When the bride says she loves sunflowers, there’re gonna be sunflowers.

We start our day at Jessica’s parents’ place where she and her two bridesmaids were getting ready for the big day. They took turns taking care of each other’s hair and makeup (Jess is actually a hairstylist, so it wasn’t much of a stretch), in amongst the dresses, family, and sunflowers for the occasion.

Once everyone was ready, and Jess was adequately decked out in beautiful Sunflowers, a Suburban was waiting in the driveway to take them to St. Paul’s United Church in Riverview.

Outside the church, family and friends were already waiting for them, and we took the opportunity to get in some pictures with everyone before the ceremony. As a side note, I do take a lot of “organized family photos” in the run of a wedding day, but those aren’t usually the ones that I share. Great Uncle Hector probably didn’t ask to be on Instagram and Facebook, so unless he breaks out some boss dance moves at the reception, or climbs a tree like a spider-monkey while playing tag with the kids, odds are he’s not going to be showing up on the blog ;)

After the vows and rings, the happy couple was greeted Very enthusiastically in the church lobby. After much hugging, well wishing and congratulating, we headed down the road to Casely Park for a few more private pictures with the wedding party.

Back at the Crowne Plaza, guest favours and sunflowers, candles and cupcakes were all in place when we arrived. Before most of the guests had even found their spots, the children had already found the dance floor and got an early start on the party.

After a cupcake toast, it was time for the first dances. Thanks to Ashton’s work on the sound and lights, it was pretty easy getting some great dramatic shots. I usually have to work hard for those ;)