Kama­l Rattanpal immediately piqued Kelly Basran’s interest in September, 2003, at an icebreaker session at school in a 3^rd year pharmacy lab at UBC when she found out they had something in common—they were both pharmacy students who helped their dads out in family businesses during the summer. 

Then, in January, 2004, Kam made Kelly go out on the windy deck of a ferry ride over to Victoria—they were travelling to a pharmacy conference.  But Kelly quickly forgot about the wind and the conference when Kam presented her with a promise ring. 

And that was that. 

The couple’s wedding was in Vernon at their Gurdwara, on September 1, 2007.  There was a Ladies’ Sangeet on the Thursday night, and Kam had his maiyan that same night at his house in Richmond.  On the Friday night, they had an engagement ceremony and the bharat reception party.  During the ring ceremony, Kam got down on one knee on the stage—Kelly was not expecting that and the pictures turned out awesome! 

The weather was perfect: it neither rained nor was too hot.  The priest who married Kam and Kelly could not do so legally, so they had to have a Justice of the Peace wedding.  Kelly did not want this to be the day before, so, on the wedding morning, when office they were to get married in away from the guests was locked, events unfortunately became a little stressful because the clock was ticking.  The time was 10 a.m., and the Justice of the Peace had five other weddings to get to that day!  Kelly just sat in the limo waiting for the office to be opened.   

However, all’s well that ends well, and many special moments made the day.  Since Kelly’s maternal grandfather was unable to attend the wedding, her dad made sure that they visited the grandfather’s home along with the camera crew to get pictures done—and Kelly’s grandfather gave her saagan there.  Since he passed away 6 weeks to the day later, those pictures and movie have become that much more special to Kelly—thanks Dad!  (And, yes, this was her maternal grandfather, so one can imagine just how sweet her dad really is).   

At the wedding, Kelly wore a swarvoski crystal red lengha, and Kamal wore a traditional outfit with an open jacket over a red kurtha—which was different and looked great.  The flowers were roses and calla lilies.   

The reception was at the Dhaliwal Banquet Hall in Surrey on the Sunday to avoid the Monday Labour Day holiday.  The décor consisted of silver and teal and had two different arrangements on the tables—green orchids in a triple-vase set-up submerged with a white candle on top, and white orchids in tall vases surrounded by tealights on a mirror.  The chair covers had teal or silver ties depending on the alternating pattern.  The cake was square, four layers, and white with green orchids cascading down one side. 

Kelly’s in-laws, Piara and Balbir Rattanpal, were also instrumental in granting the couple a wonderful day, providing a location for the wedding, and shopping with Kelly beforehand: Kamal’s mother  came with Kelly and her dad to India for the wedding shopping trip—a little unconventional, but therefore all the more special!  Having both families present—most especially the cousins!—to ensure that the five day wedding went perfectly was priceless.  Their support the year before reduced the couple’s stress and made the wedding and all its inherent functions execute perfectly. 

But most importantly, the couple’s favourite part of the wedding was answered by Kamal: “When we were at the park after the wedding for the pictures, the photographer wanted to take pictures of Kelly by herself and I finally got to look at her.  Her lengha was so gorgeous and she looked beautiful.” 

The honeymoon was on the Wednesday at the Sandals resort in Antigua—where the couple was lavished upon in style on the new side in a gorgeous penthouse suite which included a butler!   

And the future shows promise: Kamal and Kelly live in Vernon but are moving back to Richmond in a few weeks.  Kamal reached his goal of owning a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Richmond.  Kelly works for their head office as a Pharmacy Operations Specialist as of February and was a staff Pharmacist prior to that.  Their goals are to continue running a successful business, and for Kelly to eventually get her own store in about 2 to 3 years.   

Kelly and Kamal still have much in common—and will far into the future!