Destination Wedding Photography | Edmonton, Canada

I don't just cover weddings close to my home base of Southampton, Hampshire.  Sometimes I do also travel to far away lands to shoot them.

This was the case with the wedding of Valerie and Jason which took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in August 2008.

In this case I didn't quite travel all the way from England for the wedding, but I could and would.  I was in Vancouver, British Columbia at the time and I'd met up with Valerie a couple of weeks prior in Alberta on my road trip across Canada.  I should probably explain that Valerie and I have worked together on a number of occasions over the years.  I was wearing our fitness and bikini hat at the time, because in her spare time Valerie is also a most excellent fitness and bikini model.

The date was the 8th day of the 8th month in 2008, which apparently has some meaning, or maybe it's just because it looks tidier on the wedding invites?

It was hot, we're talking Las Vegas desert type heat here.  It was somewhere around 37-40 centigrade, or to put it into a language that my American friends will understand, god damn bastard hot.

I was driving around in the cheapest rental car I could find, a piece of crap Toyota Yaris.  I suppose with recent knowledge I should be grateful the car didn't try and murder me.  All I remember was it was the most awful car I've driven in a large amount of years and the air conditioner was shite, really really shite.

The service, at St. Joseph's church, was unique, a Ukrainian Catholic service with the vicar almost singing his lines.  I'm not at all religious but this really was quite beautiful.

We did our post wedding shots on the grounds of the Legislature Building which apparently is quite a famous landmark in Edmonton.  There must have been around 10 other wedding parties there, all being photographed, but there was no question that ours were the sharpest looking bunch.

The boys especially had come with their own set of ideas for shots, which I loved.  The Reservoir Dogs themed gangster walk is still one of my favourite wedding shots.   These photos are the most commented upon out of any of the weddings I've photographed, be it for the colours of the outfits, the stunning roof in the church, or just the slightly off the wall group shots.

Thank you Valerie & Jason for inviting me to be a part of your very special day.