An 8 Hour Wedding Day In Alberta | Edmonton Wedding Photographer
check out this backyard wedding in alberta, canada
Hi Friends!! Thank you so much for being here, I’m Taylor and I’m a wedding photographer based in Edmonton Alberta. If you’re planning a backyard wedding and looking for inspiration, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, we’re going to dive into what a full 8 hour wedding day in Alberta looks like from start to finish with TONS of wedding day tips and tricks intertwined! There’s so much to think about when it comes to planning your Alberta wedding, but my goal with these blogs is to help bring inspiration while showing you full wedding day galleries at the same time. Viewing full galleries from wedding photographers before handing them over your hard earned money is such an important step of the booking process so why not feature them right on my website for you to gain such easy access to?! It’s a no brainer if you ask me. However one thing you won’t really see a ton of in my wedding day blogs are formal family photos, these stay out of the wedding photography blogs out of respect for the families privacy.
Getting ready
Okay let’s get into it! First thing I do when I arrive to your getting ready location is of course come find you and give you a big wedding morning squeeze. After we’ve geeked over how excited you are, I grab all your detail items and start photographing your flat lays. PRO TIP: have all your accessories / detail items set aside for your wedding photographer upon arrival so you don’t have to go searching for everything once they get there. Same for your partner!
Love the gorgeous wedding flat lay photos but not sure what to include? Don’t worry! I come prepared with a few items to spice it up but here is a list of things you can include, the possibilities are truly endless but don’t overthink it!
Shoes
Rings
Cufflinks
Necklace, bracelet any and all jewelry
Watches
Gifts you got each other
Extra pieces of florals or fabric
Vows / Vow books
Tie / bowties
My shooting approach when it comes to your getting ready time is more “fly on the wall” documentary photography. Although I will be there to gently guide when needed, I won’t interrupt any moments to fix lighting or “pose” you differently, I love capturing how those moments unfold naturally and authentically.
Over the last 6 years as a full time Alberta wedding photographer, the biggest tip I can give for creating a relaxed getting ready environment that delivers those beautiful in-between moment wedding photos is TIME. Leave yourself time and space to breath on the wedding morning and throughout your entire wedding day. This not only alleviates any stress from being rushed off your shoulders but it also allows me, as your Alberta wedding photographer to get more creative, notice more little details and ultimately create a more diverse final gallery for you.
First look
Whether or not to do a first look is something my couples are constantly debating but here’s my two cents as your wedding photographer: I love them. I love that you get a moment with your favourite person before the wedding ceremony, seeing my husband before our wedding ceremony calmed all my nerves and felt so right. But a first look isn’t for everyone! If you’re dead set on seeing your partner come down the aisle for that first time, then skip the first look.
There are a few reasons a first look might be a good option for you:
You want to read private vows before the wedding ceremony. HOWEVER, private vows can still be done afterwards so just because you want private vows doesn’t mean you also HAVE to do a first look.
You’d like to do all photos before your wedding ceremony so you can enjoy your cocktail hour with your guests. This option is becoming more and more common among Alberta weddings in the last few years.
If you’d like to save seeing your partner for the first time down the aisle but still want a small taste of a first look, you can do a first touch or a first look with your wedding party, parents grandparents etc. all equally as fun!
For this September wedding in Alberta, this couple chose to do a first look and private vows pre-ceremony amongst the fall leaves. Then ended it off with some gorgeous outdoor fall wedding photos before heading to their backyard wedding ceremony set up at the bride’s parents home.
ceremony
Something I always ask my couples in our initial consultation meeting is what events are most important for you to be captured? 99% of them of course say, their wedding ceremony (duh). It’s arguably the biggest event of the wedding day, which can also bring along some extra anxiety but that’s totally normal, in fact, feeling a range of emotions before your ceremony is NORMAL. So before you enter your wedding ceremony (whatever that may look like for you) take a a big deep breath, recentre and bring yourself back to earth because you don’t want to black out (speaking for my own experience lol)
Wedding ceremonies can be short and sweet with no vows, they can be long and emotional with beautifully hand written vows, they can be officiated by a friend or family member, they can have sand pouring or glass breaking. Your ceremony (and entire wedding day) is yours so make it what YOU want.
