Suli & Neils’ wedding is literally overflowing with love and joy.  The kind of pure happiness that jumps straight from every beautiful moment captured by Roxana Albusel Photography, with image after gorgeous image of smiling faces, bright tangerine orange and yellow decor, joyful guests dressed up to show the Mad Men theme, and heartwarming moments between family and friends. Join us as we share Suli & Neils’ lovely wedding story below.

 

 

The love story

From the Bride (Suli): We met online, which is not a particularly interesting story. My first date with Niels was actually my first online date ever so I consider myself very lucky to have found such a great partner without having to wade through the craziness of online dating.  We got engaged in December 2010 in Whistler. Niels proposed in the snow on the walk home after having dinner in the Village.

 

 

Wedding planning process

Suli: The wedding planning took about a year.  Both of us were ecstatic with the outcome. It was such an amazing feeling to celebrate our relationship, our family and our friendships with all the people that we love.

We put a lot of effort into writing a ceremony that reflected our values and our desire to make genuine, meaningful promises to each other and to our son, Fionn. Because of the time we put into writing the ceremony, both of us were able to be very present during our vows and take it all in.

 

The Mad Men theme

From the couple: Both of us love to dress up so we decided to have a Mad Men themed wedding. Weddings are all about the spectacle so we asked our guests to join us in creating an even bigger spectacle.  We asked them to wear late fifties/ early sixties summer cocktail attire.  Seeing everyone excited about their outfits and seeing how gorgeous they looked was a highlight for us.

 

 

Wedding decoration

Suli: We didn’t want to spend a huge amount of money on decor  – we decided to go with Sixties Mod decor – Thank you IKEA!

Niels found a great egg chair on Craigslist which was super fun for taking pictures in. I did all the table flowers myself  – orange Chinese lanterns, mum’s and gerbera daises in simple sixties inspired vases. Our florist did a fabulous job with our ceremony flowers and bouquets.

 

Theme color: tangerine orange and daffodil yellow

 

Favorite wedding details

Suli: One of my favorite  details was placing wedding photographs of our parents, who both got married in the sixties on the cocktail tables. We also worked hard (and by hard I mean we did a lot of tasting) at creating two signature cocktails that reflected our personalities and a “bubbly yet temperamental” drink that reflected our son.

The highlight of our wedding centered around our son, Fionn. Our son was having a hard day with all the busy-ness. He pretty much screamed his way down the aisle while being carried by a friend – sadly only wearing part of the super cute outfit he was supposed to wear.  Once I arrived at the front, I took him in my arms and for a few moments he snuggled into me, laid his head on my shoulder and seemed content just to be together with us.  This was lovely moment for us in which we felt very much connected as a family.  I also loved having my Boston Terrier,  Riley, as the Ring Dog.  He was a much more willing participant than Fionn and wore his bow tie without protest.

 

 

Thoughts from the photographer

Roxana Albusel: This wedding was very special to me for several reasons.  First, I was so excited about the theme the couple chose. I love the 50s and 60s style (and who doesn’t love Mad Men?) and was so excited to see it all come together on their special day. What I loved is that not only did the bride and groom play the part so well but the large majority of the guests did too! So many fedoras, so many fascinators, 50s and 60s dresses, the cocktails wonderful make-up (so much gorgeous red lipstick)! I was in a photographer’s heaven! Everyone looked so classic and elegant and it was such a pleasure editing all the photos afterwards.

Second, I absolutely loved working with Suli and Niels on their engagement, so I knew we’d take amazing photos during their wedding day too, and ohhh did we not disappoint! We had so much fun together, and I think the energy between them radiates in every single photo.

Finally, I absolutely love shooting at the Boathouse, so much beauty and of course, the gorgeous views. We were lucky to also have amazing weather – beautiful clouds, no rain! – so the whole day was quite smooth and fit together beautifully.

The thing I found most special about this wedding is the energy between the people, everyone worked so well together to make the day and preparations as stress-free as possible, everyone was incredibly friendly and beaming throughout the whole day.

Even though there were quite a large number of people, the ceremony felt so intimate. It was so clear that everyone there was a large group of friends and family and genuinely all loved each other and the couple. I felt like a part of the family. And of course, the lovely Boston Terrier, Riley, walking down the isle – so willingly! – was also an incredibly cute moment.

 

About the photographer

Roxana Albusel: I’m Roxana and I run Roxana Albusel Photography by myself. My love of photography started on a backpacking trip around Europe in 2009, where I had the opportunity to see endless beautiful sites and take thousands of photographs that I was lucky to share with friends and family through social media. The joy I had in playing with photographs, coming up with creative angles and editing them afterwards, helped me identify photography as a huge passion and embark on this wonderful journey as soon as I arrived back in Vancouver. Based on my travel photography and my eye in seeing the world around me, I started having requests for weddings, family and engagement photography, and the rest is history. I am so deeply in love with what I do and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store.

I’ve been very lucky to have a lot of support along the way and work with a lot of wonderful people. I’m always trying to evolve my style and learn more with each wedding I photograph, while also maintaining my natural style and my ability to keep my clients comfortable and relaxed. I have been shooting weddings for over three years and am lucky to have passed 40 weddings at the end of this year. My style is soft, candid and dreamy. I love capturing soft, intimate moments between couples while encouraging them to be themselves but also offering direction if they need it. The large majority of my couples love how comfortable I make them feel during sessions and that’s one of the things I’m most proud of.

 

 

Find the photographer:

Roxana Albusel Photography Website   |   Facebook

 

Vendor Information:

Caterer: Savoury Chef Foods   |   Cupcakes: Delish Cupcakes   |   Cake:  Cupcakes   |   Venue: UBC Boathouse   |   Officiant:  Bobbi Salkeld of Young, Hip and Married   |   Flowers: Margitta’s Flowers   |   Suits: Harry Rosen   |   Shoes: B2   |   Skinny Ties: Banana Republic and J. Crew   |   Wedding Dress and birdcage veil: Patty Nayel of Pure Magnolia   |   Jewellery: Jeweliette   |   Bridemaid’s Dress:  After Six tangerine dress from Frocks Modern Bridesmaids   |   Hair and Make-Up:  Erica Gingrich and Shelly Vickers from High Fidelity Hair