Vernon Paper Bouquet Wedding

This wedding to me is bittersweet – my last wedding of the year. It came and went so quickly. Most of them did, it’s been an insane year. I’ve appeared in magazines, photographed 30+ weddings, many more families, and even managed some maternity shoots. As of this week, I’m teaching again.

This couple, though. I’ve been looking forward to this wedding from the first day we sat down and had our consult. Quinn and Kaylie are such a warm, loving, and affectionate couple. I knew I had to be part of their special day. I strongly urge you to check out their engagement shoot, it’s equally as amazing.  Don’t worry, the link will open in a new window. I’ll be here when you get back.

Now for the usage stuff – to see the gallery without my witty banter, click here. To see every photo, check out my pixieset, and message me for the download code. Yup, you can have all the full sized images for free. Do you want to right click and save the photos? Go right ahead. 😀 Do you want to post them on facebook? Sure! I ask that you please credit Draht Photography – I don’t advertise much, and so I rely entirely on word of mouth from happy brides and grooms. Call me idealistic, but I think that’s the way a business should be run. Get those photos out there for everyone to enjoy, let the good words from your clients advertise for you.  <3

Lets get started! We began our day at Cheek to Chic hair studio for makeup. Bridesmaids were writing speeches, makeup was getting applied.

And then off to Chatters, where the very talented Katrina Suderman made Kaylie’s hair just perfect.

You can tell our bride was really enjoying herself.

After that, it was to the Castle on Swan Lake, where some of the most gorgeous ring shots were happening.

You see those bouquets? They’re a result of bouquet parties, where you invite over all your best friends and spend hours putting these things together. To assemble a bouquet like this, you must have hours and hours of time and some very dedicated friends.

And this is how I did my ring shots. Shout out to the bridesmaids, who held my light until their arms hurt. The wedding day wouldn’t be the same without you guys!

It’s time to look at the dress.

The hotel room had a fairly high ceiling, and a balcony overlooking the lake. I took advantage of all this extra height.

One of my favorites: time to do up the dress! Everyone has to come together in a dress assembling group. First, we made decisions regarding jewelry.

Then it’s time to assemble this!

Everyone approved. This dress is nothing short of amazing, and Kaylie wears it as well as it can be worn.

Everyone loves it.

REALLY nerdy note on the above photo: It’s a perfect golden mean crop. It also follows simply color theory (all shades of orange) and the rule of juxtaposition. Photos are like jokes, though. They’re less alluring when you explain why they’re so alluring. Sorry for taking the magic out of that one for you. I promise there’s more great ones coming up.

Then, onto one of my favorite parts. The pre-wedding photos of the bride. I adore these photos.

A few more…..

This is one of my favorite photos in the whole album. The lighting, the fact it doesn’t look posed. The colour theory.

We finished up. It was time to get to the Turtle Park Winery.

Everything was all set up, and looked breath taking. And this is from a guy who’s shooting every weekend! The procession went quickly.

Quinn isn’t one to hold his feelings back.

One big kiss and the cheers erupted!

Everyone was stoked. This little moth decided to hang out for a spell.

Way to go little guy! I found him later on, sleeping on Kaylie’s dress. He just liked hanging out with her the whole day. He was probably a good luck moth, because the day was perfect.

Time for some amazing brandy and a cigar. I’m going to do this after my ceremony, when I get a girlfriend then convince her to marry me one day. We’ll probably need a lot more than that though.

You couldn’t keep these two apart.

Time for some group photos! Google tells me that people spend the most time on these group photos. Although I don’t find them especially artistic or alluring, a lot of you readers do I guess. We did standard shoulder behind shoulder and color coded because I like to be fancy.

Then a few more formals. Photographers take note! Always make sure you get the parents and families!

Fist bumps.

Time to get some vineyard photos! Normally, I start with some formal shots to get us into a goofy mode. Not necessary here. We went from 0 to goofest quickly.

No posing necessary. Everyone was so giggly and outgoing at this wedding.

Time to use that awesome parallelix!

I don’t know who wore it better.

Guys were busy taking selfies. Photos of brides with bridesmaids. <3

We had a disappearing sun. Not a cloud in the sky, making for some amazing textures and shadows.

The sun was coming in just right.

Just so you know, we’re about halfway through this blog post, and you haven’t seen the most amazing photos yet.

Kaylie has it under control. Kaylie always has it under control.

The flower girl had been following us this whole time. She waved excitedly, asking me to take a photo of her. Of course, I obliged. Enjoy this before and after friends photos.

The sun came through just right, giving me just the most incredible light. The smoke left over from the forest fires gave the photos an ethereal, almost otherworldly look.

But this isn’t even my favorite. Prepare yourself. If you’re drinking wine, right now would be a great time to take a sip. These photos absolutely took my breath away. I’m going to remember them forever. Words. If I was better and them you’d know exactly how happy these make me.

The look on Kaylie’s face. <3 No words.

A few more photos, as we enjoyed the last few shards of light the sun gave us.

We went up to the main area, to get a little dancing done before the sun hid behind the mountains.

It was time for the reception. I took a few minutes at my table to eat and check my messages. Then I laughed so hard during the speeches, my mouth hurt.

I had no idea how many times Quinn has narrowly avoided death in so many ways until I heard his father-in-laws speech.

Note to all you wedding photographers – make sure you get the guests! Yes, every last one of them! Everyone wants some photos of them enjoying this special day, and you’ve got the camera and battery power to give it to them!

Time for some reception games.

Those of you who know what game this is, know.

Then, one of my favorite times. The first dance.

You can’t see, but they were actually singing to each other. Singing along with the song. <3

You’d think it ruined the moment, but it makes the moment. I’ll always remember these two singing to each other during their first dance.

These shots were incredibly hard to get. I manually focussed, it was far too dark for my camera to focus. Plus the subjects were pushing towards me – I had to predict when they’d be in frame. For you nerds, I had 2.5″ (that’s inches) of focus here. I set my plane, and fired off the photos when we started to sharpen.

Why didn’t I use the 35mm? Wouldn’t it have been about twenty times easier? Sure. But the pictures wouldn’t have looked as good. A bride and groom only want the best, and that’s what we’re here to do.

Father daughter dance. They were pretty cute.

No one was at their tables anymore. The dance party was just starting! Quinn did his sweet dance moves and everyone cheered him on.

I think I’ve told you blog readers how I like to end an album. This one is no different. Bride and groom, with all the lights and everyone enjoying themselves behind them. This one…has a little bit extra. Because this couple gave me so much extra. Anything I wanted, they broke their backs to make sure it was provided to me. Even this last session.

So below, this is how I’ll leave you.

I can’t wait to show you my next album in February, when I’ll be shooting a wedding in Hawaii!

And there you go. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this far. The positive response on instagram and twitter have been overwhelming. If you’d like to see more, consider liking my page on facebook, or adding me on google plus! Or heck, send out an inquiry! I’m shooting engagements and family photos right now. See you in three days!