I swear, some of my brides would make amazing wedding planners. When I told Kyla that she’d make a great wedding planner and she replied, “I’d like that, I loved wedding planning!” instead of running away screaming wanting to get the day over with, I’ll take that as a sign that she was likely made for this sort of thing. Which goes without saying – Kyla and Albert had booked me for their 2014 wedding at the end of 2012, making their wedding not only the first to be booked for 2014 but also the first wedding of the year for me to shoot. And it was an amazing 12 hours of well-planned perfection.
When I arrived to Kyla’s getting ready, I was given an amazingly organized list of people involved and the schedule of the day – but not only that, she went through the trouble of printing off photos of EVERY important person involved! There was one very important name (as the photo shot list followed this name with many multiple exclamation marks), and that was Luke. I thought to myself, wow I wonder who this Luke is, he’s a pretty big deal – his bowtie was waiting for him on the kitchen counter… sure enough, Luke is their very well loved cat, who was SO photogenic and melted my cat lady heart. You know your couple is meant for you when.
Planning a Friday Valentine’s Day wedding while having to travel downtown can be risky, but Kyla did such an amazing job spacing out all of the events of the big day that we never felt rushed or pushed around. The ceremony was at Devonian Gardens, which is somewhat of a landmark for Calgary, and we are pleased to have access to Devonian Gardens after their long renovations. The ceremony took place by the “living wall” which ended up being a great green backdrop in contrast with the winter image happening outside. Thankfully it was a warm day and we were able to steal Kyla and Albert away for some outdoor shots at Silver Springs Golf & Country Club before the reception started. The timing was perfect to capture a bit of the sunset with the lights of Canada Olympic Park twinkling in the background. The reception decoration was wonderful and the crowd filled up the dance floor so much that it was almost elbow to elbow dancing!
One of my favorite parts of the day was when some of Albert’s friends grabbed him away from the reception to present him with a very special gift. It was a signed Calgary Flames Iginla jersey that read “Congratulations Kyla and Albert!!” and Albert’s reaction was just absolutely priceless. He was like a kid in a candy store and his parents had just allowed him to get the largest lollipop. He was so grateful and humbled by his gift, and he was definitely feeling the day as the best day of his life.
Thank you so much, Kyla and Albert, for all of your kindness and your bravery for venturing out into the cold! Thank you to my wonderful second shooter Crystal of Sujata Photography for your help during the day!
I asked Kyla to describe her wedding color choices. She wrote, “A combination of logic and favorite colors! Albert didn’t care, but I wanted something that would ‘go’ with the venue easily without having to over-decorate, and I also love love love pink. Burgundy, silver and light pink ended up looking great together and worked with the venue, outfits and decorations without being too girly.”
When asked what was her favorite part of the day, Kyla says, “How MUCH fun it was. We knew it would be fun, but it was a million times times better than I expected. Having all of our family and friends there to celebrate with us was just amazing and made us feel so good. There was so much to take in and so many people, but I feel like we were still able to enjoy everything to the maximum. Definitely the best day ever!”
Kyla’s best advice to couples just starting their wedding planning is: “Become great friends with spreadsheets and lists! Take your time making decisions (I changed my mind too many times after making impulse decisions) and make the wedding what you want. Things will ALWAYS go wrong, but have a positive attitude about it because that’s what makes things memorable (and those funny stories) for years afterwards.”
I asked Kyla about her favorite speech during her reception, and she replied, “All of the speeches were great, but what got me the most was the unplanned speeches. Several of our close family/friends decided to come up and say something on the spot. We were really touched by these sweet unexpected surprises.”
Ceremony venue: Devonian Gardens / Reception venue: Silver Springs Golf & Country Club / Officiant: Paul Wishart / Bride’s dress: Bridal Debut / Groom’s attire: Tip Top Tailors / Limo service: Allied Limousine / DJ: Music by Starlight / Hair Stylist: Avenue Beauty / Make-up Artist: the bride / Centerpieces: the bride / Bridal florals: Bloom Bridal / Cake/Cupcakes: Crave Cupcakes / Stationary and decor: the bride and groom
