Intimate Nottawa backyard wedding between a horse lover and a beekeeper

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Couple:

Ali & James

Location:

Nottawa, Ontario

From the Photographer:

It was a hard year for all of us. I was really reminded of my own privilege being there and witnessing this wedding when so many of the people they love most were not able to. COVID made everything unique so dates were in flux, numbers were in flux, many things were decided at the last minute. In the end, it was a beautiful, honest, simple coming together of two people who have a genuine, infectious love for one another. Ali got ready in their home with the help of her girls and Andrea (Zest Catering) and her team buzzing around the kitchen providing snacks and support. Other family were in and out of the yard setting up and doing all the last minute things. Ali has such a great love for horses and because of that we did her first look at the stable that is her second home, making sure to include her equine family in the day. James makes his own honey and is passionate about it which is super cool in so many ways. The honey was their gift to their friends and family and also expressed in the theme of the cookies.

The ceremony took place at their home in Nottawa in the front yard. Ali is a teacher and very well loved, there were many colleges and friends who let her know they would be driving/walking/biking by to sneak a look. After the ceremony we snuck away for some couples shots. Their back yard is a magical dream space of ferns and creek and they had so much fun taking me through it. As a funny side note and another reason why this was such a memorable one for me, in the middle of this session with the couple, I completely split my pants. I needed to keep shooting while trying to only expose my bum to the nature behind me and not my poor couple! I went quickly home to change (thankfully it was close) and came back to join a few other friends and family in the back yard for the reception.

Intimate Backyard wedding ceremony site in Georgian Bay

horseback riding before Intimate Backyard wedding in Georgian Ba

wedding flowers by leuk for intimate backyard wedding in georgia

getting ready for intimate backyard wedding in Georgian Bay

father of bride looks on as bride gets ready for wedding in Geor

bride doing up shoes with chunky heel for outdoor wedding

From the Couple:

How did you choose your venue?: We knew we wanted an outdoor space. After searching and searching, we realized that the perfect venue was right under our nose, our very own property. With the small size of our wedding, it was just perfect!

What was the most important thing for you for your wedding day?: Small, intimate, low-stress, informal, dog could join!

Please describe any unique details from your day and why they were special to you: During our first dance, our dog joined us and lay down beside us while we danced, completely unprompted. It was very sweet - our little family of 3!

What was the atmosphere you were trying to create?: Low key, Rustic backyard

Bride and Groom portraits in horse barn in south georgian bay

Bridal party helps with brides dress in barn before wedding

Bridal party portrait in barn for south georgian bay wedding

Bride and groom pose with dog outside barn

Wedding Party portrait in front of Barn at intimate backyard geo

Groom portraits outside barn at south georgian bay backyard wedd

bride greets horse before intimate backyard wedding in south geo

What area of your wedding did you splurge on? (what was your top priority): Photographer!! And so glad we did! We love our photos

What area of your wedding did you save on?: Decor - two amazing mother in laws that took care of that for us!

What wedding advice would you give to someone planning their wedding now?: Keep it simple! Stick to what YOU want, don’t be influenced by the wishes or visions of others.

groom pins boutonniere before backyard georgian bay wedding

flower girls lead wedding ceremony in backyard in south georgian

bride walks down the aisle with her father at backyard georgian

groom hugging flower girl at wedding ceremony in south georgian

groom watches bride walk down aisle at backyard georgian bay wed

father hugs bride before backyard wedding ceremony in georgian b

exchanging rings at intimate backyard south georgian bay wedding

pure joy at intimate backyard georgian bay wedding

first kiss at intimate backyard south georgian bay wedding

just married at intimate backyard south georgian bay wedding

bride hugging guests at intimate backyard wedding in south georg

guests at intimate backyard wedding in south georgian bay

champagne toast to newlyweds at intimate backyard south georgian

What was your most memorable moment of the day?: My 1.5 year old niece was a flower girl looking cute as a button, and half way through the ceremony she came walking back up to see her sister who was also a flower girl and as she walks past me, her diaper falls off!! You couldn’t write this stuff! It cracked EVERYBODY up, and led to just the feel we were looking for.

What was your biggest challenge in the planning process?: Keeping it simple, it so easily continued to get bigger or more involved than we wanted.

What was your first dance song?: Greatest Love Story - LANCO