Lani and Miranda met up with everyone on shore, and Lani’s been-there advice to the soon-to-depart crew was valuable: embrace the cheese and you’ll have a great time. The cruise ship world is a little quirky, but jumping in with both feet (dress up! meet people! laugh don’t cry at the hilarious food art!) is the way to go. We heard after the trip that they accepted the cheesiness 100% and had the best vacation they’d ever had. Success!

It’s true! The 5th annual Indie I Do wedding show is happening this weekend!

Indie is a joint production between ourselves and our friends over at Lotus Events, and it’s the sassiest boutique show around. We feature lots of handmade and unique vendors you don’t see at other shows, we’ve got burlesque and bellydance performances happening throughout the day, and we’d really love for you to come check it out.

Advance tix are still available on the website (http://www.indieido.com/) at pre-sale rates, with tickets also available at the door.  We’ve got a few passes still available for Blue Olive clients as well, so if that’s you, drop a note!

Hope to see you there!

On that sad note, this blog post is all about one of my favourite – and very happy – Waldorf events, Nicole & Rob’s Wedding!

I think I tripped over myself to reply to Nicole when she first got in touch, we are so fond of the Waldorf and quickly became equally as fond of these two. The skies parted and the sun came out on a chilly day in late October when they were surrounded by their closest family and friends for delicious food, Polynesian dancers, and good times!

Shouts go out to Bisou Bridal for the smoking dress worn by the Bride and Pinup Girl Clothing for that of her maid of honour, Fairy Cakes for the sweets, Flower Factory, the Chop Shop, and all the incredible folks at the Waldorf for the food and for keeping things running smoothly.

Here are a few of our favourites from their day!

We love shooting weddings out of Vancouver, and this one had us heading to Edmonton (where Blue Olive started over 10 years ago, and with our families there one of our favourite places to head for a wedding!)

Out of all of our weddings this year, I think this one wins the prize for the greatest number of photos I want to blow up to the size of my couch for the studio walls. A super fun and gorgeous couple, scenery we haven’t played with for a while, and the blue Alberta skies and fluffy white clouds that I ADORE came together for some gorgeous wall-worthy portraits. Love love love.

Here’s just a peak at their day!

Shouts out to the Shaw Conference Centre for the ceremony and reception location, Fabloomosity for flowers, Dress My Day for decor, Lydia Yapp on makeup, and Showtech for lighting and stage design.

Sometime the clouds align – literally – and everything goes smoothly AND we have these wicked skies to play with, and this was one of those days. The picture perfect details, beautiful dress, and super fun couple all came together to be one of my favourite weddings from last season.

It’s always hard to pull out just a few, but here’s a glimpse of some of our favourites from the day!

Shouts out to Ganache Patisserie, Florist on Fifth, and Erik and his team from Love Story Media for adding their expertise to the day, and xo to Jenn Best for wearing the Blue Olive hat and shooting with Reilly and I for this one!

My heart leaps at the word theme – anytime anyone pulls together something a little different, you know it’s going to be a good time. And, for this UBC Boathouse wedding, the theme was Carnival – and pulled off perfectly. Goldfish topped each table, there was a (semi-successful) balloon drop during the first dance, and the balloons and theme-specific candy table rounded out the room.

The scene was set for everyone to have a great time – and that they did. It’s easy to capture images of everyone laughing and enjoying themselves when the night is as fun as theirs was!

We haven’t seen everything from these two as we’ve got a second shoot planned for a day that’s *not* pouring rain, so we’re looking forward to getting to more portrait time in a few weeks. For now, enjoy just a few of our favourites!

The day came together with gorgeous weather, the most genuine fun couple, and a dream team of vendors – and everyone had an incredible time. The huge bridal party kept things lively straight through to when the live band took over for the reception. Love it.

Shouts out to all the vendors involved (and some of my favourite people around!): Milestone Events, Upright Decor, Flowerz, Sweet Thea, Love Story Media, Jayna Marie & Famous Players Band.

Xoxo!

As a February wedding in Alberta we were all set for snow and cold – and instead we got almost no snow at all, and gorgeous sunshine! They fool you in the photos into thinking it was warmer than it was, but for Alberta in the winter? It was downright balmy.

Nakoda on the Lake was the venue, near Canmore Alberta (between Calgary and Banff, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains), and it turned out to be a fantastic choice. They took over the place with family and friends staying on site, which is always a bonus. The cozy, rustic atmosphere was perfect for a weekend spent celebrating and laughing with friends and family who had travelled both short and long distances to be there with them.

Amanda & Jason – congrats again! We can’t wait to see what the future holds for the two of you. Xo!

Miranda (& Reilly!)

When we first chatted with these two, they were eloping to Vancouver for a teeny tiny wedding for two. Until, of course, those closest to them found out what they were doing and they chose to invite their family! I loved that their elopement up North to Vancouver, Canada turned into an excuse for a large family vacation. They stayed true to much of how they had envisioned their day – complete with mittens and warm jackets, a gorgeous (sunny!) ceremony with views of the water, and sneaking away here and there for lots of alone time. That rounded out with the happy tears of those nearest and dearest to them, and a reception at one of my favourite restaurants, The Refinery.

I think every wedding we shoot is my new favourite, so today this one is it! I loved capturing just a little hint of all the quiet moments taken together on a day they’ll be looking back at for years.

I also cry at every wedding, so I might as well fess up. At this one, it was during the ceremony – this was the ceremony they had planned this trip for, well before the thought of inviting guests or having a reception were considered. This was a ceremony that wasn’t legal in their state, but important enough to come to another country for. That moment when they stood in the warm sun of a winter day, holding hands overlooking the ocean… I don’t know if there was a dry eye there, but I cried then and I’m tearing up now just thinking about it. There’s a good reason we do what we do.

So, without more chatting on my part, enjoy just a peak into this elopement turned intimate wedding!

xoxo

Just  a quick sneak peak from this past weekend’s wedding in the Alberta Rockies! You can find a few more on Facebook before the full blog post when the images are all ready.

Hope you guys are having a fantastic time on your honeymoon!

The best part is looking at a photograph and remembering the moment so completely – what her laugh sounded like, the anticipation in the room, how a voice cracked when giving an emotional speech. These are the things that make the moment, and I hope you get a sense of that in each of these shots.

So, without further chatter on my part, here they are. Enjoy!

xo

Miranda (& Reilly!)

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The details set an incredible backdrop to the intimate wedding, with all the credit going to Sarah Shore and her team from Dreamgroup along with all the people at Upright Decor, Granville Island Florist, DJ Leanne, Greenscapes, Bearfoot Bistro, and the Uncommon Cake among others for a day that will be filled with incredible memories for this couple and those closest to them.

Here are 6 of my many favourites for photos from the day -

And a peak into all the beautiful details -

The rain let up as if on queue to allow us outside for some beautiful portraits. I really adore these two and their images, so much so that I’m cheating on my own rule of 5 and am sharing 6 photos instead. Enjoy!

Here are my favourite 5!