Lighthouse Weekend Wedding on L'Ile Verte

This wedding was published in Together Journal a while back ago :)

When I met Rosalie and Connor in a park last summer, they shared with me their vision of having their wedding on Ile Verte - a beautiful rugged little island on the St Lawrence in Quebec - where they felt the island itself could speak to their shared values and connect their family & friends to the parallels they shared in their Quebec and Irish roots.

It’s no secret that I love water and that I love venues that are close to water. I love how the colors and light change from one day to the next, it’s so inspiring. But I also want to speak to being present for the whole weekend — it allows me to really consider and observe moments like these without the stress of a packed timeline.

I was able to float around the island and pick strands of grass, rocks, flora and incorporate those elements into the detail shots. I went on long walks all over the coastline to see how the light fell and how the Charlevoix horizon changed across the St.Lawrence. I was able to have idle chit chat with every person at the wedding and get to know the bonds that united them all to this one moment. This is how I would ideally connect to every wedding. It can’t always happen that way, but when it does, it feels like a gift.

The evening of the Rehearsal Dinner, we had a sunset that had me glowing from the inside out. I couldn’t capture the way the light fell fast enough. So let’s start with that gallery:

On their wedding day, the weather had subdued itself with overcast blues and it could not have been more fitting with the slightly warm suiting; while Rosalie’s elegant Pronovias gown stunned against the rugged backdrop.

This was a wedding weekend that hit all the right notes - so much fun, so much beauty, so much love — all celebrated with laughter, tears, lobster and a grand finale of pushing all the tables to the edges of the room to have a big ol’ dance party. Huge shout out to the Maison du Phare kitchen for over-delivering in the food joy.

Finally, I can not thank Rosalie & Connor’s family & friends for making me feel like I was a part of the party, not just a witness. I ate, I toasted, I sang, I danced, I learned about their stories, I cried along with them. It’s a weekend we’re all lucky to have shared.

VENDORS

Venue Phare de L’ile Verte | Dress Pronovias | Suiting Marc Darcy | Florals Clarence Pomerleau | Food Comptoir Gourmand de L’ile Verte | Stationary The Sunday Folk | HMUA Simone | Wine Agence Tannins

Elegant Backyard Elopement in Montreal

On the heels of reduced restrictions in Quebec, Louis & Nathalie’s elopement in a loved one’s back garden was the perfect antidote to what felt like the longest winter & spring here in Montreal.

I met Louis last year just as my own business was allowed to re-open, where I photographed head shots of the team members of a company he co-founded with his business partner Jonathan. The entire team was open and friendly, as I worked with wind and strange light in a makeshift studio in my own backyard.

It was a joy to photograph them all again, with a lot less wind and a lot more beautiful light.

Like many couples I have spoken to over the last little while, Louis & Nathalie were done trying to navigate the restrictions after having to cancel a much larger wedding in Georgian Bay. They wanted to get married in Montreal surrounded by their nearest, saying their heartfelt vows on a sun-drenched bench in the late afternoon light of May.

I was present for two hours of this beautiful day in 2021 — and it was so hard to narrow it down to just these photos for this blog edit.

Thank you to the couple and the guests for making me feel welcome. It was a great way to kick off what is my busiest wedding season to date!

WEDDING VENDORS

Gown Laure De Sagazan Hair & Make-up Natasha Pereira HMUA

Gabrielle & Louis-Philippe || Malbaie Wedding || Les Amoureux

This wedding was featured in Mariage Quebec & Wedding Bells Magazine and was recently voted as one of 2020’s Most Inspiring Micro-Weddings.

If you have not visited the Charlevoix region in Quebec, you are missing out on one of the most beautiful areas of Canada. Reminiscent of the ocean coastlines, it’s hard to wrap your head around the idea that you are not staring out at the ocean. Getting invited to be a part of Gabrielle & Louis-Philippe’s wedding in La Malbaie is one of the wedding’s of my very water-centered Canadian Wedding Bucket List.

Gabrielle & Louis-Philippe fell in love after joining the same Ultimate Frisbee team. In their own words:

Gabrielle est tombée complètement sous le charme de la personnalité joyeuse, drôle, rassembleur de LP. … LP est tombé amour de Gabrielle par son sourire, sa présence… il voulait toujours être près d’elle. (Elle riait toujours à ses blagues.) 

What struck me about these two from the first of our phone calls (before the pandemic was on the vicinity) was just how much they laughed, how open they were, and how solid they seemed in their vision of their lives together. Over the course of the year, in getting to “know them” through their instagram stories, it was clear to me that their love is founded in nature. As it turns out, LP is a geologist, and so I made it a point to include these aspects in building their wedding day story.

As they said:

Dès le début de notre relation, notre entourage nous a surnommés “Les amoureux”…. Nous sommes des amoureux qui aiment le plein air, se coller, la tranquillité, l’égalité et qui croyons aux gens.  Nous adorons voyager, ensemble, tout est toujours très simple.

And then, the pandemic happened. What was impressive to me was how quickly they pivoted, cancelling their 120+ person wedding, finding a new venue and crossing their fingers they could invite a handful of people. We discussed their new plans over zoom and it was clear that they had made peace with the wedding they thought they had wanted.

Le plus étrange est d’avoir planifié un mariage depuis mai 2019, de tout laisser tomber et de réussir en organiser un nouveau en 2 mois et demi et que tout fonctionne quand même. 

I overheard someone say during the reception that the St.Lawrence resembled a mirror, a tranquil backdrop to such a romantic day filled with joy, tears, & Moon River while celebrating Les amoureux.

Just a little post script: one of the photographs in this series has already been featured on Mariage Quebec and that same photograph got handpicked by Rangefinder Magazine as Photo of the Day (a magazine that features many of my own personal favorite wedding photographers & home to 30 Rising Stars)

VENDORS

Dress Maison Ariane Carle Suiting Le Mercier Venue Terrasses Cap A L’Aigle (Maree de Base) Cake Pain d’exclamation