I first heard from Jen a few weeks prior to the Atlantic Wedding Showcase in January.  She told me about her wedding in Baddeck and I immediately wanted to shoot it.  Luckily for me, she was coming to Halifax for the wedding show and she could stop by my booth to meet me.  From the way she talked about her wedding and her fiance Brad, I knew it was going to be good.

It’s months later and the Natal day weekend (for readers in Ontario, that’s the same as the Civic holiday in August) and I’m driving up to Baddeck with Robyn and the puppies for a nice long weekend.  Apparently it was the hottest weekend of the year and thankfully that came with some nice sunshine.  Robyn and I walked around the town the day before the wedding and came up with some photo ideas and locations.  It wasn’t until the next day that we realized that we’d both gotten sun burns.  Robyn, being a redhead was much worse than me of course.

I met Brad for the first time at the rehearsal that same night and he’s one of those guys you can tell straight off is a good guy.  I was joking with him and his and Jen’s families almost immediately.

On Saturday, August 4th, the wedding day, I started off with Jen and her Maid of Honour ( her sister) at the salon, a small place just outside of town with someone they’ve known for years.  I heard some pretty interesting stories about Jen and Brad’s relationship, some details I saw again when I met up with Brad and his Best Woman (his sister).  Jen had made up a scrapbook for Brad with a lot of details from their years together, a lot of work had clearly been done and Brad’s face lit up when he looked through it.

Brad had a surprise for Jen as well and I brought it over to Jen’s grandmother’s house where she was getting dressed.  He got her the pearl necklace you’ll see her wearing in all the photos below.  Jen hadn’t planned on wearing a necklace, so it was a perfect gift.

The ceremony was held atop the roof of the Alexander Graham Bell Museum with the Bras d’Or lake in the background.  After the ceremony, we made our way around town a bit for photos in Brad’s father’s Vintage Bentley, stopping at a little dock owned by Brad’s sister, the statues of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, and the old Post Office.  The reception was held at the curling club.  I must say, I was very impressed with how the girls at Elegant Productions had transformed the space.  You don’t expect much from a typically bland curling club, but it looked fantastic after they were done with it.

I thought it was clever that instead of a typical guest book, they had 3 stacks of Jenga blocks and asked everyone to write a message on a block and put it in the jar.  I had Robyn write our note (she’s way neater than I am) and she drew a little camera on it with our well wishes.

There were a couple emotional and funny speeches said and then the party got started, Cape Breton style.  The music was all live and I heard some songs I had never heard before, but I liked, and the dancing continued on until the band had to shut down (and then a bit after that too).  I love weddings with live music, it’s too bad more people don’t do it.

I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves, I know I did (especially after they opened the big door at the curling club and let the cool air in).  Here are a few (alright, a lot of) photos from their amazing wedding day.  Congratulations Jen and Brad!

Enjoy!!!

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