ALINA + MATTHEW

Matthew and I met at the 25th anniversary of the Ottawa Art Gallery, over 3 years ago. While we crossed paths as strangers, it was love at first sight and we have been spending each moment together since then..

Matthew’s proposal was a surprise. One cold wintery night, Matthew decided we should warm up and spend our “date night” at the same restaurant we visited for our first date. Matthew was coy throughout the dinner and I didn’t quite understand why. When we arrived back home, Matthew randomly surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and with a ring in his hand, went down on his good knee. The rest? Let’s say a musician and a dancer make a great couple together!

Outside of the arts, cooking is another passion of ours. We enjoy cooking at home, so Le Cordon Bleu was the perfect venue for our wedding; it is beautiful, elegant … and a culinary school! What more could we ask for? As an extra culinary touch, we had lemons decorating our garlands and blueberries in the bride’s bouquet. The bridesmaids wore navy dresses with yellow and white bouquets, and the groomsmen wore navy coloured suits, continuing with the blueberry-lemon-white colour palette.

Both the ceremony and reception took place at the same venue. Our wedding officiant conducted an indigenous wedding ceremony for us which included traditional elements from both Romanian and Métis cultures. The blanket ceremony was one of the more elaborate parts of the ceremony. Matthew and I designed the blanket together, mixing in eastern European cross-stich motifs with Indigenous designs. The sweet grass braid is a symbol of infinity which we tied with a red ribbon to symbolize my heritage and a blue ribbon for Matthew’s. The ceremony also included a fire and water ritual, Indigenous blessings and a Romanian poem to bring it all together.

Our search for a photographer was quite extensive but after meeting with Davey from Union Eleven, he put our minds at ease and made choosing a photographer one of the easiest wedding decisions we made. Our first meeting with Davey was a breeze. We arrived at the studio and found a slideshow greeting us, complete with a custom welcome message. Right away you could tell Davey was a seasoned veteran and had the answers to put our minds at ease. He was very easy going and very professional. Slideshows, videos, photo albums, business cards… everything was ready and all of our questions were answered! We knew right then that we would have nothing to worry about, and that everything was going to be taken care of. We were sold!

Throughout the wedding day our experience with Davey was second to none. He was running from room to room, scene to scene, while still finding time to crack jokes and make sure everyone was having a good time. Formal photos went quickly, smooth and hassle free. Davey’s creativity is caught forever in our photos, which we are more then proud to share. Davey inserted himself as 'one of the family' and the kids were having a blast taking selfies with him all night long. At the end of the day, on his way out, our 6yr old niece asked him to dance with her. Davey dropped off his gear and came back to dance with little Jocelyn! How sweet is that?

Photography by David Johnson