Our Wedding Story: Skiiing, rock climbing couple tie the knot in the wilderness

Kevin Byrne and Beverly Quist


Kevin (34), from Monkstown, Co Dublin, studied geology at Trinity College Dublin and left Ireland in 2004 "for work and adventure".

He spent two years in Mongolia, working in gold exploration, before completing a master's degree in geology in UBC Vancouver.

Kevin met fellow geoscientist Beverly (28), several years ago in a bar, through mutual friends. But it was only when they met on a ski trip in 2012 that a relationship began.

Beverly, who grew up on Vancouver Island, is a mine inspector who ventures into the wilderness of British Colombia armed with a handgun and a chainsaw in case she comes across bears or fallen trees.

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The couple’s first date was rock climbing above Kamloops Lake in British Columbia and Kevin proposed at the same spot by placing a ring on a lanyard around Beverly’s neck.

On May 30th, 2015, they were joined by around 80 guests – including Kevin's parents Anna McLaughlin and Kevin Byrne, siblings, cousins and friends from home – and a wedding party of seven when they married at West Coast Wilderness Lodge in the Sunshine Coast, Egmont.

Kevin's best man was his cousin Paddy Collins and he says his favourite parts of the day were, "the pre-ceremony banter and dinner with my new wife".

The first dance was on an open deck, against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, to Elvis Presley's Only Fools Rush In.

The following day the bride's parents, Mary-Ann and Dave Quist, cooked a barbecue at the waterfront.

The newlyweds, who live in Kamloops, mini-mooned with their families in Whistler and hope to spend their honeymoon in Hawaii.

Photographs: Marissa Tak, photographybymarissa.ca