Caroline and Scott planned a quick outdoor wedding on Kitsilano beach.  The whole week prior I kept an eye on the weather forecast, which bounced around from cloudy to sunny to cloudy to finally settle down on, you guessed it, rain.  And boy, did it ever rain.  The wedding party cosied up under an 8'x8' tent, and the other attendees were under their umbrellas in amongst the trees, which left yours truly to fend for himself as best as possible.

The skies began to clear up right after the ceremony, leaving some amazing potential to use the grey clouds as a backdrop for the beach shots.  I think we all had great fun on this one -- no dampened spirits here!

Jennifer and Daniel had a fun and intimate wedding ceremony and reception in Surrey with their large extended family and friends.  The cloudy day and reception venue made it a little more challenging on the lighting, but we got some great images nonetheless with the help of subtle flash work.

Take a dream movie set location in the fields and forest outside Fort Langley without any signs of civilization, add a medieval theme, and have guests dress up in period costumes.  Add in some swords, bows, and horses, and a ceremonial platform built by the groom.  That was Milos and Shawn's wedding.  And yes, yours truly had fun dressing up for the part as well, though the twin cameras slung over my shoulders probably seemed a little anachronistic.  It was a sweltering day, and luckily they'd brought out a Sno-Cone machine for everybody!  The afternoon's entertainment included a harp player, singer, and belly dancers, and ample opportunity to try one's hand at archery.  Dinner was a fantastic spread of items like a whole roast pig, rabbits and chicken, followed by dancing.  It was a great setting for me to work in some wonderful, ethereal, fairy-tale photos to go along with documenting the ceremony and festivities.

It was my great pleasure to shoot Ramanjot and Gurjeewan's Sikh wedding festivities over a span of three days.  What more could one ask for than lots of fun times, loving friends and family, incredible visuals, and of course Indian food!  The first part of the festivities was the exchange of the engagement rings and a dinner reception and dance.  The next day saw the mehndi (henna) party with close friends and family along with the ceremonial tying on of bracelets and application of turmeric paste on the bride.  The last day was the wedding preparations at the house, the milni (meeting of families) and the wedding itself.

The couple are such wonderful, caring, considerate and fun-loving people and made me feel extremely welcome and privileged to share in their celebration.

 
Ramanjot's mother and father applying the turmeric paste 

Getting ready on the day 

Reading from the Guru Granth Sahib (holy book)

Encircling the Guru