Small Wedding Photography London Ontario
“Just do it! You don’t have to have some huge showy wedding. The most important thing should be who you choose to surround yourself with on that special day.”
The above quote from Bride Amanda is what I want to talk about in todays blog. We photograph many big weddings, but we also do offer custom packages for Small Wedding Photography London Ontario. Clara especially loved photographing these smaller weddings and up on the blog today is Amanda and Wesley’s big day from 1 year ago! The custom coverage started with the final bit of getting ready for Amanda and their girls, followed by their first look at the Strathroy conservation area. After the couple photos they headed to their intimate outdoor ceremony, then family photos followed by Clara capturing the beginning of the reception- a couple of speeches and the first dances.
As you can see, from just a few hours of coverage we are able to pack in capturing a lot with smaller weddings. We helped with working out the schedule to make the most of the time and so thankful to be able to capture these meaningful photographs for their family to look back on for years to come.
Hair – Ashley Thyssen @ Hello Gorgeous
Makeup- My niece Zoe
Gown- From Ballets
Groom- suit from TipTop Tailors
RingBear Emery- suit from Moores
FlowerGirl dresses from- David’s Bridal
Florist- Bride, Mother of Bride & Bride’s Aunt
Invitations- Staples
Rings- Poags Jewelery
Pearls- Charm
Decorator- Sandy @ On Front & Laura @ Real Event Designs
- The Bride’s Story: Cowboys Ranch. I was not a country girl or even into country music but my friends were. That particular night, we came to a compromise that we would start the night at Cowboys before heading downtown to Club29. We were not at Cowboys long when we met these 3 guys (there was 3 of us too). They bought us drinks and we started with small talk. It wasn’t long before Wes & I realized we had mutual friends. We ended up staying at Cowboys for the evening, dancing and having fun with Wes and his friends. At the end of the night, the guys invited back to their place to play mario cart. Of course, my girlfriends and I chickened out. Before we all parted for the night, Wes and I exchanged numbers. We continued talking and started hanging out after that night. 14yrs later.. here we are! The Groom’s version: Wasn’t planning on going out that night, 2 buddies from back home called me and told me they were on their way to my place to go out to Cowboys(which we did every Friday and Saturday). Did our regular thing, sit around playing card games, video games, drink and go. Got to Cowboys, ended up next to 3 girls at the bar, started randomly talking to them, bought them all a drink. Ended up on the dance floor with them, all had a great time, lots of laughs and Amanda and I danced and talked the entire night. Exchanged phone numbers before leaving the bar to head home.
- Bride: He was cute. Definitely not what I thought was my ‘type’ of guy. I also was NOT looking for any kind of relationship as I had already had a 6yr very toxic relationship that left me a young single mom of 1. I was out with my best girlfriends at the time and just wanted to have a fun night out. I was into mingling and totally welcoming of a few free drinks (shhh…LOL). Never would I have imagined that we would hit it off like we did, let alone date.. Groom: She is incredibly beautiful, gorgeous, good looking and so so sexy!
- Bride: Wes has always been a hopeless romantic. He would leave me love notes, flowers, small gifts… anything to show me that love he has for me. Wes planned a night away. He made plans for my daughter to have a sleepover at friends and he booked us a room at Hessenland Inn & Winery. We went out for dinner and strolled around the beautiful gardens at Hessenland. We were going to go for a walk on the beach (where he was going to propose) but he got a “phone call” and we had to run home to pick up some things for our camping trip the following day. When we returned to the room, we were snuggling on the couch when he got down on one knee and professed his love for me and asked me to be his wife. Turns out that Wes had bought the ring weeks in advanced. One day, he was admiring the ring and envisioning his proposal, when I walked into his room. He panicked and threw it back in the bag to make sure I didn’t see anything. Then when Wes was packing for our weekend away, he grabbed the ring box, forgetting that he didn’t return the ring to the box in a panic and left the ring loose in the bottom of the bag it came in. Groom: Planned a night away, small little place. Planned dinner out, go back to the place, wanted to go for a walk down to the beach, she didn’t want to. Looked in my bag to get the ring, ring wasn’t in the ring box. Looking at it before leaving, I remember looking at it in our room, Amanda was coming up the stairs and I must not have put the ring back in the box and dumped it back into my drawer. Had to drive home to get the ring after eating, wasn’t near how I wanted it to go!
- Bride: Date nights for sure! We have 4 children, so alone time doesn’t exact exist. We have had 1 night away in a hotel, two times that have been very memorable. It’s so nice to spend quality time with just one another and not have to worry about children for a few hours. Groom: Our, no so often date nights. To get out alone, go for a meal, ice cream and a drive to enjoy each other
- Bride: Oh gosh. I feel like I could babble on forever! His personality. The Wes that I have come to know and love. Wes has literally been my knight in shining armour. He brought light back into my life when I didn’t think it was possible. He has shown me the true meaning of unconditional love and has always been my safe place to fall apart, get messy, and expose all the things you ‘d never want to share. He has stood beside me, loved and supported me, through my good times, bad times and completely dark times. His love for me has not faltered. I struggled to learn boundaries, and what a healthy, loving relationship should look like. But through it all, Wes never left. He continued on loving me and providing what I needed in that moment to continue my journey forward. Wes is a great dad, partner and friend. He makes me laugh daily, even through tears. He always manages to put a smile on my face too. Whether through a text, something he says or does, a meme, song, you name it. He has a great sense of humour and is always trying to make you smile or laugh. Everyone that meets Wes or knows him will tell you he is like a ‘big kid’. Always goofing around and having a good time. He is genuine, loving, hard working, passionate…. and I love everything about him. I honestly can not imagine life without him. Groom: When I’m having a rough day, just simply thinking or looking at a picture of Amanda, can make me smile and forget what’s going on. I enjoy spending every minute I can with Amanda. I always want to be around and touching Amanda, I’m INCREDIBLY attracted to Amanda, so touching her or feeling her touch, just makes me love and want her more. I want so spend every second I can, with her! Amanda makes life easy.
- Bride: As a perfect reflection of us. Our personalities will show through our choice of ceremony, food, decorations, etc. And of course a beautiful evening to remember. It’s finally happening!! Groom: As a “finally making it official!” I know majority of friends and family already see us as “married”
- Living room.. maybe the bedroom. But I haven’t put a ton of thought into that yet!
