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Kenny & Olivia

April 30, 2016

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Photography: KNDM Co.

By: Asher King

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Beneath the Leopold Ballroom’s iconic disco ball and brilliant glass chandeliers, Olivia walked across the blush pink and navy carpeting to the aisle to meet her soon-to-be husband, Kenny Ableman.

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But before those fateful steps brought them to the altar, they first had to find each other.

 

Olivia and Kenny met each other through mutual friends as teenagers, ages 17 and 19 respectively. Their paths split for a time, with Kenny going to Alaska and Olivia attending school in Bellingham. But the two kept contact and, eventually, they came back together. When Kenny’s relationship came to an end, Olivia said she sneaked in. The results were not instantaneous, however.

 

“It was like a young game of cat and mouse,” she said. One that the two eventually won. They had discussed engagement and marriage before, but when the time came, Kenny still managed to take his beloved by surprise. After she finished working a long day, Olivia returned home, ready to rest.

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Kenny wasn’t having any of that, and invited her out to see the Zoolights at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma.

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“We never do anything spontaneous,” he said. And so the couple went, Kenny nervous and Olivia, at least for a time, oblivious. Beneath the pouring rain and surrounded by holiday lights, Kenny proposed to his sweetheart. Despite describing herself as not being a crier, she shed a few tears that night, overwhelmed with the idea that they were finally taking the next step.

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But the two didn’t rush immediately into marriage, instead waiting a year to begin planning. When they finally did begin their process, it was a mad dash to the finish line, having decided in January that they would wed in April.

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Thankfully, some of the process went quickly. Olivia went to David’s Bridal knowing that she wasn’t a poofy ball-gown kind of girl. She came out within an hour, having selected a tea-length, A-line dress with both lace and sparkles.

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The venue came with a bit more of a struggle. Having elected to get married in the midst of April Showers, they knew they would need to select an indoor venue. After coming checking out many venues, a woman at one of the venues suggested the Leopold.

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It was just what the future Mr. and Mrs. Ableman ordered.

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The Ballroom was large enough to comfortably host both the ceremony and the reception, without the trouble of rearranging it. The carpet, unlike some of the other venues they had looked at, was muted, rather than loud. And those colors became the colors of the wedding.

 

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After having attended a number of weddings themselves, the couple had a clear idea of what they wanted out of their big day. They did what they could to keep the wedding family-oriented, a concept important to both of them. That meant having a special drink, a mix of Crown Royal Canadian whisky and Coke, which they called “The Jim.” It was named after Kenny’s close grandfather, who had passed away.

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The wedding staff was comprised of both professionals and companions alike. Friends of the couple served as the DJ and the bartender, while Zeina Evan’s company, Ever After Events, provided coordination, food, decoration rentals and a staff to keep it all together. Their photographer, Kamrin Dishman Olavarria, was, as Olivia described it, a dream.

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“Both of us are camera shy and awkward. The pictures don’t reflect that.”

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From their wedding, the two took their first into their lives together, with their first stop being Riviera Maya, Mexico. Now, the couple is planning taking further steps walking into a new beginning. Their first step in that? Starting with beginning a family together.

THE DETAILS

Food Ever After Events

Dress Oleg Cassini

Hair & Makeup Karibou Salon/Self-Done

Venue The Leopold Ballroom

Accommodations The Chrysalis

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