WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT

WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT – March 19, 2008 – 3Getting married in, and by, Westmountcontinued from p. 1Martin had known the bride since she andhis daughter, Jennifer, became friends inGrade 2 at Roslyn School.Wanted special wedding“It was important to my husband andme to have a small intimate wedding,”Murray explained. “We considered thecourthouse in Montreal but felt it wouldn’tbe special enough. Then, we were lookingat the laws and discovered that anyone canmarry you as long as they receive specialpermission from Quebec.“That inspired me to ask Patrick Martin.I’ve always looked up to him. Withouta doubt, we just knew he’d do a great job.And he did.”And the ceremony, held in the home ofanother friend from childhood, turned outto be everything she had imagined – andmore.“When I saw the bans posted on thefront door of the house,” she said, “I knewit was becoming a community affair. Itwent back to the time of the village – a declarationto the world that you were gettingmarried.”By law, the bans had to be posted publiclyat the marriage venue, the home ofRobert and Sharon (Sparling) Graham,where the bride had grown up playingwith her friend – Morgannis Graham –and who had agreed to host the candlelightwedding and the reception of some 22close friends.Gaining permission to marry the couplein time for a Christmas wedding becamea challenge of its own, Martin toldthe Westmount Independent. He needed tocompress the six-month procedure intothree.City clerk able to helpFortunately, in filling out the forms forthe ministry of justice, he was able to drawon the professional expertise of Gerbeau,who had already performed some 75 civilweddings as the former city clerk in Outremont.Being a city councillor also may havehelped fast-track Martin’s application, hesaid. And thanks to a sympathetic andhelpful official at the ministry of justice,Councillor Patrick Martin officiates at the Westmount wedding of Lucas Smalley and Gillian Murray.Tooling uppermission arrived in time.Meanwhile, Murray and Smalley wrotetheir vows, Martin prepared special readingsand obtained a sampleceremony to use the legalquestions, and the bride’smother, Michele Feran, andhostess Graham worked onthe menu and prepared thefood.During the ceremony,Murray’s friends Jennifer andMorgannis, sang “WinterWonderland” with speciallyrics, and the bride’s motherread an Irish blessing. Thebride’s brother, DarraghFeran, was best man, andlongtime friend GillianMorantz signed as a witness.One of the bride’s specialmemories is of ring-bearer Xander Lenz,3 ½, dancing to the song and the rings subsequentlyfalling off the pillow.After the wedding, she said, “PatrickTechniques to tryToplessLeft: de Maisonneuve resident Jeremy Lee took an unorthodox approach – and an axe – to ice in hisdriveway on March 3. “We are not going to let it get this bad again,” he vowed. Right: Someshovellers tool up, others strip down. This man was captured topless on March 5 and 10 shovellingsnow in lower Westmount. He was unavailable for comment, so Independent readers can onlyguess at whether this is his usual technique or reserved for large end-of-season snowfalls.Westmount city clerk MarioGerbeau displays the civilmarriage permission.phoned me while Christmas shopping tosay ‘I just heard your song!’”For Murray, that just seemed to add thefinishing touch to what hadbecome such a historic eventnot only in her life, but probablyin the future role of Westmountcivil marriages.And Martin, who did notask to be designated in thecity council resolution for solemnizingother marriages,said his pioneering experiencehad had a profound effect.“Being able to marryGillian was something veryspecial for me. Suddenly I feltthis great weight of responsibility,something I didn’t expect.And it reminded me ofthe importance of the ceremony and thequestion of whether or not a couple isright for each other. I want to know thatthey are.”Our focus is to manageyour wealth effectively.John H. BridgmanPartner & Portfolio ManagerRobert A. McKenzie, C.A., CFADirector & Portfolio Manager514-394-3000 www.3macs.com