Photos from a Museum of Nature Wedding in Ottawa

Weddings

Sep. 15

ALICIA + ERIK

Erik and I met exactly 10 years ago this month. We were trying out for a co-ed sports team as a part of a competition organized by our faculty at the University of Ottawa. He was hard to miss, mostly because he was 40 minutes late and joined in without saying a word for the entire length of the try-out. Needless to say, I was intrigued. We both made the team and after a couple of months of getting to know each other, initially based on our mutual unhealthy levels of competitiveness, we began dating.

Throughout the next few years, we continued to grow together while I was in school and transitioned into working. Erik’s enthusiastic encouragement was one of the main reasons I spent my last semester abroad in Sydney, Australia in 2011. Being apart for six months solidified our relationship; I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this guy. We moved in together upon my return and started our “adult” life together. Joining our lives was effortless since we already knew we shared the same values, the same love for our families, the same group of friends, and the same busy lifestyles. We slowly learned to become a unit rather than two individuals.

On a rainy day in September of 2015, Erik took me to Strathcona Park, where we first met, and asked me to marry him. I had known the answer to that question for a very long time and was very excited to say yes!

There were a lot of big decisions to make when it came to our wedding, and we changed our minds often (including a complete change of venue 8 months before the wedding day), but there was no question about who our photographer would be. I met Derrick at Erik’s sister Christine’s wedding in 2009, while Erik had known him for some time before that. He and his wife were long time friends of the bride and groom, and since it was a destination wedding, we were lucky enough to spend the entire week with him. We got along with him immediately, Derrick is easily one of the kindest people you’ll meet (I attribute that to his Newfie background) and constantly has a smile on his face. He has the best stories and has a way of making you feel at ease and comfortable, no matter what the situation.

Derrick was the very first person we secured for our wedding, since we knew that he’d be booked up quickly if we didn’t. We explained to him that we mostly wanted candid pictures of the evening and party and that we weren’t big fans of posed couple and family pictures. We wanted to capture the actual experience rather than our uncomfortable attempts at looking natural in front of a camera. At one point Derrick tried to get us to look serious and “cool” for a photo...but he quickly told us to keep smiling, the serious look didn’t work very well for me.

We knew more than anything that Derrick would make us feel like ourselves and were very happy just to have him around for our big day. He was so efficient with timing that we actually had an extra hour to spare before the ceremony! Once everything started, he was so stealthy that it was hard to spot him at times. But we knew he’d be right there with us for every special moment. We absolutely love all of the reactions and interactions that he captured that night, even though we couldn’t be everywhere at all times, looking back on our pictures really made it possible to see the whole thing come together. Thank you Derrick!

-Alicia & Erik