Shantel VanSanten shared with Brides that she and Victor Webster were set on having only two weddings. One near California, where they lived, and one in her hometown in Minnesota. But when her grandfather died while they were planning the nuptials, she had the idea of having a spontaneous ceremony dab smack on her grandparents’ wedding anniversary.
“When my grandfather unexpectedly passed away on Father’s Day, the heartbreak was unbearable; I had been planning on him walking me down the aisle in Minnesota,” she explained, adding that having an intimate ceremony on her grandparents’ wedding date helped her cope with the loss of her grandfather. “The idea of my grandparents being reunited and watching over our ceremony from above gave me some peace. They were married for 63 years had such a special, deep love. They were the example to me of how love is a choice and takes work. It wasn’t perfect, but their love was always pure.”
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The wedding was as intimate as they come, with only VanSanten’s mother and stepfather and Webster’s mom as the attendees. And while it was small and had been put together at the last possible minute, VanSanten said that it couldn’t have been more perfect. “In so many ways, I felt their presence with us,” she added. “We didn’t overthink it—just went with our hearts wide open. It was beyond memorable.”
