The Okanagan, Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton
The wedding was by the lake this afternoon, and one of the rings is no longer on a hand
Kinsmen Park and Waterfront Park are among the parks the City of Kelowna books for wedding ceremonies, and in Penticton the Rotary Centennial Pavilion at Skaha Lake Park is a setting for them too.
A ring lost at an outdoor wedding in the Okanagan is worth looking for, provided the afternoon can be traced step by step. What decides it is whether the ring went down on grass, on sand or into the lake, and how many places the wedding party passed through before anybody noticed.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in the Okanagan with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the park or the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Plenty of losses here have nothing to do with a wedding: a watch left on the sand at Kin Beach in Vernon, say, or a chain that snapped on the rafts at Okanagan Beach in Penticton.
Check the ceremony spot first
On the way to the finger, the rings pass through several pairs of hands: the ring bearer, the best man or maid of honour, sometimes the officiant. Each of them should turn out pockets, the ring box and any cushion or pouch. Before the chairs are folded, two guests can walk the aisle and the front row slowly, heads down, and one of them can save the phone location of the spot where the rings were exchanged.
Away from weddings, name the beach and the nearest thing on it that stays put, such as a volleyball net, a picnic shelter or a raft. Penticton has beaches on both Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake, so say which lake.
Covered in Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton
- Kelowna: Kinsmen Park
- Waterfront Park and Kasugai Gardens, downtown Kelowna
- Boyce-Gyro Beach Park, Kelowna
- Rotary Beach Park, Kelowna
- Sarsons Beach Park, in the Mission, Kelowna
- Vernon: Polson Park
- Kin Beach, Vernon
- Kirkland Beach, Vernon
- Paddlewheel Park, Vernon
- Marshall Field, Vernon
- Greater Vernon Athletics Park
- Lakeview Park, Vernon
- Kalamalka Lake Park: Jade Bay, Juniper Bay and Cosens Bay
- Ellison Park beaches, north of Vernon on Okanagan Lake
- Penticton: Skaha Beach and Skaha Lake Park
- Sudbury Beach, Penticton
- Okanagan Beach, Penticton
- Okanagan Lake Park, Penticton
- Marina Way Beach, Penticton
- Three Mile Beach, off Naramata Road
- Back gardens, school fields and driveways across the valley
Ceremony lawns, lake beaches and ball fields
Where each one is, and what to mention.
Kinsmen Park and Waterfront Park, Kelowna
Both are parks the City of Kelowna books for wedding ceremonies. Kinsmen Park is a smaller park with large trees and lakeside viewpoints, as well as a beach and a swimming area. Waterfront Park, in the city centre, has a broad boardwalk along the edge of the lake and two ceremony sites by its lagoon: the Pergola, on a small hill, and the Island Stage, which sits in the lagoon itself. Kasugai Gardens, a walled Japanese garden behind City Hall, takes smaller ceremonies.
Boyce-Gyro, Rotary and Sarsons Beach, Kelowna
Boyce-Gyro Beach Park and Rotary Beach Park both have a beach, a swimming area, a playground and trails, and Boyce-Gyro adds sand volleyball courts. Sarsons Beach Park, at the end of Sarsons Road off Lakeshore Road in the Mission, is quieter, with small grassy areas, a playground, picnic tables and the odd free summer concert.
Polson Park and the Vernon playing fields
Polson Park, near the heart of Vernon, is known for its Floral Clock, and deeper in the park is a Japanese Garden. Parts of the park can be reserved for weddings. Marshall Field has baseball, soccer and tennis, and Greater Vernon Athletics Park is used for football, rugby, soccer and track.
Kin Beach, Kirkland Beach and Paddlewheel Park, Vernon
Vernon sits at the northern end of Okanagan Lake. Kin Beach has a picnic shelter, a playground, beach volleyball courts and a swimming area. Kirkland Beach is a green space with a playground and shade. Paddlewheel Park has a small sandy beach, a grassy play area, plenty of shade trees and a boat launch.
Kalamalka Lake and Ellison Park, near Vernon
South of Vernon off Highway 6, Kalamalka Lake Park has three swimming areas marked with buoys, at Jade Bay, Juniper Bay and Cosens Bay. On the northeastern shore of Okanagan Lake, Ellison Park has three main beaches with warm water and ground that slopes in gently, and divers use its bays. Tell us which bay you swam in.
Skaha Beach and Sudbury Beach, Penticton
Skaha Beach is a long stretch of sand on Skaha Lake, with calm, warm water and a beachfront promenade. It belongs to Skaha Lake Park, which has rest rafts and beach slides, a splash pad and the Rotary Centennial Pavilion, a setting for wedding ceremonies. Sudbury Beach, just west of it, has a huge beach area with its own rafts and slides.
