Note from Heather: Drum roll please…. our amazing office manager Niki (who has been working with us for over 5 years!) has finally decided to give into the pressure (from me!) and photograph weddings on her own! Hurrah! Her style blends seamlessly with ours and we’re so excited she’ll be shooting weddings for us (although a little sad that she won’t be able to second shoot with us every weekend) Here is her first official HRM wedding as the main shooter!

It is so hard to describe this wedding, only because she is one of my closest friends! Everything about this day was amazing and I was so happy that Krista & Mat agreed to have me photograph their big day! Originally Krista wanted me to enjoy the day and not work, but I couldn’t imagine not photographing their wedding, and I am so happy that I did this for them! Everyone was amazing, from the family to the wedding party!! With everything that happened in the week leading up to their wedding (see the bride’s comments below), watching how the family came together brought tears to my eyes.

Congrats to an amazing couple and to awesome friends! I truly wish them nothing but the best and I am looking forward to photographing them again when their family starts to grow!

-Niki

Describe the vision/theme you had for your wedding in 5 words or less: traditional yet modern, classy, creative & fun

What are you favorite memories of your wedding day?
Bride:
1-The beautiful ceremony with the beautiful music.
2-The dreamlike fog that was present for our pics.
3-The wonderful speeches.
Groom:
1-My beautiful bride.
2-Celebrating with all my family and friends.

Best wedding related decision:
Having a BIG wedding! This way we were able to invite ALL of our family and ALL of our friends…it was wonderful to have them all there to celebrate our special day with us!

Favourite detail:
My grandfather, who I am very close with, passed away 5 days before our wedding and his funeral was the day before our wedding in the very same church. It was a very difficult week, but we felt his presence all day. I attached his wedding ring to my bouquet so I could feel his presence with us every step of the way. We played some special songs that remind us of him, set up a little memorial table for him and many people mentioned how proud he was of us in their speeches. Even though it was difficult knowing that he wasn’t there physically, it was a very special, spiritual feeling knowing he was there in spirit and in our hearts.

Advice for future brides & grooms:
Try to relax and enjoy the planning of your wedding. Don’t get too stressed out. It all goes by so fast, so it is best to stay calm and take in all of those special memories all the way through. Life is too short to want to just get it all over and done with!

Would you change anything if you could do it all over again?
Nope! Best. Day. Ever.

Best surprise of the day:
It was actually a surprise for my grandma. My mother got ahold of a mink shawl from the 1950s-1960s that was her grandmothers (my great-grandmothers) that my grandma had thought she got rid of, so I decided to put it on with my vintage-type dress for a few pictures to surprise my grandma. I had this planned much before my grandpa passed away, but after the difficult week that we had had, it was very nice to see her smile the way she did when she first saw it on me and recognized it immediately.

Favorite HRM picture from the day (and why?):
This is an extremely difficult question! They are all so AMAZING! But if I had to pick, I think I would choose the one of our whole wedding party making funny faces taken with the fisheye lens. I think it is such a fun picture that shows off the fun personalities of all of the wonderful people that stood up with us on our special day. Runners-up: the picture of the whole congregation in front of the church after the ceremony, the pictures of our amazing families under the magnolia tree, the picture of Mat carrying me in the field.

Anything else you’d like to add:
Our photographer, Niki Patel, has been a very close friend of mine for about 10 years. Even though I wanted her to take our pictures so badly, I didn’t really want to ask her because I wanted to be sure that she relaxed and had a great time celebrating with us. When she offered to do them for us, we were FLOORED! nbsp; Niki is an extremely gifted photographer and it actually worked out so well having her with us the whole day through to share in these special memories. We are thrilled with the pictures she has taken and it is a truly wonderful feeling to know that we will always have these special keepsakes of our day for the rest of our lives.

VENDORS: Ceremony Location: St. Joseph’s Church, Sarnia | Reception Location: Holiday Inn, Sarnia | Officiant (if not a church ceremony): Rev. Jim Higgins | Cake: Chelsie Free | Dress (designer and/or store): David’s Bridal, Port Huron, MI | Wedding Planner: N/A | Flowers/Decorator: Grower’s Direct, Sarnia | Hair/Makeup: Christine Piffard and Katie Steadman (Hair), Merle Norman Glass & Pillar Spa (Make-up) | Caterer: Holiday Inn, Sarnia | DJ: Adam Swan | Decorator: To Suite Your Fancy

WEDDING SONGS: Processional: Cannon In D (piano and violin) | Recessional: The Prayer (piano, vocal, violin) | Entrance: Everybody Dance Now, C & C Music Factory | First Dance: Hold On, Michael Buble | Parent Dances: I Loved Her First, Heartland (Father/Bride), There You’ll Be, Faith Hill (Mother/Groom)