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Abi & James – Funfetti Flamingo Bonterra Trattoria Calgary Wedding

Abi & James – Funfetti Flamingo Bonterra Trattoria Calgary Wedding

September Bonterra Trattoria Weddings are some of my favourite weddings to shoot.  

There are cool breezes, sunny skies and a certain magic in the air, which makes for some of the most beautiful moments.

The morning of the big day, I packed up my vehicle and headed to Abi’s mom’s house to meet the girls for the first exciting moments of the day. 

Abi’s mom Melody and I have very similar tastes in furniture. When I went to her room to shoot Abi’s gown, I noticed she had the same chaise as me – even the same colour. Clearly I was super pumped as we all know I’m obsessed with seafoam green. 

As Melody helped Abi get into her dress, the bridesmaids waited with anticipation in the hallway to see Abi for the first time. The girls eagerly filed into the room with their eyes closed. Melody stood in the corner, tearful, and as she gave the word, the bridesmaids opened their eyes with excitement. The sweetest moment, and my personal favourite, was when Melody gave Abi a little piece of advice that only she could hear. Tears ran down her cheeks as I can only imagine what she said to her daughter on such a special day. These little moments are my absolute favourite thing about weddings.

Soon, the limo pulled up outside and we were off to take Abi to see James for their first look at a school just down the road. The day was like a trust fall. Abi closed her eyes as I led her up to James and placed her beside him. As they both opened their eyes, they saw one another for the first time. The moments that followed were so joyful I almost started to cry myself…. Almost, yes almost. The sun was warm and we headed out to meet the wedding party for formals. As we drove to Downtown Calgary, we stopped at a few amazing spots I had scouted in the days before. After a few hours of fun it was time to head to the ceremony for their nuptials.

Bonterra Trattoria has the most beautiful outdoor patio where Abi and James said their I do’s. The area was filled with their close friends and family, who tearfully watched them exchange vows, rings and a few laughs. My favourite thing about doing a first look is the flow of the evening. Abi & James just mingled through their cocktail hour and had a few moments together before their grand entrance into the reception. Their amazing ceremony arch was the perfect backdrop to their sweetheart table. Flowers by Janie is an absolute master at her profession. This arch was big enough for James to stand under during the ceremony, and Christy from Beyond the Proposal and her team somehow got it inside Bonterra without even one flower out of place.

The evening was beautiful. It was full of emotion, stories, endless delicious food, wine and one of the best dance parties not to mention the touches of Funfetti & Flamingos!

Supporting Cast and Locations:

Ceremony Location // Bonterra + Reception Venue //Bonterra

Wedding Planner // Christy Beyond the Proposal  + Florist //Flower By Janie  + JP // Klaus Ohlhoff + DJ // DJ Wild Bills DJ Services + Limo // AMPM Limousines + Invitation designer & Stationery // Lori Wemple for Minted  + Favours // Whippt Desserts + Cake //Whippt Desserts + Wedding Signs // Best day ever sign: Bodacious Creations + Hair Stylist // Bride – Calvin Dueck Bridesmaids – Megan Renyard and Brooke + Make-up Artists // Shannon Leung

Bride Getting Ready Location // Brides Moms House + Brides dress designer //  Jenny Packham + Shoes // Stuart Weitzman + Head piece // Ethos + Bridal party attire// Joanna August

Groom Getting Ready Location // Bride & Grooms House + Suit // Ted Baker from Nordstrom + Cufflinks // Ted Baker  + Tie // All Groomsmen Ted Baker + Shoes // Too Boot New York + Watch // Mido

Wedding Rings/Bands // Calgary Jewellery 

From the Bride & Groom:

Wedding theme and colours: Fun Fettie Flamingo. I actually bought our Cake toppers on a whim after having a really bad day on a business trip it. Alone, board and sleep deprived I was looking at wedding décor online fell in love and ordered them. Once I received them the whole theme snowballed from there, I picked out my pantone colors all shades of flamingo plumage followed by a complimentary secondary pallet.

Vibe: Relaxed, Happy and Intimate.

Abi & Jame’s top 3 best moments:
1) Noa our little flower girl. From her hesitation to walk down the aisle then not remembering to throw the confetti despite practicing for months. To how adorable she was during dinner when she just couldn’t leave us alone she defiantly made the night for both of us.

2) Our First look. It was the first moment where the wedding truly became about us. We got to spend the a short amount of time just being together before the wedding started.

3) James Grandpa and the dance. I had never been to a wedding before with James Grandpa and I had been warned by everyone he lives for dancing at weddings. The best part was at the end of 3 dance together he told me I have real trouble finding the beat.

Wedding song: Halo was a compromise on both parts, I want Crazy In Love by Beyoncé and James wanted Bitch I Love You by Black Joe Lewis and the Honey bears both of us not wanting to budge we shopped the two songs around to our friends and family all of them who though we were both crazy so we gave up on picking a song. It was then three weeks before the wedding and we still hadn’t picked anything so told James anything Beyoncé, and he picked Halo.

BEFORE THE WEDDING DAY

How did you meet?:  James and I had a couple of mutual friends who would go to Karaoke every Friday night. We started off competitively singing with our friends seeing who would either get the most cheers (or boo’s in James’ case). I thought he was funny and dorky in just the right amounts. He liked my spontaneous nature (read crazy) and had a thing for red heads but he wouldn’t ask me out for some reason. Then one day we were singing ‘summer loving’ and I don’t know but he finally decided to ask me out. Since then we have grown to love each other more and more…

Engagement story: Our engagement was not a surprise, we had booked Bonterra about 5 months before we actually got engaged, I picked out my own ring, and we had planned an engagement dinner with our family weeks before it happened. On the day of our engagement James dropped me off at work and snuck back home to set up. He called me at 4:00 frantic to tell me he was outside and we needed to leave work immediately! We got home and he bolted from the car ran past me up our stairs and slammed the front door shut. I opened the door to sunflowers, balloons, chilled Champaign, and our cats very unhappy about wearing new blingy collars. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and I of course said yes!

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