Loss unites us. I remember going to a get together shortly after my dad died. The topic came up in conversation and the person I was speaking to mentioned that they had also lost their father. “It’s like you join this club,” she said. “It is both terrible, and yet strangely comforting.” Years later, I find that statement truer than ever.
Photography is about connection, and sometimes we connect through our mutual love of IKEA. Sometimes it’s a walk in Old Montreal. But those in times when a parent is involuntarily absent, those particular days weigh heavier on my soul. It is not that the moments at these weddings are more significant but more that everyone involved is more sensitive to their significance. It is the constant awareness of the resource of time that makes the act of celebration more intentional and arguably more meaningful.
Sahar and Arnaud exchanged vows at Birks Chapel on McGill Campus. Even though each detail was carefully considered, they never appeared prominently in the foreground. Instead, every moment was devoted to the people and their relationships – those present and those not. The ceremony included traditional Persian elements. And after the ceremony, they released butterflies to pay tribute to Sahar’s father and Arnaud’s mother who both are no longer with us.
The always elegant and always wonderful staff of Ristorante Beatrice hosted the evening reception. I worked the day with my intern Key, as well as Andy and Jesse from Honeybear Video. We all couldn’t stop remarking about how Sahar and Arnaud were so visibly excited. Joy exuded from their faces, and quite literally, at one point shouted out of the window of their limo. Emotion fully immersed all of us in attendance. It was wonderful.
Here are some of the images from the day:
