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Hamilton Hamilton Wedding
Saturday, January 29, 2005

Haunted Hamilton's Stephanie and Daniel were featured in a two-part article (spanning over two weeks) for The Hamilton Spectator. Read below to learn about our wedding.

Part I

Spirits appear in native art, not at ghosthunters' wedding

By Suzanne Bourret
The Hamilton Spectator
Monday, January 31, 2005

Nothing would do but a haunted wedding for ghostwatchers Stephanie Lechniak and Daniel Cumerlato, founders of Haunted Hamilton, who were married Saturday during a candlelight ceremony at the 150-year-old MacNab Street Presbyterian Church.

And although it's not haunted, its minister, Rev. Mark Lewis, says, "All the spirits of the former members are here with us within the communion of saints."

The couple met seven years ago and discovered there were many coincidences in their lives.

They went on to form a business that offers tours of Hamilton's haunted establishments.

Stephanie chose a medieval-style white satin and chiffon gown adorned with authentic pearls from her mother's 1976 wedding dress.

She also wore her mother's cathedral-length veil.

Her attendant wore a medieval-style gown of black and red velvet with corset-style bodice and black lace trim.

Daniel was in a vintage pinstripe suit with vest and pocket watch.

The two set up Haunted Hamilton six years ago, combining their interest for historic and ghostly events. Their website, www.hauntedhamilton.com, has grown from 10 hits a day to an average of 4,500, says Stephanie, who works at her web design business, Space Lemons. Daniel is a computer technician at Castrol Oil in Toronto.

Haunted Hamilton has twice received a Hamilton Tourism Award.

The Talk will have more on the wedding later this week.

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Part II

Ghostly Goings-On

By Suzanne Bourret
The Hamilton Spectator
Saturday, February 5, 2005

Now dahlings, back to last week's haunted wedding of Daniel Cumerlato and Stephanie Lechniak, co-founders of Haunted Hamilton, the company that takes people on historical ghost walks around downtown Hamilton.

After the wedding at MacNab Street Presbyterian Church last Saturday, guests gathered at the reportedly haunted Pheasant Plucker restaurant on Augusta Street.

They were served Ukrainian wedding bread brought back from Manitoba by Stephanie's maternal grandparents, Nick and Paulina Witkowskyj of Ancaster. They travelled to Dauphin last August to get the korovai made by a 90-year-old parishioner from the historic Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Resurrection.

Aside from mini-lights going off and on (no apparent electrical problems), there were no hauntings during the reception, says Cathy Lechniak, Stephanie's mother. But when Stephanie and Daniel did an overnight investigation there two years ago, they met up with lots of ghosts in the building.

"We were on the second floor and the electromagnetic frequency detector flew out of the investigator's hand and went flying across the room. Psychics say there is a spirit of an old man up there and he is pretty negative. Two of them saw a pudgy old man with a white moustache and facial hair and sensed he was aggressive and angry," says Stephanie. He has been seen sitting at a round table by the fireplace on the second floor leisurely smoking a cigar with a thinner man. Another psychic was told to sit down in a chair and wait. When she became impatient and put her feet up on the arm rest, she was told to, "sit like a lady."

A playful little boy in knee pants, high socks and peasant-style shirt supposedly haunts the main floor where a musician used to teach music essons."He has been spotted playing around the bar area. One parton saw him run from the basement stairs around the back of the bar area and disappear into the kitchen," she says.

And he has been seen on the second floor where it seems he is attracted to the video game.

One of Stephanie's friends, Lydia Kolkin, saw a coffee pot rise out of its cradle, shoot into the air at a 90-degree angle, then fly in the direction of the front door where it crashed to the floor.

The next ghost walk event is Friday, Feb. 11, at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, 51 Stuart St., Hamilton. The former Customs House is reportedly haunted.

It's a fundraiser for the Planned Parenthood Society of Hamilton. Tickets can be ordered by calling 905-528-3009.

Articles copyright 1996-2005, The Hamilton Spectator. All rights reserved.

Click here for Stephanie & Daniel's Wedding Page

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