Yes, you read the title right. Part 1 (Part 2 is now up). Essentially because I can’t limit this down to a manageable sized post to cover the weekend. Laura and Denny were married in McGregor Bay, a place where Laura’s family has owned cottages for years. The location was simply amazing, McGregor bay is essentially made up of lots of little tiny islands that all interconnect. All the guests had to be boated in to the ceremony/reception area through the maze of islands.
Before making it to the marina where I was scheduled to be picked up to be brought to the wedding location I ran in to some friends from the Sault and I told them where I was headed. We joked about how “I’ve seen movies start like that” and that I’d probably hop on the wrong boat and be brought to some random location and have to try to escape for the next 3 days and that if they never heard from me they would know when the last time I was seen was. As it turns out, I was running a little ahead of schedule so I was at the marina about an hour before I was scheduled to be picked up, after waiting around for about 20 minutes one of the operators of the marina offered to give me a ride in as he was “headed in that direction anyway”. Now after just having a conversation about hopping on the wrong boat just before this it didn’t really seem like a good idea but when do I ever follow good idea? I threw my gear on the boat and the adventure began.
The weekend was simply incredible and the location was gorgeous (as I mentioned before). Everyone involved with the weekend pitched in to make it what it was; Laura and Denny actually made their wedding cake the night before their wedding, Laura’s mom made all the bouquets and flower arrangements, the guys cleaned the area the ceremony was taking place, family members boated all the guests between islands for the ceremony and reception, the girls did each others hair and makeup etc.
Part 1 here will detail everything leading up to the ceremony. In here we have some of the pre-wedding day action including all the guys deciding to go for a late night swim and Laura and Denny making their wedding cake around 11PM night before the wedding. As well some of the details of the morning of the wedding day are featured including the prep work, Denny deciding to go for a wake boarding session and the mini shoot of the girls and the guys that I was able to get in before the ceremony. Working on an island that is about 100 yards long makes it a little tougher to have the bride and groom not see each other before the ceremony but we pulled it off.
There is something about a Northern Ontario weddin’ that can’t be duplicated anywhere else in the world. The real venues, rustic cabins and Ontario landscapes make for an awesome backdrop to your photography and style. Nicely done! They’ll be thrilled.
Great shots! Can’t wait to see more. Hope you enjoyed your trip to ‘The Bay’. I grew up there and am still there as much as possible. Nothing quite like it.
[…] Part 2 to Laura and Denny’s McGregor Bay wedding (check out Part 1 here). We’re kicking this off with the ceremony and working all the way to the morning of the next […]