Elizabeth + Austin | A Wedding Story

Oct. 22

Austin and I met the new ol’fashioned way - online dating. It didn’t take us very long to realize that the time we spent together was a lot better than the time we spent apart. Vacations, cottage weekends, and family gatherings, but also the small things like grocery shopping, quiet Tuesday nights, and spicy perogy pizzas - we are better together. For me, being with Austin feels like coming home (which is a bit ironic because over the past year and a half we have done nothing but be at home), but it’s like the big exhale after a long day, the soft comfort of familiarity, a safe space.

After 3 and a half years of dating, we knew that we wanted to keep coming home to each other for the rest of our lives. I can’t say if there is one specific moment where I knew Austin was “the one”. As a proud over-thinker, I don’t fall into anything - and I don’t feel like I fell into love either. But rather, our love was built day by day, moment by moment. It is these small but certain moments that helped us celebrate the highs, that guided us through the lows, and that brought us to our forever. Our wedding day was the start of so many things, but at the same time, I felt like I had finally come home.

It’s really hard to pick a favourite memory from the day. Like many other couples, we had originally planned our wedding for August 2020, but had postponed it late that spring to the following summer. The day itself was such a huge milestone because of how far we had come, and it was such a magical feeling to finally be able to put my dress on, to finally walk down the aisle towards Austin, to finally promise I Do to each other. We had such a beautiful day celebrating with our small but mighty group of family and friends. We feel very fortunate that Union Eleven offers live streaming, and that we were able to include so many other loved ones virtually. When we shared our photos and wedding video with family and friends who had also joined the live stream, they said they felt as if they had been there the whole day. What a beautiful gift to be able to share!

From Austin: One of my favourite memories of the wedding day was when Andrew and Derrick showed up to take pictures of my groomsmen and me getting ready, but I was so keen (or nervous?) to get married that I was already completely dressed! They had to ask that I take off my jacket and tie for the "full effect" of the getting ready photos. A second favourite memory is being out on a dock at Dow’s Lake taking pictures with Elizabeth, and having people from the restaurant and on the boats nearby cheering and congratulating us. It was fun celebrating with people we didn't even know!

From Elizabeth: One moment that really stands out for me is walking back down the aisle after our ceremony. Looking around at everyone who was there clapping and celebrating, the doors of the Cathedral opening up into the sunlight, the bells ringing, and people honking and cheering as they drove down Sussex - it felt like all of Ottawa was celebrating with us. I will also always remember our first dance. Being by the water and under the stars as the lyrics How long will I love you? As long as the stars are above you played felt so perfect, and that we were exactly where we were meant to be.

We absolutely loved working with Union Eleven. Our entire vendor list is a dream team, and I wholeheartedly recommend each and every one of them over and over again, without hesitation. We knew we were in good hands with Derrick and Andrew to capture our wedding day. They were patient as we navigated our date change, they were helpful in organizing the logistics and timeline for the day, and they answered every single question we had. They are both so genuine and easy to be around, and they have a way of making everyone feel comfortable in front of the camera. Derrick and Andrew are also such passionate, talented artists. One look at their gallery and you know how professional, creative, and skilled they are. We met them at the Ottawa Wedding Show in February 2020, and after looking through a few of their weddings, we knew we wanted to book them to capture our wedding day. We loved their style of photos. We loved the vivid, true colours. We loved the variety of candid and posed shots. We loved that the pictures seemed to portray the day exactly as it was. And boy, did they deliver on July 9th! We are blown away by what we received from Andrew and Derrick.

Our photo gallery is bursting with memories. The highlight video is so stunning. When we watch it, we still can’t believe that it’s us, and our wedding day. We loved the wedding videos we saw on Union Eleven’s website, and knew that videography was something we wanted to invest in for our wedding, but what Andrew captured and edited is far beyond our wildest dreams of what we could have, and exceeded all our expectations. Every time we watch it, we catch something new, and we still can’t believe that it’s our wedding.

Derrick and Andrew captured all the little bits and pieces of the day, and it looks exactly as how we remember it feeling. I can’t even remember really noticing Derrick and Andrew taking pictures on the day - they were so discreet, and yet we have all these incredible shots. I do, however, remember seeing Derrick out of the corner of my eye during the ceremony, crawling up to get some close-ups, in his sock feet to not make any noise in the Church! Such a small moment, but I think it really shows his commitment to getting the shot, and his awareness to not disrupt the ceremony. Their work has such a timeless quality to it, and we know when we look back on these photos and videos for years to come, we will be brought right back to our day. We are so grateful to have the full recording of our ceremony, the speeches, and our first dances, too. It really feels too good to be true, and we couldn’t be happier!

Vendors:
Photography and Videography: Union Eleven
Florist: Sage Designs
Hair Stylist: Showpony
Ceremony: Notre-Dame Cathedral
Reception: Lago