It poured rain on Larisse Campbell and Jordan Dowler-Coltman’s wedding day last July 16. But the pool party they were having underneath their former high school, Victoria School of the Arts, was hot, totally dry, and everything they’d dreamed of.
The couple didn’t get together until years after secondary school, when they were both living in Vancouver. But Vic played a big part in their lives and romance.
“We knew we wanted to have some element at Vic, given that’s how we connected, and a lot of our closest friends went there,” says Larisse.
Jordan’s mom, Tami, is the principal at Vic, and his dad, Greg, was Larisse’s drama teacher.
Later, Larisse did her Bachelor of Education with a major in drama at the University of Alberta. It was when she did her practicum back at her former high school that Greg — knowing she was headed to Vancouver — suggested she link up with his son, who was living there, too.
She did, via Facebook. But the couple started dating after a serendipitous real-life sighting. “I was on a bus and I looked out the window and saw a pretty girl in a black coat,” says Jordan. “I recognized her and I sent her a text.”
It was like a scene out of a movie — fitting, given that was the industry in which they were both working. The movies would go on to play a big role in their wedding day. But first, the venue.
The obvious first choice for Jordan, an independent filmmaker, and Larisse, artistic director of a children’s theatre company, was Vic’s theatre. But the space was too big for their celebration.
Larisse had been thinking about the start of their relationship, how they’d spent a lot of time in and around a pool for an underwater film they’d worked on as part of Jordan’s Bachelor of Fine Arts.
“So I said to Jordan, ‘What state is Vic’s pool in’? He laughed and said, ‘Larisse, it’s a massively dirty storage unit’.”
“The pool hadn’t been used since the 1970s,” says Jordan. “It was condemned because it was leaking. It had never really been used for something else, and only in the last 10 years, they’ve used it as a storage space.”
But the idea grew on them. “We liked that it looked like an old movie backdrop, with old flats and cameras,” says Larisse.
The idea was that they’d have their ceremony in the empty, cleaned-out pool. But it would be a massive undertaking.
After the OK from the mother-of-the-groom/principal, it took an army of students, custodial staff, friends and family to do the expected tasks, like hauling out decades of gear and power-washing 40 years of grime, and the unexpected ones, like fixing a sewage backup.
Jordan’s best man Craig even managed to get the pool’s sub lights, which hadn’t been switched on since 1970, glowing again.
“It was really the community coming together to make this space happen,” says Jordan. “And then Larisse designing what she wanted to put in it.”
What she wanted was whimsical and colourful. “Kate Spade was the inspiration,” she says. “I wanted stripes and sparkles and pink.”
Jordan’s brother Tim made the pink watercolour aisle runner of her dreams, and gold Chiavari chairs filled the pool.
“We wanted big Geronimo balloons in all areas of the wedding. We went through three massive tanks of helium… thousands of dollars,” says Larisse, laughing.
“We had the outside aisles of the pool and deck area filled with elements from the theatre, movie canisters, film cameras and lights,” adds the bride. “It really had this old Hollywood feel.”
Says Jordan: “It was like someone had laid chairs there to have a wedding on an old soundstage movie pool.”
Bridesmaids wore a range of pink shades to match the Cory Christopher-designed florals, and the groom and groomsmen’s pink-heart-patterned ties and pocket squares were custom-made.
The couple’s Pomeranian, Georgia, made the trip down the aisle too, particularly significant since she’d been a gift to Larisse from Jordan when he’d proposed on Christmas morning in 2014.
Their reception was in the gymnasium at the Boyle Street Plaza, a space they liked for its community-first mandate.
The design touches and entertainment theme carried over, with a seating chart organized by movies, musicals and TV shows the couple loves, and a cabaret show with performances by many of their entertainer family members and friends which they gave in lieu of gifts.
The couple referred to their wedding as “the production,” a fitting title. “We wanted our wedding to reflect the community of artists that we love and grew up in,” says Larisse.
“We both realized early on that a wedding is about you and your partner, but it also has a lot to do with the friends and family that got you there.”
MAKING CHOICES
Wedding date: July 16, 2016
Ceremony location: Victoria School of the Arts
Photographer: Blake Loates Photography (blakeloates.com)
Guests: 170
Dress: Hayley Paige, Blush Bridal, Vancouver
First dance: What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
![Husband and wife Larisse Campbell and Jordan Dowler-Coltman with their "proposal puppy."]()
Husband and wife Larisse Campbell and Jordan Dowler-Coltman with their “proposal puppy.”
![The space was warmer than they'd expected, so Larisse and Jordan's Pomeranian took a nap in the aisle.]()
The space was warmer than they’d expected, so Larisse and Jordan’s Pomeranian took a nap in the aisle.
![Larisse and Jordan's grandmothers signed their register.]()
Larisse and Jordan’s grandmothers signed their register.
![Bridal party for the wedding of Larisse Campbell and Jordan Dowler-Coltman.]()
Bridal party for the wedding of Larisse Campbell and Jordan Dowler-Coltman.
![It was important for Victoria School of the Arts to feature in their wedding, since it had played such an important role in their lives and relationship.]()
It was important for Victoria School of the Arts to feature in their wedding, since it had played such an important role in their lives and relationship.
![Resurrecting the pool area from a dingy old storage space was a massive undertaking.]()
Resurrecting the pool area from a dingy old storage space was a massive undertaking.
![The couple did their first look and took some group photos at the school before the ceremony.]()
The couple did their first look and took some group photos at the school before the ceremony.
![Larisse and Jordan's wedding had many nods to their shared love of film, including Jordan's camera cufflinks.]()
Larisse and Jordan’s wedding had many nods to their shared love of film, including Jordan’s camera cufflinks.
![Photos on the roof of Vic.]()
Photos on the roof of Vic.
![The head table, a.k.a. the Princess Bride table.]()
The head table, a.k.a. the Princess Bride table.
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Each table was named for a musical, film or TV show.
![A construction crew working on the school's theatre had unwittingly left a bunch of equipment in the wedding space. With help from friends, Jordan turned it into an art installation.]()
A construction crew working on the school’s theatre had unwittingly left a bunch of equipment in the wedding space. With help from friends, Jordan turned it into an art installation.
![Summer 2016 was a rainy one in Edmonton, and Larisse and Jordan's wedding day wasn't spared.]()
Summer 2016 was a rainy one in Edmonton, and Larisse and Jordan’s wedding day wasn’t spared.
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