Aquatopia Conservatory Wedding
Erica and Alex | A greenhouse wedding at Aquatopia Conservatory
On a chilly autumn day, Erica and Alex recited their wedding vows inside Aquatopia Conservatory, a tropical greenhouse here in Ottawa, and gave us all the warm fuzzies. To say it was an emotional and heartfelt day would not be doing it justice. The entire day was built with heart and had so much love and intention behind it. That, coupled with the fact that Erica and Alex had to postpone their date three times due to Covid, this was a day that was absolutely worth waiting for.
The vendors involved in the day
It truly takes a village to pull off the best weddings! Here’s a quick shoutout to the wonderful vendor team that came together to make it all happen:
Photography: Lauren McCormick Photography
Venue: Aquatopia Water Garden Conservatory
Hair: Mane Collective Ottawa
Makeup: Anusha.mua
Calligraphy & Signs: Avi Scribbles
Sweets: The Cupcake Lounge
Music: Fresh Events
Dress: David’s Bridal
Suit: Indochino
Jewellery: Goldform Jewellers
The story of how Erica and Alex met
To give you better insight into their wedding day, I think it’s important that you hear how these two met. It was a romance right from the start. But I’ll let the couple tell their story in their own words:
“We first met at a spoken word poetry show, where we were both performing in teams with our groups of friends! Spoken word is a competitive form of performance poetry. You get creative, pour your heart out into a 3-minute poem and you’re judged with a score out of 10. It’s a very efficient way to get to know someone! Needless to say we loved each other’s styles and we stayed in touch. Soon after, wrote a poem together (about the beauty of the moon!)”
And if that’s not enough to make you fall in love with them, just wait until you hear about their wedding day.
"Presence, not performance"
When I first met up with Alex on the morning of his wedding, he let me in on a little secret. The couple had decided to create a motto for their wedding day, and they’ve given me permission to share it all with you as well. “Presence, not performance”. They wanted to stay absolutely present and take in every moment. And they certainly did not want to make their wedding day into any kind of performance. I love these words, and have actually shared them with a few others who I thought might appreciate them as well. Maybe you will, too.
Venue Decor and First Look
Aquatopia Conservatory is the only greenhouse wedding venue in Ottawa, making it quite a unique spot to tie the knot. This also means there is very little needed to decorate the space. With so much natural light coming through the venue, and spectacular tropical backdrops, I was in a photographer’s dream capturing this day!
For their first look, we went out to the field beside the venue to give the couple a private moment for themselves. It was an incredibly emotional first look, and these two truly seemed to be living out their motto for the day.
Portraits and their indoor ceremony
The ceremony itself was incredible. The tropical vibes at Aquatopia certainly kept guests cozy and warm on the chilly October afternoon. And seeing Alex quite literally dance down the aisle during the recessional basically made my entire day! It was so beautiful to see the love and energy surrounding these two.
Reception and Dance Floor
Following the ceremony, Erica and Alex grabbed a drink at their cocktail hour to wind down. One of their friends made a customized newspaper dedicated to their newlywed status – which absolutely impressed everyone at the wedding!
We managed to sneak them outside for a few minute just before dinner to take some sunset photos, and to give them a moment to slow down, and take everything in. And when we returned for dinner, the guests were all surprised to find the couple gave everyone in attendance a personalized, hand written note to thank them for coming. This is truly a testament to how thoughtful and caring these two are!
These are so stunning, it feels so ALIVE. And ‘presence not performance’, that needs to be printed in the cover of a wedding planning handbook!
Aquatopia?! What a cool name! Loving your editing style, too!
The Aquatopica Conservatory is such a fun wedding venue! I love that it’s big enough to have their ceremony as well as reception there – after dark it looked even more amazing!
I stopped by to say that I have really enjoyed this story scrolling through your lovely pictures. Such a nice style! And such an interesting idea to get married inside a tropical greenhouse. The whole wedding setup shines at night with the all the lights going through the glass. Your pictures just illustrate this amazing moment.
What a dream to be able to photograph a wedding in a greenhouse/conservatory! These are fabulous joy-filled images! I’m sure this couple is so ecstatic they chose you to document their beautiful day!
Gosh I just swoon when I see greenhouse weddings! They are stunning! Beautifully captured
Wow such a cool venue for a wedding!! Absolutely in love with the moments and energy you captured throughout the day!
Tropical greenhouses for intimate vows ceremony give me all the feels….so so beautiful…so unique….stunning for a wedding!