They made a lengthy journey to continue a family tradition.
Kristian McIntyre and Karen Thompson travelled from Ontario to get married Dec. 21 in a small heritage church that is now on display at the Parksville Museum.
The former Knox Church, built in 1911, has much sentimental value for McIntyre and his family in Qualicum Beach.
His parents, Norm and Wendy McIntyre, got married in the church in the 1970s, when it was still located in downtown Parksville.
The old building was eventually moved to the Parksville Museum grounds in 1983, and in the mid-1990s McIntyre’s sister Jennifer and husband Gerry Jeffs also tied the knot in the same church.
McIntyre and Thompson were happy to continue the tradition when they got married in the same church.
It was the ideal venue for the couple, who wanted a small wedding with a few members from both their families attending. McIntyre, who grew up in Qualicum Beach and graduated from Kwalikum Secondary in the early ’90s, said he thought of they old church when they were making their wedding plans.
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“I said if we’re going to Qualicum Beach, the only thing that I would want to do is to get married in the same chapel my mom and dad and my sister were married in,” said McIntyre. “I really wanted that and it’s so nice that we did.”
The wedding ceremony was conducted by Parksville marriage commissioner Carol Nelson. And McIntyre, while offering his “I do” to Karen, was moved to tears.
“It was really overwhelming,” said McIntyre. “I really didn’t expect it. I just thought, you know, it’s just going to be ‘I do, I do’ but with Karen standing there and looking in her eyes, I just couldn’t help but feel emotional. It was nice to see my family there and Karen’s family together.”
McIntyre said his parents and sister were thrilled to see the couple get married in the old church.
“My mom though that it was really cool that we got married here,” said McIntyre. “They were happy.”
