Tracy and I met back in 2011 at the Canada Games in Halifax.  I was living in Ontario at the time, and came out to volunteer as a photographer at the games, and hopefully check out the city and meet some people.  We were both volunteering at a hockey game between teams Nova Scotia and Ontario and got to talking in the media room.  It turned out that we had some mutual friends back in Burlington, Ontario.  It was that chance meeting which connected Tracy and I, and eventually led to an email from Tracy asking if I would be available to photograph her wedding to Rich.  Even better, she was getting married in Cape Breton, a good distance from Petawawa.  Quite obviously, since you’re reading this post, I was available.

I had never been to Dundee Resort before, so I arrived a little bit early to check out the venue.  It’s nicely situated on the South-West shore of the Bras d’Or Lake in Cape Breton, with a beautiful hilly golf course, offering one hell of a view from many places around the course.  We took some golf carts out on to the course to take photos & we had a convoy of 5 or 6 carts.  We stopped at the tee of a hole with a lovely view and took some photos.  After utilizing the golf course, we went down to the water for a few more.

With the photos taken care of, the wedding party took a little break before the ceremony.  The ceremony was outside on the front lawn, and Tracy and Rich’s dog Rikko was the ring bearer.  When it came time for the rings, Rich made a noise for Rikko to come, something they had practiced many times before. However, they didn’t factor in the sound coming out of a speaker, not just from Rich, so Rikko decided a different path was necessary.  At the very least, his wander, and the rings getting stuck on his ribbon, which required scissors to cut off, made for a good moment during the ceremony, something people will remember.  Tracy and Rich took it all in stride with smiles on their faces, because that’s what you do when you’re easy going people.

The dog however wasn’t the highlight of the ceremony.  Rich has 2 daughters who stood in the wedding party with them, and their presence was requested front and centre.  Tracy had vows and rings for each of them, to welcome them to be her family now, the same way that she vowed to love Rich.  It was a really nice touching moment.  A quick look around and you’d be hard pressed to find a dry eye.  I’ve never seen that before, and I thought it was a wonderful idea, and it obviously meant a lot to the girls.

Cocktail hour directly followed the ceremony, and then on to the reception.  The highlight of the reception had to be Rich’s speech.  I don’t think he’d appreciate me conveying to the public what he said, but if you were there, I can guarantee you know what I’m talking about.  I know I laughed pretty hard.  Once the dancing started, it carried on until the lights came up and it was time to leave.  It was a great day full of fun and laughter, here’s a snippet of what went on, on that cool July day.

Enjoy!!!

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