family, a wedding and lots of excitement.

Last weekend my cousin Jolene got married!!! Since Jolene is the oldest of my cousins, this was the first wedding I had been to since I was about 6. I was a little excited.. just a bit. It didn't help that one of my favourite wedding photographers and bloggers Joee Wong was their wedding photographer..!! (I mentioned him in an earlier blog post, did you catch my excitement the first time around?)

It was nice to see so much of my family together again. Most of my cousins and aunts and uncles are in Vancouver, with my family and Jolene's families being the exceptions, so it was really neat to see everyone together in Ontario!

My aunts, uncles, cousins and immediate family.

The wedding was beautiful! Though it was windy and therefore quite chilly, it was beautiful to see Jolene and Wilton get married outside- the early evening light was amazing too. They were very lucky with the weather as it had been raining all weekend, but it really cleared up for them!

Uncle Bobby walking Jolene down the aisle.

A few months ago, Jolene asked me if I could help out with their tea ceremony. At the time, I had no idea what it was as I had never seen one before. I learned quickly that it's a ceremony where the bride and groom offer their elders tea as a sign of respect, and their elders offer them lucky red pocket money as a blessing for their marriage. My part in all of this was to bring the tea to the couple. One of Jolene's bridesmaids poured the tea and I went back and forth with the tea tray. After the tea ceremony, my arms got quite shaky from holding the tray for so long. Funny story: we got candy in cute little candy jars as wedding favours, and when I opened mine, my arms were so shaky that I spilled candy all over the place. Embarrassing.

Jolene and Wilton offering Uncle Bobby tea.

Jolene and Wilton are both such sweet and kind people. This summer, over a few trips to Toronto, it has been really great seeing the two of them together. They are so caring towards others and so easy to talk to! I can't wait to see them build a life together! (Cheesy, but true, I promise!) Also, as a plus, Wilton was the first person to understand what it is that I am studying, before I explained it. He studied something similar in university (except at Western, pfft).

They made their entrance to Gangnam Style.. haha! They sure know how to have fun!

I was super excited when I first spotted their photographer, Joee. I wanted to say hi, but I didn't know what to say! "Hi... I'm a huge fan... *awkward smile*" I waited until after the tea ceremony.. but still said just that. Though I felt super awkward, Joee was super nice and gave me a hug, and asked if I was from Ottawa.. he totally remembered me (Jolene had mentioned me to him, haha!)! We had a nice chat and he said he wanted to get a photo with me before the end of the night. (What I hope I sounded like: "Yeah, that'd be awesome!" What I probably sounded like: "OHMYGOSHREALLYOKAY!!!!")

I watched him work a little throughout the wedding, but it was amazing how he blended into the background so seamlessly. Even for someone like me who wanted to watch him work, I forgot he was even there lots of the time. I happened to be sitting next to the projector (seriously, how did that happen?) when he put up a surprise Same Day Edit slideshow for the newlyweds. It was a great sneak peak of his amazing photos. Anywho, by the end of the night, we took a photo together and I probably had the biggest, goofiest grin ever. I will definitely show you once I get a look at it.

Also, check this out:

My excitement level was through the roof!!!

And so, Jolene and Wilton are now married! Crazy, right? Also, I love this picture. They both look so goofily happy. How cute!

Congrats to the happy couple!