Nadine & Matt's Wedding
Sometimes you have a wedding day where everything takes place in the same resort, there’s no driving around, no piling in and out of cars, no fuss no muss.
Sometimes you have a wedding where the sun is shining perfectly all day, where white fluffy clouds dot the deep blue sky.
Sometimes you have a wedding party that is there to have a good time, to enjoy a magical day, and every picture is more entertaining than the last.
This wedding day, my friends, was every one of those things and then some. Why am I telling you this? Well, I took a lot of pictures that day. I mean a Lot of pictures. Close to 5,000 pictures, in case anyone’s counting. I’m not going to tell you exactly how many I delivered to Nadine & Matt, but it was also a very large number. All of this to say: below these words is also a lot of pictures. Definitely a few more than usual for a blog post. But as usual, these are just my favourites, just a small sampling of the sum total of the images I delivered from this wedding day.
Alright, now that I’m done probably unnecessarily qualifying this huge pile of beautiful photos, let’s get into the meat of things. Or rather, the crepes and homefries of things.
When I arrived at the Richibucto River Resort, the wedding party and their significant others, as well as some family and friends, were chilling out and making a huge breakfast together. I snagged some pics, and a slice or two of cantaloupe, before heading upstairs to where Nadine was getting ready.
Things were pretty chill upstairs as well, with everyone taking their time getting their glam on. Since the sun was already shining outside, I took the rings out for some fresh air and something just a little different, then came back in for more of the hair and makeup.
Nadine’s aunt(s?), grandmother, mother, and seemingly everyone around helped out with the finishing touches, and then when she finally put the dress on, with help from her maid of honour, oh boy. Cheers, tears, and applause. I’d say it went over pretty well.
Meanwhile, downstairs the men were getting prepped. Everyone pitched in, including a baby, who was, of course, instrumental in getting her father dressed (and adding some essential cuteness to the photos…sorry Matt).
The wedding party and family gathered outside for the big reveal, and the first look. I assure you I had very little to do with this perfectly organized event, and was just there to witness and document the epic unveiling.
Looks like everyone was pretty happy with how things played out ;)
Then we headed out to the country road, to the fields and fences and cabins on the Richibucto River Resort property (we didn’t have to walk far) for some fantastic and fun photos.
A few hundred (or thousand? Who’s counting?) shots later, everyone took a break as the crowd regrouped for the ceremony by the river.
And the winner of the award for The Longest Aisle goes to: The Richibucto River Resort. Oh man, the anticipation when the wedding party has to walk over 100m down to the river for the ceremony. As a photographer, though, it certainly gives me a lot of time to frame my shots and prepare for who is coming down next. No surprises there ;)
After the knot was quickly and joyfully tied, and the trek back up from the river was made, it was time for the reception in the huge and elegantly decorated barn.
The crowd was in for a treat with many hilarious and deeply moving speeches (often all at the same time), a hilarious and improvisationally skilled MC, Nick Cormier, and a…umm…granny dance? You had to be there. For so many reasons.
Soon after the beautiful first dances, my memory cards were full, my legs and arms were about to fall off, and my internal shot list was depleted and redefined.
Thank-you, Nadine & Matt for inviting me to take part in your epic and amazing day, and for making me feel like a part of the family! Congratulations!
