When I sat down with clients Mike and Linda for our final pre-wedding meeting, Linda was as giddy as a schoolgirl. Why? Because (much to my dismay) it had finally started snowing here in Edmonton. An important thing to point out about this final pre-wedding meeting is that it was actually the first time I ever met Mike and Linda. They live in Australia.
“I am writing to you from Australia. I was given your name after having a wedding consult with Rev Kathryn Cardinal while she was here in Australia recently.”
Kathryn is a friend and former co-worker who performs weddings. Linda found her by doing a simple Google search. As fate would have it, Kathryn was on her way to Australia for a conference. She met up with Linda and it was decided that Kathryn would be performing the ceremony for them. When asked if she knew any photographers, Kathryn was kind enough to throw my name out there.
That was the facebook message I received on January 3, 2010. Our first face-to-face meeting was 2 years and 6 days later. She went on to explain in her message that they were planning a vow renewal ceremony in Edmonton and wanted to know if I was available to take the photos of the event.
Mike is from Edmonton but Linda is from Australia. Several years ago they started chatting online. When they realized that over the course of a few years they had not spent a day without chatting with each other, they knew it was pretty serious. So serious in fact that Mike proposed to Linda - without ever meeting her!! She said yes!!
Shortly after that Mike moved to Australia to be with his new fiancé and they eventually got married there.
Feeling bad for Mike’s family who could not make the big trek to the other side of the world for the wedding, they decided to do it all over again – as a surprise - when they returned to Edmonton for their big visit.
Of course I said I would love to document this big event. And over the next 2 years I grew to know Mike and Linda via facebook. I should point out that Linda is a fantastic Canadian! She is a die-hard Edmonton Oilers fan, celebrates the Canadian holidays (Canada Day, Thanksgiving, opening day of the hockey season etc.) and is generally quite keen on all-things-Canada (especially our Moose for some reason?).
Don’t even get me started on her un-natural obsession with Michael Bublé.
Since it was a winter-themed celebration, the snow falling I mentioned earlier was the icing on the cake for Linda (again, it was not as thrilling to me, that’s for sure).
The day arrived and so did the falling temperature. It was C-O-L-D that day. We stayed out in the cold as long as we could to get some shots and even though we froze our butts off, it was all worth it since we were able to capture some great snow-filled outdoor moments of them.
After a nice ceremony at the Muttart Conservatory, we headed off to The Melting Pot (fondue restaurant!!) for the dinner. We were treated to a fantastic 3-course meal and had plenty of fun.
One special touch we were able to help out with was capturing portraits of the friends and family members near and dear to them both. These photos would serve as nice reminders for them when they returned to Australia.
Here are some of the shots Dave and I were able to capture for Mike and Linda. Hope you like them.
