The Beauty of Italy in Ottawa, by Joel and Justyna Bedford [Rf Wedding of the Week]

When Canadian couple Adam and Amanda hosted a luxurious and traditional Italian wedding in the country’s capital city of Ottawa, they chose the very talented photography duo Joel & Justyna (who we also just announced as Rf 30 Rising Stars of 2016) to capture every last detail.

“They chose the Chateau Laurier as the venue for their guests,” Joel explains, “as Adam’s parents tied the knot there over 20 years ago. We started the day with both Adam and Amanda getting ready at home. They were surrounded by loved ones, and their family could not wait to start clinking Champagne glasses with them.”

All Photos © Joel & Justyna

After the church ceremony, the photographers whisked Adam and Amanda away to take some Chateau Laurier wedding photos at their venue. “The portraits are as classic as these two—not a hair out of place and sure to stand the test of time,” Joel says. “Their reception was a lavish celebration with live music, opulent florals and candlelight, but most of all, beautiful speeches by loved ones.”

“We were able to sneak off for a few sunset portraits on the terrace, and returned just in time for an epic first dance. Our favorite moment must have been seeing their entire bridal party run out onto the dance floor right after for a group hug. We’re so happy to have documented this beautiful time in Adam and Amanda’s lives, and we can’t wait to see where this new journey brings them.”

Of course, no wedding is a cake walk! Joel says Amanda and Adam’s wedding did come with some logistical challenges from a photographer’s point of view:

“The couple had a larger bridal party, chose to forgo a reveal (which would have enabled us to do the majority of the formal portraits ahead of time) and it was a rainy, late summer day. Quite a bit of prep work goes into weddings like these for us. We study posing for larger groups, lighting larger groups, and thinking quickly on our feet in a variety of light and weather settings so that when curveballs like this are thrown in our direction, we can focus on the artistry versus trying to figure out logistics.

“In the end, the challenges ended up being our favorite moments to photograph—we had limited time before the guests arrived for cocktail hour, so we quickly photographed the bridal party in a variety of classic poses. Justyna’s art history background certainly helps when it comes to posing bigger groups. She studied the masters from the Renaissance onward in university and applies that knowledge to settings like these. Because it was raining, we couldn’t just take the big group out to a park (which would have been the simplest solution), but we also found that it helped us avoid a few clichés (like the ‘walk towards us arm in arm!’ pose).”

“Most of all,” Joel sums up, “we loved that Adam and Amanda had this elegant ease about them. They were aware they were being photographed, but not so much that they were awkward in front of the camera. They were perfectly vulnerable, and we can’t ask for more from our subjects, as photographers.”

(The wedding was photographed mainly on Canon 5D Mark III’s with some parts on the Fuji X100. “We mostly used our Canon 35mm 1.4L, 45mm TS-E, Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4, Canon 85mm f/1.8 and Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L lenses for the ceremony,” Joel says.)

Check out more Weddings of the Week, and email Libby Peterson or Jacqueline Tobin with submissions.