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Chelsie and Jeff's small backyard wedding was an absolutely incredible day. After postponing their wedding in 2020, and then being forced to downsize their wedding in 2021, Chelsie and Jeff were very ready to get married! There were so many sweet, emotional moments and we can't wait to bring them to the blog to you today!
Before we dive into all of their precious wedding moments, if you are planning a Calgary wedding, we would love to hear from you! We also have a great list on the blog if you are looking for stunning Calgary wedding venues which you can find here. If you are new to our corner of the internet - Hi! I'm Krystal, and Fly Free Photography is made up of a husband & wife photo and video team right here in Calgary. Yup - I'm one of those crazy women that works with their husband!
You can check out our packages and photography pricing here. Although my husband and I weren't personally the photographer and videographer for this wedding, I feel so grateful to have such amazing associate photographers and videographers to step in when I'm full booked :) They did a phenomenal job!
Getting Ready Photos
Getting ready with Chelsie was full of joy and tears. Some happy, some sad. After over a year of dealing with the uncertainty of a pandemic, and having wedding plans change and reimagined over and over again, you couldn't help but feel a little emotional. As Chelsie got ready, she was Facetiming with her best friend from the US who was not able to be there for her on her wedding day. They shared some laughs but also some tears (understandably!). It was so sweet to witness.
One of the things that stood out the most during her getting ready photos was the way her grandmothers watched with so much joy, knowing how special it was for them to witness such beautiful memories. Chelsie's grandfather had unfortunately passed away last year and her grandmother presented her with a pearl necklace in a purple velvet seashell case with a hand-written note that said "I love you." It was a gift her grandfather had given to her grandmother when they had been married for seven years. It was rare for him to handwrite. This precious gift was given to Chelsie. Although she didn't wear it on her wedding day, she put it on during the getting ready photos. The family shared MANY tears over this (and we are tearing up just writing about it now!).
One of our favourite photos is the one of her grandmother putting the necklace on her!
Backyard Wedding Ceremony
Chelsie and Jeff's backyard wedding ceremony was simple and sweet. Their backyard naturally has trees so their white and green color palette blended in perfectly and made the whole area look elevated! One more advantage to a backyard wedding - you can bring your dogs! That was one of the things Chelsie's dad was most looking forward to: wedding photos with the dogs! For guests who couldn't attend their intimate backyard wedding, many viewed their live stream! We love how technology has helped us all connect this year when we couldn't see everyone in person.
Also - can we talk about how cute their flower girl is?! Jeff's niece was actually born last year on Chelsie and Jeff's ORIGINAL 2020 wedding date.
Backyard Wedding Reception
Chelsie and Jeff's backyard wedding reception was simple and sweet: cupcakes & cookies, a first dance, and some toasts. Chelsie's dad had us all crying with his speech when he said, There were many goals we had for Chelsie... We were hard on boyfriends because we were waiting for someone like you and I have no reservations giving her to you today". Cue the waterworks. We can't decide what's sweeter, her dad's words or when Jeff said, "It wasn't the day we imagined, but any day I get to marry Chelsie is a perfect day."
As Calgary wedding photographers, any day we get to see true love like this is a perfect day!
Stunning Micro Wedding in Calgary
We hope you loved Chelsie and Jeff's wedding as much as we did. It really was the most incredible day. As elopement photographers, we have always loved smaller events but over the last year we have fallen head over heels for micro weddings of all shapes and sizes. If you are planning your own Calgary micro wedding, make sure to check out this post featuring our 7 favourite small Calgary wedding venues. We also created elopement packages for couples ready to get married already! When you are ready to book your photographers, you can connect with us here!