As a follow-up to this post, I wanted to share some images from Chelsea and Gray’s wedding day as well!
The evening before their wedding, I met up with the couple at their venue, the Courtyard by Marriott Calgary South hotel, to walk through the area I’d be photographing the ceremony in and to peruse some options for where the indoor family photos could be taken. Despite the wintery weather, they wanted their wedding party shots and couples portraits to be taken somewhere outdoors near the hotel, which I completely agreed with. { I don’t have a bunch of fancy flashes for my camera, and I do MUCH better photographing in natural light. }
Chelsea and Gray, who I actually went to high school with, got married on November 30, 2019, and the Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright, but bitterly cold.
Holden (who was working as my second shooter for the wedding) and I drove out to the hotel early on the day of to scope out locations in the neighbourhood for our outdoor shots, and then got set up in the room where the ceremony was taking place.
The two things that the couple requested we did not miss photographing during the ceremony were catching the ‘first look’ – the moment Gray saw Chelsea coming down the aisle – and their flower girl – who was in fact a ‘flower man’, as one of Gray’s groomsmen.
Despite the cliche crazy-patterned hotel carpet and a few pillars in the way within this small space, we managed to snap some great shots of the ceremony, the wedding party, and the guests.
After the ceremony, we met up with the couple and their families in the hotel lobby, to grab a few quick group shots. There wasn’t much natural light in this space, and we had to dodge a constant stream of incoming hotel guests, but in the end we made it work – even getting some Christmas-y photos with the tree set up in the lobby area!
From there, Chelsea and Gray pulled us aside and let us know that they were opting out of taking the wedding party photos outside, due to the more-than-chilly weather, and so we joined the group up in the bridal suite for more pictures.
I’d been imagining a run-of-the-mill hotel room, and was a little worried about a small space, bad light, and where they would pose for the pictures, but luckily the bridal suite was gorgeous + huge, with lots of options for photo backdrops. We took group photos of every combination, a few shots of the happy couple alone, several posed images of Chelsea ‘getting ready’, and some fun candids as well!
The couple kept things simple, asking us just to photo the ceremony and the family and wedding party group shots, and so we headed out after this (we actually ended up buying some cheap, last-minute tickets to a Calgary Flames hockey game that night!), while the wedding reception got underway and the group celebrated into the night.
It’s nearly Chelsea and Gray’s first wedding anniversary now, and they’ve since added a second dog to their family. I wish them a lifetime of happiness from here!
I hugely appreciated this opportunity, and the trust that Chelsea and Gray put in me. Wedding / couples photography isn’t something I’m sure I’d do again anytime soon, at least not without some proper training and equipment, however if shooting with me is something you’re interested in, please feel free to reach out!
