Bright colours of the midway and the softness of sugar melting on tongue will always remind Claire Stockdill of her wedding day.
She grew up in Oak Bay, attending St. Christopher’s Montessori School, Monterey (then elementary) and Oak Bay High before heading for the University of Victoria.
She met husband Mike McCubbin in 2012 after moving to Vancouver in 2012 to attend nursing school at UBC.
He grew up in Knowlton, Quebec, moving to B.C. in August 2007 to attend law school at UBC. He owns his own firm, White Cap Legal in downtown Vancouver while she is an RN at Vancouver General Hospital, pursuing her Masters in Nursing at UVic.
The two were married last weekend at St. Mary’s Church on Elgin Road with the ceremony performed by Reverend Craig Hiebert, followed by a 5:30 p.m. reception at the Victoria Golf Club.
It was mom Debra Stockdill who noticed the Oak Bay Tea Party was slated for the same weekend her daughter would marry.
“We live on St. David, so we always go to the Tea Party,” she said.
Claire participated in the parade, or watched it sail past each year of her childhood.
“The Oak Bay Tea Party has been one of my most favourite events and I have attended it every year,” Claire said. “It was serendipitous that our wedding happened on the same day as the Tea Party – this year was definitely the best.”
After the 3 p.m. ceremony, they headed out for photos in picturesque Oak Bay.
“We went to Uplands first, then Cattle Point and Willows,” Claire said.
At Willows, among the fair-goers she heard many well-wishes, scored free rides and a wedding gift of cotton candy – a nice swirly pink and blue concoction – and played a game or two.
“He won me a little stuffed owl,” Claire said, adding with a smile, “I think I’ll keep that one.”
She earned even more congrats, and questions about where the dress (Lisa’s Bridal in New Westminster) or the kilt came from after making an appearance on Twitter.
Their Twitter snapshot on Facebook (Victoria Buzz) gathered momentum, garnering interesting comments, messages from strangers and hits from personal friends all while they celebrated with family and friends at Victoria Golf Course.
“We were surrounded by the most amazing friends and family. Everyone who was there made our first night as husband and wife absolutely magical,” Claire said. “It was such an amazing day, this is the cherry on top.”
As sweet as the memories of free rides and cotton candy may be, and despite the fun of being Twitter famous for a day, the bride’s most treasured moment took place on the other side of town earlier in the day before family, friends and Rev. Hiebert at St. Mary the Virgin.
“The minister explained it as this feeling of ecstasy,” Claire said. “And he was right.”