Calgary Wedding Photographers | Bryce & Alee’s The Ridge Okotoks Wedding

Calgary Wedding Photographers

Bryce & Alee’s The Ridge Okotoks Wedding

Red Bloom Photography

I had decided that my wedding season was fully booked and that my weekends were full and then this

amazing couple emailed me and I just could not say no to them.  It was kinda fate that they emailed when

they did as they booked me just 6 weeks before their day and hubs and I had just called off a planned

vacation for their weekend a couple days before that. If they had emailed me just one week earlier I would

have said I was unavailable but the stars aligned. I photographed Bryce’s sisters wedding just last summer

so I knew who they two were right away. And when we met for coffee it was like sitting with old friends

we chatted about our fluffy cute dogs and wedding stuff and on and on! And Bryce also just happened

to work with my husband as well so lots to talk about. As they told me about their intimate tent wedding

at The Ridge in Okotoks I just had photographer butterflies as it sounded like a dream.  Having a wedding

all at one location is just the best for timeline and photos.  They were both getting ready on the property

and both had fantastic spaces to spend their mornings and the property is beautiful for photos.

We did a bit of a different timeline for their day. To break up the photos we did some of their family photos

and some of the wedding party photos before the ceremony and then they shared a super sweet first look.

Once the guests started to arrive they tucked away to hide.  We had the perfect “overcast” (smokey) light for

their wedding. Us photographers don’t love to praise the smoke as it comes from such terrible circumstances

but it does make for beautiful light on wedding days. Alright enough blabbing from me. Here are some words

from the newlyweds.

How did you guys meet ?

We met at a friends Christmas party! It was definitely a “meant to be” moment because Bryce was only

invited last minute and I was supposed to work and was only able to get someone to cover my shift

that day! When I walked into the room I saw this guy sitting off to one side and my eyes instantly

went to him. We were introduced and then he finally asked me for my number after we met up a couple of days later

with the same group of people, we went out to a movie and the rest is history!!

Please share the proposal story with us?

Bryce had been out of town for work and I had suggested that when he came back we should

have a little date night since we hadn’t had one in a couple of months. So I thought we could go for

dinner and a movie, and Bryce decided he would plan it. I thought he was planning a surprise

because he wasnt telling me what he was planning but I thought the surprise was going to be going for

dinner at our favorite restaurant.

In the morning, Bryce had gone to play hockey so I got ready for the date night while

he was gone. We had planned to go to his parents house in Okotoks after he was done playing h

ockey to visit and then we were going to my parents house in Calgary to drop off our puppy so we didn’t leave her

home alone for too long while we were out.

While on our way out to Okotoks, he called to tell his mom we were getting close to the house and she said they

weren’t home yet, and that they were going to be another 30-45 mins. He suggested then that we take our puppy

for a little walk, while we waited, to burn off some of her energy. So, he drove us to “The Big Rock” just

outside of Okotoks to run her around there, since he and I had gone once before and hadn’t been back. When

we got there, I thought it was a little too cold, so I said he should just take her for a quick run and I’d watch from

the truck. But he convinced me to go and we started walking around The Big Rock. I was super focused on not s

tepping into really deep snow and wasn’t paying attention to much else, and then we had stopped walking all

of a sudden….. It turned out he hadn’t gone to play hockey that morning, instead he went to The Big Rock and set out an

adorable basket with roses and champagne!! I asked him what it was for and he said he wanted to

make our date night special! So I went to pick up the basket and when I turned back around he was getting

down on one knee!! I could not believe it! Plus he also had his friend hiding on the pathway taking pictures

of the whole thing! It was perfect!!!

Most memorable moment from your wedding day?

Bride

For me, the most memorable moment was walking down the aisle! It was so surreal! Seeing all our

family and friends was amazing! Also seeing Bryce tear up made it so special and meant so much!

Groom

It would have to be our first look, getting to finally see her in her dress for the first time and having it set in that the day was finally here!

Tell me about the special aspects of your day that made it unique to you two?

We actually made a lot of the decorations and stuff for our wedding, with help from our families.

Bryce’s mom made my veil and then I glued on the rhinestones. Bryce’s Auntie made the bowties for our ring

bearers. Our center pieces were wine bottles that we all collected and painted. Bryce’s mom also sewed our aisle and table

runners. And we made our guest board/book for everyone to sign, along with other

chalkboards and the barn wood backdrop!

Besides making the choice to marry each other, what was the easiest decision you

made for your wedding? What made it so easy?

The easiest decision we made for our wedding was probably our wedding style and colors. We

decided our style was going to be along the lines of “rustic chic.” We love the rustic style but we wanted

it to also be chic in terms of the fact that we wanted our wedding to be timeless. For our colors, we mostly modeled them around the

main accent color, rose gold/copper, we have in our house. Our decor all turned out so amazing!

What was the most difficult, time consuming choice that you made for your wedding day?

And advice to couples on this?

The most difficult and time consuming choice was definitely our venue. It took us a lot of time and research

to find the “perfect” venue for us. And then three months before our wedding our venue could no longer host us,

so we had to scramble to find a new one! We found The Ridge and it ended up being an amazing venue and exactly what we

wanted! We completely believe that everything happens for a reason and this showed us just that!

Advice to couples planning their wedding day?

The first thing you should do is decide on your style for your wedding. Once you decide on your style

everything will be a lot easier to decide on. Your style will determine what kind of venues you look at, what dress

you choose, your colors, your decorations, your bridesmaid dresses, groomsmen attire, invites, everything!

~ VENDOR LOVE ~

Ceremony venue The Ridge Okotoks
Website: theridgeokotoks.ca
Email: randy@theridgeokotoks.ca
Instagram: @theridgeokotoks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRidgeOkotoks/

Reception venueThe Ridge Okotoks
Website: theridgeokotoks.ca
Email: randy@theridgeokotoks.ca
Instagram: @theridgeokotoks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRidgeOkotoks/

Hair Lois San Miguel

Instagram: @lois.sanmiguel

Makeup Gretchen San Miguel

Email: gl.amourproduo@gmail.com
Instagram: @gl.amourprobeauty

Florals Flowers Make Memories
Website: www.flowersmakememories.ab.ca

Facebook: Flowers Make Memories

Brides dress  (store and or designer) Cameo & Cufflinks / Designer – Sophia Tolli
Website: www.cameoandcufflinks.com / www.sophiatolli.co.uk
Email: cameoandcufflinks@gmail.com / n/a
Instagram: @cameoandcufflinks / @sophiatolli

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cameoandcufflinks

Grooms suit Tip Top Tailors
Website: www.tiptoptailors.ca

Instagram: @tiptoptailors

Officiant : Tom Morris

Others:

Rentals Great Events Rentals – ig: @greateventsrent 
Groomsmen attire Tip Top Tailors – ig: @tiptoptailors

Bridesmaids dresses Davids Bridal – ig: @davidsbridal 

Wedding rings Bride – Spence Diamonds – ig: @shopspence 

                          Groom – Peoples Jewellers – ig: @peoplesjewellers

DJ Josh Penner

Wedding Party gifts Bridesmaids – YSL Beauty – ig: @yslbeauty

Groomsmen – Cabela’s Canada – ig: @cabelascanada

Red Bloom Photography

Intimate Photography for Adventurous Couples