A Beautiful Summer Wedding at Obsidian Ridge-Tofield, Alberta.
Alex Raynor
Our first visit to Obsidian Ridge, a stunning venue located just outside of Tofield, Alberta,
The lead up to this mid-July wedding had everyones eyes on the weather, as it was HOT, nowhere (literally) more-so than Zonia and Armin’s home town of Kamploops, where they were seeing record breaking temps waaay up in the mid-40’s- while other parts of BC recorded Canada’s hottest ever temperature, over 50℃! Which seems slightly surreal, as I sit here in Tofield, AB. typing this blog we are under an extreme cold warning. Windchill out there right now is -42℃!! And that’s here in town- as soon as you are out in the sticks that falls even further.
Back to the wedding! Good fortune intervened, and Z&A were blessed with a beautiful 25℃, albeit a little bit smokey as large swathes of BC and SK burned. From a purely photographic point of view, a moderate amount of smoke can actually be quite a good thing; it just reigns those highlights (white dress under midday sun, anyone?) back in and diffuses the harsh, early afternoon ceremony sunlight. AKA makes our job way easier!
We were asked for photography to commence right at the start of the ceremony. This was a first for us and felt like a baptism of fire (all the more fitting as the ceremony area is called ‘the amphitheatre’- and it gets hot in there!) for a couple of minutes as we got into the swing of things!
A quick word on the venue, Obsidian Ridge really is a sight to behold. The Amphitheatre is a wonderful place for a ceremony, it feels intimate but at the same time must have a capacity of well over 250. It’s accessed by a unique moon tunnel (there are some pictures in the gallery below) and the stage area manages to expertly fuse modern into the otherwise ancient. The reception tent is a stunning space, which kind of kept you in touch with the outdoors, and the light was just fantastic in there during the speeches and dances. Our only regret was we didn’t get to experience the fire-pit as our client had not booked it, but that was my personal favourite area of Obsidian. A sheltered bowl carved into the ground, with a huge 12ft fire area- this is definitely where the party gets going later on!! A relatively new venue, Obsidian is already stunning and is surely just going to get better as the years roll by.
Okay some pictures, that’s what we’re here for!!
This wedding was packed with sweet moments, especially during the speeches which were so heartfelt and genuine. It really was a pleasure to be there to photograph a couple who have found so much happiness together. In our consultation Zonia had told us about their mutual friend who brought them together and had since sadly passed. They remembered her during the first dance, which was a really touching moment and capped off a day spent in beautiful surroundings, filled with love and laughter.