My last wedding of the year took place at the Victoria Inn. The happy couple this time around were Leesa and Brian. This being my actual first wedding at the Victoria in, I was anxious to see what it was like. Last year I had the wedding show in the large ballroom so I had some idea of what it would be like but it’s always great to see how everything is decorated. I arrived about 15 minutes before the reception which took place in the room beside the main ballroom. By the time the wedding started it was a packed room I would estimate about 150 people or so. During the 25 minutes leading up to the start of the ceremony I took my usual candid photos of the crowd. This where some of the most unique shots of the day often take place because people aren’t necessarily posing.
Once the ceremony started I quickly made my way to the aisle and started taking photos of the wedding party making there way down the aisle. It wasn’t long before Leesa entered the room with her father. She looked beautiful, and I could tell by the look on Brian’s face that he thought the exact same thing. The ceremony itself was very traditional and actually went by fairly fast. With that being said, I did get a lot of great photos.
After the ceremony people gathered in the hallway and offered their congratulations to the happy couple. This was yet another opportunity to get a lot of genuine photos of emotions and reactions. Shortly after this we all made our way to Brian and Leesa’s house near Mountain Road. For those unfamiliar with this area of town it was quite nice. All the homes are located with Mount McKay in the background. Their house was absolutely stunning. It had high ceilings, I great backyard and plenty of locations for photos. The wedding party and I spent a little bit of time outside getting the group shots and then we made our way back inside. Once inside we took advantage of the staircase, the indoor balcony as well as the grand living room.
It was then time to head back to the hotel for the reception. As always, I got there a bit early to get some photos of the decorations and overall atmosphere. Once guests started arriving I continued to snap candid shots of everyone. Soon after the wedding party arrived and would eventually make their grand entrance. Dinner soon followed and it was time to relax just for a bit. The highlight of the night soon followed, which was a performance by a group of belly dancers. They were amazing and the crowd just loved every minute of it! My night then ended with the couple having their first dance.
All in all it was a very fun and spontaneous night for me. Leesa and Brian were the perfect couple to photograph and all the guests I talked were equally nice. It made my job that much easier to have some many great people and moments to photograph.
