This picture of my family makes me happy. 

{Even if the parentals are squinting.}

We coordinated by accident.

Taken at Bethany and Louis' wedding July 9th.

le mariage

This was a big weekend and the main reason I wanted to stick around this summer: my cousin Bethany got to marry to her French love, Louis. As to be expected, it was a gorgeous wedding. The smell of fresh lilacs filled the air as they said their vows in St. Thomas', downtown.

It was different for me to witness an Anglican wedding. In fact, I was thinking to myself that it reminded me of a relaxed version of the Royal wedding, with some differences of course. Although the majority of the ceremony was in English, they included some French as well, and their siblings had a special role in the service. Her brother read an excerpt from her favourite book, The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince while his sister read 1 Corinthians 13 in French. Yeah, I teared up a lot.

The reception was held at the GEO Centre. We enjoyed hors d'oeuvres in the atrium, then moved on to our seats downstairs. I loved their emcee. I'm instantly smitten with anyone who speaks with an accent, so it was pretty much a guarantee that I would enjoy their French friend in charge of the evening. The speeches made me cry; Uncle Sam's emotional words, her two best friends Jana and Robyn, and in hearing the best man speeches about the groom my heart swelled for Bethany for finding herself such a good man.

 I think the funnest part of the whole evening was having Mr. Vokey come in to introduce all of the foreigners to a bit of Newfoundland culture. There were a couple dozen friends that had travelled all the way from Quebec, France, Poland and Germany. We sang traditional songs, taught some key phrases and at the end screeched them all in! I learned that this very man helped invent the screech in tradition, so it was extra special to experience his entertaining stories in person. His son now carries on the tradition at Christian's Pub.   

Once again, another beautiful wedding. But I think I've had my fill for the rest of this year though! Glaaary.

nikki and matt's wedding

 

the ceremony

 alex put together a delicious dessert table

 we were asked to write notes to the couple for them to put together a scrapbook. we had some extra paper. 'couldn't find my pants' was a joke on the guy who was supposed to be at our table, who supposedly stayed home because he had no nice pants to wear and I wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

 wedding shenanigans: the next bride to be?

 ashley and jordan

 grant and joy

 scott, me, and alex

jess!

Another set of beautiful friends got married last week, June 30th. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception venue was classy. I'm always struck just how the little details of a wedding show off their personality so well, (like the song he wrote and played for her, the coffee beans in the flower vases, and the names of their fave places as table markers) at least that's the case for the two I've attended so far this year. I think what I took from the wedding the most was just how lovely Nicole is as a person. Hearing all of the stories of them growing up and what they've been doing lately reminded me just how much her friendship means to me. She was such an incredible encouragement when we worked together side by side as co-counselors at CWJ in 2009 and continues to be especially whenever she's been back in the province from BC and we've grabbed coffee and caught up. I'll never forget it and I wish my friends all the happiness in the world.

Nice day for a {snowy} white wedding

My beautiful friends, Sarah and Brandon got married on March 26th. It was seriously the most beautiful traditional-non-traditional wedding I've ever attended. The wedding ceremony was short but not lacking in the sweet; the "in-between time killing" was lovely, since I was in the downtown area with my friend; the reception was relaxed; the food was delicious. Even though I knew how stressful everything was leading up to the big day, and even some details went overlooked or forgotten, everything came together almost seamlessly as far as I could tell.

And I had such a good time celebrating with them all night. In fact, we didn't stop celebrating until three in the morning! I've never wanted to stick around that long after a wedding before. Makes a difference when you're having blast with your friends. The atmosphere was so relaxed. Even the wedding photographers were in that frame of mind. They weren't the usual kind you sometimes have, that stand off, getting their shots. These guys were easy going, and you felt like you were among friends. After taking a few pictures with and of friends one of them approached me and pulled me aside. Adam started scrolling through his images giving me a lil peek at the pictures they had taken that afternoon. Breathtaking of course. I felt like such an inexperienced wannabe, but I loved taking to them about photography, hearing their advice on lenses, where they travel and the unanticipated conversation in general. Turns out these guys were based in Georgia, and I felt reconnected to my southern home away from home. Makes the world feel so much smaller and closer together.

They posted a blog about S+B's special day just yesterday and I'm dying over how completely beautiful the final photos turned out. Almost hard to believe that they were taken here in our city! And, not gonna lie, I'm excited that the simple little sign that I painted for the reception made the cut--made with her wedding invites in mind--and that I showed up in a couple of the pictures too.

Here are a few of my favourites from the lot, you can find the rest of them HERE.

Once again, congratulations you guys! Lots of love!