Amber and Aaron found me on Calgarypuck forums where Aaron and I are avid Flames fans. I got to know Amber and Aaron well over the last little while leading up to their wedding and I absolutely love these two. They had their stunning wedding at downtown Calgary’s Fairmont Palliser Hotel. I met Aaron and his boys in the house he grew up in for his prep photos. It was a neighborhood in Calgary, that in my 30+ years living here, I had never seen. It was a very quiet, older neighborhood where all the lawns were manicured. His boys were a fun bunch so that really set us up for a super fun day. As soon as I got all the photos I needed, I had to go meet Amber at Hedkandi by the Hotel Arts where her hair was getting done. It was a cool looking and hip salon with lots of people there. After we headed to the Palliser to shoot some details including Amber’s stunning dress in their huge suite. When Amber came out with her dress on I was all smiles as she was so gorgeous and made my job so much easier.
The wedding ceremony took place at Sacred Heart Church on 14th street. The ceremony was very nice as we ran around and photographed as many different angles and moments as we could. Amber and Aaron were all smiles through the whole thing, as was expected.
It was shooting time after the ceremony, so we headed back to the Palliser to stay close to their reception. We got some really cool shots of A&A and their wedding party on the parkade by the Calgary Tower. After we shot there, we headed inside to look for some protection from the blistering sun. With a venue like the Palliser, we had to take advantage of the grand beauty of it, so we ran around all over the hotel making photos. It was very easy working with them as their connection was very obvious. They were very much in love with each other.
Amber & Aaron’s wedding theme was inspired by Cirque Du Soleil and man did they ever pull it off with the help of Mary Swaffield and her staff from Lavish – Wedding Planning & Design. There was so many details that I had to get my good friends Shelley and Jeff Weber to come help shoot detail shots for me so nothing was missed. As soon as we all walked into the ballroom our jaws dropped. We could not believe what Lavish had just pulled off. Without a doubt, the most spectacular reception room I have ever seen in my whole life. Nothing was missed when it came to designing this room. The lighting in the room was exquisite. The wedding favors were Mardi Gras masks imported directly from New Orleans for all their guests. They had an ice sculpture made with their initials on it where martins were chilled by pouring through the top of the ice sculpture, coming out at the bottom into a glass. And then, there was the entertainment. The MC was a professional MC and magician. They had a fire breather and contortionist as well. And if that wasn’t enough, they also flew in from Nashville, the famous country band Six West, who kept the entertainment going for their guests.
It was quite the party that night and it looked like every body there was having the time of their lives. Then came the “midnight snack”. Kobe beef sliders, poutine, ginger beef and sweet sour pork all packed in little chinese take out boxes so that people can take it home with them if they chose to.
We got to work with our friends, Luke & Ryan again from Imago Weddings. Head over to Imago Weddings’ blog to see the teaser video for A&A’s wedding.
Congrats Amber and Aaron. Wow, what can I say? Your wedding was nothing like I have ever experienced. I am very thankful to have been a part of this. You guys pulled it off and I am sure your guest will never attend a wedding like that ever again. Let’s go to some Flames games next year! Now below is the most photos I have ever posted from a wedding on my blog. There’s just so much that it had to all be shown!
