WENDEANNA + GEOFF — Unholy Matrimony

Wendeanna and Geoff describe themselves as Canadian couple with a spooky twist. They met in school, both attended a local Registered Massage Therapy College, and between classes, study and spend 6 hours of registration board exams together they found their mutual love for metal, and for each other.

It took a while for Geoff until he popped the question, nine years for been exact. They had gone back and forth about it for a long time, clearly, not really knowing what we wanted or if they wanted to do it at all. But finally Geoff created the perfect environment and lovely moment to ask her.

PROPOSAL MOMENT BY WENDEANNA

On one hot afternoon in August they were hanging out in his parent's backyard and all of a sudden he wanted to go for a drive, "I want to give you the other half of your birthday present" he told me, (my birthday had been the week before). We got in the truck and ended up at this beautiful marshland trail walk we had done a few times over the years and he pulled his guitar out of the back of the truck. Aw cute, I thought to myself, he's recreating our first date! I figured the date recreation was the extent of my gift... We walked along the path until we got to what seemed like a nice secluded area to walk off trail and made our way into the more over grown beachy area.

We sat on a log and he pulled out a couple beers (exactly the same as the first date) and played me the song he had wrote me soon after said date. I got all feely thinking about what a cute idea this was and sat there admiring him, the music, and the view. After he was finished we chatted for a sec while he put his guitar away, fiddling with the case an uncharacteristic amount and then he pulled something out, stood up, and kneeled down. This action alone had me in tears but then he followed it with "you still wanna?" to which I said "yes!" through tears and a lot of laughter. While all of this is happening I could also hear faint radio music behind me but I mostly blocked it out. While Geoff was putting the ring on my hand the music got louder and he started laughing so hard he almost fell over from his kneeling position because he noticed the music was coming from a sweaty, shirtless old man on a bicycle with a radio. The radio blared some indecipherable 80's hair metal and we both laughed harder than we ever have before. I couldn't have imagined a more appropriate proposal if I tired.

MORE ABOUT WENDEANNA, GEOFF AND THEIR HALLOWEEN, FUN AND ROMANTIC WEDDING

Tell us about your ceremony. Any highlights?

We had our ceremony in the forest between Chilliwack Lake Road and the Vedder River. The spot had been suggested by our photographer after I told her that all I wanted was deciduous trees. We had scoped out the location a few weeks in advance and loved it. We had seen tons of spots that would work great so on our wedding day we walked into the forest and knew exactly what we were getting into. With the help of a couple random guys who had been out fishing that day and offered their assistance, we hauled pumpkins, skulls, tables, chairs, clothing, and booze through the forest to our chosen spot. Geoff and I got changed behind some trees while Erika and Mike set up the few décor items we bought along and not a moment too soon our photographer and celebrant had pushed their way through the trees to find us. Our celebrant, also named Erika, set a fun and carefree tone to the ceremony. We exchanged heartfelt vows that made everyone both laugh and cry with Geoff choosing to end his by singing that last 6 lines of "We're Simply Meant to Be", the finale song in Nightmare Before Christmas.

Tell us about your venue. Why did you choose to have your wedding there?

After our ceremony we spent some time having champagne with Erika and Mike before more photos with our photographer Kristen. We had tons of fun in the forest and at the river's edge including pulling out some smoke bombs to get some seriously rad shots! After all was said and done we packed up and headed out. Geoff and I had decided to have dinner just the two of us and Erika and Mike headed home for a cozy Halloween movie night marathon. We had an amazing dinner at a beautiful family farm to table restaurant near by before headed to an Air Bnb for 3 nights. We spent our mini honeymoon doing wine tastings and cozied up watching movies and I couldn't have planned it better. We hope to have a one year anniversary reception on October 30th, 2021 at a local spot. Fingers crossed that Covid restrictions are lifted by then!

How would you best describe the aesthetic of your wedding day?

Halloween, spooky, no drama, fun, and romantic. Our decor items were chosen with intention and were mostly pieces from our home. We had some old romantic poetry books, big old skeleton keys, candles, and a goat skull. My bouquet was dark moody colors including Blue Thistle, as seen in Nightmare Before Christmas when Sally is holding the flower that blooms into a tree before bursting into flames. We both wore black. My skirt and top were ordered online from two different companies and Geoff wore clothing entirely out of his own wardrobe.

What ended up being your favourite part/detail of the day?

Because we had such a stress free day, minus some traffic heading out of town, I had so many favourite parts, as cliché as that sounds! We blasted Rob Zombie and sang along on our way to the site while I ate leftovers in the passenger seat of the truck. Our vow exchange was so heartfelt and funny and more us than I ever could have imagined. Even getting photos done was a blast because Kristen is so awesome to work with!

What was your budget? Did you manage to stick to it?

We never really set a budget to be honest but just went into the experience knowing where we wanted to spend money and where we were ok cutting corners. My skirt and top came to about $150 and I will be not only re wearing them for our reception but intended on wearing at least the top again dressed up with a nice pair of pants or different skirt. We knew photography was important to us and Kristen had a fantastic elopement package that was everything we needed. Total cost for the day came in around $1800, not including our mini honeymoon expenses.