Feb. 16, 2005

Couple faces off at centre ice

By Cory Habermehl
chaberme@uwo.ca

Dan Stratton had a dream.

"I always told my friends, even back in high school, that I'd be married on the ice," he says.

Photo by Rick Jelly

The Strattons begin married life on their version of a limo.

And on Jan. 17, 2004, Stratton saw that dream come true. Amid waving foam fingers and the sounds of Let's Get Ready to Rumble, he and his fiancée Darla Goulden were married on the ice at the arena in Dorchester, Ont.

The $10,000 ceremony - complete with Don Cherry-inspired tuxedos and a combination wedding dress/Toronto Maple Leafs jersey - was a far cry from the bride's first wedding.

"My first one was your normal, traditional wedding," Darla says. "But all those reality shows where they have all the crazy weddings sort of got me thinking."

It's a thought process that's becoming common among couples looking to get married. Unconventional ceremonies are on the rise, says a veteran wedding officiant.

"The more people think about it, the more they realize they can do anything they want," says Wayne Prevett, officiant for the Strattons' one-of-a-kind ceremony and owner of Kettle Creek Weddings.

The 44-year-old ordained minister started his London-based wedding planning company six years ago and has since officiated several unusual ceremonies.

"I conducted a wedding on a ball diamond right at home plate," he says. "The couple had met there, and everyone wore their uniforms."

Prevett has also conducted several weddings on cliffs overlooking Lake Huron. He performed a ceremony surrounded by bikers at a London motorcycle shop and has been contacted by a Canadian Forces member who wanted to get married as he and his bride jumped from a plane.

"People start to ask themselves, 'Can I really do that?'" Prevett says. "The answer is, yes you can."

Managers of the Ice Hotel in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Que. have also noticed increased demand for unique weddings during the hotel's five years of operation. With a wedding chapel that boasts a large dome and steeple both made entirely of ice, the hotel offers everything from ice cups and ice wine to fur capes and coat rentals for dog-sled rides after the ceremony.

"Increasingly, people look to add an unusual element to their special day and choose a destination wedding," said Jacques Desbois, CEO of the Ice Hotel. The hotel has planners to help couples with all the arrangements.

The hockey-loving Strattons, however, planned their own wedding, working with their officiant to create a ceremony that rigidly adhered to their theme - the main reading was a poem on winning and losing written by Ken Dryden.

An avid hockey fan and player, Prevett conducted the Strattons' centre-ice ceremony dressed in full referee attire.

"Fans were doing the wave in the stands and I even got booed when I came on the ice," he says.

Photo byRick Jelly

Starting lineup: Darla and Dan Stratton pose with their hockey-themed wedding party.

The groomsmen wore jackets of varying plaid colours, while the groom sported a solid gold jacket, in support of his favourite team, the Boston Bruins.

As for the custom wedding dress, a child's Maple Leafs jersey was used to help create a look suitable for the occasion.

"My mother-in-law made it for me," says Darla. "She cut all the stuff off the jersey and put it on the dress. It was really awesome."

Guests sat at centre ice facing the wedding party, all of whom wore skates, while Dorchester residents who had heard of the unusual ceremony filled the stands.

The couple even invited Don Cherry.

"He had been signing autographs at Walmart in December before the wedding," says Darla. "I went down with an invitation."

Cherry was unable to attend, but his interest had been piqued. He featured the ceremony the following week on his Coach's Corner segment of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.

The Strattons kept with the hockey theme for their honeymoon, attending a Leafs - Bruins game in Toronto exactly one month after their wedding.

"We wore our wedding outfits and were recognized by lots of people," Darla says.

And while she was excited about the recognition, she was disappointed with the game's outcome, which went in favour of her husband's team.

"It was a blowout," Dan says. "It was great - I really rubbed it in."

But despite their differing opinions on which team to cheer for, they have no differences when it comes to their marriage.

"We cheer for different teams in hockey, but we're definitely on the same team in our marriage."