Horticulture Building wedding in Ottawa: Annik and Julien |

It was my first time shooting a wedding at the Horticulture Building and hopefully not my last. Wow! What a venue for a wedding here in Ottawa!

Annik and Julien had originally scheduled their wedding in August of this year but upon realizing that there would be an Ottawa Redblacks football game that evening, they decided to switch their wedding date. If you’ve ever walked around Lansdowne when there’s a football game going on, you know it’s pretty much a gong show. The bride and groom were concerned about parking for their guests and general enjoyment of the grounds. So, thankfully, I was still available on that one weekend in July that they decided to switch their wedding day to.

My day started off at the beautiful Alt Hotel in downtown Ottawa where the bride and her bridesmaids were getting beautified by Noah at One Fine Beauty and the gals of Showpony hair.

kraft and navy invitation suite and jewellery flower girl sitting in a room full of hair stylists and makeup artists noah of one fine beauty doing bridesmaid's makeup lori of showpony hair doing the bride's updo lori of showpony doing the bride's updo green and light pink bouquet on concrete wall makeup artist putting on bridesmaid's lipstick flower girl looking in the mirror as she has her done by the hair stylist rings among flowers dress hanging from light in hotel hallway navy heels on red chair noah of one fine beauty doing the bridesmaids makeup

Meanwhile, the guys were starting to get prepped and ready for the ceremony. All six guys crammed into this tiny hotel room, plus the fathers of the bride and groom, you can imagine the chaos!

groom and groomsmen putting on their ties groom's shoes, tie and pocket square groom putting on his tie groom's sunglasses and boutenniere on white table groom putting on his suit jacket in front of concrete wall groom adjusting his tie in front of concrete wall groomsmen putting on groom's boutonniere groom and groomsmen standing in front of black and white mosaic wall laughing groomsmen laughing in the Alt Hotel lobby groom sitting in a tan leather chair in hotel lobby laughing groom and groomsmen taking shots at the bar

After the girls were finished up with hair and makeup, we headed upstairs to get dressed before leaving the hotel. Again…picture six girls plus a flower girl plus a mom, a dad…chaos.

maid of honour helping the bride into her wedding dress bride's mother seeing the bride in her dress for the first time bride pinning on the father of the bride's boutonniere bride putting on her necklace in front of the mirror bride putting on her earrings flower girl getting dressed in the corner of a busy room bride putting on her garter bride putting on the flower girl's bracelet bride giving the flower girl her sign to walk down the aisle with bride seated in modern chair putting on her navy heels

As I walked into the ceremony, I was shocked at how beautiful everything looked. The girls at Chic Planners did an incredible job setting everything up for this Horticulture Building wedding!

exterior of the Horticulture Building in black and white wooden wedding sign at the ceremony industrial style bar against barn board wedding ceremony programs on wooden wicker chairs ceremony set up at the Horticulture building flowers at the head table kraft wedding invitation programs on a metal chair bride stepping out of the water outside the Horticulture Building flower girl holding white sign that says 'here comes your bride' in front of black limo bridesmaids waiting outside the Horticulture Building groomsmen walking down the aisle musicians signing during wedding ceremony groom walking down the aisle with his parents groomsmen smiling as the flower girl comes down the aisle bridesmaid and flower girl walking down the aisle bride waiting outside for her ceremony to start with her parents bride and her parents coming down the aisle bride and her parents walking down the aisle groom smiling as the bride comes down the aisle bride walking towards her groom with her parents wedding ceremony at the Horticulture Building bride smiling at the groom during the ceremony bride and groom holding hands at the ceremony groom saying his vows to the bride bride saying her vows to the groom groom putting on the bride's ring groomsman wiping his sweaty face with a cocktail napkin during the ceremony

So while my back was turned, the flower girl handed this groomsman a napkin to wipe his sweat off. Hilarious!

bride putting on the groom's ring first kiss under floral arch bride and groom walking down the aisle as husband and wife bride and groom kissing half way down the aisle

Following the ceremony, we headed outside for some photos (and an attempt to find some shade!).

bride walking with her bridesmaids outside the Horticulture Building groom and groomsmen drinking beers outside the Aberdeen Pavilion groom and groomsmen outside the Aberdeen Pavilion bride and bridesmaids in front of Aberdeen Pavilion bride standing in front of Aberdeen Pavilion doors bride holding her bouquet bride holding her bouquet with her hair blowing in the wind bride's wedding rings and bouquet wedding party in front of the Aberdeen Pavilion bride and groom with foreheads together smiling bride and groom smiling at each other bride and groom in front of the Aberdeen Pavilion groom wiping away a strand of hair from the bride's face bride and groom walking around the Aberdeen Pavilion portrait of groom in front of trees black and white portrait of bride groom kissing the bride's shoulder groom playing with his wedding band bride and groom holding hands in front of trees bride and groom in front of trees at sunset

We wrapped up our photos with the bride and groom and headed back inside the Horticulture Building to get ready for the wedding reception to begin. If it was even possible, it was a hotter inside than it was outside at this point. Needless to say, I downed about three litres of water upon walking in. If you didn’t know it already, I’m five months pregnant and I already run hot as it is. Add an extra 12 pounds (to be honest, I haven’t weighed myself in a while…I’m sure it’s more like 15 now…yikes) and I’m hotter than hot.

head table at the Horticulture Building table setting at the Horticulture Building seating chart on old industrial metal

So, let me tell you about this seating chart. This piece of metal is from Annik and Julien’s abandoned mine engagement session. We found it as we were heading out and these two had a vision of making it their seating chart. Vision complete!

reception at the Horticulture Building flowers and candles on wooden table wedding reception at the Horticulture Building rose gold cake surrounded by green leaves chocolate cupcakes on navy table wedding cake with rose gold cake topper with initials navy and white place setting with green leaf name tag bride and groom grand entrance at the Horticulture Building master of ceremonies

Speeches were hilarious – there was no shortage of laughs.

bride laughing at speeches groom and hockey buddies hugging during wedding reception maid of honour speech groom laughing at speeches best man speech bride covering her face with her hands laughing wedding guests cheersing bride and groom kissing at head table wedding party sitting at head table from outside bride and groom speech wedding guests applauding the bride and groom bride and groom first dance wedding guests taking photos of the bride and groom first dance black and white photo of the bride and groom first dance

Stephane at Dynamix Productions had the dance floor bumping all night. It was perfection!

wedding guests dancing wedding guests taking a selfie on the dance floor overhead view of the dance floor in black and white flower girl dancing bridesmaid and husband dancing groom waving around his tie during the garter toss

Oh man…these garter toss moments are hilarious. Julien did not disappoint.

groom smacking his butt in front of bride during garter toss groom going up the bride's dress during garter toss groom showing off the garter belt man who caught the garter belt

Before my evening ended, we went outside and walked around Lansdowne for a few last photos of the bride and groom at night.

bride and groom in front of the Aberdeen Pavilion at night bride and groom walking around Landsdown park at night bride and groom in front of checkered wall at Landsdown Park

Congratulations to this amazing bride and groom! I had such a great time photographing your wedding day!

Wedding team

Wedding dress: Stella York at With Love Bridal Boutique
Bridesmaids dresses: Morilee at With Love Bridal Boutique
Groom and groomsmen: Stars Men’s Shop
Florist: Mlle Artsy
Hair stylist: Showpony Hair
Makeup artist: Noah from One Fine Beauty
Wedding planner: Chic Wedding Planners
Stationary: Left & Write
Decorators: Lux Event Rental, Creative Edge, Party time rental
Cake designer: Maxine’s Sweet Treats
Second photographer: Carley Theresa Photography

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