Calgary Restaurant Wedding - Ricardo's Hideaway

Julie and Sam were married in a quirky intimate wedding in downtown Calgary. They are both work in the film industry in Toronto and are used to thinking outside of the box, so their wedding was a creative alternative to a traditional wedding. Their intimate ceremony was held on the stage at the Plaza Theatre in Kensington, with 30 of their favourite people sitting in the audience. Following the short & sweet ceremony, Julie premiered a personal film she made dedicated to her love for & relationship with Sam. It was lighthearted, funny and had us all in tears and laughter. For their wedding portraits, we wandered around alleyways in Kensington, took photos in front of the cute neighbourhood bookstore, and even got some shots with the new hottest attraction in Calgary of the summer - Lime bikes (the Lime scooters had not yet taken that title from them). Julie decided to skip the traditional white dress (obviously) and instead rocked an epic black embroidered gown from Saks, officially gaining her the title of “Raddest Bride Style Ever”. While storm clouds loomed in the distance for most of the day, the rain miraculously held off for all of our portraits and even gave us sunshine so we could sip tropical beverages on the Ricardo’s patio during cocktail hour. When the rain finally arrived it was a sign to move inside, where we were served family style dinner, tossed paper airplanes and learned some signature dance moves from the bride herself. I honestly can’t emphasize enough how much I love photographing urban wedding receptions at restaurants. Not only are the food and drinks always top notch, but the decor is usually really fun and eclectic (Ricardo’s rocks a tiki bar theme), which gives your wedding those vibes too. As an added bonus, you don’t have to bring any decor! I’m all about low key, low fuss, low stress weddings - and this one definitely checked all of those boxes. After dinner, these cool cats were surprised with a wedding cake from their pals at Fiasco Gelato, and everyone also got to feast on custom gelato flavours picked by the bride and groom. I obviously had to try both. When the sugar high hit, Julie & Sam opted to skip a first dance and headed out with their entourage/fan club to show off another hidden talent, drunken karaoke. The best thing about keeping your wedding intimate is that that you can do whatever the hell you want, and really, isn’t that what having a wedding is all about? Congrats again guys!! You have a new member in your fan club.