Last summer, I received an early wedding photography inquiry for 2012 to see if I was still available. It was still very early in the booking season. Right after, I received a phone call from the same girl asking if I was available in a few weeks instead for their wedding. It was very short notice, but we managed to get Rita and Darren into the only available saturday left that month! They had very little time to plan and book their dream wedding, but they did not want to wait! They had a very intimate wedding (12 guests if I can remember correctly). It was very important for them to have stunning photos in all of their favourite locations in and around Vancouver. The requirements were: city, forest, ocean and mountains in the photos. We ended up going to multiple locations throughout the session in order to get their dream photos. In addition to all of the great photo locations they chose, Rita managed to book some of the hottest venues in Vancouver! We met up with Rita at 6:30am (I even took a shot of the clock to prove it) at the Coquitlam Executive Plaza Hotel. We all enjoyed our morning coffees as the sun came up and Rita had her makeup started. Darren was not around at this point and was most likely sleeping still. We captured as Rita transformed into her look for the day and captured some amazing shots of her getting ready. Darren showed up and they had to YouTube how to properly attach a boutonniere on his suit. Once they were all ready, we set out on an adventure to capture the excited couple in all of Vancouvers finest qualities. We first stopped at the Athletes Village by Science World. This was where we got our city shots. Darren long boarded around in his wedding attire and Rita looked glowing. Next, we headed to the Cleveland Dam at the bottom of Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. They were originally inspired by my Cleveland Dam BC Wedding blog post for this location. Of course we had to get them in that tree and capture them in front of the mountains. The location had a slightly different look this time because it was middle of summer. Next up was the ocean photos! We headed all the way to Whytecliff Park in Horseshoe Bay for these, only to find a very busy park and nowhere to stop. We luckily had a backup location KMs away. After all the portraits were done, we all headed back to the hotel to freshen up. So to summarize; for the portrait shoot we went from Coquitlam to East Vancouver to the North shore, out to Horseshoe Bay and then back to the hotel! If you were wondering that was 99.5 km. But we were just getting started. That was just for the first half of the day. Rita and Darren were not even officially married yet! It was time to meet up with the rest of the family and have the ceremony. They had short and sweet ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Park Celebration Pavilion. We then let the family do their thing and and captured lots of candid moments. After some family photos, it was time for an unbelievable dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver. They had rented a private room so they could spend some quality time with their guests. After the Shangri-La, we set out for a few final night photos. We went to Grandville Island for the final images of the night. We ended at 1am in the morning. I need their secret of how to look good for so long!
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Ceremony: Queen Elizabeth Park Celebration Pavilion Reception: Shangri-La Hotel Makeup: Mandy L. Hotel: Coquitlam Executive I have to admit, I got a bit of inspiration from Rita and Darrens wedding for my 2012 branding (you will see if you inquire for wedding photography) with the high end, intimate feeling of the day with attention to detail. Their wedding album will have a simliar feel to the branding... But you will have to wait and see when it is done.