Kelly and Kevin

My final wedding of the 2012 season saw Kelly and Kevin steal the limelight from some rather strange characters at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax on September 29. The story started before I arrived with a note to the wedding planner: Be sure to stock extra beer; this family drinks a lot of it.
And then the day began.

  

Their ceremony was not scheduled to start until late afternoon, so we did the formal shots beforehand. This worked well for me because it provided an end time, and allowed us to get all of the family and wedding party shots out of the way before the entire guest list showed up.

Un-cried-on make up, and untossled hair is a beautiful thing.

Being one of the oldest hotels in Halifax, the Lord Nelson provides an elegant and regal backdrop that, for me, required some more elegant and regal poses. This one followed instructions to the effect of "think royalty."

Even the guests looked a little like they might have been born into the monarchy!

And here comes the bride.

 

Supper featured a simple and charming cake and 'bouquets' of cupcakes...

... some nostalgic speeches...

 and a few good old fashioned belly laughs!

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Then the recption began. There were the traditional dances...

and some slightly less traditional dances.

And in the next room, there was this: 

The Time Travellers' Ball? Now that's worth checking out! And who better to do it, but the bride and groom themselves, whose visit warranted a special announcement on the loud speaker, and a bit of a flash mob of brightly costumed characters ranging from Belle and Beast to The Legend of Zelda's Link.

 I'm told the party went on far into the night and that, indeed, there was enough beer for all. For me, the night ended under the light of a streetlamp, with a tripod and a bit of warm and fuzzy feeling to ward off the rain.

Andrea and Paul

Cat lover, photographer, scrapbooker and... frog enthusiast?

No, it's not me I'm describing. It's Andrea, the bride from my next project, who married her long-time love, Paul, on September 21, 2012.

I met Andrea through a friend, and she and Paul drove my sorry butt home from work through the entire six weeks of the 2012 Halifax transit strike (best. carpool. ever.). She also talked me through a plethora of potential solutions for cat health problems, so when she asked me to shoot her tiny courthouse wedding, I dropped what I was doing and responded with an emphatic YES.

The day started out at Spirit Spa in downtown Halifax. Those ladies were at work early on a rainy Saturday, did a fantastic job, and deserve a little shameless advertisement: 

 They even provided Andrea with a room where she could put on her dress and accessories so she wouldn't have to go out in the rain before heading to the courthouse.

Once there, Paul realized he had forgotten something in the car. Hm....

 ... rings anyone? Haha, best man to the rescue.

Alright, let's make it happen!

Just like that, Mister and Missus!

 I loved the flowers that Andrea chose.

 After the fact, I realized they kind of made me think of lilies on lily pads, which was quite appropriate considering the apparent theme of the gifts.

The whole ceremony was over by eleven-thirty a.m. so in lieu of a reception, our gracious hosts treated their guests to Chicken Burger in Bedford. The staff were incredibly patient considering we were a party of a dozen or so and other customers were lining up for their own taste of the 50's-style diner. I couldn't blame them; the food was yummy and the atmosphere was perfect.

Who wouldn't be game for some 50's-themed photo styling in a place like this? Much love to all the random customers who moved out of the way for this one.

Then, shortly after noon, it was all said and done except for one last pit stop in the parking lot for this little number before the bride and groom whisked themselves off to their cabin for a bit of end-of-summer honeymoon time!

Feeling Blue? Just Wine A Little.

When I was little, I used to go blueberry picking with my mom. She would pick buckets upon buckets of blueberries, and I would "help", although I'm pretty sure I ate more than I ever put in the bucket. When we got home, she would bake. Much of what she made would go in the freezer ("they're for Christmas, Terri!") but there was always a treat after supper or in my lunchbox the next day. 

September of 2012 found me wondering if I could re-create some of my mother's recipes and knowing full well that store-bought blueberries just weren't going to cut it. A trip to a u-pick blueberry farm would do just nicely, however, and if that u-pick blueberry farm happened to also be a winery, well, who am I to argue?

Cue: Lunenburg County Winery.

The winery is located on beautiful Hackmatack Farm just outside of Mahone Bay, NS. Along with the winery and blueberry farm, there is a picnic area and a lady by the name of Heather who weaves baskets in her onsite craft shop.

The way the u-pick works is that you purchase a bucket in the shop before you start, and fill it to your heart's desire with berries. I don't remember the exact price of the bucket off the top of my head, but I do know it was comparable to buying the berries in a grocery store, and on top of that, you know that your berries were absolutely, one hundred percent fresh. That sounds like a definite win to me.

And off we go...

Uh-oh, bucket's full.... wait... what's this?

No, for the record, you can't pick the grapes. You can, however, certainly buy them in their very best form. 

Which I did.
A lot.
And a lot more since.

After the harvest was loaded into the car, there was a bit of time to wander the grounds. I have to say, the place is pretty remarkable. Someone puts a lot of time and care into keeping the area in top shape.

On the way back to the highway, there is a tiny graveyard. The stones are old and alluring...

...and hauntingly sad.

Because I know you're dying to know, yes, indeed, the very next day, I made my first ever pie from scratch. My mother recommended her best friend's recipe for the crust, and her own for the filling. If I do say so myself, it was pretty tasty, and I'll tell you for sure that not one bit of it got saved for Christmas.