Okanagan Beach and Okanagan Lake Park, Penticton
On the other lake, Okanagan Beach, at Lakeshore Drive, is a sandy city beach with a swimming area, rest rafts, kiddie slides and shade trees. Okanagan Lake Park, near the downtown core, has a small sandy beach of its own, a fenced off-leash area for dogs. Penticton Creek enters the lake on the eastern side of the park, which gives you a fixed point to pin from.
Marina Way and Three Mile Beach, Penticton
These two are also on Okanagan Lake. Marina Way Beach is small and sandy, with a swimming area and a shallow entry into the water, next to Marina Way Park. Three Mile Beach, at Three Mile Road off Naramata Road, is really two beaches: one for swimming and one for boats on day moorage. Say which one you were on.
Our side of it
Whoever writes first
The couple, a parent or a guest can send the first message. From then on we deal with that one person on WhatsApp, and the others pass their photos through them.
A brief built from your day
The detectorist gets your pins, your photos and the order of events, from the ceremony to the last place the couple stood, so they start where the ring was last seen and not at the parking lot.
When the trail goes cold
A ring that could have come off anywhere between the ceremony and a reception across town is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Time to talk it over
We explain the costs before any search is booked. On a wedding weekend, with family in town, nobody is pressed to decide on the spot.
Grass, sand and three lakes
What we need from you changes with the ground.
Ceremony lawns
Draw us a rough plan of the ceremony: the rows of chairs, the aisle, where the officiant stood, where the couple turned for the kiss. Mention who packed up the chairs and the arch, in case the ring left with them.
In the lake
The rest rafts at Skaha, Sudbury and Okanagan Beach, and the buoyed swimming areas at the Kelowna beach parks, Kalamalka Lake and Ellison Park, give you something fixed out in the water. Tell us which raft or which end of the swimming area, and whether you were in the water or up on the raft when you last had it.
Gardens and fields
Metal detector hire makes sense for one flower bed at home that you can point to. A ball field or the lake bottom is a bigger job, and those are the ones we find a detectorist for.
Questions about the Okanagan
We married at Kinsmen Park in Kelowna, and by the time we went down to the beach for photos the ring was gone.
Then there are two spots to think about, where you said the vows and where the photos were taken, with the walk between them. Kinsmen Park is a smaller park, so the ground is limited. Pin both spots, trace the route you walked, and tell us whether anyone went into the water in their wedding clothes.
Our ceremony was at the Pergola in Waterfront Park, and one ring never made it to the photos on the boardwalk.
The Pergola sits on a small hill with the lagoon around it, so the slope and the water's edge are the two places to think about first. Tell us which way the couple faced, where the guests stood, and the path the wedding party took down to the boardwalk. If you had a photographer, ask for the full set of unedited pictures now, not the finished album later.
My bracelet came off during a game on the sand volleyball courts at Boyce-Gyro Beach.
Tell us which court, and whether you mostly played at the net or at the back. Boyce-Gyro also has a swimming area and trails, so say if you went into the lake or along a trail before you saw your wrist was bare, and send a picture of the clasp.
My engagement ring went missing at one of the summer concerts at Sarsons Beach.
Say whether you listened from the grass, from a picnic table or from the sand, whether you danced, and where you went once the music stopped. Send a photo of the ring from the side as well as from above, so the setting is clear.
An earring dropped somewhere on the grass at Kirkland Beach in Vernon.
Kirkland Beach is known for its shade, so the tree your blanket was under makes the best landmark. Say whether you moved to the playground or down to the water afterwards. Lay the other earring on a ruler and photograph it, so the detectorist knows exactly how small a thing they are after.
My phone slipped into the lake as we were getting off the boat at Three Mile Beach.
Three Mile Beach has one beach for swimming and another for boats on day moorage, so tell us first which one you were at. Then say where the boat was tied or anchored, which side of it the phone went over, and how deep the water looked. A pin taken from the spot where the boat sat is the most useful thing you can send.
My wedding band came off on the rafts at Sudbury Beach in Penticton.
Sudbury Beach is on Skaha Lake, just west of Skaha Beach, and has rest rafts and slides out in its swimming area. Tell us which raft, whether you think it came off as you climbed out, on the slide or as you landed, and the last moment you are certain it was still on.
Okanagan
Kelowna, Vernon or Penticton, the first message is the same
Write while the day is fresh in everyone's mind.
Nobody needs to leave the reception over this tonight. Ask one guest to send us a WhatsApp message naming the park and describing the ring, and the couple can add the rest tomorrow.