Dancing Into the Sunset
A May Wedding in Seattle
Elysia Heller
Photography: Marv Heston at Heston Weddings
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To Jayme, it was a budding friendship, but Ryan had bigger
plans. Jayme recalls, quite sweetly, when he asked her to be his girlfriend.
As only a 12 year old girl could do, she giggled quietly and denied his
request. |
Little did they know that first summer that the stars had
aligned, and one day years later they would be dancing under the northern lights
of Seattle for a very special occasion…their wedding. Jayme Stevens
and Ryan Bruett met on Gig Harbor near Olympia, Washington when they were just
7 years old. It was there that they and their families summered for the next
five years, and where their relationship blossomed. They spent their time swimming
and boating, and diving into the crisp waters of Puget Sound, all the while
becoming closer. To Jayme, it was a budding friendship, but Ryan had bigger
plans. Jayme recalls, quite sweetly, when he asked her to be his girlfriend.
As only a 12 year old girl could do, she giggled quietly and denied his request.
Her response did not inspire confidence, and the two parted as just friends
when that last summer at Gig Harbor had ended.
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Eight years passed and by this
time Jayme was attending Boston University, and Ryan was studying at Santa
Clara University in Northern California. Back home in the Pacific Northwest
for Christmas in 2000, their paths crossed once more. That sense of friendship
and shy interest sparked yet again, albeit this time Jayme thought twice about
her role in Ryan’s life. Once back at school, they spoke nearly every
day and eight months later Jayme decided at long last to become Ryan’s
girlfriend. They dated long distance over the next two years, coming
together in Seattle in 2002. |
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It was on Jayme’s birthday in July of 2003, at a
family 4th of July celebration in Gig Harbor that Ryan decided to pop the
question again. In the very spot he’d asked her to be his girlfriend 11
years earlier, Ryan knelt down on one knee and proposed something even
better…marriage. This time she said yes! |
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Jayme is most definitely a planner, and she’s a girl who loves a party,
so pulling together the event was right up her alley. She and Ryan established
the first order of business…to find the perfect location. Since they
both grew up in Puget Sound, they decided there was no better place to get
married than The Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle, boasting sweeping views
of the Pacific Northwest and the City. Though her parents had long since moved
out of the area, they maintained their membership at the club for special events
and family gatherings, and this seemed the most fitting occasion of all. |
On the evening of May 22, 2004, Jayme and Ryan’s 125 guests gathered
for the celebration to begin. On a large screen in the foyer of 75th floor
of The Columbia Tower, Cory Bogle of Bogle Productions displayed a video montage
of the couple’s childhood, and the ensuing relationship. Once the curtain
was drawn, all eyes were on the bride. For Jayme, this was the highlight of
her day, as she and her father descended the staircase to the alter, where she
stood in front of the man she had become friends with as a child, and the man
she had fallen in love as a young woman.
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As soon as Ryan kissed his bride, the guests were
invited to enjoy a lavish cocktail and dinner reception, hosted by the
bride’s parents. |
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Jayme and Ryan worked closely with the chefs
on-site to create the delectable menu, and they arduously tasted cake after
cake before finding pure pleasure in Mike’s Amazing Cakes. Jayme
creatively and meticulously hand made ceremony programs, table seating
cards, and table signs that reflected all the places she and Ryan had been
together. She also selected La Rosa Floral Design to create the bouquets she
and her bridesmaids carried, the boutonnières and nosegays, and the
arrangements that adorned the ceremony and reception. |
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Sounds Unlimited provided the Deejay music, and Marv Heston of Heston Photo was specially chosen by the bride and groom to
capture the story of their wedding on camera.
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Earlier that day, the skies were grey and rain graced the streets
of Seattle, as often happens here in spring. However, as the couple took to the
dance floor for the first time as a married couple, the clouds parted and the
sun shone brilliantly through.
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With the sunset behind them, they danced beautifully to
Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon. This was followed by the very classic Unforgettable
for the father’s dance with his daughter, however with a slightly untraditional
twist…nearly half through the music quickly jumped to Celebration and
the guests joined in. Dancing continued joyfully well into the night, under
the stars that had aligned so faithfully for Jayme and Ryan all those years
ago.
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