Rachel Ludwig Photography | Abbotsford Portrait and Wedding Photographer

You may recognize my beautiful little sister Elsa and her handsome new hubby from their engagement session this spring…They are now officially Mr & Mrs Dinzey! They had a beautiful wedding day in September, complete with lots of love and laughter and surrounded by family and friends. It was a day that radiated love, happiness and faith, and I was super honored to be asked to take their pictures.

One thing I love about being the official photog for family weddings, is being able to spend time with the bride and groom. Normally on the wedding day they are busy with all the wedding guests, so it’s nice to be able to connect with them and document one of the most important days in their lives. Thank you Elsa & Derek for being so wonderful to work with. You made my job easy and fun and I’m so glad I was able to capture and share in your special day.

Side Note: For all you Pioneer Woman readers, doesn’t he remind you a bit of Malboro Man? I know he isn’t wearing his cowboy hat in any of the wedding pics…which definitely strengthens the resemblance, but even without it I think I see a similarity. So what’s your vote? Yes or No?)

Here are a few favorites from their day…

Doesn’t Elsa look amazing?

Everything from her beautiful hair, to the fabulous hair piece, great makeup and stunning dress…she looked amazing from head to toe!

And, just for the record, you’ll see the cutest flower girl ever below.

(In case you didn’t know, it’s my daughter Arden. She was such a trooper all day long, and barely complained even when she had blisters all over her feet from her new shoes!)

The running and spinning shots…totally Derek’s idea. He just did that as we were walking back to the car. I love it!

I should make a special note of his ring. His background is in iron-work, and he had it custom designed using some type of iron.

(I think? I’m not up on all my metals! But it looks fantastic, almost as nice as Elsa’s bling!)

We were heading back to Abbotsford for the reception, and we were nicely on time, until these words left my mouth:

“I’ve been dying to do some pictures with some old cars, but I can never find any!”

Lo and behold, just as I said that, we passed a property that had about 6 sitting out front, with the owner nearby who gave us full permission to use them for pictures. yay!

We didn’t even have to trespass to get the shots (which is normally the case in these kind of situations!)

I heart these shots…some of my faves from the day

Enjoy your sneak peek Elsa & Derek…thanks for waiting so patiently!

We started the day in Abbotsford, and headed to Aldergrove for the wedding ceremony. For pictures we went to South Langley and the beautiful Campbell Valley Park. The day was finished out at the Abbotsford Ramada for a delicious dinner! A big thank you to Alyssa for second shooting for me…it’s always great to have her along as we work together so well. The videographer was Andrew from PurMedia Design, Michelle Dehaas did the hair (if you want her info, just pop me an email…she is awesome!), and my sister-in-law Jen did the makeup.

I love when clients choose a location that is meaningful to them. Cates Park, in the beautiful North Vancouver / Deep Cove area, is close to their home and has special meaning for Chris & Kerith…Eleven years ago they had their wedding reception there! We had a beautiful sunny afternoon + an incredible location + a super laidback family = the perfect combination for some casual photojournalistic type shots and an awesome session! I love the beach. Love love love it. Wish I lived closer.

I should also mention that Kerith has a wonderful business helping people organize and simplify their lives and their homes. She came and helped me out with my home office, and she was able to whip it into (much needed) shape in no time! Check out her website for more information: Visual Girl

On to the pictures

That last shot in this first set? Thank you bird for the perfect timing

We had lots of fun with the three girls…blowing bubbles, popping seaweed and just hanging out at the beach.

Totally relaxing family afternoon at the beach that I was able to document. I loved it!

Kerith said she hates pictures of herself…but check out how gorgeous she is! and those fabulous earrings!

Kerith & Chris, Rhian, Ehren and Tia…thank you for a delightful afternoon! I will be in touch soon with the rest of your images.

This family has a lot of different roles in our life. Phil is one of my older brothers, he was my boss for many (10 I think?) years, he is business partners with my husband Tim, and they also happen to be our next door neighbours! Brent (second oldest) is one of our babysitters and my kids love him. Lauren is one of Ethan’s best buddies…these two play together almost every day, and love being able to just run over to each other’s houses to bike, jump on the trampoline, go on the swings, play hockey and videogames, etc. Jen is probably the person I talk to the most outside of my own home. Whether it be for a chat, to borrow a cup of milk, or to get her opinion on a recent purchase, we seem to spend a lot of time on the phone even though we live about 50 feet away from each other! We often get together for drinks on the deck, coffee and dessert after dinner, or potluck dinners. Let me tell you, I feel so blessed and thankful to have them as family, friends and neighbours!

They chose Crescent Beach as the location for their session, with a stop first at Stewart Farm. Such a beautiful area, I love it there and think it’s a gorgeous location for pictures with so many perfect backdrops. We had some crazy weather while we were there, and I was almost worried we would be rained out. But despite the thunder and rain, we did manage to finish the session with some beautiful sunshine!

I love the pop of color the fuschia gives to these images.

That one of them all looking up? My fave I think.

Possibly tied with the jumping shot (mostly because I love Jen’s expression as she’s jumping!)

Aren’t they cute?

While we were out in Ontario this summer for Julie & Jeremy’s wedding, (almost) the whole Ludwig clan descended on Jon & Tessa’s home. They graciously opened up in their home, fed us, and in general were pretty fabulous for putting up with 16 house-guests traipsing wet grass through their house during what had to be one of Ontario’s wettest summers. We had talked about doing pictures, but with the not-so-great weather and the busy-ness around the wedding, we weren’t sure if we would be able to fit a session in. But the day before the wedding we managed to sneak in about 30 minutes, and I’m so glad we did.

Anyways, enough of my blabbing…on to the pictures! I absolutely love the color combo they chose…the red and blue with the lush green grass was perfect! They have a gorgeous property that was the perfect setting. Also, right next door they had this beautiful golden field of winter wheat:

I always thought I would have a dark haired little girl, and I ended up with a blondie, so I’m thankful to have adorable nieces to fill that role!

Do they not have the most beautiful kids?

I heart that last picture of Jon & Tessa. Heart it.

This little man lives in a beautiful 108 year old house with the most gorgeous front porch…as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful September afternoon light and shoot outside. It was a record-breaking day for temperature (it was super hot!), which is perfect for babies as they like to be warm. Levi slept pretty much the entire session and didn’t make a single peep with all the different poses and shots we did. Check out the fabulous and colorful blanket that Laura made in the first picture, isn’t it awesome? I love the colors and patterns and just had to use it for a few shots.

A big thanks to Laura and AJ for being so relaxed and for making such cute kids! You have a beautiful family, and I enjoyed spending the afternoon chatting and shooting! Enjoy your sneak peek

The front porch had all these beautiful hanging baskets and planters…my orange wrap just happened to coordinate perfectly

As did dad’s firefighter hat! It was too small to put Levi into, but I knew we had to use it somehow!

Such a gorgeous mama…she just glows!

I love that we were able to grab some sibling, family and couple shots…the perfect way to end the session.

…but they are just so cute I couldn’t resist. This is my brother-in-law and sister-in-law (or in web-speak, BIL & SIL) who we are going to visit in the winter-land of Calgary for Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend. I’m looking forward to lots of delicious food (my SIL is a chef and makes the most amazing food!), maybe more than a few drinks, and definitely lots of laughter and fun. And a shoot or two as well. I can’t wait!

That means that I will be out of the office between Wednesday October 7th until Tuesday October 12th. For all you lucky Canadians who get to celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend, have a wonderful time feasting and being thankful!