Compass Rose Wedding in Prince Edward County, Ontario

Prince Edward County is one of my favorite spots in Canada, with sprawling vineyards, outdoor wood fired pizzas, microbreweries, and a waterfront that often feels like you’re standing by the ocean instead of a great lake. I’ve vacationed there several times with my family (sometimes camping, sometimes cottaging) and never stops in holding a magical quality to it.

So when Sara & Mat phoned me up to ask me to join them for a small ceremony at Compass Rose, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.

We lucked out with a mix of weather, in the midst of a very rainy few days we got enough breaks in between to get some photos, private vows, dancing and a spectacular sunset.

This all took place in September of 2022 - a week later - after a larger celebration back in Ottawa with their friends - Sara & Mat moved to Ethiopia to start their newly married lives.

I still keep in touch with them and it’s so wonderful to see where they have gone since this moment in time below — I love looking back for these reasons. Photos really start to take on new meaning over time.

Vendors

Venue Compass Rose Suites | HMUA Kita Beauty Lounge | Officiant Weddings By Karin | Catering Hawley Crescent

Romantic Fall Micro-Wedding in Wakefield

Imagine launching a snowball at a woman you like and that snowball… inevitably snowballs to a wedding.

Well this is my summation of Allister & Nourhan. Two people who we could all learn a little from — people who like to snowball - that is plan with flexibility but also immense care. I am not sure that I could have ever planned a wedding where I hired my photographer a month before nor that I hire them solely on liking how they interacted with me over the phone. That said, Nourhan had received a glowing review about me from a former bride who runs the Eco Bride Popup Shoppe in Ottawa (something I wrote about here - which is where she had found her beautiful wedding dress) so I had that going for me, too.

These two romantics also changed their wedding location to the fairly new and beautiful wedding venue: Le Peaches & Cream in Wakefield, Quebec within a week of their wedding… and it all went down without a hitch.

Sidenote: In my experience and as a witness it can be hard at times to not get bogged down in all the things at your wedding. My advice is to re-orient yourself back to the love that started these plans: make your love for each other the epicenter of your day… the details that don’t work out will not matter. Nobody remembers the 100 napkins I sewed for my wedding tables.

Working on this wedding over the last week or so was a perfectly timed reminder that there is only so much you can control in your life and all of which you can not control can still be met with grace, perspective, a huge sense of humor and kindness with a side of gratitude.

Nourhan & Allister’s wedding day was intimate, colorful, and filled with laughter. Laughter that is so infectious that my daughter asked me why I was laughing while editing their photographs.

I want to give a shout out to Kaara from Eco Bride for connecting me with Nourhan; to Mik Gelineau for being the planner we all needed on their wedding day; to the owners of Le Peaches and Cream for just having such a welcoming space and to Nourhan & Allister for being the inspiring people that they are.

That was a perfectly timed snowball to launch at Nourhan, Allister.