My First Wedding in Canada

I usually do not post blogs about the weddings I shoot, but shooting a wedding in another country has been on my Bucket List for quite some time. It was a very exciting occasion for every one who attended. The photos I post in a later blog will express this, but for now… I tell of my tales while venturing to Canada.

Since I shot a live music event Friday night until about 1:30am, my dear boyfriend let me sleep in while he watched our kiddo. The day was already going great. My assistant, Amber, arrived at my house while I was gathering lunch from Subway. We ate, and began our journey. First stop- Radio Shack. I needed another CF card. I had a feeling this wedding was going to be different. Radio Shack was closed, naturally, so we headed to Canada.

Have you ever crossed a border? I’ve never crossed before without my parents, so this was something foreign. (Mind the pun.) I crossed on Thursday to make sure there wouldn’t be any problem with me not having my actual passport yet and everything went smoothly. The attendant wanted to know why I had never been to Canada. My answer? Mexico was closer. She didn’t laugh. This time was different. She wanted to know all kinds of random details about Amber, why we were crossing, my background, my job as a photographer, etc. I really thought we were gonna be searched, but she allowed us to pass.

We drove over to St. Jacques, New Brunswick to locate the reception location and begin taking photos of all the details. The theme for this wedding was very unique; one I’ve never had the opportunity to capture before. The groom is a fire fighter for the Madawaska Fire Department, so the wedding was decorated as such. Fire hydrant juice dispensers, an axe the cut the cake, fire truck suckers, and a fully restored 1937 fire truck. Yeah, you heard me.

The ring bearer and flower girl were to originally ride in style down the aisle on a Power Wheels fire truck. As you may know, not everything goes as planned with weddings and sometimes, you just have to adjust. The ring bearer was a little reckless behind the wheel and the young flower girl wasn’t having it. The whole reception was in French, but I followed along (roughly) because of the Spanish that I know. It was a very beautiful Catholic ceremony followed by the bride and groom driving off in the 1937 fire truck I told you about.

This is where the fun begins. After taking photos of them driving off in the truck, we high-tailed it to my car to beat the crowd to the reception hall for photographs. My car won’t start. The radio, lights, and door ding all work. There is no clicking noise. Quick! I run to one of the only cars left in the lot. It is the groom’s sister and she is driving a large SUV, big enough to jump me AND she has cables. My luck couldn’t have been any better. Too bad it isn’t the battery and my starter has just gone out on me. We hop in with her, her husband, and the flower girl.

We arrive at the Knight of Columbus reception hall and begin taking portraits immediately. We are now about 15 minutes behind. Everything goes off without a hitch as far as the portraits go. Wonderful. We usher everyone inside and take a few photos of the bride and groom alone. One of the coordinators came out to inform us that he had already started a opening movie that was previously recorded. Oh no! We all scramble inside and I don’t believe anyone even noticed there was a glitch in the planning of about 2 minutes. The entrance to this reception was like no other and quite a show.

Food and toasts. The food was brought in and the feast began. I must give major, MAJOR props to the brother of the groom, the best man. His speech/toast was phenomenal and hilarious. Very good, Sean. The food was cleared and the fun was to begin. The Father – Daughter dance was beautiful. I will not go into detail for professional reasons, but the DJ was MIA for over an hour and Sean, once again, stepped up to the plate. He quickly took his cell phone out, turned music on, and put the mic to it. The dancing continued with the Dollar Dance (which was hilarious!), line dancing, shuffles, and shakes. Everyone was having a great time and you could feel it in the air.

So the reception is over and we need to fix my car. Sean (AGAIN!) and his mother drove us to the car I left at the church. We attempt to jump it again and he confirms what I thought all along- the starter is toast. Back to the reception hall to help clean up and earn our ride home! We got stopped at the border and it didn’t appear as though anything in the car was even touched- except my cigarettes? Odd, but alright.

The wedding was amazing and exceptional. Congratulations Melanie and Jason Boucher!