My time with Jon and Chris for their wedding didn’t start earlier in the wedding day, it actually started the night before when I captured their welcome party for all their out of town guests at The Ice Box Arcade which is an awesome little pioball arcade in Ballard. The weather could not have been more perfect with the sun shining down on Jon, Chris and all their guests.
The next morning I joined Chris and Jon at their house in Green Lake for some games they had also planned for their out of town guests. Can we talk for a minute about how awesome these two are for putting on so much for their guests to get to hang out and get to know each other before the wedding? Personally I think it’s a great idea and think more weddings should do it!
This time there were some group games and then a dunk tank which everyone was skeptical of getting under at first but then as the mercury in the thermometer crept past eighty degrees people were pushing past each other to get under it to cool off!
After a couple hours break I met Jon and Chris at the Seattle Aquarium for their actual wedding. What was especially awesome for me was that where normally I feel like a stranger showing up at the wedding, by now I knew so many people I felt like one of the family!
If you have seen any of my past Seattle Aquarium weddings then you know I love the aquarium as a wedding venue. It offers amazing backdrops of the Puget Sound and then of course there’s the otter feeding which is always a highlight!
Summer weddings at the Seattle Aquarium also have the benefit of having the ceremony as the sun sets behind the Olympic mountain range which always provides a great sunset as people say their I Do’s! Jon and Chris took their ceremony to the next level with their officiant telling their story from each others perspective and how they felt at that time. It was a beautiful moment that brought multiple people (yours truly included) to tears.
Those tears were repeated later during the speeches when Jon’s sisters gave their speech….which wasn’t a speech at all buy a call and repeat sea shanty! Never have I wished I was recording at a wedding as much as I did then because the whole thing was amazing and had the whole hall calling out the repeat parts.
Once they had done their first dance, the dancefloor opened up as Bamboo Beats kept the hits coming and the dancefloor packed. This was my second time working with them and they were awesome as always!
But as with all things, the night came to an end and I had to say goodbye to Jon, Chris and all their friends. While I always feel like I know my couple by the end of a wedding, this time felt so different with how much time we’d spent together over the past two days. It is certainly not a wedding I will forget any time soon!
Vendors
Photography: Jamie Buckley Photography
Second Photography: Lydia Brewer Photography
Venue + Catering: Seattle Aquarium
Planner: Tapestry Event Co.
Florist: Villanelle Floral
DJ: Bamboo Beats
Live Illustrator: You As An Animal
Live Entertainment: Maison De V
Video Guest Book: Raise A Voast
Venue Coordinator: SGS Events
