Um micro casamento caseiro no Canadá - e porque é uma excelente idéia ser a fotógrafa não-oficial do casamento dos seus amigos.

When one of your closest friends decides to get married in a month’s time, all you can really say is “here’s the spreadsheet with timelines and everyone’s responsibilities”. Well, at least that’s what I said.

What started as a ‘small gathering for 15-20 people tops’ became a 60 people event at their backyard in Delta, BC. You can tell a lot about a couple of expats that already have that many friends confirming attendance at their last minute wedding. And just how incredible they are as people and as a couple that their wedding turned out to be.

There’s something on people’s energy that brings together all the best type of people that wants to actively help in planning and executing the best day of their lives, and this is what their beautiful home wedding in Delta turned out to be: a big collaboration between most of their friends, and wedding guests, where you could see a little bit of everyone even in the smallest details.

While one of our friends was in charge of the decoration and sourcing all the prettiest wedding decor that Vancouver has to offer, such as flowers from Leis de Buds in Kitsilano, another incredible friend was the make up artist - Isa Alkabes who organizes the largest Brazilian make-up and beauty event in Rio de Janeiro Make in Rio - someone else was responsible for food and drinks, another friend was the DJ, and in no time we had a whole wedding put together in a beautiful sunny day in Vancouver.

As for me, aside from gifting the bride with the most gorgeous bouquet from The Wild Bunch in Vancouver, I also couldn’t resist bringing my camera to shoot some b-roll to the amazing Camila Teodoro. The nice thing of being a guest who happens to be a photographer is you get to drink’n shoot and it turns out the results can be quite fun.

Another great part of being the unofficial second shooter at a friend’s wedding is you also get to witness the best of the making off such as capture the bride’s eyes the first time she sees herself ready to get married and toast the groom with a neat glass of scotch while he pretends not to be nervous.

After the making off I had to fight my tears to get some great shots of the ceremony without wetting my camera (otherwise I would likely be crying for two reasons). Again: when you’re the unofficial second shooter you have the best excuse to get the best seat and the green light to walk around the ceremony and always get the best angles.

The party is no different, having a professional camera in your hands allows you to speak to everyone, get inside the dance circles and photograph the party from the best possible setting.

Then there’s the post-production, where only you get to see the most hilarious shots (talking about the ones we discard as they are not suitable to be shared) and really re-live the whole day again.

But the really best part is showing the final results to the couple and seeing them living that day all over again, through your eyes.

If you, photographer, never had the chance to photograph a friend’s wedding, I highly encourage you to bring your camera to the next one.

And if you, engaged someone, would like help to plan you elopement in Vancouver, send me a message and I will love to share some of the best people to help you planning your small wedding.

Here’s some photos of all of these moments. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I loved taking.

Thank you for reading,

Mafe.