Something Borrowed, Something REDS
(FREDERICTON, NB) As summer fades into fall, Scott Mansfield (BCS ’98) and Kate Ritchie are still basking in the glow of being newlyweds.
Mansfield and Ritchie tied the knot on June 19th.
The bride wore white.
The groom wore black.
There was a lot of red too, or should we say REDS.
Ritchie and Mansfield wove a UNB REDS thread into their big day. They even had some of their wedding photos taken inside the REDS men’s hockey team's dressing room, and the wedding cake was adorned with REDS logo.
“Our invitations were designed like hockey tickets. We had a ceremonial puck drop at the wedding. Our officiant assigned player positions to the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and from the ceremony we went straight to campus and the Aitken Centre for our pictures,” said Mansfield. “Our guests and family know how big the REDS are for Kate and I. They weren’t surprised by what we did.”
“I’d decided on red and black for the colours even before I remembered that Scott graduated from UNB, and we’re pretty obsessive fans,” said Ritchie.
The couple had hoped to hold their ceremony on campus, something the pandemic wouldn’t allow.
But the pandemic couldn’t dampen their enthusiasm or thwart their plans.
“I always wanted to get married on campus,” said Mansfield. “When that couldn’t happen, we worked on bringing the UNB theme to our wedding. My goal was to merge my two loves, Kate and UNB Hockey.”
Mansfield, a UNB alumnus, wasn’t always a REDS fan.
His passion for the REDS, specifically the men’s hockey team, wasn’t sparked until 2002, a couple of years after graduation.
“I’ve been going to every game I could since then,” he said. “Kate and I have now attended, I believe, three national championship tournaments in Halifax and two here in Fredericton. I own a bunch of jerseys, signed sticks, 11 hats, it goes on and on.”
Incorporating a REDS theme was only the beginning. Afterall, what’s a REDS wedding without some REDS?
“We were sitting at a restaurant one night and Scott asked me what I was doing,” said Ritchie. “I’m e-mailing the coach.”
The coach, in this case, is Gardiner MacDougall, who’s led the REDS to seven national university men’s hockey championships.
“Inviting Gardiner was Kate’s idea,” said Mansfield. “That he accepted that invitation and attended made our perfect, dream wedding come true.”
“You really have to admire their passion and commitment to UNB Hockey to have that as a key part of the biggest moment of their lives,” said MacDougall. “It was great to be at this special wedding and be part of their wedding pictures in our dressing room. That level of support for our program, from the entire wedding party, tells me they’re among the ultimate UNB Hockey supporters, and I wish them a bright future together.”
While they were proud to have Coach MacDougall attend their ceremony, they were both ecstatic to have some of their wedding pictures taken inside the REDS’ dressing room.
“Being in the locker room was surreal,” says Ritchie. “To have Coach MacDougall there with us that day was a memory I’ll treasure forever. He made our wedding day so special.”
“When I envisioned a UNB-themed wedding, I never imagined access to the locker room,” said Mansfield. “To this day, it blows my mind. It was an amazing experience, more than I could have ever hoped or asked for.”
A few months into married life, Ritchie and Mansfield continue to look back on their big day, and the many memories made that day. They’re also looking forward. After a season without, thanks to the pandemic, they’re eager to return to the Aitken Centre.
“I can’t wait to see games again,” said Ritchie.
“Returning to the AUC, for me, is like coming home,” said Mansfield. “Kate and I have had so many special moments there. Now we’ll go there and see things that will allow us to, mentally, re-live that special day.”
The wait, for Kate and Scott, and other REDS hockey fans, is almost over.
The REDS men’s hockey team is scheduled to host their first pre-season game on September 24th.
UNB’s 2021-22 Atlantic University Sport regular season and home opener goes Wednesday, October 6th, at 7:00pm, when they host Moncton.