This private lakeside wedding was an intimate, family-only event. Although it’s been challenging to plan weddings this past year, Sophie and Andrej were able to pull together an incredibly special (and beautiful) day in a very short amount of time. Sophie was the visionary for the day, making it come to life, and Andrej worked as their day-of coordinator, ensuring everything went smoothly and as planned.
Bradford Blooms took care of the florals, building a stunning arch for the ceremony and the perfect compliment to the lake view backdrop. It’s hard to beat the captivating colours and blooming nature during Spring in Ontario.
An incredible and memorable moment actually happened at the tail-end of the ceremony. As the couple were pronounced married, their neighbours, who have a large church like bell on their rooftop, rang the bell loudly as the bride and groom celebrated their way down the aisle.
The rest of the evening felt like a beautiful, elevated dinner party. The long table facing the waterfront really enhanced the atmosphere and made for a romantic backdrop for the entire evening. There’s something truly special about being in such an intimate setting, the light sound of subtle waves in the distance, all those small elements are what brought this intimate micro-wedding to a dream like state. There were a lot of tears and a lot of laughter - it was an emotional day and each and every person in the room was so proud of how far both Sophie and Andrej had come in their lives, encompassed by the countless laughs, hugs, tears and genuine candid moments shared between everyone present. The bride and groom are both remarkable people, and their families made sure to celebrate their achievements as individuals but also everything they’ve accomplished during their partnership. Sometimes we forget that weddings happen because of a path that lead two people to that day and often we overlook the important moments that helped the individuals get to where they are currently in life, but with Sophie and Andrej their was an undoubtable feeling of mutual respect and recognition for all they’ve gone through.
Andrej and his parents are from Croatia and a little fun fact that I never knew, is that Croatians invented the neck tie. In fact, most European languages have the same word for neck tie as they do for Croatia / Croatian. So although Andrej was on the fence about wearing any sort of tie at all, he felt he was paying a little homage to his roots when he chose to wear a black bow tie. Something fun about being a wedding photographer is that you get exposed to so many different cultures and people, I always learn something new when shooting a wedding and it’s quite often those small, quirky details that stick in my memory when I look back at the photos I took.
To cap things off, the night ended with an insane cotton candy sunset, lighting up the sky while Andrej and Sophie shared their first dance, arguably one of the most romantic and picturesque moments I’ve ever gotten to witness during my time as a wedding photographer.
Although the pandemic left these two scrambling to figure out their wedding plans, ultimately their intimate micro wedding was a celebration of true love, friendship, family and everything in between. Sophie & Andrej really got to experience their wedding day, living in the moment unapologetically. The intimate atmosphere create endless opportunities for them to share moments with their loved ones and each other and I truly believe that this sort of setting couldn’t be recreated in a classic or traditional wedding environment. I hope these images can truly echo that sentiment and allow anyone who views them to feel the genuine love and care that I felt being there that day.
