Kate's Story

Kate was born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. Music has always been a big part of her life, playing the piano since age 5 and then singing at age 16. In high school, Kate was part of the Van Tech Band and Jazz Septet, which played around Vancouver, toured Cuba, and won the Gold Award at Canada Music Fest. After high school, Kate attended VCC's school of music, obtaining a Diploma in Music for Contemporary and Jazz Voice (Major) and Jazz Piano (Minor).

After music school, Kate went on to pursue another great interest, obtaining her Bachelor of Business Administration from SFU. After graduating, Kate started her new job at Deloitte consulting in September. She is currently traveling back and forth to Edmonton, Alberta every week for her consulting project. She's considering returning to school for an MBA in the next few years.

Lanny's Story

Lanny was born in Prince Albert, S.K., but was raised in Vancouver, B.C. He was an avid athlete, playing many sports growing up, including baseball, basketball, football, and rugby, and remains a huge sports fan to this day (Go Canucks!). Lanny was also a talented bass player, playing and recording with Search for Utopia, among many others, for over a decade. In pursuit of his interest in music, Lanny attended VCC’s school of music for Bass after high school.

After music school, Lanny found his passion for Economics, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours). With the goal of becoming a Professor in Economics, Lanny continued his studies, obtaining his Masters of Arts in Economics at Queen’s University last year. For his Masters’ essay on the topic of immigration, Lanny was awarded the prize for the top essay in his graduating class. Lanny is now completing the first year of his five-year PhD in Economics at Queen’s, and looks forward to returning home to Vancouver upon its completion.

How We Met

Lanny and Kate met as students at VCC's School of Music. Lanny was the outspoken, passionate, third-year funk and rock n' roll bass player, and Kate was the sweet, smart, first-year jazz singer. After a few chance meetings at the school, they caught each other's eyes. On November 9th, 2001, Lanny and Kate each played in a Latin jazz showcase concert at VCC and then went to the after-party with the other music students. After a little bit of liquid courage (i.e. a few beers), Lanny told his friends he was going to "get the girl" – and he did! After dancing a couple songs together, Lanny asked Kate if he could take her out to the symphony the next night, and she happily accepted. Lanny then walked Kate home and the chemistry was almost instantaneous. Although the symphony turned out to be particularly dull that following night, the friendship and love that has grown from that weekend have been amazing, strong and anything but dull!

The Proposal

Lanny and Kate decided to get engaged in mid-November, but were at the time 2000 miles apart. So, the proposal was put on hold until Lanny came home for the holidays. Although Kate was well aware the proposal was coming, exactly when and where and how remained a surprise. On Friday, December 22nd, 2006, Kate finished her last day of work and went home for a nap before the family dinner that was planned… or so she thought was planned. After putting on her PJs and climbing into bed, Lanny came into the room in a panic. Seems the pressure had finally gotten to him! All in one breath, he spills that there was no family dinner, he had planned to propose at Stanley Park before a romantic dinner, but the park had been closed due to heavy wind damage. So, he says, he will just propose then and there. Kate's response was something to the effect of: "No, you will NOT propose now. I am in my pajamas and about to take a nap. If you propose now, I will say no! You will just have to think of a new plan, be it for tonight or another night." Lanny left to determine his new plan. That night, Lanny and Kate went and had a delicious dinner at Vancouver's hot restaurant, Chambar. While waiting for desert, Lanny placed a small box on the table and started to propose. Kate immediately noticed that the box was not the same as the one for the ring she picked out. When Lanny opened the box, surprise! He had bought a new beautiful ring! Kate of course said yes, and Lanny's cousin Paul, the General Manager of Chambar, was waiting with champagne.