg, Gabi, his parents and his aunt and uncle.
Us girls had an early start to the day, our hair appointments were for 8 am. Rosalind and Stephanie met us there, and we all got prettied up with Mary and her team. Meanwhile, at the hotel, Béla had breakfast and then Greg took him for a massage. Again, nothing out of the ordinary, his back acting up and needing some fixing. While he was getting massaged, we got back to the house and to my utter surprise, my kids were all going about getting ready on their own. Krisztina and Cassidy were already dressed, and soon after Stephen, Diana and Robert were ready as well. I was so relaxed I was lounging on the couch watching everybody, and yes, did some tidying. When Rosalind came in after noon she took one look at me and asked if I was going to get dressed any time soon, because, well…. the ceremony was in an hour ! My dress was simple and pretty - and it took no time at all to get dressed. I had new, old, and blue - but was missing, something borrowed. Rosalind lent me a ring - and now we were ready to roll. Ildiko and I were the last ones to leave the house, and I was still very much relaxed and cracking jokes in the car on the way, at one point the borrowed ring flew off and had to be found, but even that was funny.
We arrived to the venue and our photographer Magdoline approached us and insisted we take some pictures of us girls before the ceremony. This threw me off a bit but we posed and smiled and some of those pictures are the best ones of the four of us. I later found out, Béla had taken his pictures too with his parents, and his best man before we arrived. Then it was time. We chose to say our vows in the actual sugar shack - a beautiful little wooden building where they have tastings or “tire sur la neige” in the winter time. Everyone who was outside went in, and I waited for my mini-choir to start singing. Gabriella, Krisztina, Diana and my godson Steven sang a Hungarian song, “Udv rád és hazád népére” as we walked in. Rosalind, Miszi and Ildikó went in - and our liaison from the venue - was waiting with me outside. When I mentioned that I needed to go in - he answered he was waiting for music - I told him, yes its “live” and after a giggle the door opened. I was happy, and excited, and as I walked down the short aisle I looked for my groom. Our eyes met, and we both smiled. We had not rehearsed any of it, so what people saw was as original as it could be, including the fact we were not sure where to stand, but it did not matter, we were both there, everything else was just bonus.
Our notary Isabelle who performed our ceremony was waiting there as well, and during the ceremony Rosalind prepared a short speech, and our friend Gyuri read a Hungarian poem. We choose to do a sand ceremony, and we had different music for different moments that my son Stephen was responsible to play at the right times. When it was time to say our “I do’s” Béla responded with a “yup” as did I, which resulted in many giggles, but again, this is who we are.
As our ceremony ended, we walked through floating bubbles big and small, this was Robert’s job and we headed outside to a gorgeous, fall coloured no-cloud-in-the-sky day to take our pictures. Once the groups pictures were done, Béla and I stayed outside for another hour of picture taking. It was not the warmest day, but looking at the pictures now, it was all worth it. We headed indoors afterwards to warm up, take some more pictures with each table individually, before we were introduced and had our first dance. There was much dancing and eating and laughing for the rest of the evening. We had opted for a “cocktail dinatoire” - basically little bites multiple times as opposed to long sit-down dinner. For dessert we had an incredibly delicious Eszterhazy cake made by Chateau Euro. Continuing with our theme, the cake was in the shape of two tree trunks with icing that looked like bark, and as our cake topper our initials Bélafant and Delphine on the top. We cut and served the cake ourselves, which gave us the opportunity to talk to everyone individually, and there were five different flavours of gelato that people could choose from too.
Throughout the evening, our DJ’s assistant played some games with our guests and one of the funniest moments was when Bela and I had to sit back to back, and answer his/her questions. Krisztina asked them and this got many laughs, because everyone in the hall knew us well. We had disposable cameras on all the tables, another way for us to see how others saw the day and instead of the traditional book, we opted to have an old typewriter and have our guests type up their messages for us and the plan is to eventually create a memory book with pictures and messages.
After dessert was served, and while there was still more dancing, my son Stephen with the help Józsi, Edward and Fred - “stole” me away from my wedding. This required Robert to distract Béla, while I was whisked out to the awaiting car and taken away. We ended up at Boston Pizza in St-Eustache - the looks we got as we marched in were memorable. Meanwhile back at the hall, Béla had to earn me back. After a lot of negotiating they settled for Béla baking 40 “Béla Breads” in the near future as my ransom for the four kids. Béla’s breads are famous in our home and well, priceless. I was safely returned to my husband, and the dancing resumed, now to more modern music, including the famous “chicken soup” that will be engraved in everyones mind who was there that night. Around 10pm when our DJ announced it was our last dance, our guests who were still there made a big circle around us.
Our day was magical, it was perfect, the weather, the people, everything fell into place. People ask us if it feels different - not different per se, it's a continuation in our journey together, and to be able to call each other wife and husband makes us smile as we go on new adventures together - married.
