Sarah and Joel live in Toronto and had their mind set on a Prince Edward County Wedding with a cottage vibe to bring their friends and family down for a weekend. They found a wonderful spot on AirBnB near the Sandbanks beach with enough space for a backup plan for their ceremony indoors in a renovated garage / workshop complete with a bar!
I arrived to find Joel writing his wedding speech, refining his vows with friends and family around hustling and bustling to put the finishing touches on the rain location for the ceremony inside the garage. With the weather not cooperating a last minute indoor switcheroo was fully in play and everything went off like a precision military exercise drill.
They’d decided to sneak a peek at each other before the ceremony in a less formal ‘first look’ (meaning Sarah arrived and found Joel and they shared a hug without any fanfare). Neither had the desire to be the centre of attention and the intention of the weekend was to allow everyone they’d invited to get together as a celebration of their love and not just a wedding.
The inclement misty rain moved on after the ceremony was complete just in time for everyone to enjoy an outdoor cocktail hour with lawn games and a campfire pit.
The Hayloft Dance Hall was the reception location and the casual nature of dinner at large harvest tables set up on multiple floors made it exactly what they wanted. Seriously …the hayloft can hold a hell of a party (from my past experiences before it turned into a wedding and live music venue) so I was prepared for an evening of live music as friends of their ‘got the band back together’ (they didn’t get back together – they weren’t really a band just a bunch of friends who play instruments but it was fun to say “we got the band back together”) to play a show for the first dance and a set of music to get the party started after dinner and speeches were finished.
From the start their day was a relaxing weekend in the county and I was thrilled to be a) included in their celebration and b) so close to my trailer for a weekend
Here’s a selection of my favorite images from the day:
Venue: Sandbanks Retreat | Reception: The Hayloft Dancehall | Reception Coordinator: Ephra Events | Flowers by Floralora | Deliciousness by Picnic Food Truck