It is with great joy that I am sharing Andrew and Sarah's Kelowna wedding on the blog today. You may have remembered seeing their proposal featured on the blog a short while back. This lovely couple were married in mid-October, and it was a truly beautiful day to be a part of. Andrew and Sarah are good friends of mine and my husband, Nic. Nic was the Best Man in the wedding and I had the privilege of being their Day-Of Coordinator. It was a calm and elegant day, all in honour of not just their wedding but also the start of a lifetime of marriage. Both Andrew and Sarah waited a long time to find one another, and I am blown away by how perfect they are for each other. I'm sure they would both tell you that it was well worth the wait.  

There were so many special details throughout the wedding day: the "blindfolded" prayer before the ceremony, the golden paper dots that Sarah delicately cut out to line the aisle and to decorate the guest tables, the smiles and kisses that the couple shared throughout the day, my husband's adorably awkward Best Man speech, and the sparkler exit at the end of the night.

Thank you, Andrew and Sarah, for including me in your special day! It was so perfect and I'm so excited to walk alongside you in this new journey called marriage. 

Much love to you both,

Jodi Marie

Day-Of Coordinator: Jodi Marie Events
Photographer: Elle&R
Venue: Four Points Sheraton Kelowna
Videographer: PixelPro Productions

I met Nick and Laura of Paraphrase Productions at an event that we worked together in April. It was an event that Nick organized, focusing on displaying talented local artists. I was impressed with how attentive, outgoing, and hardworking both Nick and Laura were at the event, and it prompted me to view their business website. Paraphrase Productions captures beautiful moments and the photos that they take are stunning. I am excited to share them with you today. Keep reading to see a few examples of their beautiful photographs and to learn more about this talented couple. Enjoy! <3

Who are you? Paraphrase Productions is, in its simplest terms, a "Pair of Froese's" (pronounced 'Phrase') doing what we love! Laura is an avid photographer both professionally and as a personal hobbiest, and Nick has been doing video work since high-school when he bought his first camera instead of his first car.  

We view success a little differently than a lot of people or companies. We turned down some great opportunities, and walked away from a very comfortable life to start own our little company because there was something we valued more than the number of jobs we did, our bank balance, or the things surrounding us. We value relationships. We want the time to invest into each client, our community, and each other. It's not just about providing a service. It's about making someone's life a little better in the process.  

Why did you start doing weddings? I worked in the wedding industry before I started shooting weddings, but it was always that one thing that I was "never" going to personally shoot. I thought it would be too stressful, or too commercialized. In the Spring of 2014, I had two separate people approach me about shooting a wedding for them despite the fact that it was something I had never done. I hesitantly agreed, and ended up absolutely loving every minute of it! By the Fall of that year I had almost a dozen weddings under my belt, and have never looked back. Weddings are my true photographic passion.

What is your favourite part of working in the wedding industry? Honestly, other than the hours, there is nothing that I don't love about working in the industry. As a photographer, we live to capture or create "moments" that will be treasured forever. It's like helping make a visual diary of someone's life. You're capturing events, people, emotions, memories. You're freezing time. To be able to do that on one of the happiest and most momentous days of someone's life only magnifies that. Whether you love to shoot all the little details, or capture authentic emotion, or be able to pose and create your vision through pictures, it's ALL there on the wedding day. You get to be the story teller. You are one of the few people that gets to watch the Wedding Day Story unfold from the very beginning to the very end. Not even the bride and groom know what each other is doing at every moment, or can see the look in their own eyes when they get that first glimpse of their spouse-to-be. You get to record it all and share it with them, and it's a privilege.

Any advice for couples who are currently planning their wedding? Keep perspective. At the end of the day, you will laugh about your dress not fitting properly at the last minute, or there being a spelling mistake on your wedding cake, or a bridesmaid losing part of her outfit (all true from my own wedding!). What's really important is that you are marrying the love of your life and starting an amazing adventure together. Don't get so caught up in the event that you lose perspective of WHY you are having it.  

Also, on a more practical side, when trying to budget such a huge event and struggling to manage umpteen Pinterest boards and a zillion suggestions/requests from well-meaning loved ones, try to remember what is really going to last. 10, 20, or even 50 years later, what will you still carry with you from that day? I got married 5 years ago, and I barely remember what we ate. My wedding dress is at the bottom of a trunk, and I don't really care about my party favours anymore. What I see every day is our photographs displayed in our home, my wedding band, and the man I love. Prioritize what will last.  

A random fact (or two) about yourself. My husband and I are huge geeks. Our ideal days off frequently involve pajamas, pizza, and sci-fi t.v. marathons. We also both come from a musical background. My husband plays violin, drums, and has a great voice, and I teach piano a couple nights a week on the side :).