Camo-themed bush wedding the biggest in Inuvik history, says bride

Amy Petrin says she had the biggest "bush wedding" in Inuvik's history last weekend.

On Saturday, Amy married Paul Petrin out in the bush at their cabin on Raymond Channel in the N.W.T.'s Mackenzie Delta.

Getting 80 people, food and decorations out to the remote cabin, which is only accessible by boat or plane, was no small feat.

"I had to get a chopper for my cake," says Petrin.

That's right. The bride was so concerned about her three-tiered, birch bark-inspired cake that she hired a helicopter to transport it.

"I didn't want it to get wrecked in the boat drive," she explains.

Some of their guests, who came from Alberta, B.C., and Yukon, also hitched a ride on the helicopter, or were transported by boat.

And the theme was about as Northern as it gets: camouflage.

"I had a white snow camo dress, with white sparkly tulle," Petrin says.

They also served up traditional northern fare.

"We had geese soup, turkey, ham, maktaaq, fish, dry fish, dry meat, lots of mostly native food. And most of it was cooked by my friends here in town and just transported out."

Despite the hurdles, everything came together without a hitch. But Petrin advises anyone who's planning a bush wedding to start early.

"You need to plan way ahead of time and you gotta make sure that you know what you're doing because it's a lot of work."

Petrin says her day was perfect.

"It was beautiful. The sun just stared shining just before the wedding started."