A Stunning Forest Elopement With Only Close Family | Lu & Adrian's Rural Landsdowne Wedding
If you could travel in time with your partner, would you visit a place in the past or the future?
The future, because everyone in the past is pretty... prejudiced. And we're pretty gay, and have small clothes and bright colored hair. The future could give us hope for the present.
Lu and Adrian are nature-loving free spirits. For their engagement session, we went for a two hour hike at Frontenac park (and they stayed and did some camping).
So their fall wedding was going to be in the middle of a forest. Naturally!
I was completely excited for this day, even though I didn’t know many of the details. All I really needed to know was that the colours would be gorgeous, all the important folks were attending, and that everything else would be just right.
The forest was adjacent to Lu’s parents’ place, in Landsdowne. It was a beautiful drive there, the trees were just starting to turn colour. I drove onto a forest county road lined with yellow and orange trees.
Adrian was getting ready with the crew over on one side of the property, at a neighbour’s cottage; meanwhile Lu was over the road with their crew. I went back and forth to capture both getting ready in each place. And I used some flash indoors, because I really wanted those vibrant colours of the floral crown to pop!
One of my favourite moments was when everyone was doing their make-up on the outside deck. I really wanted to get a stylized shot, because I was mesmerized by how fluent Adrian is doing make-up. (When I first met them, they were doing amazing things at a kids’ face-painting event, and I’ve followed their artistic flow ever since. They do a lot of amazing costumes and makeup on their IG - you should check it out!)
Anyway, we got a lot of fun getting ready shots. The light was quirky in the best ways.
Then it was time for the ceremony. Lu and the guests made their way down the weaving path into the appropriate forest spot, which had been lovingly decorated with lanterns, pumpkins, and other fall decor. I followed Adrian and their dad, and positioned myself in the right way to catch this photograph, taken through a small branch with orange and red leaves. I just love that it reminds you of the time of year, simply by shooting through the leaves!
The ceremony was beautiful. I flitted around getting shots of the gathered family, and of Lu and Adrian reciting their vows.
As a photographer, I sadly don’t often overhear the vows, simply because I’m trying to get all the angles. But whatever they said to each other, it was emotional. I could see the emotion on their faces, and on the faces of their loved ones. It was a really magical, serene moment in that forest, where all was otherwise quiet.
After the ceremony, we took a few family photos, then we went to the dock to get some photos of the happy couple. Adrian even went into the water, their wedding dress dragging behind, for an epic kiss shot. It was the perfect way to celebrate their union of love (which if you go back and read their engagement blog, you’ll see it has been a long 10 year love story!)
Leaving the families to have dinner, and revel in each other’s company, I had a giant smile on my face. I couldn’t have asked for a more uplifting day, spending these hours documenting Lu and Adrian’s wedding.
I hope you enjoyed these photographs and story.
If you’re considering eloping to the middle of a forest in fall, I would strongly encourage you to do it!
If you’re wondering how many guests should you invite? Well, that’s entirely up to you. But just remember: it doesn’t have to be a lot of people for it to have really deep meaning.