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Ah, what a wedding! What a great couple. This was definitely one of the most emotional weddings we’ve been to. I think the speeches at the reception will stay in my memory forever. Even when Jen gave her speech to Yuki’s mother in Japanese I had tears in my eyes—and I didn’t have a clue what she was saying! But it was such a powerful moment. All of the speeches were very touching and the atmosphere in the room was incredible. And, yes, that is a real samurai sword during the cutting of the first cake!

Yuki and Jen showed so much love and laughter during the day, it was awesome; this is what weddings are all about! Yuki has a great sense of humour and was constantly joking around. He was bold and irreverent and I liked him immediately. How many grooms, during their photo session, ask to pose with a vacuum cleaner? “This is what my life is like”, he sighed, pushing it over the carpet in the hotel’s hallway.

Jen is a perfect match for Yuki; they compliment each other so well. She is so incredibly sweet. There are always little things that don’t go perfectly during a wedding day and Jen dealt with them with patience and was just so nice. And she looked absolutely amazing.

Yuki and Jen both bought gifts for each other, from Tiffany’s and I-Prima. They both showed me what they’d bought and then told me not to tell. Their rings were from Tiffany’s and were simply beautiful, as you would expect.

Their wedding took place in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church here in Lethbridge. I just love the wood in this church, and the stained glass window over the altar area has to be the largest one in Lethbridge. It’s a deep blue and compliments the wood perfectly. Erin Phillips, the minister, was very nice. We were not allowed to use flash during the service and we had to stay in one spot until the very end, rather than move around, but Erin didn’t mind me moving a couple of feet and we were still able to record the ceremony without trouble.

During the reception we walked through the University to get some more portrait images and there was a basketball game going on, so Jen and Yuki sat and watched while I took photos of them in the stands. That’s a first for me at a wedding!

Yuki and Jen had asked that we get fun photos during the day and Yuki’s off-the-wall personality combined with mine to lead to some of the strange poses you’ll see below. It was all fun though. I think this is the first time I’ve had a groom who may be even crazier than me. Please click on the slideshow below to see an excerpt of their wedding.

We first met Corey and Chelsea last winter when we did their engagement session and I’m going to post one photo from that session below, followed by one from their wedding day. I think the contrast in the seasons between their engagement and their wedding is cool.  :) There is also a short slideshow below the two images, so make sure you take a look at that as well.

Corey and Chelsea were married at the beautiful Norland bed and breakfast here in Lethbridge. It was cloudy before the ceremony and there were a few spots of rain just before Chelsea walked down the aisle, but thankfully the weather cleared up. Corey and Chelsea and their wedding party were a really easy-going and up-for-anything group and we did a lot of random fun stuff for the photos.  Actually, from the stories at the reception, these guys really have some wild moments.  We didn’t do anything crazy for the photos, though you should see the jumping-in-the-air shot in the slideshow.  I haven’t done this shot very often, because I like to try new things as much as possible, but Chelsea requested it.  And, man, they really got into it!  This is what a jump shot should look like.  :)

The reception was over at the Italian-Canadian club and their speeches were funny and touching, with a lot of past stories revealed.  Sometimes I laughed so much I had to make sure my shutter speed was fast enough to stop the camera shaking.  All the best to Corey and Chelsea!  Enjoy the photos.  :)

Congrats to Mark and Whitney!  They were married recently at the River of Life church here in Lethbridge.  Mark is from London and several people from his family and his friends flew out from England to be here on his wedding day, which was very cool.  Oh, and the speeches were hilarious!  It’s hard to beat the British sense of humour when it comes to reception speeches.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  The day started for us at the hair salon with Whitney and her bridesmaids—and her eight flower girls!  Yes, eight!  I’ve never seen so many at a wedding.  They were all very cute.  :)

Their wedding ceremony was quiet and authentic, starting with worship music—that bit wasn’t quiet!—and including our first ever foot-washing ceremony.  Well, not ours, per se; Mark demonstrated his love of Whitney and willingness to serve her needs by washing her feet.  It was, like the rest of the service, a sincere and open showing of their love.

The reception at the Galt museum was amazing!  The tables were decorated with large ice sculptures and the cake was incredible.  It was a very elegant occasion for sure.  And, of course, there is the great view through the huge windows all around the room.  Check out the images toward the end of the slideshow below to see what I mean.  The speeches were both heart-felt and funny.  We have so many photos of people laughing at the speeches toasting the groom, poor Mark.  Whitney’s dad—also named Mark—and Mark the groom gave two touching speeches at the end.  It was an honour to shoot their wedding and we wish Mark and Whitney the best in their marriage. You can see a short slideshow of their wedding below.

Congratulations to Panos and Donell! They were married here in Lethbridge at the Ukrainian Orthodox church and Sherri and I were honoured to be their photographers for the day.

Panos, whose name is apparently pronounced to sound similar to Bono—though I think I kept messing it up on the day—and Donell are a great couple who were so easy to work with. They were relaxed and fun and generous. We started out at Reflections hair salon near the old fire hall, which is currently my favourite hair salon to take photos in. It has big windows that let in lots of bright sunlight, which is more flattering than artificial lighting, and the booths where you get your hair done are fairly close together. You always capture more fun moments when the bride and bridesmaids can talk with each other without yelling across the room. There’s a tip if you’re taking notes.

Then I left Sherri with the girls and headed out to take photos of Panos and the groomsmen. As soon as I arrived Panos offered me something to drink and gave me a set of cufflinks. It felt more like I’d popped over for lunch than was working. I surprised the guys by choosing to take their photos in the basement—”Oh, you won’t want to take photos down there”, they said—ha! And then I headed off for more photos of the girls. Donell was going over her vows and laughing with her bridesmaids, which makes it easy to get fun shots!

I’ll say one thing about traditional Greek Orthodox ceremonies: they give you plenty of time to get a bunch of different and interesting images! I actually enjoyed it, even though it was a long ceremony. It was really hot that day, but I like the heat, too.

The reception was catered by Luigis on the north side and the food was excellent. The dessert was the best I have ever had at a wedding so far. I never usually eat sweet stuff and I ate the whole thing. The DJ was Shad, from Sound Barrier Entertainment, and he did a great job of keeping the music and lighting rolling. I gave him a bunch of photos from the wedding day and he was able to project them onto a screen right then and there. The night finished for us with everyone doing Greek dancing, which is super fun to take photos of!

I’ve posted some photos and also a short slideshow at the top. Click on the play button and give it some time to load—it’s short but big.