Well, the day had finally arrived. After months of planning, numerous coffee, wine, lunch and tea dates, countless emails and phone calls Ali and Graham's big day was here and for the first time in weeks, the Calgary sun was shining.
Image courtesy of Shutterbird Photography
Alison is a an organizational guru and a planner at heart. She had Excel spreadsheets for everything, vendor contact sheets for me and labelled everything. It was nice to have a bride like this, as it made the day run flawlessly. Even when you think there is no room for error, things happen, and the DJ that was guaranteed to the couple did not show, but Ali took a deep breath when I called her and said "meh, what can I do, it's the day of". Perfect attitude. The worst thing for me on a wedding day is seeing a bride fuss over little details that may not be perfect, but the big picture is that it is the wedding day, and nothing should break the smile on your face and ruin your day.
Image courtesy of Shutterbird PhotographyIt was nice for me as the wedding planner to be able to listen to the vows, as they chose a venue which held both the beautiful outdoor ceremony and twenty feet away, the reception. I must say, Ali and Graham's vows are the best and most heart warming I have ever heard. I know I am not the only one that was bawling their eyes out. I think personal vows can be so beautiful and really let your guests know why you are there, committing your lives to one another.
Graham's words to Ali:
Image courtesy of Shutterbird Photography"My Baby Girl,
You have been an inspiration to me since we met, you never shy away from something you believe in and you start and end each day with all that you are. You have shown me that there are things worth fighting for and the goals that you set can be achieved. You wear your heart on your sleeve and love me unconditionally. I cannot see my life without you in it helping me find my way.
I love you with everything that I am. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life exploring the world with you, and growing our family. I look forward to spending every day showing you just how much I love you. "
Image courtesy of Shutterbird PhotographyAnd Ali's words to Graham:
Image courtesy of Shutterbird Photography My cousin said to me once…”When you find the right person, it’s easy.” I couldn’t agree more. Who knew that making fun of your peanut-shelling skills would have led us to today?
I want to thank you for convincing me that we would be awesome together.
So how do you put all the love and passion I have for you into words?
· I love you for making me laugh when I‘m sad, when I’m mad, when I’m happy.
· I love you for showing me a baby green pepper you found growing inside the big pepper.
· I love you because you’ll make me breakfast in the morning on the weekends and will put extra cheese in my eggs
· I love you for encouraging me to be brave when we went paragliding off a mountain in Turkey.
· I love you for buying me candy and taking me to the Aquarium in Portugal when we’d been awake for 52 hours and couldn’t quite check into our hotel yet.
· I love you for buying me funny cards for my birthday…or finding them in the kid section
· I love you for all the nicknames you give me and Koda.
· I love you for bringing out all the best things in me, and for cherishing who I am
I love you with a deep, resounding passion, with my heart so full it feels like it might burst.
I wake up excited to spend the next day with you, the next memory we get to create, the next adventure we get to experience together.
You’re my Peanut, my best friend and my favourite human. I promise with all that I have that I will treasure you for the rest of my life and I can’t wait to see what’s next…
See? So sweet!
Image courtesy of Shutterbird Photography
Koda, their beautiful Chocolate Lab also played a role in their wedding as the seating chart and table numbers displayed their only child (for now) proudly.
The Calgary Zoo was a stunning venue. The Enmax Conservatory was absolutely perfect. Being brand new, it was modern and airy and had a great separate cocktail area. The actual conservatory with the plants and flowers set up for some really nice guest pictures and the dining room was spacious and very neutral, so any colour scheme could fit nicely in this space. The Zoo staff were very accommodating and friendly and the food was AMAZING, they served guests Santa Fe chicken in phyllo with portabella risotto, delicious! Actually, it is the best wedding food I have ever had, so a huge kudos to the chef there.
Image courtesy of Shutterbird Photography
The guests and family all seemed to have a wonderful time -the wedding party looked smashing and the DJ (the one that did show up!) got the party started. Alison and Graham looked SO happy and SO in love, which, in my profession is the most important thing. I literally drove away from the zoo with a smile on my face knowing that they enjoyed every minute of the most important day of their lives.
Image courtesy of Shutterbird Photography
Chelsea of Shutterbird Photography (http://shutterbird.showitsite.com/) captured some of the images I have used here. She is an amazing Calgary Photographer, who is fairly new to the scene, but I would trust her with my own wedding, she takes time to get to know the couple, and never does the same shoot twice. They are personal, edgy, original and so beautiful they could be hung in your home as art and not the old-fashioned, posey wedding photo's of years ago.
Image courtesy of Shutterbird Photography
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