It’s THE big weekend at Strathcona Park Lodge (SPL) & Outdoor Education Centre on Vancouver Island – Josie, SPL owner Myrna Boulding’s youngest daughter, is getting married. Josie is a sunflower – statuesque, open and naturally turning to the light. Ryan Stuart, her gentle man, has a slight cool guy façade mixed with sophisticated reserve that slips from place to allow his genuineness to shine through.
The event befits the couple – Josie, an outdoor adventure photographer and Ryan, a journalist in the same line. Two hundred and fifty guests spend the morning sampling SPL activities – the high ropes course, zip line, kayaking, sailing, rock climbing and hiking. The adventure spa is busy too with massage and other forms of caring for our physical selves. Until everyone is ready.
In a nod to Ryan’s Stuart clan, the bagpipes start up with their compelling nasal drone. The groom and his men’s swaying kilts, the sassy kick of the pleat as it reaches the end of its swing before reversing direction. The men reach the front of the guests and turn expectantly toward the water.
We follow their gaze to the 'Northern Dancer'– the First Nations-styled canoe. A bridal bevy of maids rhythmically paddle toward us, with broad-shouldered brother-of-the-bride Jamie Boulding as astute sternsman. They expertly turn the large craft to a little inlet and disembark to the waiting flowergirls, who will join the procession along the sandy spit.
A single jeweled strand along the gown’s bodice reinforces the princess lines of the bride’s gown. The fabric of the gown’s train, carried by the bride’s nieces, billows out like a sail catching the wind, mirroring the sailboat on the lake behind. The bridal procession reaches the groom’s party. The vow exchange is simple, then Ryan takes Josie to the awaiting tandem canoe. With the buoyancy of young love, he braves the choppy cross-wind waves, and the watchful eyes of canoe instructors, the outdoor adventurers and Olympians populating the guest list. The canoe, undaunted, cuts through cleanly.
Hors d’oeuvres are served lakeside. Champagne, oysters on ice, lime and chili dressing, mango chutney, salmon smoked over cedar in the First Nation tradition.
The guests spill out over the beach, determinedly resisting the sun goddess, radiating full force from a cloudless sky, despite earlier calls for rain. My five-year-old daughter, Avalon, in her gossamer dress, balances on a log stretching out into the water. She slips. Momentary chagrin, then astonishment, rapidly turning to glee. She strips to her underwear and swims. Her brother, who was earlier admonished away, and chased to the nearby rope swing with his friend, returns to see I have relented, as the sun has not. The hot sand underfoot – high-heeled sandals flung off – the sparkly water against the mountains of Strathcona Park. Guests dip toes, then shins, hitch up dresses as far as modesty or vanity allows. Finally some find bathing suits, as formality is completely dispensed with, briefly, before dinner.
Dinner is served up at the traditional timber-framed 'barn'. New flowerbeds destroy evidence of the little sawmill hitherto residing behind the barn and now taking up residence in the farther hinterland. The barn has come of age as a conference centre with its rustic charm, flanked by awnings and tents, its flying buttresses.
The bride’s sister, Annie, welcomes the groom into their family. Her voice catches, she takes a few deep breaths – she is speaking most eloquently from her heart. She catches her full stride when she sings Linda Ronstadt’s song - 'Love is a rose but you’d better not pick it
It only grows when it’s on the vine. Handful of thorns and you’ll know you missed it. You lose your love when you say the word mine'. Such presence and inner knowing she has at this moment. Rounding applause, and the party disperses to prepare for the dance. The bride and her maids return. Black cowgirl boots, slim-hipped skirts. Ready to move. The hoe-down begins. The live band tests their mettle. The generations mix and mingle their forms, until only the young (excluding the youngest) and young at heart remain.
I have been struck all along by the immense physicality of the whole wedding weekend. The enactment of ceremony, and all its rich symbolism. I can feel the family and the land’s bracing bear hug welcoming guests into the 'Strathcona Circle' and sense the mission of Strathcona Park Lodge 'to teach the wonder, spirit and worth of people and the natural world through outdoor pursuits', embedded in who these people are. I think of the experiential learning program here – and particularly the zip line -- harnessed and double-hitched to a line above before stepping off the platform and flying over the ravine, testing life’s loveline.
New adventures await the bridal couple. We wish them 'God-speed'.