A pre-wedding weekend...

The weekend before Joel and Shonna's July 19th wedding, they organised a couple of get-togethers to help the out-of-town visitors and the local crew get to know each other.

On Friday night, we had a superb Mexican feast at Shonna's house. The chefs were Joel's sister Anne and her husband Luis (who is from Mexico). It must be quite a feat to cook for 30+ people in someone else's home (or in one's own home, for that matter) - we're impressed! Ben didn't take many photos that night, but trust us, it was delicious!!!

On Saturday morning, we had an informal wedding rehearsal at Monday's wedding venue: The Bridge House Restaurant, opposite Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. Here are a few pics from that:

Here comes the bride...

Angharad and I...

Gerard and Claire...

Jill (Shonna and Janelle's sister-in-law)...

Alex and Kate (Mark and Jill's kids)...

On Saturday evening, the bride and groom organised a picnic at Spanish Banks in Vancouver. Ben took lots of photos that time, so here's the pick of the bunch:

Stuart and Rosanne...



Boys roughhousing...



Beautiful Vancouver...



Some of the picnickers...



Group shot of the kids...



Ladies in red...



Joel with his mum (mom) and his bride-to-be...



The best man and his family...



Not even married yet and they're already starting to look alike...



Joel and Don (best man)...



Juanita showing the girls how it's done...



Three generations - Marlene, Janelle and Claire...



The bride's parents, Marlene and Sid...



Myla eyeing a cookie...



Jumping...



Ruth, Rosanne and Aydin...



Luis and Anne (Friday night's Mexican feast chefs)...



Claire's got a new fan...



A few snaps of the bride and groom...







Sunset...



Coming soon... the wedding!