This was a bit of a last minute affair. Not for Michelle and Merv, that is, but for me. I was contacted about a month before the wedding to see if I could come and photograph the wedding “as a gift,” said Tarla, Michelle’s daughter.

The wedding was to be held at Tupper Hall, at Swan Lake, and it was going to be a very brief, casual affair on a Friday evening. I didn’t know how casual until someone called out to Michelle, as she was walking down the aisle unaccompanied by music: “Hey, did you want me to hum something?”

The small crowd of friends and family laughed, as did the happy couple. Very casual, very friendly.

Well, here you go, Mike and Alyssa’s wedding album. We had some fun along the way, and met some new people, but now the time has come to say farewell to photos from Mike and Alyssa’s wedding.

This is not, in the immoral words of Bea Arthur in the Star Wars Christmas special, goodbye, though. Can’t tell you more yet, but I suspect we’ll be seeing more of at least one of these two very soon….

Yesterday was a day. Not only did my band, Heavy Things, play what might have been the best set ever (with the exception of last year’s Kispiox Festival, which will be tough to beat), but I had a chance to photograph Mike and Alyssa’s wedding.

Mike and Alyssa are about the cutest couple you could ask for, but they’re about the nicest people you could ask to spend the day with, too.

Their wedding was at Bethel Pentecostal in Dawson Creek (where I appear to be becoming the church photographer, it seems), followed by pictures in Kin Park.

These two shots, though, come from the end of the day, after I had packed up the car. The setting sun was just starting to colour the sky in the fields that run right up to the back end of the Bethel property , so I backed my  car to the edge of the field, plugged in one of my lights, and borrowed Josh (of Josh and Katelin fame, who was playing the role of best man) to hold the light for me while I fired off a series of ten shots.

“That’s it,” I told them, and they thanked me, then Mike picked up Alyssa and carried her back into the church gym, where their reception was being held.

Here are two of those last few photographs, which will serve as a teaser to the teaser I normally do once I have a chance to go through all the shots.

Over at the GRADitude site, I’ve got a dozen shots of Danielle, rocking one of these new backdrops. Check them out, won’t you?

Here is a sample shot.

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As always, click on this cover to get to the album itself. Once there, click on the edge of the album to go forward and backward, or click and hold for the fancy page turning effect. It may take a few minutes to load if you have slow internet. If you are having issues, you can also try the html version, without the page turning effect.

A lot of that has to do with the setting; a grey overcast January day in Dawson Creek doesn’t seem conducive to taking great wedding pictures, but you’d be wrong. Admittedly, subject matter here counts for a lot (cute couple), but there’s just something to be said for that whole white on white (on white, as the cape and dress were slightly different shades of white) look. Oh, sure, it would have been a different story if it had been -40, but outside of slightly frozen fingers (easily solved with a new pair of Minnesota Mittens), it was a great experience.

So, um, if any of you out there are planning on getting married in winter next year (in Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Grande Prairie or even down in Cuba), do let me know, because I’m loving the look of these winter weddings. (I know the look of a winter wedding in Cuba is a bit different, but I’m pretty sure I’d manage…)

Here’s a slideshow featuring many of my favourite shots. You’ll see most of the shots I posted earlier, plus a whole bunch of new shots, too. Enjoy.