This outdoor wedding ceremony took place in the bride’s parents backyard in Whitecourt Alberta and it was truly the most dreamy fall backyard wedding I’ve ever photographed. So take any backyard wedding inspiration you need from this Alberta wedding day gallery.
PRO TIP: Whenever I’m designing a wedding day timeline, I always leave a 15-30 minute buffer before the ceremony starts. This leaves space for you to get it together if you’re behind or simply just relax and as your wedding photographer, it gives me time to get in place and be fully prepared for the start of the ceremony.
Portraits
Aka the portion of the wedding day you can finally kick back and hangout with your partner / wedding party if you have one! I like to keep your wedding day portraits feeling fun, light and natural without pulling you away from your guests for hours on end. As an Alberta wedding photographer for over 6 years, I’ve learned how to work efficiently, while still being able to provide you a juicy final wedding day gallery. My shooting style is rooted in ensuring everyone feels comfortable infront of my camera so I’ll be here to guide and direct you’re entire group and trust me, my skill for wrangling wild wedding parties is unmatched. (not to toot my own horn or anything lol)
Although I’m guiding and directing you the entire time, I never want it to feel like your stuck in a photoshoot on your wedding day so once the group shots are done, I send your wedding party away so we can focus on a quiet moment with you two.
Depending on the size of your wedding party, if you have one at all, as an Edmonton Alberta wedding photographer, I typically only need 1.5 hours to get all of these photos done. That’s actually something my couples really value because ultimately it means more time with all their friends and family.
For these fall wedding photos, we took a short drive across the street to get a gorgeous view of this Alberta river valley. This backyard wedding took place the last week of September and the fall colours were truly a wedding photographer’s DREAM!
reception
This was the one portion of this Alberta wedding day that didn’t take place in the bride’s parents backyard. They decide to hold their wedding reception at a local hall down the road. Having your reception venue within easy access of your ceremony venue can be crucial to your overall wedding guest experience!
They opted for a grand entrance straight into their first dance which is an option I’ve been giving all my wedding couples during their wedding timeline consultations. When it comes to your wedding day timeline and flow of your wedding reception, traditionally formal first dances happen after dinner but here’s my theory: if you enter your wedding reception straight into your first dances AND THEN dinner, you get to 1. freely enjoy your reception after dinner and 2. your guests are amped up and excited for the reception to start and this is the perfect kick off. Plus, if you wait until after dinner, you’re full, your guests are in the zone mingling and you want to join them, breaking it up to do first dances, in my own personal opinion, can throw off the overall flow of the wedding reception.
Some events that typically happen during a wedding reception are: speeches, first dances, cake cutting and any other games or activities, but none are 100% necessary if they don’t feel authentic to you. Although we always schedule in events at specific time on your final timeline, after dinner, things can unfold a little more naturally and don’t NEED to adhere to a strict schedule. I’ll always ensure all events have been captured before my time ends.
sunset / Night portraits
If you’re lucky enough to get a gorgeous sunset like this on your wedding day, I always love to sneak out for a few sunset wedding photos of you and your partner! There’s nothing like signing off a beautiful backyard wedding day with a stunning Alberta sunset.
And if you keep me late enough into the evening, I’ll bust out my flash for some fun night portraits! Night wedding portraits are some of my favourite creative wedding photos to capture. This would be a great time to pop a bottle of champagne, light those cigars or do any other fun nighttime activities you’ve been waiting for!
If you’re hoping to have sunset wedding photos taken it’s important to check beforehand when the sun will set on your wedding day and make sure you have enough time booked with your wedding photographer. You can find out when the sun will set on your wedding day by google searching “when will the sun set on *enter wedding date here* in *enter wedding location here*” minus about 30 minutes from that and that’s typically the perfect time to do your sunset wedding photos, however this will vary depending on location.
and that’s that
Like I said in the beginning, some photos, like family formals, are not posted out of respect for family members privacy. Every wedding I photograph is guaranteed 30-50 images delivered per hour you have booked, however I tailor each gallery to include all the best images of the day so this final gallery actually ended up with almost 900 final images! It was just that good.
Thank you so much
for taking time out of your day to read this blog and check out my work, it truly means the world to me. Whether you’re looking for an Alberta wedding photographer, you’re a returning client or you’re here just for fun, I’m so glad that you are! Please click through any options below if you want to connect even further!