Brix and Mortar wedding: Emilie + Alex

October 18, 2018

It’s always special when your friends hire you as their wedding photographer and that definitely was the case for Emilie and Alex’s Brix and Mortar wedding!

Emilie is from Belgium, like Jelger and me. A few years ago, we met her through a group of friends with Belgian connections that somehow had randomly stumbled upon each other. I’m grateful to have these people in my life because of the fun times they always bring. It’s also great to see how every person in that group has grown and evolved over time. Not to mention “Canadianized”. Is that a word? 😉

When you say Belgium and wedding in one sentence, it guarantees excellent food! Just ask any Belgian (although we’re hard to find in Vancouver)! We’re truly a culture of “bon-vivants”. And given this reputation, Emilie and Alex’s case delivered wonderfully. Not only with a fabulous meal, but with a dessert bar that you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams: a selection of the best quality Belgian pralines (chocolates), homemade pies, desserts and an amazing donut wall.Yes, please!!

But I digress, lol, I haven’t even talked about the wedding and I’m already talking about the food (another Belgian trait). Before the wedding, Emilie showed me a photo of her dress, so I knew she’d turn heads! To this day she’s the first bride I’ve seen showing off a striped dress! (and believe me, I’ve seen my share of wedding dresses). It fit her absolutely perfectly! Initially, she felt hesitant about it because it was such a big eye-catcher. But by the end of the night, she was rocking it like a pro! 😀

Some of my favourite moments of their day were their first look, which happened in their own bedroom. I loved that so much! Maybe it’ll bring back memories whenever they’re in there. Another beautiful moment in the morning happened when Emilie shared a very Canadian shot of fireball with her bridesmaids (who flew in from Belgium). Always hilarious to see people’s faces that try this for the first time! 😉

During the morning of the wedding, the rain poured down. Now that I think of it, it was raining so hard we’d consider moving the portraits to an indoor location. But by the time we started the photo shoot with the two of them, the sky decided to cooperate! Everything worked out perfectly!

For the formal portraits, Emilie and Alex had decided to schedule all of them before the wedding ceremony, so they could enjoy more time with their guests during the cocktail hour. And in Brix and Mortar, that always starts off with a giant champagne toast! I love that!

The two of them had put a lot of work into making sure their guests had a good time! One of the most fun things they did was provide a little photo printer to their guests. That way, everyone could print a photo on the spot and glue it into the guestbook! So fun! Their seating chart, which consisted of photos of them and their guests was also very unique! Kudos to them for collecting all those photos! When I think about projects like that, I already get tired before even starting. 😉 Their guests certainly all felt extra special!

On a different subject, one of my favourite photographic moments was the first dance. I had a beautiful creative shot in mind, and the couple was totally on board with it (and kindly asked their guests to stay clear from certain areas). I’m stocked that this worked out totally worked out!

Emilie and Alex, your wedding was absolutely fantastic and we felt 100% part of the experience! Thank you so much for trusting us with your day!