Ranche Restaurant Calgary Wedding – Daria and Connor
When you think about Provincial Parks in Alberta the last thing that comes to mind are areas within the city boundaries of Calgary. Fish Creek Provincial Park in the south of Calgary is one of North America’s largest urban natural protected areas, surrounded by over 6000 houses. I have memories of coming to visit my uncle and cousins who had just built a brand new house backing onto the park “on the edge of town”. Those days are long past as the city has enclosed it on all sides, which only makes it that much more unique. One of my all-time favourite Calgary wedding venues is nestled right in the park, the Bow Valley Ranche Restaurant. This heritage home was built in the late 1800’s by a rancher and has a long been a part of the Alberta cattle industry. There is a rumour that the idea of the Calgary Stampede was sparked within the house. You can only assume there was some alcohol involved!
Daria is from Russia and met Connor while he was in Europe. They decided on getting married in Calgary. When it came to choosing a venue that would show off Calgary, Alberta and Canada while still being logistically sensical, the Ranche was amongst the top contenders. As a Calgary Wedding Photographer, I am always thrilled to shoot weddings at the Ranche because it offers so much variety and its location in the river valley, tucked up against the north bank, usually guarantees some amazing evening light.
I had already spent some time with Daria and Connor during their engagement session and knew that what mattered most to these two was that the photographs recorded their love for each other and their families. The complexities of a wedding day schedule were thoughtfully planned out by Lynn Fletcher (Lynn Fletcher Weddings), who I am always so grateful to work with. Lynn and her team designed a perfect weekend for this couple and made the venue, ceremony and reception, look amazing. Thank you also to Occasional Bloom for the flowers, The Social Page for the stationery and Hammer Headz for doing the girls hair.
This wedding was featured in the Fall/Winter 2018 Confetti Magazine which is still on newsstands.
I can’t think of a more fitting photo to start this post with that this one of Daria’s dad wearing his “Dasha and Connor” wedding day t-shirt (Daria’s nickname is Dasha). This was the scene I was greeted with when I showed up to photograph the girls getting ready at Connor’s family home. During their engagement session we set up a couple photos where they were in a classic romance movie pose. The end product turned out pretty good!
Connor’s dad warming up for the big show later that night.
Connor’s dad and friends let the couple use their classic cars for the portrait session.
Hiring a translator for some of the Russian family to follow along during the speeches was a really nice touch!
After the speeches, we went outside to catch the sunset. Amazing light!
Connor’s dad and sister playing together. Really cool!