It was our very first wedding in Antigonish, the only other time we’d shot there was when President Bill Clinton was in town to open the Frank McKenna Centre back in 2011 (we had a 5 second chat but he will not return my calls to come speak at one of our photo workshops!). I don’t recall much as I was so nervous I spent most of the day trying not to vomit on a world leader.
Ian + Julia’s wedding was in the same place…but it was perfect and relaxed. The vibe was overwhelmingly positive, the people were smiling and laughing and hugging with their eyes closed as they squeezed each other until their fingers left imprints in each others skin. It was that kind of wedding.
Dinner was over. It was hot and the air conditioner was not working at The Inn at StFX so the wedding would flow inside and outside, inside and outside as everyone hit the bar and then the cool breeze on the patio.
I didn’t know the wedding dj and for the first little while I was struggling to deal with an abundance of laser lights. The floor started to fill up, hands went up in the air and the drinks continues to flow
And then it happened:
“I have built a TREEHOUSE. I have built a TREEHOUSE…It’s a you and me house”
I’d never heard this song before but it stopped me in my tracks as I was headed for fresh air. I turned around and everyone, and I mean everyone was singing as loud as they could, Ian + Julie, the centre of their affection, as it had been all day. The hair stood up on the back of my neck as Steph and I jumped into the middle of it all. I was singing along with a lump in my throat as I made a mental note of the song, hoping it might work for a slideshow (music credit to I’m From Barcelona).
When we send over a final gallery + wedding slideshow to our clients, its the only time we get nervous. We want it to evoke some kind of emotion…a laugh, a cry or better yet, the silenced smile as you relive it all in 3 minutes or less. When we finished this for Ian + Julia, we threw it into the big speakers just to give it one final look. I heard Steph sniffing beside me but didn’t look because I was fighting back the same.
Someone recently asked Steph if we get sick of shooting weddings, the same thing week after week. Her reply, “When we get sick of it, we agreed that that’s when we’ll stop doing it.”
If we keep getting weddings like this, we’re never going to stop!
Ian + Julia from Applehead Studio on Vimeo.
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2 Comments
You guys were amazing!!! We had an awesome time and enjoyed our interaction with the two of you!!! Hope to see you again!!!
