Applehead Studio Photography

Sarah and Ryan decided not to do an engagement shoot and instead opted for a Trash the Dress shoot with…chocolate and Boston Terriers (stay tuned) so I didn’t really get a chance to shoot with them before their wedding 2 weeks ago. We had met a few times and the day was planned perfectly to allow for a solid 2 hours of shooting after the wedding ceremony. They best part was they didn’t really care where we went. Since it was a grey day on the verge of rain and one of the Halifax bridge’s was closed we opted to stay in Dartmouth and hit the streets downtown.

To say that these guys were a ton of fun would be an understatement. I love it when the entire wedding party is into the photo shoot…they had no problem screaming and yelling on the side of the road or tangling with the police or drinking schooner on the side of the road as Sarah careened down a hill in a shopping cart.

Sarah + Ryan are one of those couples where you just know they’re gonna be the old 70 year olds on Live at Five celebrating a milestone anniversary. They’re just perfect for each other and you can tell. So laid back and go with the flow…I was in heaven shooting for these guys and the setup at the Holiday Inn Halifax Harbourview was beautiful. There are a few venues around the city that have this incredible ambient light and with the addition of a few ‘up lights’ (ask your DJ about them!) and some colour….mmmm, it’s just amazing. I dont often get too excited about reception speech shots but the light was just oh so good I had to post a few…it helped that they were chalk full of emotion too.

So this is where the story takes a little twist.

I set up the Crazy Booth around 10pm and it was going great. Sarah was chuggin beer, the crowd was gathering and there was some serious fun being had.

…and then this happend.

For the record I don’t recommend mixing a crazy booth, alcohol, shoulder climbing and hysterical laughter. It’s a long fall from someone’s shoulders onto a cement floor and yes, that floor may pop your collarbone out of place and almost through the skin. It happened.

By fluke chance, Jeff Cooke stopped by just minutes before the fall as he was on his way home from another wedding. He lent a little moral support as I mentally drafted a letter to Candee, my lawyer (I’m kidding). His attempt to diffuse the situation went something like this: “Dude, I can’t believe there’s a woman lying on the floor at your crazy booth. She looks like she might be kinda messed up”. Anyway, it was a horrible scene and after some IV drugs, a few laughs and an ambulance ride we put the booth away and headed outside just to blow off some steam and see how many bridesmaids we could cram into a phone booth.

Thank you so much for all the fun Sarah + Ryan. Looking forward to out September Trash the Dress shoot already!