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Mike and Elva had a relaxed and happy wedding day at Waterton, with their ceremony being held right on the lake. You know, I’ve been in some pretty fancy venues around the country, but it’s hard to beat such a beautiful natural setting.

As Jessica and I got to Waterton early that morning, it was damp and overcast, with mist greying out the landscape and hanging over the lake. But right before the ceremony the sun popped out, which was just as well for when we jumped in the lake later that day.

After a short but heartfelt ceremony with emotions really coming out during the vows, we did a mini tour of Waterton for their portraits, going to the historic Prince of Wales Hotel, Cameron Falls, and a few other places—it’s hard to find a non-photogenic spot in the Rockies.

Elva had asked to do a trash the dress session when she booked us and she was bold enough to do it right on the wedding day—and before their reception! I saved those photos until the very end of the portrait time, because I knew the water would be cold. And oh, my goodness, it was cold. It comes from glaciers, so what should I expect, I guess. Elva waded right in! She handled the cold amazingly.

Because we had planned all of this ahead of time, we all had changes of clothes for the reception and I had brought towels, too. Except, I had forgotten to let Jessica know. She was soaking up to her neck in glacier-melt and had nothing to change into. Thankfully, there was a store open selling outdoor clothing, so I bought her a dress from there to wear for the rest of the day. (Who wears a dress to go hiking or camping, anyway?)

Their reception was back at the Bayshore Inn in a very relaxed atmosphere. There were no speeches, just dinner with their friends and family, following by cutting the wedding cake.

Thanks for having us, guys.

Congrats to Jolene and Matt! They were married recently in Waterton, at the Bayshore Inn. Well, in the nice grassy area near Waterton Lake outside the Bayshore Inn. Of all of our couples these guys are right up there with the most laid-back and easy-going we have ever met. They were really great to work with and their guests were a fun bunch, too.

This was one of the rare weddings from this year where we have been there for the entire day, from the hair and make-up right through most of the reception, instead of just from the ceremony or when the dress goes on. I love being there for the whole process and catching all of the behind-the-scenes preparation and emotions. Jolene and her bridesmaids were getting ready at the Bayshore Inn and were a cool bunch to get photos of as they hung out and ate their Fun-Dips. I also popped over to catch the guys, who were at the Bayshore as well, and I grabbed a few images of them getting ready before we went down near the lake for some pre-ceremony portraits.

It was a great day for an outdoor wedding ceremony; sunny with a strong breeze to keep the heat down. After the ceremony we did their family portraits around the Bayshore area before heading off to the Prince of Wales hotel for the bridal party and bride and groom photos to take advantage of the fantastic views from there.

The reception was held back at the Bayshore, with the evening’s entertainment provided by Pyramid Entertainment—oh, and the guys’ dance-off.

Here are some of their images!

Congrats to Brad and Aliya who tied the knot recently in Waterton.  :)  They were a real blast!  In fact, the whole wedding party was a lot of fun.  It’s not every wedding you see the first dance turn into a bridal party chorus routine to the tune of Monty Python’s Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.  And I have so many photos of Aliya laughing.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bride laugh so much!  Aliya also had some fun ideas that we did, like arm-wrestling with her brother, Kareem.  You have to check out the funny, intense expressions in the image I posted from that sequence.  We did a lot of their portraits beforehand, with the family group photos being done at Cameron Falls and the wedding party images being taken all over the place—it is Waterton after all.

Their wedding cake was one of the most creative designs I’ve seen so far.  It was a tropical-themed cake with bamboo-shaped edging and flowers, all in bright colours.  

The sunlight was really quite harsh for their ceremony and I remember commenting that it was one of our most challenging lighting situations so far.  Ironically, we’ve now done three weddings in a row with similar conditions and they’ve got progressively harder!  I’m not sure I like how this is going!  Lol!  ;)

The speeches and slideshow were hilarious.  I’m not sure if Brad is going to live some of those moments down, but at least by now he should have come up with a good excuse for that Michael Jackson pic. Anyways, we wish them all the best in their new life together—even though they are Oilers fans.  ;)