I like to think that I’m a pretty good secret keeper, but some secrets are a lot harder to keep than others.
Jason and Whitney first approached me last year after having met me through past clients Allison and Jeremy. They had an idea for their wedding but weren’t sure how exactly they’d pull it off, or if they’d be able to keep their mouths shut for almost a year. The plan? To have a surprise elopement at L’Abattoir with their families and closest friends whom they’d gather under the guise of having a party at which Jason was going to “pop the question”. But, as you guessed it, they’d find out that they were, in fact, attending a surprise wedding.
But then Covid-19 came along and messed that all up. But only a little. At first there were plans to maybe wait until next year, but in the end Jason and Whitney decided that all they wanted was to get married on their chosen date and it didn’t matter what that looked like. So, they rented an Air BnB, got tacos from La Taqueira, and when it was time Whitney’s parents arrived for the “proposal” and found themselves at a very intimate wedding with all of the other guests joining through Zoom. (And yes, they were very surprised!).
After a symbolic ceremony at the Air BnB (and some tacos) we headed for Granville Island for their legal ceremony. It was here that Jason got to surprise Whitney with a bunch of their friends joining them in a parking lot for their socially distanced first dance and air hugs.
This surprise Granville Island elopement may be one of only a handful of weddings I’ll have the honour of photographing this year but it fed my soul. It meant so much to me to be part of such an intimate day.