Wedding Day Just Hours Away Day One Vancouver Island British Columbia

Catherine and Tyler’s Wedding

Posted by Globe on Sep 25, 2009 in Canada, Globe Trot

Our wedding took place on September 19, 2009 on the Sunset Bay yacht rental in Vancouver British Columbia, and it was a most beautiful affair which was attended by both family and friends from as far away as California and Arizona in the United States and Montreal Quebec in Canada. We would like to say it went off without a hitch, but unfortunately like any wedding there were some headaches.

Tyler received a call at 10:30am from the horse and carriage company wondering where he was to be picked up, but the thing was, the pickup was arranged for 10:30pm! The company, AAA Horse and Carriage quickly apologized and promised to be back and on time – which they were. They sent a very beautiful carriage and a very personable driver named Jerry who took very good care of us. We went around Stanley Park and through Vancouver on our way to our hotel. And speaking of hotel, this was one of the screw-ups. Tyler called them at least four times in the three months leading up to the wedding to ensure the booking was indeed reserved and the romance package included. Tyler also arranged for a book-in time of 3pm to ensure enough time for getting into his tuxedo and to have more than enough time to get to the wedding on time.

Tyler and his entourage arrived at the hotel at 3:35pm and were told that their room was not ready. The hotel staff seemed they could care less. They said they would wait on a call from housekeeping for when the room was done. This was at the Sheraton Wall Centre Vancouver. After standing around in the lobby for 25 minutes and no word on the room, Tyler had to ask again the hotel staff what was going on. They explained the room was not ready and they wouldn’t know when it would be. Tyler explained he had to get to his wedding and still needed to get dressed. Only after another 10 minutes did they offer up a temporary room to get dressed and wait till the reserved room was ready.

Tyler and his best man Richard got dressed in the room while being filmed by the wedding videographer. The time was now 4:40pm and there was still no call or word from the front desk as to the original room being ready. This is when Tom who is Globe Trot’s producer went to the front desk and asked again when the room would be ready. They explained again they didn’t know and were still waiting for housekeeping to call. Tom then said not only did we have to get on to our wedding which was starting soon, but that we were filming a television show and the hotel didn’t look good. At that point the hotel’s attitude finally changed – they almost immediately found a vacant room like the one reserved – go figure. On check-out, it took almost 20 minutes for the valet to retrieve the car – with only one person in front of us! So if staying in Vancouver and on a timeline – even if having called numerous times in advance to ensure everything is okay – you may want to avoid the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel.

Tyler did make it to the boat on time but mentioned to those with him that he had a feeling that Catherine’s limo arrangement would be screwed up. The limo company – LimoJet Gold Limousine of Richmond British Columbia was even given complete idiot-proof directions on how to the get to the boat -which they should have already known – but they still managed to screw it up. The driver could not find the drop off point and tried to drop Catherine and her father three blocks from the wedding boat – this while she was in her wedding dress! They complained and demanded to be brought to the arranged area – the driver refused and drove away! Needless to say the service from LimoJet Gold was anything but gold level. We cannot in any way recommend them for even cleaning an already clean toilet. Tyler called them later to ask about the arranged pickup – they said they would not come as Catherine was too demanding and they starting arguing saying the driver didn’t drive away! PATHETIC!

The rest of the evening was thankfully perfect. The wedding cake was stunning, the flowers even more so (Brides N Blossoms Florist, Surrey BC – excellent service), the food was very tasty and the service on the boat was top-notch and the staff was very friendly. Tyler and Catherine were married on the top deck under the setting sun and then they cruised into Burrard Inlet for the rest of the evening’s affair. And as promised the horse and carriage was on time and at the right spot to finish the evening.

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