posted by Kootenay Bride, Oct 12, 2009
By Andrea Miller-Ryman
After six hours of paddling I was ready to quit. This wasn’t a relaxing excursion to the waterfalls named in my honour; this was boot camp! A few weeks prior Chris had kayaked a first descent over a waterfall on Enterprise Creek and had named it “Andrea Falls” after me. He then asked if I would come and see the falls with him. Of course I immediately said “yes!”
We had parked the car in Silverton, north of where we live in the Slocan Valley, and set out. Little did I realize the waterfall was over eight kilometres away! The hot July sun beat down on us and more than once I was ready to call it quits. But I kept my composure and continued to paddle in the name of love. And sure enough we eventually came to a gorgeous waterfall. To my surprise, though, this was not the one we were looking for. “Andrea Falls is just up the hill,” Chris told me. In fact, it was an hour hike up the side of a cliff!
Finally I felt a cool mist and looked up to see the most amazing waterfall in the midst of an unknown paradise. The forest was so moist and vibrant I instantly forgot my exhaustion. Chris then approached me with a small box and asked me to marry him. I was so surprised I was speechless! Tears filled my eyes and eventually I managed to whisper, “yes.”
The following summer we bought a kayak shop, built a cabin and got married. It’s been smooth sailing ever since.
posted by Vince Hempsall, Oct 07, 2009
True to form the Calgary Bridal Expo was massive! We shared a booth with Blaylock’s Mansion and their beautiful banner showing the front of the mansion had lots of people dropping in asking, “Where is that?” I told one bride-to-be that the mansion was located in Nelson, BC, and then I asked if she had ever been there. She replied, “No, but I’ve been to Fort McMurray.” Which is exactly the reason why we go to the Calgary Bridal Show: to educate everyone about where the Kootenay region is (south-central British Columbia – Fort McMurray is in northern Alberta) and just how incredible it is. The Kootenay’s boast everything from mountain peaks carpeted in alpine wild flowers, sandy beaches beside tepid lakes and rivers and beautiful heritage homes, like Blaylock’s.
Kootenay Bride magazine was also super-popular, especially the “Tips for the Groom” pull-out section in the middle. With advice such as “Don’t invite people you haven’t told your fiancé about to the wedding” and “Do not wait until the morning of the wedding to write your vows” people were laughing and thanking us for having something at the show for their male counterparts.
The show was 7 hours long and in that time we handed out about 900 copies of Kootenay Bride magazine. We spoke ourselves hoarse and could barely stand afterwards but it was all worth it. Can’t wait to go back next year and entice more couples to the beautiful Kootenay region.
Below is a photo of our booth with Stacey (centre) and Jennifer (right) from Blaylocks as well as the photograph of Blaylocks that appears in their ad on the back cover of our latest issue of Kootenay Bride.
