In August, I had the pleasure of documenting Amanda & Brian’s story. They are two incredibly kind, gentle and adventurous hearts and their casual forest adventure wedding fit their personalities perfectly. They had a very simple and relaxed laid-back day with their family & friends, and soon after I left they all spent the evening in nearby campsites. I loved getting to explore the forests and ruins of Rockwood Conservation Area with them.
Congratulations Amanda & Brian!
From the couple:
Tell me a few things about yourselves and how you chose the style & location of your wedding.
We are two fun-loving, adventurous souls, who find our happiness in the outdoors. We are passionate about hiking, camping, the environment, and wildlife, and always feel most connected and free while out in nature. Rewind 2.5 years before the wedding, one of our first dates was a winter hike at Rockwood Conservation Area, where we hiked across the frozen river on a clear, crisp sunny day. It seemed a no-brainer to come back to the place where our love first took root and host our reception at the pavilion overlooking the beautiful Eramosa river.
We chose our ceremony location due to the forested area. We would whole-heartedly recommend the ambiance of the woods to anyone! We had so many compliments on our location, and it wasn’t only us who felt the spirit of the woods 🙂 We chose sunflowers because they are our favourite flower. We picked the timing for our wedding based on when they were in season. We love the vibrancy they bring to a space, and are something we often bring home from the farmer’s market to brighten up our home. They were an easy pick, and were no problem to make into bouquets on our own. Add some burlap, a little lace ribbon, some old pallets to make into signs, and boom- you’ve got yourself a woodsy wedding scene.
What were your favourite moments from the day!
There are so many! We truly loved our ceremony. It was really special when we had our first look beforehand on the hill, and walking down the isle together with all of our friends and family there waiting in our enchanted forest. The post-celebration after the ceremony, hugging everyone as they came down to congratulate us after was a highlight. Arriving at our reception location at the conservation area and hitting the trails with our wedding party for photos was a lot of fun and we had a ton of laughs there. Obviously our entrance to our reception was a feeling that neither one of us will ever forget! Potluck was incredible, such great food, and of course our first dance was just icing on the cake! (which we were thankful to have after we forgot to delegate someone to pick it up! ha!)
Do you remember what it felt like leading up to the ceremony? What it felt like afterwards?
BRIAN
Leading up the ceremony it was a mixed bag of excitement, nervousness, joy, and varying levels of giddiness. I felt breathless leading up to the magic hour. Once arriving, those feelings of nervousness dissipated and was only moments away from absolute euphoria of marrying the gardener of my dreams, and the soul that I’ll wander my life with.
Afterwards was pure happiness, all the planning, all the lead-up, all the staging was done, it was just me and Amanda now, and all the weight of orchestrating our big day was now shed, the love and energy was now in full effect, and so intoxicating. The feeling was out of this world, no day was ever like this one. Pure joy, pure happiness, pure LOVE!!
AMANDA
Oh my goodness what he said!! So much love. Leading up to the ceremony I was so pumped! The night before I was just pooped after our rehearsal and some unexpected hiccups in our set-up. The morning though, I woke up and said to myself oh yes, let’s do this! I was nervous, but mostly just really really stoked to be marrying my soulmate, to make that promise in front of everyone we love and celebrate this beautiful love. It was smooth sailing with my best friend and sister by my side to get our hair done with the Final Countdown playing at the salon, the mood was light and playful. Back at the house we had people coming and going, I felt at times stressed (as I hurried to write out my good copy of my speech, oh shit my shoes are in my friend’s car), nervous (holy s*** wedding day can you believe it?! I hope I don’t fall on my face or stumble over my words), but truly, overall I felt just so blissfully happy. Happy to be there with the people that mean the most, to have fun together and enjoy our morning, happy to be singing White Wedding in the car at the top of our lungs, to roll up (get my shoes!) and see my sweet love waiting with his back turned on that hilltop outside of our little pocket of woods. It’s a rush that love, so pure and so real.
After the ceremony it was party time, I jumped up and down at I do, and just let it ride. We did it! Oh how I adore this man!
Do you have any advice for future couples planning their wedding?
Plan- but don’t drive yourself crazy with things being perfect! Things can go wrong (Forgot the cake? Pants need hemming the morning of?) but it’s OK, your friends and family are there to help you, and it’ll blow you away how they step up to make it all ok!
Take a deep breath, relax and ALWAYS keep in mind the true meaning of the day, the love that you share for one another!
Don’t feel like you have to do everything by the book. Pinterest is handy, but maybe not always realistic and a great way to blow your budget out of the water.
Scale it back. Picnic pavilions are a awesome venue! Rent some dishes, throw a potluck, make a formal event more human and comfortable for your guests by taking the up-tight out of the whole thing. Enjoy every sweet feeling because this day, it goes by so so fast.
What was it like to work with me?
Working with Tom was a dream. He was so easy going, and always seemed so happy to be a part of our wedding. It felt extra special to have our photographer feel like a friend from our past, and not just a person behind the lens. He was legitimately into capturing the essence and spirit of our big day. He is passionate about his craft, and was always looking to make us feel most comfortable during our sessions. We appreciated his willingness to check out new locations for photos, like our engagement shoot at Balls Falls in Niagara, despite it being a long way from home. He brought music, jokes, and such a laid-back feel to put us at ease.
The wedding day was even more wonderful, and he was ready and willing, going above and beyond to capture all the perfect shots we couldn’t have even imagined, both of us, and most importantly the ones we love. Like peanut butter and jam, or like a beard to a Lumberjack, Tom just fit with us!!
