With boutonnieres knotted in the figure eight, a cord wrapped around the bouquet, and a daring photoshoot on the face of a cliff, one Newfoundland couple went to great heights to ensure their wedding was as unique as they are.
Mandy and Stephen O’Keefe tied the knot at a rock climbing-themed wedding in St. John’s, Nfld. last month in a celebration that paid homage to their favourite hobby in even the smallest details.
From the bride’s garter featuring a climbing knot to the tables with names of different climbing routes and boulders in the province, the couple’s chosen theme was unmistakable.
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The groom's boutonniere was tied in a figure eight. (Aamie Gillam Photography)
“It’s something we both love,” Mandy explained during a telephone interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday. “I wanted something different for our wedding theme. I didn’t want the typical rustic wedding.”
The rock climbing elements were first apparent in the invitations themselves, which included the text “Two become one” along with a rope in the figure eight shape. It also said at the bottom of the card: “They’ve climbed into each other’s hearts.”
The couple's wedding cake was also rock climbing themed. (Aamie Gillam Photography)
On the big day, Mandy said she and her husband visited Wallnuts Climbing Centre in the city’s west end to have photos taken by Aamie Gillam Photography of them climbing an indoor rock wall in their wedding attire.
As unique as those photos were, the couple went one step further – or higher, as it were – to have their photos taken on the front of a seaside rock face.
The newlyweds went rock climbing at Wallnuts Climbing Centre on their wedding day. (Aamie Gillam Photography)
On Saturday, a month after the wedding, the newlyweds rappelled down the face of Flatrock, located approximately 20 kilometres north of St. John’s, for a second set of wedding photographs.
Captured by photographer and rock climbing enthusiast Greg Locke, Mandy can be seen in some of the photos in her wedding dress and climbing shoes navigating her way down the front of the rock face as her husband belays below.
The bride and groom didn’t actually climb up the cliff, however, because it would have been too cumbersome in Mandy’s puffy dress.
“I cheated,” she said with a laugh. “I rappelled all the way to the bottom and then walked back up because you can walk back up in that area.”
Mandy O'Keefe rappelled down a cliff at Flatrock in Newfoundland. (Greg Locke Photo)
Mandy said they have been regularly rock climbing at indoor gyms and outdoors for five years – ever since Stephen convinced her to give it a try.
“He was like ‘Come try it. You’ll really like it’ and I was like ‘No. I don’t want to try it’ and I ended up going in and I ended up falling in love with it and ever since we’ve both been climbing avidly,” she said.
As pervasive as the rock climbing theme was for their wedding, Mandy said they took a different route for their honeymoon.
“We went to Disney,” she said. “So it was completely the opposite.”
Mandy said they have received a lot of positive feedback about their choice of theme and the rock face photoshoot in particular.
“We’re both very different. We’re unique,” she said. “It just fit us perfectly.”
The couple have been rock climbing together for five years. (Aamie Gillam Photography)
