The wedding ceremony was held on a green space behind Jenn’s childhood home in Woodbine.  The weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony, which was a nice sweet one.  After their vows we headed straight up to Heritage Park, where the wedding reception was being held.  We shot all our photos of J&B and their wedding party right there until reception time.  Their reception was held at the Wainright Hotel in true western fashion.

Jenn & Ben, I had an amazing time covering your wedding and I know Bao did as well.  You guys are truly a match made in heaven.  I am so happy and proud that you love your photos so much.  There’s nothing more a wedding photographer  could ever ask for.  I am so glad you found me and took the leap to book me, otherwise I never would have met you both.  I’m looking forward to more Flames games together!!  Congratulations!

The weather in Calgary had not been very summery all year so when we arrived in Mexico, it was nice to feel some 30 degree heat.  When we arrived at the Royal, I could see why they chose to have their wedding here.  The resort was gorgeous and as we the week went on, we were treated to true 5 star service and dining.  We had a few days before the big event, so it gave everyone time to settle down.  I headed off the resort to go scouting for the engagement session and wedding shoot.

On the day of the wedding, D&G had a short traditional Chinese tea ceremony in the main courtyard of the resort.  From there you could feel the buzz and excitement from everyone, as the wedding ceremony neared.  I started off the prep photos with the boys, like I usually do and then headed off to see Doreen and her girls.

The ceremony, in true Mexican Destination Wedding tradition, was held on the beach.  Because all beaches in Mexico are considered public, many onlookers gathered around to watch the ceremony.  This does not make photographers like me happy, but what can you do?  The ceremony was so nice.  The vows they both read to each other were very heart warming.  You could only say “awww” when you heard it and feel nothing but jubilation for them both.

I had a little bit of time to shoot off some photos of the bridal party and some of D&G before the sun went down.

The reception was held right on the beach as a storm over Cozumel started to head our way.  When it did arrive, it came in hard and fast, but by then the Royal staff had already moved all of us inside.

A couple days later, I had to finish off the photo shoot of D&G.  I had scouted all over the area surrounding the resort, but it was packed with tourist everywhere.  I decided to rent a car and we drove  around until we found something that I liked.  We did drive around for a bit but eventually we found an area where mansions were being built.  I thought to myself how great would it be if I could shoot inside one being constructed.  So we went searching for prospects.  Low and behold we found the perfect one!  Using my slick Spanish skills I was able to get us permission to shoot in the house.  It was the perfect place for us to finish off our photos.

Congratulations Doreen & Gilbert.  I am so grateful that our paths have crossed, otherwise I never would have met the both of you.  You both are truly amazing and inspiring people.  All your friends were amazing and I really felt like part of the crew when we were down there.  I definitely can say I made many new friends in one week, but best of all, I became friends with you guys.  Congrats and thanks again for having me be such a huge part of your wedding week!

This post is a big post, there are a lot of images, so if you are looking at this on a mobile device, I apologize in advanced.

The day started at Drew’s parent’s house where the boys were all getting ready.  We found a shed in the back yard that we chose to use as our backdrop for Drew’s portraits.  It worked out great as we had awesome light flooding in and lines for composition.  We headed to Sara’s parent’s house after and we found the bride getting airbrushed.  This was not the first time Sara has been in front of my camera.  While Sara was getting her makeup done, that gave us a chance to shoot photos of her beautiful bridal dress.  Once Sara was ready to put on her dress, the girls and mom all gathered in a cute little pink room to get Sara ready.

The wedding ceremony took place at the Triwood Community Centre in northwest Calgary.  The wedding ceremony was quite short and sweet just how S&D wanted it. Once the ceremony was over we headed to Ghost Lake just past Cochrane, west of Calgary.  We found a couple nice spots to do all our wedding photos.  It was quite awesome to be honest.  S&D were so easy to work with because they were so into each other.  Sometimes I wondered if they remembered Ryan and I was there photographing them.  We took advantage of the scenery until there as nothing else we could do.  We all headed back to the Triwood Community Centre where the reception was being held.

Congrats Sara & Drew.  It was such a huge honor to have captured your wedding.  I am so ecstatic you both love your wedding photos as much as I do.  I wish you both all the best.  You guys are so lucky to have each other.