Getting married doesn’t have to be stressful. The Free Press and the Cranbrook Townsman are proud to announce the release of the 2019 East Kootenay Wedding Guide.
Whether you or someone you love is thinking about getting married, you’ve come to the right place. The southeastern corner of B.C. is home to some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable, and this magazine contains all our best tips and tricks to help you take advantage of everything the East Kootenay has to offer.
Pick up your copy of the East Kootenay Wedding Guide at The Free Press office, various locations around town, as well as at the Cranbrook Townsman office. Or, read online below:
Meet Ric and Rachel Behan (page 20)
Close to home or far away, getting married takes a lot of planning. But according to newlywed couple, Rachel and Ric Behan, getting married doesn’t have to be stressful.
The couple, originally from the UK, grew up just 30 minutes apart. Music was what brought the two together, and this has remained their strongest shared passion as the years have gone by. So much so, they were the band at their own wedding.
Rachel and Ric first met attending university for music, nine years ago, but it was a university ski trip that sealed the deal. As if it were a scene in a movie, Rachel and Ric sat together on their train ride from the UK to France.
“It took about 27 hours to get to France, so we got to know each other rather well on the coach next to each other,” said Rachel. “We knew each other already, but that’s kind of how that flame sparked, if you will.”
The couple remained in England for two years before coming to Canada, seven years ago.
Their original motive for coming to Fernie was that Rachel’s brother was already here, and he boasted of Fernie’s greatness.
“Same boring story as everyone,” said Ric. “Never left. One season became… eight!”
After six and a half years in Fernie and eight years together, the two were faced with a tough decision. They knew they wanted to get married, but where? Combined, Rachel and Ric have over 150 family members in the UK.
“Do we get married in England, or Canada?” asked Rachel.
“That was the hardest part of the whole thing,” added Ric.
In their hearts, the couple wanted to get married in Fernie, but felt a sense of selfishness, as many of their relatives would not be able to join them.
In the end they settled on both, and were married again in England, two weeks after their wedding in Fernie. Looking back, Rachel and Ric agreed that deciding where to get married was the most stressful thing about their wedding. For the most part, they said it was a very stress-free wedding.
The Behan’s had 38 friends and family attend from the UK, but made sure they didn’t just stay for a few days.
“It was pretty important to me that people who were coming to visit had two weeks before the wedding to settle into holiday mode, Fernie lifestyle, and fall in love with Fernie, so that the wedding was a ‘we get it’, rather than a ‘when are you coming home?’” said Rachel.
In the days leading up the wedding in the first week of August, Rachel and Ric went on several adventures with guests from abroad, to give them a first-hand look at why they chose to settle where they did. After this, the couple said that many of their guests were pleasantly surprised.
But how do you make one of life’s biggest celebrations, stress-free? The couple said the trick was not worrying about all the small things. What happens happens.
The wilderness is one of the things that make Fernie so special. Rachel and Ric were appropriately married on a friend’s property down Hartley Lake Road. Everyone camped in tents aside from the couple, who stayed in a cabin on the property. This sparked some trepidation in some of their guests; in particular Rachel’s father who asked her to hire a ranger the day of the wedding to protect them from wildlife.
“They’ll smell the food!” said her father.
This also posed some problems for the catering company, who got lost on the way to the wedding with all the food in the back of the truck. Although they were a few minutes late, the dinner went according to plan.
Everyone who attended the wedding helped contribute to its success; all 100 guests helped Rachel and Ric transform the area from the ground up. Together they turned an empty lot into something out of a fairy tale. Decorated stone pathways led guests from forest glade, through the trees to riverbank and back.
“We had guests helping us put up tents, we really put everyone to work,” said Ric.
“The day before the wedding, Ric had his waders on and a beekeepers outfit, because we found a ground wasps nest right at the ceremonial alter,” said Rachel.
However, just when they had got rid of the first nest, they found another close by in a tree.
“I actually had to cut the tree down in a beekeeper outfit before the wedding, I don’t think a lot of people could say that,” said Ric, laughing.
Music was what brought the couple together, and they decided that there was no better way to celebrate this than to play music at their own wedding. This did bring with it some stress, as they were responsible for entertaining the guests. If anything went wrong, it would be on them. Ric admitted this kept them a little bit sober. However, this was a chance to show guests what Rachel and Ric are, and love, together.
Looking back, the Behan’s said they wouldn’t do anything differently.
“Here, it was perfect. I want to say everything went to plan but we kind of left it very loose, because we didn’t want to … the best nights are the unplanned ones,” said Ric.
“We enjoyed the whole journey,” said Rachel.
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