Our Ucluelet Wedding – the Cabins at Terrace Beach

2018 has been a crazy year for us in wedding photography as it was the year we had our own wedding. I knew from the moment we talked about getting engaged that I wanted to get married on the island. So much that on the way TO our potential venue at the time – The Cabins at Terrace Beach in Ucluelet – we got engaged! I’m not a huge surprise person so even though I didn’t know exactly when it was going to happen I knew that it would. Read that story here. Anyway so most of 2018 was spent leading up to our September wedding and I know now that I have a different outlook for all of our clients and wedding photography itself. It was so special to be both a fellow bride and a vendor to all of our 2018 couples and for that I think all of them will always have a little extra soft spot in my heart.

Leading up to our wedding, I was like most brides – keeping my cool but stressing about the little things. I thought that working in the industry would change that, buuuut it didn’t. So much that I actually got super sick the DAY after our wedding from all the build up. So part of the reason this blog post was so late was because of the influx of work we had following the wedding and also how I got pretty sick! So my future brides out there reading this as you’re planning your own big day – chill out – trust me!!

When it actually came to head over to the island for the big day, it was just all about making sure everyone got there safe. Ucluelet is such a magical place and we were very fortunate that it POURED rain the few days up to the wedding. I mean POURED, then on the wedding day itself it was overcast for our photos and the cleared up to a beautiful sunny day for the ceremony on the beach. I can’t count how many of our vendors and guests were asking me how I managed to make that happen. Oh… I have my ways, hehe. Overall this day was perfect. So perfect and no matter how much money you spend on this day – it is only one day – I know that it was worth every penny. It didn’t go exactly as planned but I’m overwhelmingly thankful I stayed true to these things:

1. I invited the people who I needed to be there. Not who someone else said “should” be there
2. I put my money into the things that mattered MOST to me: Photographers & Venue plus our Wedding Coordinator who wasn’t originally planned for but ended up being 100% worth the cost
3. We saved money by leaving out the things that didn’t matter as much OR did the things that did matter myself if I could (I DIYed my own bouquet with silk flowers and designed all my own print stuff)
4. I made sure that I had elements of me and our uniqueness in our day. I still had purple in my hair and we cut the cake with a master sword. Enough said.
5. I included my dachshunds – who mean the world to me – and would have regretted if they weren’t a part of our day.
6. Having a getaway wedding that wasn’t too hard to get to was very important to me (back to venue) because I wanted my friends/family to have a weekend away. This was huge because we actually got a chance to see most people Friday-Sunday instead of just a few hours on Saturday. Plus many of my friends are entrepreneur types – so we all know they needed a weekend away!

With that said, I can’t stress enough that the people who are at your wedding make your wedding. From your guests to even the vendors and every single one of those people were chosen carefully. The rest, the scenery was a big deal to me but overall it was the people. So choose them well.

Speaking of Vendors, no matter how many times people asked us if we were going to photograph our own wedding (hahahahaha – sooo funny) we chose very well with the talented Pebble & Pine Photography. These guys taught us new tricks, were a blast to hang out with and captured what we wanted perfectly. I have always had a value for wedding photography, which is an obvious statement, but after getting my photos back from P&P, I have even more respect for what we do, because I LOVE looking through these photos and they really are all we have left as a reminder to be able to relive it from a whirlwind weekend (besides ourselves of course). Also a huge shoutout to my friend Stefani from Amethyst Crystal Organic Beauty who came all the way to Ucluelet to do my hair and makeup, our amazing celebrant Ceri Peacey, Rare Earth Weddings for an outstanding job keeping our day running smoothly. Plus huge thanks to Ukee Rocks, Rhino Donuts, Solidarity Snacks and everyone else who made our day special.

Here’s some of my favourites from the day. Okay, there’s a lot, but really it’s me narrowing them down! Enjoy!

PS – We want to go photograph weddings as vendors in Ucluelet or Tofino, so ask us about our special rates for those weddings!