Prince of Wales Bridge + Chinatown Engagement Session: Emilie + Brandyn

Ottawa Chinatown Engagement Session Stephanie Beach Photography 08If you have checked out our portfolio, or are a regular reader here on the blog, you have likely noticed that the majority of our sessions involve a great deal of nature. We typically like to do sessions in natural settings, incorporating the trees, leaves and flowers into our photos as much as possible. And for the most part, our clients like that too, which makes sense as you tend to draw in the same type of client that you show in your work. But every once in a while it is really nice to change it up, and shoot in a much more urban area, and this of course leads us into Emilie + Brandyn’s engagement session.

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Testimonial Highlight #4

SMB_9099 copyWhen I went to the site for Emma + Gennaro‘s session I was a little disappointed – The one thing I really wanted to do for a shot wasn’t possible due to some new fencing installed by the City of Ottawa. But as it turned out, it ended up being the best thing that could have happened that evening – because the photos the three of us created turned out even better than I had imagined!!

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Wedding Portraits at the Prince of Wales Bridge: Emma + Gennaro

I mentioned it in their sneak peek, and many, but Emma + Gennaro are freaking amazing! And the shots we got during their session are so freaking good!

I was really looking forward to this session and weekend after weekend, the weather was working against me. It kept pouring rain and being freezing cold. And the day we had the shoot scheduled was looking to be no different. The day before we decided to postpone the shoot by a day and boy am I ever glad we did. It was still a little chilly, especially since we were walking along the water, but it was oh so worth it!

The shoot was so much fun. Emma + Gennaro are hilarious and such a delight to be around, not to mention, so clearly perfect for each other. It was such an honour to capture the two of them together.

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Thanks again guys for being so awesome! Hope to get to work with you again.

On a slight side note, most of my previous Bridal Sessions have included bridal bouquets and boutonnieres I have made myself from flowers purchased at my local grocery store. This session, however, was slightly different. When Emma and I started chatting she mentioned that she had a button bouquet. I loved the idea and asked if she could bring it along to the shoot. It and Gennaro’s boutonniere (and his socks!!) were so amazing I had to share the designers behind these great items:

Button Bouquet: MADleigh Creative
Peacock Boutonniere: Southern Girl Weddings
Wedding Dress & Bridal Veil: Dominique Levesque Bridal

The Infamous Plan B

I am a planner – always have been, always will be. I like knowing what’s going on and all the answers to the question “what if”. Most of the time, this comes in handy – and when it comes to wedding photography, it is crucial!! For Family, Portrait and Engagement Sessions, Plan B can be as simple as an alternate date in case the weather disagrees with Plan A. But when it comes to weddings, you can’t exactly tell everyone involved that you are bumping things a day.

A little while ago I did a shoot at the Prince of Wales Bridge. We had already used Plan B by moving the shoot date by a day due to Mother Nature’s insistence on raining, so when I arrived at the site, early to check out the lighting that day, I was a little frustrated to see that the City of Ottawa had closed off easy access to the bridge itself. You can sort of see the large, obviously-not-temporary fence in the background of the below photos.

Ottawa Prince of Wales Bridge Wedding Photography

Luckily, I learned this fact before my clients showed up and was ready to adapt. Even more lucky is the fact that this location is gorgeous with or without the bridge itself (or access to it) so we were able to work with the rest of the surroundings to get some amazing photos. Plan C ended up working out beautifully for us and to be honest, was a rather easy fix. Sometimes backup plans are needed to counteract limitations at venues or even Mother Nature herself.

When it comes down to it, as much of a planner as I may be, weddings never go exactly according to plan. And even if you have a Plan B (or Plan Z), you just need to be quick on your creative feet. As a bride, having a Plan B is important, but it is equally important to be able to trust your vendors, your photographer in particular, to be able to adjust to the wedding day however it unfolds and still get you the amazing photos you deserve.