Hello friends, fools and brand new readers!
This year in photographing weddings I have been blessed by (mostly) only doing weddings for humans who were close to my heart, humans who I have known for a very, very long period of my life. Humans who have seen me at my best and also with Big Mac sauce splattered all of my face in the middle of a 200 customer rush in the greasy depths of McDonalds… oh wait… that was just todays bride.
I met Christina over 10 years ago and if someone would have told me that I would be one day photographing her marrying her high school sweetheart I would have never believed it, but alas today was that day.
We started our day at Quattro where I met the ladies getting their hair done by Nikki and their makeup done by Bridget, having met and photographed most of the female side of the bridal party I felt right at home chatting about the excitement building around the day. My assistant for the day, Joel, headed over to the guys where he was greeted with a lot of laughs at Adams expense, a couple of quick beers and an incredible amount of support from an incredible group of men(both physically and emotionally.)
Shortly after I arrived, the lovely aesthetics team wrapped up and we were super ahead of schedule(with Christina I would expect no different as I’m sure everyone who knows her would agree) so we had some time to relax, get the dress on and tightened into position, have a quick cry over some bridal gifts and push on to go see the groom for their first look, but not before the ladies got to see their best friend in all of her glory.
The structure for the wedding was a little bit different than traditional weddings in that Adam and Christina had decided they wanted to do a private first look and letter exchange, followed directly by their bridal portraits all before the ceremony. Listening to these two exchange incredibly heartfelt messages to each other got Ol’ Allan tearing up behind the camera because in my mind these two were still just tiny little high school kids in love and they had not lost any of that playfulness. It was as clear as the sky that day, these two are completely enthralled with one another.
The ceremony took place at The Captains House at The Sault Locks, which means we got to play around inside of this amazing historical building and experiment with a lot of beautiful architecture(and I got to make them both go up and down the stairs 100 times)
After a lengthy and super relaxed bridal portrait session, the entire bridal party got to relax inside of the captains house, the boys gathered in the corner to poke fun(and secretly admire) the letter that Adam wrote Christina when they first start dating as the girls put some Chappell Roan on and Pink Pony Club’d their nerves out of the building.
While all of that was happening, we snuck away to take some photos with the real main focus of this couples life— Kyra. (and she of course was the goodest maid of honour)
We had the most beautiful day for a wedding, albeit a little hot, everything looked BEAUTIFUL and the light hitting the aisle was all we could ask for. Adam and Christina did something during their ceremony that I had never seen before, and that I hope some couples adapt in the future! They had a super secret, surprise ring-bearer. They channeled their inner Oprah and announced during the ceremony that everyone needed to look under their chairs as the rings were underneath one of them! After some clamouring, the lucky one threw their hand up in the air as everyone around them laughed and cheered. It was a really fun and innovative idea that got the crowd really amped up and excited for the rest of the ceremony.
Setting aside the camera, the photos and the job I had to do— it was an incredible honour (and as always a humbling experience) to be surrounded by these humans that I literally used to flip burgs, bag fries and stress-scream in the walk-in freezer with; to be able to witness these two finally cement what was already a sure thing.
Adam and Christina, you both have always been such lovely humans and it is such a damn rarity that two people find each other so early in life, that they’re able to build off of each other and inspire one another, that they are able to continually surround themselves with more and more lovely humans. I don’t believe for a second that either of you have a bad bone in your bodies or a negative dent in your souls, you deserve every second of laughter and love you have coming and I hope that the world continues to bless you and those around you.
Thank you for involving me with your day, it means so much to be able to give back to the people in my life and I hope that I was able to do you proud by documenting your day.
Cultivate Positivity, Always.
Allan.