Calgary Rural Acreage Wedding Photographer | Mr & Mrs Atkin

Calgary Rural Acreage Wedding Photographer

When I first met Dale & Azar, they told me that they were going to be having their wedding on Dale’s family’s property outside the city. They told me that Dale’s late father had spent much of his time making the gardens beautiful and they wanted to honour his memory by having their wedding there.

So I knew their wedding would be particularly personal and meaningful, and I couldn’t wait to capture their beautiful day.

And it was even more than I could have imagined. Their family property was an absolutely stunning backdrop for their ceremony. Their vows were heartfelt, the peach, gold, and coral colour palette was soft and romantic, and Dale & Azar’s love for each other was overflowing.

There were some traditional Persian elements to their wedding ceremony which you can read about below, including a honey tradition that used fresh honey from the family’s beehive! There was traditional dancing including a knife dance right before the cake cutting, and Azar tore up the dance floor all night with her family and friends. It was so fun and if I wasn’t working I would have been right out there with them!

Dale & Azar – thank you so much for including me in your beautiful wedding day. It has been such a pleasure getting to know you both and witnessing your deep love for one another. I absolutely love your story and I’m grateful that I get to be a part of telling it. Many congratulations and wishes for an incredible life together.

Dale & Azar met as a result of their mutual love for their pets (if you want to read that story you can pop on over to their engagement session), so I was all for it when Hudson the cat came over to check me out while I was shooting groom details;)

Isn’t Bella so adorable in her dress?!?! It went with Azar’s colour scheme so well:)

On her way to meet her groom for their first look… a moment of excitement and butterflies. 

The cutest little flower girls…

Dale & Azar incorporated a traditional Persian honey tradition into their ceremony. They each dipped a pinky finger into the honey and fed it to each other. This symbolizes the sweetness that they will bring to each other in their married life together. This honey had been harvested from the family’s beehive just a few days before the wedding! 

These other elements of the traditional Persian wedding ceremony are to symbolize prosperity, fertility, joy, beauty, and abundance.

After the recessional everyone walked their chair from the ceremony site to the reception tent! 

These honey wedding favours were filled with fresh honey from the family’s beehive. It had been harvested only a few days before the wedding! Such a personal and thoughtful gift for each of their wedding guests.

We snuck outside at the end of the night for a few more portraits at sunset. And Azar changed into a gorgeous short white dress so she could party the night away:)

Photography by: Carlin Anquist. I am a Calgary based wedding photographer and I am available to capture weddings for awesome couples all across Alberta, BC, and worldwide. If you are recently engaged and are looking for the perfect photographer for you, send me a note at hello@carlinanquist.com. We can chat over coffee (or ice cream!) and get to know each other. Check out my other blog posts for my most recent work, and connect with me on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google Plus!

A huge thank you to all of the wedding vendors that helped make Dale & Azar’s wedding day so beautiful!

Marriage Commissioner: Jane Patterson
Flowers:  Amborella Floral Studio
Dress: Beautiful Bride, Stella York
Shoes: Town Shoes
Groom’s Tuxedo: Derks
Groomsmen Suits: Black and Lee
Bridesmaids Dresses: Durand Bridal, Alfred Angelo
DJ: PEZ Productions
Caterers: Red Seal Dining
Cake: Orchid Pastry
Bar: Waiters on the Run
Videographer: Parweiz Video Studio
Chairs and Tables: Chair Flair
Tent: Great Events Rentals
Makeup: Farrah Makeup and Design
Hair: Aria Hair Design and Spa
Dog Dress: Amazon
Rings: Maggie’s Diamond Boutique

You can see Dale & Azar’s sunset engagement session here. And make sure to check out their wedding video slideshow below!