For so many people, it is easy to get caught up in the “touristy” side of a town like Niagara-on-the-Lake…spas, shops filled with expensive trinkets, horse and carriage rides, and other sources of entertainment loosely associated with colonial style. Roz & Mark, however, saw past all the noise and celebrated in the genuine, historic landscape of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Mark got ready at Roz’s Dad’s early 19th century historic home. It may not be mentioned on the average tour, but White House received many influential pre-confederation politicians who helped shaped the town and our country into what it is today. Taking care of politicians (especially Victorian era politicians) is not easy, but just as it kept those brave men and women comfortable on the frontier, White House served as perfect preparation quarters for Mark and his groomsmen.
The rest of the day was filled with even more wonderful tidbits of history. Church bells rang at the historic and the beautiful St. Mark’s (singly the oldest Anglican church in Ontario) and the grounds of Ontario’s first parliament hosted the reception. In fact, Governor Simcoe actually lived at Navy Hall for a part of his life during which time Niagara-on-the-lake was the capital. We looked up the story of Simcoe and his wife and found out that they actually named the town (and many others in Ontario). Simcoe’s wife, Elizabeth, was an avid watercolour painter and painted many of the fledgling towns of colonial Ontario (including York, now Toronto). As depicted in the final image of this post, Roz and Mark can clearly pull off the “governor pose”. We believe they could be amazing governors together…but would no doubt be more interesting.
Days like this happen because family and friends work together sharing their talents and doing whatever they can to help out. Roz & Mark’s friend played beautiful soft guitar melodies during their ceremony, Roz’s uncle catered, preparing delectable grilled salmon and hors d’ouevres, and her aunt, a talented florist, provided the most incredible assortment of floral arrangements with each piece being entirely unique.
Behind every good Governor and Governess is an army of supportive colleagues. We had a great time being part of that crew.
