An urban wedding in the heart of Edmonton, AB.
Emma & Garrett
We just had the pleasure of capturing Emma & Garrett’s BIG day in downtown Edmonton and it was filled with every possible positive element: anticipation, triumph, excitement, wonder, laughter & a whole lotta love and we are SO thankful to have had the pleasure to get to know them as well as their families and friends better!
We first met Emma, Garrett and their doggy called George via Facetime or zoom (or something along those lines), then we had the pleasure of doing an engagement session with them in the spring, during the height of cherry blossom season-it was beautiful! They showed us a new location that we fell in love with as well as a location which was special to them and we got to have a little sneak peek into their life together. Fast forward to this past week-we spent a good chunk of our time scouting locations and doing consultations and engagement sessions in between…then before we knew it-their wedding day arrived!
The original weather prediction was full sun and hot af a.k.a. schweaty and sticky and everything you don’t really care to be on your wedding day, however, that quickly changed to rain and thunderstorms with bits of sunshine to full blown thunderstorms the day before…but come the day of and the weather changed yet again (welcome to Alberta, amiright?!?) and we were in for some rain but mostly sun and cloud…fantastic! *knocks on wood* our perfect wedding streak continues (yesss!)
We arrived at the hotel early, as we do, we meet with other vendors, set-up our lights and get some detail shots before we confirm our plan for the day with our couple and begin with getting ready and set-up for first touch and first look in the small yet lovely courtyard and oh boy was it sweet as can be and maybe a bit emotional (I’m not crying-you’re crying)!
“ikigai (n.): a reason for being; a reason to get up in the morning, to enjoy the meaning of life -passion, purpose, something one lives for.”
We then proceed with the first half of our bridesmaids portraits due to an injury we wanted to make sure that nobody was left out and without causing further discomfort-if this is ever the case-there are always other options or ways that we can work around you and your loved ones (we care). Then we took a party bus to the legislature grounds and utilized the wonderful architecture and backdrop of the cityscape as well as the greenery for the remainder of our wedding party photos and family formals (and always those candid moments in between).
By the time we’d wrapped up there-the bride and the groom realized that the legal documents were at home, so, while the bride made her way back to the hotel to mingle with their guests-the groom, one of the bride’s sisters, the marriage commissioner and myself took the limo back to their place to search for them. I documented this, of course! I don’t usually get to be a part of moments like this and it was fun and funny! Once they were found-a celebratory drink was in order en route to the hotel. I got to hear some really lovely and funny stories from the groom and brides sister as well as have great conversation with Dave (he’s the best marriage commissioner ever and we recommend him to everybody for that reason) and it was a great overall experience-my cheeks hurt from all of the laughter…I never realized just how much that was needed!
We are now at the hotel, getting everything just right for the ceremony, smiles still on our faces from moments earlier and then we get down to business. One groomsman at a time, then the groom-waiting at the altar, awaiting the entrance of the woman that he is about to make his bride…you could tell he was a bit nervous but he was so much more excited!
Emma enters: all eyes on her as she proceeds down the aisle, arms linked with her wonderful mama but her eyes were on Garrett as much as his were on her. He was completely captivated by her and it was honestly the sweetest.
All of the times which we’ve spent with Emma and Garrett-we were not prepared for what was about to come from this moment on. Garrett had the entire group howling with laughter while we still had tears in our eyes-it was the absolute most perfect balance. We absolutely cherish these moments. We love these moments. We live for these moments.
From the Amber room to the receiving line, straight into the lounge for cocktail hour-we got to witness all of their loved ones all in one place and it was lovely. We were meant to sweep them off to the Muttart for some bride and groom portraits but they preferred staying with their guests because it’s what was most important to them-we recommend doing what you want, even if this means changing plans on your day-it’s your day and we want nothing more than for you to be happy.
Emma & Garrett did things a bit different-they opted for speeches during dinner which was completely refreshing and why not? After dinner, the groom began a heartfelt speech which was sweet and unexpectedly short. He paused…he said pauses are important-they mean something-they have meaning and he is absolutely 100% right about that one because not much after this he had the room in tears with laughter yet again-he said ‘I don’t care if you’re having a good time because I’m having a great time!’ I don’t think it was meant to be as funny as it was but the delivery of it made it side-splittingly hilarious!
Emma was absolutely sweet & stunning the entire day and Garrett could not take his eyes off of her-he was scanning the room for her-it was adorable. You can definitely not only tell how much love these two have for one another but you can feel it.
We had the chance to speak (and bond) with family and friends and by the time we were able to whisk them away for some golden hour photos-it felt like we’ve known them for ages-it was beautiful.
