On a strangely cool morning in mid-August (I second guessed myself on that one and had to go back to check the historical weather for the day - it was 11°C with a light hazy rain FYI), I popped a few blocks downtown to the Delta Beausejour to meet up with the ladies in their hotel room.

By the time I got unpacked to begin taking pictures of the details, the morning sun was casting a hard light through the clouds across the parking lot below, glittering on the water droplets that remained from the thick morning dew. It gave a unique glitter to everything that I put on the windowsill, and I probably don’t have to tell you by now, I love it when things glitter. #thatbokeh

Melanie handed out personalized gifts to her support staff, including beautiful matching robes, matching champagne flutes and matching flasks (which they weren’t immediately ready to use after staying up a bit too late the night before 😉). The pastel and floral colours of the morning all matched together seamlessly, most importantly including the flowers themselves when they arrived.

At the end, when everyone was ready, Mélanie’s father came in for his first look, and I think he almost fell over when he saw her as he rushed into the room. You’ve gotta pace yourselves, dads! It really hits you in that moment how much everything has changed!

Downstairs the men were getting dappered up (apparently that’s not a word and tried to autocorrect to diapered - which I assure you was Not what was happening. Anyway…). I don’t have a lot of pics to show you from this event, as I’ve now noticed in retrospect that some of them took way too long to get buttoned up, so I’m afraid that a lot of those pics won’t end up on the website ;)

Next up it was time for the main event: the ceremony at Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. It was a gorgeous spot filled with family and friends who were just beaming with happiness.

Afterwards, on the steps of the cathedral, we took a few minutes to gather some family members for photos. I don’t usually post a lot of family photos in the blog, not because they’re not lovely, but because a lot of those people aren’t really there to have their pictures taken. But obviously when your grandmother has a charming and infectious laugh like that, she’s going to end up in the blog ;)

Next up we hit the road and headed to Centennial Park for wedding party and couple shots. There was a fun bit of sibling rivalry, Ben got Iced once or twice (if you don’t know…you’re probably gonna be okay), and everyone had a blast (in part because we were able to stay in the shade. It was getting pretty toasty by this point in the day).

By the time we were done with our action packed photoshoot, the wedding party had worked up quite an appetite. The only possible option was to head to Zio’s Pizzeria for some fresh pies. (You heard me. Trust me, I really am cool enough to say that.) I forgot to eat anything because I was busy getting some classy pizzeria shots. But no worries, I was pretty sure there would be something edible at the reception.

After that we headed over to Riverview to catch some wide open blue skies by the banks of the Petitcodiac. And I definitely didn’t discourage the Titanic tribute pose. You do you, everybody.

Then it was off to our finally destination, the reception at Wedgewood Hall. We quickly moved into the beautiful first dances, along with some serenades from Ben’s amazingly talented sister Julia. (I’d tell you to buy her album if I had any idea whether she had one or not).

After some heartfelt speeches, a highly competitive bouquet toss, and Ben getting iced once or twice more (I was beginning to lose count), everyone hit the dance floor. And I do mean everyone! If she could get out onto the dance floor with a walker and cut a rug, what’s your excuse for not having a blast at the reception?? :P

After seeing some familiar faces, and one last great slow dance, I packed up my equipment and hit the road.

Congratulations Mélanie & Ben! And thank you so much for inviting me to capture your fantastic day!