I always love when a couple will do what it takes to get the shot, even when we can see our breath! Tracey and Mark fell in love with the architecture of the Norland as soon as they saw it, so it was an important focus point for their photos. After their private ceremony, I met their family at the venue to start their Norland Estate evening wedding portraits.
Their union was a celebration of their families coming together, so they had all of their children stand in as the wedding party and focused on the kids as much as themselves when it came time for photos.
Such a classy wedding looks fantastic in this Norland Christmas wedding album! Kendra and DJ chose their favourite highlights from their winter wedding. Their selections focused on their family, especially their daughter who really stole the show that day.
The cover features the burgundy colour used throughout their wedding and creates a romantic look with the charcoal leather spine and black satin album bag.
Kendra and DJ already have a family together, but their Norland Estate winter wedding was a party to make it official! They invited their closest family and friends and themed the event around the Christmas holidays. Kendra hoped for snow but in true Lethbridge fashion we got a wind warning instead. In the end this worked to our advantage because it gave us the most beautiful golden hour!
Despite the wind, everyone was great about taking photos outside. There was even enough snow left for Kendra’s wintery wishes! Once twilight hit, we went back out for a few more photos. The gazebo is so beautifully lit at night and the Norland looks incredible decked out for Christmas.
Their daughter Addison had an absolute blast all day and didn’t even need a nap break! Kendra and DJ made sure a lot of the day focused on her. After she spent the afternoon getting ready with her parents, she was ready to greet all of their guests and then take part in photos. She didn’t mind the wind one bit! At dinner, she got to sit right between her mom and dad at the head table.
It was so great to spend another day with this sweet family (we also did Kendra’s brother’s wedding).
What a year 2020 was! By the time March rolled around, we weren’t sure if we were still going to be able to call ourselves “wedding photographers” this year, or if COVID was going to cancel weddings and events completely. Quite a few of our couples decided to postpone their weddings until 2021, but the rest decided to shake up their plans and go for it!
We saw a little less travelling this year, but still managed to visit Waterton many times and went as far as the Pioneers Cabin in Edmonton. Many of the weddings were made more personal by cancelling venue reservations and moving the festivities to family’s and friend’s farms and ranches, where we found some stunning views of the Alberta landscape.
With 2020 being such an oddball, it was totally fitting that it was also a leap year! We started out the year with James and Kaylene’s leap year / 1920s themed wedding before we had any idea of what was to come.
Kaylene and James had me design their Norland winter wedding album from the ground up, starting with selecting all of the images. I have just as much trouble narrowing down the photos as my couples do, so trust me, this is quite a task!
Kaylene and James held a Norland Estate 1920s themed wedding on the most memorable date of 2020 – the leap year! The girls rocked the vintage look the best of all with beautiful head piece jewellery and lots of fringe. Kaylene added a stunning beaded piece to her open backed wedding dress to tie everything together. They even loaded up on discount Halloween items the year before to supply their reception with themed props for their guests to wear!
We started the day at James’ parents’ acreage, then headed to the Norland where the girls were getting ready. I love that the Norland has such beautiful space to use for photos inside the house so we could protect everyone’s hair from the wind as much as possible. (If you were wondering why this winter wedding looks a lot like spring, the usual wind is to blame!)
Their couple’s portraits took place just as twilight was setting in and the pretty stringed lights around the Norland property had just turned on (which is so amazing for photos). Once away from the distraction of their guests, the sweetness of James and Kaylene’s relationship had a chance to shine. All of their silly faces at each other started to come out!
To maximize the number of guests who could party with them, Kaylene and James reserved the dinner time exclusively for their extended families and had the rest of their friends show up later in the night. Instead of staying for the big crowd, we planned a private fake first dance while they had the Norland’s reception room all to themselves! It’s pretty exciting being able to tell a couple directions as they are dancing ;)
