Lesley and David’s wedding day was unlike any other I’ve had the pleasure of photographing.  I had mentioned in the teaser I posted, that there were some hiccups on the day.  One of those hiccups came not long after I arrived.  I was photographing some details when I asked if the flowers had arrived yet as I didn’t see them anywhere.  I was told that they had actually arrived the night before and had been placed in the fridge.  Lesley and I began to pull out bouquets looking for hers, and I pulled out one that I thought was hers, but when I tried to pull the flowers out of the vase, I couldn’t.  I didn’t want to do any damage, so I let them be and grabbed some more bouquets out of the fridge.  That’s when someone else went to get Lesley’s flowers out of the vase.  They looked into the situation a little further and discovered that the flowers were not in water, but ice.  It turned out that the back of the fridge was a bit too cold and had frozen the water, and killed some of the flowers.  After a brief discussion about what to do, Lesley got on the phone with her florist (not sure the name, but in Timberlea) and explained the situation.  Carol, the florist was able to quickly put together another beautiful bouquet for Lesley and bring it to the house.  Talk about professional and great service.  I would recommend Carbapple Cottage to anyone.

While the florist was likely in scramble mode, we were taking some family photos around the house on St. Margaret’s Bay, and getting ready to head into Halifax.  I had David wait outside and then Lesley came around the house for a first look.  Lesley looked gorgeous and David was sure to let her know that.  It was a nice moment they were able to share together and basically alone.  Lesley had told me she wanted to get some fun photos before the ceremony at Henry House on Barrington in Halifax.  Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes a ‘fun’ photo, so I made sure to ask Lesley’s thoughts.  She told me a fun photo was them ‘having a beer at the bar’ which was exactly what we did.  Rather, they all had a beer or two and relaxed and hung out at Henry House for about an hour.  It was the most care free hour before a wedding I’ve ever encountered, it was if it were any other Saturday with a group of friends having some fun, well, if you have a photographer following you around that is.

When we got to Pier 21, I was amazed at the job Velocity Event Management had done.  I was at Pier 21 a couple of weeks earlier with my parents on their visit, and I had looked at the room and it was nice, but bare.  The end result shows what professionals can do.  I loved their lighting, the tables looked great, the tree branches with the lights was a great backdrop for the wedding party.  It truly made a difference.

The ceremony was held outside of the Hall, in front of the windows on the second floor.  It was the first time I was able to go without flash during an indoor ceremony.  Again, the setup was so nice for the ceremony, and I loved how the red brick wall was behind the wedding party was they walked down the aisle.  As the ceremony was coming to an end, David pulled up the legs of his pants to reveal shin guards.  Lesley had told him she was going to kick him in the shins if he cried during the ceremony.  He did not, though I kind of wish he had.  It would have been funny if Lesley actually did kick him, only to hear the loud sound of a shoe on the plastic.

The dinner was highlighted by some incredible speeches from the wedding party with some great anecdotes about David and Lesley.  I especially liked when his groomsmen mentioned that they learned at a young age that parents liked Dave, and all they had to do was mention that Dave was part of their plans, to get some leniency from their parents.  I also think I noticed the bridesmaids playing a drinking game during the speeches.  If they weren’t, then they were certainly drinking in unison a lot.  Come on girls, let us in on the secret already.

When it was time to hit the dance floor, everyone had just finished enjoying the cake, made by David’s mother no less, and I think the sugar must have kicked in, because that dance floor only emptied out once.  That once was the aforementioned other hiccup.  The music cut out abruptly, only to come back out briefly and cut out again.  The DJ’s sub-woofer blew and he had to run and get his backup, and run he did.  Again, another professional, he had a backup, sure it took about 10 minutes to get it and hook it up, but he was prepared.  Well done!  I seized the opportunity to pull back a giant curtain to reveal a huge Canadian flag painting and get a photo with Lesley and David, and a group of their friends found some lyrics on a phone and I think the song they sang was ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ but I’m not 100% sure (I just heard that song on TV and it has me questioning myself).  They did a pretty good job but refused to do an encore.

When the music got going again, the dance floor was even more packed and stayed that way.  All around, it was a great day and two awesome people got married.

Congratulations Lesley and David!

Enjoy!!!

www.DustinHallPhotography.ca

They are spelling out Calgary with their bodies, can’t you tell?  Their note says “From Calgary with Love”