UBC Rose Garden wedding: Keiko + Ben

August 24, 2018

Today, I’m excited to share Keiko and Ben’s UBC Rose Garden wedding! Not only was this our first time photographing a wedding at the Rose Garden, it was also our first Buddhist wedding ceremony in Vancouver! And on top of that, these two were so much fun to photograph. Needless to say we were happy campers all day!

First of all, I absolutely LOVED how relaxed Keiko was in the morning! All the wedding planning stress seemed to have molten away and she was clearly determined to have a great experience. She and Ben decided to have their first look at Nitobe Garden, which is a traditional Japanese garden at UBC.

It’s a beautiful location with a peaceful look! Or so it seems. Because the pictures don’t show you the two bridal parties, and the slow invasion of the garden by the ‘rollator gang’! Of course, we made it work, as we always do but just keeping it real, haha. Luckily, we found a peaceful nook right outside of the garden and took some of our pictures there 😉

The wedding ceremony took place in the UBC Rose Garden. And luck struck for Keiko and Ben, because the flowers blooming beautifully, making the entire scene look amazing! On a different note, they had the biggest group of ring bearers and flower girls I’ve ever seen! 100% adorable. Keiko absolutely loves children (which is why she works in a daycare)! I think she must have so much patience, lol, I could never do it!

But back to the wedding ceremony. The couple included the Japanese Buddhist ritual of San-San-Kudo. The name means “three, three, nine times” and involves both partners taking turns sipping from three different bowls of sake. Each bowl is larger than the previous and each partner sips 3 times from it. Hence the name of 3 sips from 3 bowls, making for nine times. The ritual added a wonderful mindful and calm atmosphere to the wedding ceremony.

A completely different thing now. I loved the subtle (and less subtle, haha) running references throughout the day. The couple shares a passion for running, so it was super fitting! For instance, they had aptly named the water dispenser “hydration station”, and the ring bearer (wearing running shoes!) carried a sign reading “it’s too late to run”. 😉

Keiko and Ben, thank you so much for trusting us with your big day! We had a great time and I’m sure we’ll ‘run’’into each other some time! Although I won’t actually be running. 😉