The joining of hands, the joining of lives. This is literally the moment described in the phrase "Take her hand in marriage" which is actually from quite an old ritual known as "handfasting" that goes back to pagan times. We just love it when there is a point in the ceremony for the couple to take a moment together and get lost in each others eyes while showing their connection by crossing arms. Then of course the big moment came, time for the first kiss!

This groom can be described in one word "dapper". Love grey suits for the guys! While we are well versed in shooting white dresses alongside black suits or tuxes, we've never understood why the bride and groom need to be totally opposite tones! Grey suits definitively pair better with white dresses than black. #weddingPhotographersProblems

Anyways... this wedding was at a private lake side residence for the ceremony and Quail's Gate Winery for the formals and reception. This image was taken just after we arrived at Quail's and shows something that we like to do at each wedding, capture a great portrait of both the bride and groom separately.

We always love capturing the special details that the bride and groom have painstakingly decided upon. This is one of our favourite bouquet's that we have photographed which was created by the talented team at Impressions Wedding & Event Decor. We love the aesthetics and the fact that they lasted quite well throughout the very hot wedding ceremony and formal portraits!

The aisle for outdoor ceremonies can be quite a bit longer and more difficult to navigate than one that you would encounter in say a church (a large cathedral in a bigger city might be a different story of course!). But here is the good news, everyone will be happy to wait!

Like in this image of a bride walking down the start of the aisle at Summerhill Pyramid Winery. We can't even see the main ceremony site yet, but on the plus side it heightens the intrigue as the groom and wedding guests only get to capture brief glimpses as the bride makes her way down. After turning the corner there is still a short stone walkway to some stairs and then another stone walkway to the ceremony.  The other big plus to longer aisles is it gives us, as the photographers, more time to capture the building emotions of the couple and a bigger variety of images.

We always watch for those candid moments that happen while moving between locations or in between the more formal setups. Like this stunning image that was taken just before the bride and groom's portraits at The Harvest Golf Club in Kelowna.

The bride was waiting for the groom to meet her at our first location and was looking down at the train of her dress when we captured this fleeting glance. We love how it shows off the intricacies of her lovely hair and how her veil frames the image. It helps that the light was fantastic! You might not want a cloudy wedding day, but it works wonders for soft skin tones.

This also ties into our philosophy that we aim to capture the entire story of the wedding day, and not just the formal events.