TORONTO — National Ballet of Canada principal dancer Greta Hodgkinson says her marriage last weekend to Montreal-born first soloist Etienne Lavigne “was a fairy-tale wedding from beginning to end.”

The dance company revealed this week that Hodgkinson, who hails from Providence, R.I., wed Lavigne last Friday in an intimate, bilingual ceremony in Toronto.

The two, who met while performing with the National Ballet, are on honeymoon and unavailable for comment, said the company.

But in a letter to ballet staff, Hodgkinson writes that the reception at Graydon Hall Manor was attended by 96 people who munched on her grandmother’s Armenian desserts at the sweet table and poutine as a late-night snack.

“The best moment of the day was when Etienne surprised me by playing guitar and singing my favourite song, ‘I’ll Be There,’ by Edwin McCain at the reception,” wrote Hodgkinson, who joined the National Ballet in 1990 and became a principal dancer in 1996.

“I’ll Be There” is also the song that Lavigne – who was promoted to first soloist with the ballet company last year – played while he proposed to Hodgkinson on stage at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, said Hodgkinson.

Hodgkinson wore an ivory and lace gown made by U.S.-based fashion designer Monique Lhuillier. Nicole Miller, another American fashion designer, made the raspberry-coloured bridesmaids’ dresses.

The newlyweds can be seen performing in the National Ballet’s 2008-09 season, which opens Nov. 5.

Source: http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gF-fPLd8DYdyzt304n_MMhQnlruw