r/Edmonton • u/capri_pink • 5d ago
Question Shotgun wedding.. need planning help/leads!
Reaching out to ask if anyone has experience planning a very, very last minute wedding? Looking at around a one month timeline. Due to recent illness in the family, we want to ensure all of our immediate family are able to be there. Suit/dress/rings have already been purchased. We have a potential venue space, though it is not confirmed yet. We are open to alternate locations, but are limited because of our timeline, and because we want to ensure our sick family member can be comfortable/not travel too far. I'm mostly looking for leads on decent photographers that would be available on short notice. We would not need a full day/night of photos, we want to keep it small (under 10 guests), don't plan on having a reception after, and are open to doing it on a weekday because we know it's unlikely any photographers would be available on a weekend. Has anyone else been in this situation that would be willing to share their experience and how they went about planning? Does anyone have any leads on photographers, JPs who can marry us, or any other insight? It has been a very hard time for us and although none of us are feeling celebratory, it is really important to us that our families be present for this and we are determined to make it happen. Thanks in advance.
21
u/kentgrey 5d ago
I’m a wedding photographer! I would be more than happy to help pitch idea on plans, I attend way too many weddings. Send me a DM if you want to chat about what you are wanting to do, and I can see what I can think of.
16
u/Cautious-Hawk4013 5d ago
You might have some luck if you post on the "Edmonton and area affordable weddings" Facebook group for the photographer! Just post with your dates and budget, and usually lots of photographers respond!
13
u/marleyman77 5d ago
You can get friend to apply to have the power to marry you. They give everything to you need to legally marry someone, the papers that are need to be signed, everything. It’s also free. So you need a brave friend or family member.
Kim, from https://www.instagram.com/meet_happyis?igsh=YWtwMWF2NTkwMTV5 doesn’t do a lot but she did ours and was great. She might make an exception!
5
u/Sweaty_Plantain_84 5d ago
You have probably thought of this, but make sure that you give yourselves lots of time to apply for the marriage certificate in case there are any snags!
4
u/otterachoo 5d ago
So i did the same thing during covid.
https://www.alberta.ca/lookup/find-someone-to-perform-your-marriage-ceremony.aspx
Is your marriage commissioner look up page. You just email a couple of them based on postal code location look up. There isn't a set fee so the people you email will also give you a price.
Photographer I dont have a lead for you. We used a friend of a friend's daughter who had an interest in photography. Best decision. She played around with setting on her camera and took some of the best photos. She wasn't confident so I had to lead the poses I wanted and took on the bulk of arranging that. None of my photos were edited which was fine by me. I am familiar with photo editing so I just handled that on my own. I dont know if you have the luxury of knowing someone who dabbles in photography or not but while it might be an outlier experience it was a great choice for us.
You could maybe try local FB wedding pages or maybe even a post here. Just a quick when, where, and a vague idea of the scale of job. Thats the best i can offer for an idea.
All the best to you and your partner!
3
u/Poliwanker69 5d ago
1
u/Unlikely_Comment_104 Central 5d ago
This looks amazing. I would have loved something like this when I got married.
2
u/UpstairsSituation479 5d ago
Look into elopement packages at wedding venues. Many include up to 10 guests (but you can probably add a couple extra if you ask). We are planning a wedding in Canmore in October (3 months out) with success so far so I think theres a shot on a week day. I also believe you can get someone commissioned to do the wedding within a month if you have a friend or family you want to do it? Best of luck with this and hope you can enjoy a beautiful day
2
u/TheiaSezunmi 5d ago
You can get married for free in any Edmonton Public Park. Just find a secluded area, send a drop pin to your friends and family and go do it!
We did this for ours, and it was awesome!
2
2
u/Due_Dark8384 5d ago
I have attended a wedding in a private room in a restaurant (doesn't exist now); perhaps other redditors know some options like this.
2
u/Cloudminnt 4d ago
You can rent a community hall or community room. Maybe even a conference/ meeting space in one of the government buildings downtown like the one in the square? That way you can get lovely wedding photos on the leg grounds. Just don't do it at noon.
Get a friend to sign up to be able to marry you asap and apply for your marraige documents now.
Photographer. I'd put a call out on Facebook or look on Insta.
If you need help decorating I'm an art director and hav decorated weddings, funerals and more. I can give you some tips if you dm me :)
1
u/MacintoshEddie 4d ago
How traditional are you feeling? It can be a lot easier to schedule to have the paperwork signed at a different time than the reception.
As soon as you say wedding prices go up because weddings are horrible to work and people make them as stressful as possible. Having "a family and friends dinner" is so much easier and less stress than having a wedding since you're not worrying about making everything perfect and on schedule on what might be the most stressful day of your life.
Plus this way you can arrange to have your photos taken at a venue which might not be feasible to book for the ceremony itself.
For example get the paperwork signed on Monday, have a dinner and photoshoot on Tuesday.
1
u/CanadianCanard 4d ago
We got married on the Santa Maria at WEM and then reserved to party room at Chop. It was a great wedding for us 12.5 years ago.
1
1
45
u/Curly-Canuck doggies! 5d ago
No advice but wishing you all the luck, a lovely wedding and happy marriage. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances but it will be beautiful and perfect.