Forest Wedding in the Shuswap

When I was sorting through these photos It was near impossible not to see the story that these two hold begin to roll out in front of my eyes. Their day was… simply put; emotional. Emotional, strictly speaking in not a bad nor good way, but in the way that every feeling was amplified. The love that Helana & Keenan share was radiating between and throughout them the entire day. There were the tears that held near a decade of nurtured anticipation, as well as tears that were shed from the bitter roots of grief. 

Weddings are not only a celebration of love, but a celebration of two people who have overcome challenges, persevered through the storms of life and experienced the greatest joys together. It’s about two that have come to that profound realization that they have found a partner, a companion, a friend, who they wish to commit to, till death.

August 29th 2022

One of the best feelings (or the one of greatest relief) as a wedding photographer is when you’ve been eyeing up that forecast and your nerves are a little on edge is it’s calling for rain, you almost don’t even feel sad about it for yourself, but it’s that empathy for my brides that makes me hop in their shoes without even realizing it… and before you know it there’s a sliver of disappointment that creeps up on you… but hold on, where’s the good in this? It’s when you wake up, check the forecast with a glimmer of hope and… it’s calling for nothing but a few sparse clouds!

And so we got off on a good foot for this wedding as any sign of rain was dissolved by the beaming rays of sunshine!

And so I arrived at the location of where the girls were getting ready with my assistant and we started capturing all of the details!

I always love to do a flat lay, showcasing all the little details of what you’re wearing in one simple image!

After Capturing The girls get ready we drove to the ceremony and this is truly where the day began to become something special… and so the ceremony began

Flower girls? How bout flower guys that are dancing their way down the isle!

Yep, this is hands down my new favourite wedding tradition!

The Groomsmen then proceeded to huddle around Keenan so that he couldn’t see his bride to be just yet…

Remember how I mentioned earlier that their day was emotional? honestly I think everybody was shedding a tear at this ceremony, I couldn’t believe how special and intimate it was. It honestly felt like it was just the bride + groom and that nobody else was sitting there watching.

The venue that this wedding took place at is called Woodhaven camp ground and theres something really unique and special about it… It has a lock tree, I mean I don’t know if thats what it’s technically called… but You’ll see in the photos below by what I mean!

And as we were headed back to the ceremony we noticed that it was just too good of a spot for them to not have a kissing shot… of course we made sure that they were 100% down for it!

I just told them it was a practice round before the actually ending of the ceremony! And so we headed back up to make things official!

These two were just beaming with excitement! Everybody seemed so happy for them and you could sense the truly deeply rooted love that these two had between each other!

I always love it after the couple exits the ceremony and have all the people that they love surround them and congratulate them!

After all of the embracing and beautiful connection, we headed off to the beach with the wedding party to take some photos! I always love to take out my speaker at this point and play some classics that everybody can sing along and dance to!

And of course now is the time to get a little goofy with all of your closest friends!

The Couple Portraits

This is really where its time for the photographer to shine and to give their clients a worthwhile experience all while capturing their true and genuine self… it was effortless with Helena and Keenan, because they were just completely focused on each other. These are the photos that usually get printed up and hung on the couples wall, so no pressure… right? Honestly it’s probably my favourite part of the day!

I put on some slower music to really help set the mood and enhance the romance, I really get the couple to just be present with each other, not letting anything else distract them, my goal is to make them feel like there in a movie, that they are the only two people in the world right now, and that nothing else matters. I also give them prompts that are fun, and so them! Anyways, I know you’re probably eager to see how these turned out, so without further ado, Mr & Mrs Hallas!

It’s needless to say that these two look 100% phenomenal!

After an amazing time taking photos we headed back to the reception… and yes there is more emotions and tears of all sorts to come!

And then Keenan got to open a “very special gift”

And then the dances begun… WARNING now is the time to grab the tissue box if you haven’t already!

Then the father/daughter dance

Then for the sweetest mother/son dance… The grooms dad had passed away, so the weight of grief and not being able to have his dad there was so emotional for the both of them, a bittersweet dance in remembrance of dad…

Weddings are the biggest celebration one will have in their lives, and the immense weight of not having some of your closest people there would be so difficult… none the less the wedding proceeded into the open dance floor, and after the lingering fog of grief began to lift everybody started to jump in and get rowdy!

While many danced, the guests who were not on the floor cozied up around a fire, telling stories, talking shop, and just enjoying the last remnants of this beautiful wedding

Meanwhile on the other side of the tent…

…and then back to the other side of the tent

I absolutely love the contrasts and symbolism in the weddings. One side is a wild dance party while the other is calm and at a much slower pace, yet the vibe of the wedding as a whole was amazing and it seemed so inviting to drops some moves to a mad beat then go chill by the fire for bit!

After the Dancing Helana & Keenan decided to do a headlight exit with an old fashion truck!

But before the night came to a close they did one final dance

And that’s Helana and Keenan’s wedding day! It was one of the most touching weddings that I’ve ever photographed and I believe that they have such a beautiful story woven through out there day!