I could preface this entire post by saying how the bride and groom overcame all odds to get married during an international pandemic. I can probably say how Pat & Kate were on an outrageous emotional rollercoaster while planning their initial wedding in Montreal and facing every hurdle possible to finally make it out on the other end and host a truly inspiration backyard micro wedding in Toronto. Yah, I definitely could go on and on about those sort of things that every single bride and groom in 2020 has faced, but this wedding day is much more than a few buzzwords and hashtag opportunities for me.
When I began my career as a photographer over a decade ago I never stop to think or realize that I could someday use this passion and creative pursuit to enrich the lives of the people closest to me. Photography has always been a very personal thing to me which I why it’s so important for me to connect with the people I work with to help me bring that element of personal inspiration into the work I’m asked to create for others. This time around though, I didn’t have to reach very far to find that special something to attach me to the wedding.
Pat has been a close friend of mine for 10 years now, having met back in our College / University days when I still lived in Ottawa. Over the years Pat’s apartment became the cornerstone of our circle of friends, not unlike Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment and role, he was the glued that brought us all together and blended his various worlds into a common place for everyone to be included, where we would throw on American Football’s album on his record player while eating McDonald’s (or Pizza) before watching re-runs of Third Rock From The Sun and laughing our asses off to the Seinfeld theme song. Fast forward a few years and I end up moving to Toronto, and every time I visited friends and family back home in Ottawa I would inevitably hangout with Pat and I would constantly rave about how I made the best decision of my life moving to the big city. Pat would always respond to me by saying “Yah, I can totally see myself moving there, for my career and my lifestyle. It’s such a great city”. A year and a half later, Pat was sleeping on the floor of my apartment for an entire month while he searched for a new job and went to endless interviews, eventually landing a great opportunity that allowed him to not only move to Toronto, but end up living down the road from me.
As our lives went on I kept hearing about this girl he was seeing (Kate) and how great she was, that she loved pop-punk and concerts as much as he did. He wasn’t lying, Kate was as sweet, kind and cool as he made her out to be and she quickly endeared herself to Pat’s group of friends and stuck around in a serious way, eventually moving in together and adopting their cute Beagle Steven. Although I love Pat and think he’s great, I need to take moment to recognize Kate. Working as front line nurse at a hospital here in Toronto, she had to deal with added stress and anxiety while planning and re-planning her own wedding. It takes a special type of person to be so selfless and put their own lives at risk for the sake of helping others for often little or no gratitude. It’s an amazing feeling to know a dear friend of mine has found a life-companion of that caliber and quite frankly, can tolerate his nerdy obsession with obscure pop-punk and emo music.
Now, I’m not taking any sort of credit for Pat and Kate ending up together or meeting, but I can’t help but be slapped in the face by the crazy series of events that lead to Pat and Kate getting married. I never would have imagined my own decision to move to the city would end up being an influencer in the lives of my own friends and family, but here we are, rewritten history, things changed despite the complicated beginning to all of this.
Initially Pat and Kate were going to get married in Montreal, Pat’s hometown and a close location to Kate’s hometown near Ottawa. I was going to attend their wedding as a guest along with our other friends because Pat couldn’t imagine asking me to work instead of enjoying myself and living the experience of his wedding to the fullest. Ironically, when things shifted to a backyard micro wedding here in Toronto, I not only got that experience, but I also got so much more out of the day. The micro wedding and elopement was strictly immediate family only, something that wasn’t an easy choice for bride and groom considering just how vast their circles really are. With the sudden change of plans Pat and Kate turned to Ryanne and I and humbled us with the request of photographing their wedding, and in turn, being their only non-family guests at the wedding. Having the opportunity to not only attend their wedding but be directly involved in documenting it was something I was beyond grateful for.
The wedding was perfect from beginning to end. Using a family member’s backyard, they held their intimate ceremony beneath a willow tree in an adjacent park as the summer sun beamed through the leaves. The reception and dinner were held in the backyard, decorated with romantic string lights, quaint and kitschy tomato cans to hold the minimal and beautiful flowers and a “personal bar” at every table, personally curated by the bride and groom to help adhere to social distancing practices. Their dog Steven was also a guest of honour, walking the aisle and even hanging out throughout the entire festivities, but as you’ll see, he didn’t last as long as some of us. The coolest element of the dinner was how it was made. It was actually an ole’ fashioned pizza party. The backyard featured a stone oven, so naturally the entire dinner course featured a variety of amazing homemade pizzas (even for dessert!). Pizza and beer, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect combo for this wedding.
The speeches were few, but emotional and heartfelt. There’s something special about being in such an intimate setting with your closest, it brings out emotion and nostalgia that can’t be reproduced in larger gatherings. Watching Pat and Kate’s first dance (to a pop-punk song naturally) was beautiful and emotional. I was transported back to my early 20’s in Ottawa, hitting up Zaphod’s with my pals and singing along to lyrics as we lived out our care-free years. To say I felt a rush of nostalgia throughout this wedding is an understatement.
I guess, all this to say, it’s weird and amazing that my career as a wedding photographer has allowed me to give back to the people who have been so vital at various moments of my life. I can’t thank Kate & Pat enough for allowing us the opportunity to witness their marriage and to trust us completely in capturing it for them and their families.
I’ll look back on this day fondly for the rest of my life and one day I’ll feel that rush of nostalgia again as I look through these images. I’ll remember taking shots with the bride and groom, remember us all dancing awkwardly, I’ll remember the look in Pat and Kate’s eyes as the sun set beyond the pink clouds, but more importantly, I’ll remember how I felt that day and appreciate the moments I got to experience with some lifelong friends.
Songs of the Day
