Holly + Abraham’s Fairmont Banff Springs Wedding
You guys. I can’t even!! I love being a Banff wedding photographer! Holly and Abraham were such a fun, relaxed and gracious couple and their wedding at the Fairmont Banff Springs was nothing short of spectacular. Their friends, family and loved ones were so amazing as well. You can really feel the love and support these two have, and I lost count of the number of times during the day people were asking me how I was doing or if there was anything I needed! Everyone was so kind and welcoming. They all sure know how to party too, holy smokes! My favourite part of the dance was all of the Disney songs (I mean you all know I’m completely obsessed with Disney and cry during the commercials for Disneyworld!) It was so amazing that they included something that they both love into their party. I feel so lucky to have been a part of their day, and I hope you enjoy all of the amazing photos and details from Holly + Abraham below. Please feel free to leave them some love at the bottom of the post!
How did you meet?:
Abraham and I met through a mutual friend group. His coworker buddy was dating my coworker from Nordstrom and through them, our paths crossed a few times. Abraham came on strong, but I rejected his advances and he began casually dating someone else. A few months down the road, we were both single and our mutual friends invited me to meet them at a dueling piano bar. I had just received a promotion that day, so Abraham began ordering bottles of champagne and requesting Disney songs for me the minute I walked in. We stayed up talking that night until 3am, and I finally accepted Abraham’s invitation for a date the following week. Our first date was dinner at a French restaurant overlooking the waterfront in Seattle. When dinner was finished, Abraham had a series of crazy ideas that led us to drinks at a second bar, a ride on the Seattle ferris wheel (Abraham is claustrophobic and tried to hit the emergency button), and eventually on a ferry to an island 45 minutes away. Around midnight we realized we were about to miss the last boat back to Seattle – We hightailed it to the ferry landing and eventually made it back to Seattle. Within a few weeks, we were completely inseparable.
Engagement story:
Abraham and I joined some close friends for dinner on the Seattle waterfront on a perfect Seattle summer evening. I kept looking over at Abraham, in his crisp white shirt with rose in hand, thinking he look liked he belonged marina-side in Monaco. Later that evening, at a Hawaiian karaoke bar (and after a few cocktails) I casually asked Abraham if he would want to get married the following summer in Italy. We both agreed that we did, and the rest of the table caught wind of what was going on. Our friend tied a cocktail straw into a ring, and I put it on Abraham’s finger. After about 20 minutes, we both realized the gravitas of our decision and began fully freaking out at our lack of preparedness (Abraham is very traditional and hadn’t asked my parents). Once we were home, Abraham got down on one knee and proposed with the same cocktail straw. The next morning, we let his three sisters vote via conference call as to whether or not we were actually engaged – we got a unanimous “yes.” From there, we called my parents and began planning. About 10 cities and 100 venues later, we settled on Banff Springs.
We based the styling of our wedding on our home décor and personal style preferences. We didn’t want anything too literal or “themed,” but it was important to incorporate elements of our eccentricities. Our house is covered in leather, velvet, ceramic animal heads, historical figure busts painted black, fun art, etc. I lean toward masculine styling, and Abraham is a bit of a Liberace, so we did our best to reach a happy medium. We also both avoid color at all costs, so a color palette of black, white and gold was a given. We did end up incorporating a lot of greens – I wanted to keep the florals from being too girly, and we thought it would be an appropriate foil to our use of jungle/safari animals.
Top Moments:
- Holly: Surprising Abraham and his Lebanese family with a traditional Zaffe group. It’s very traditional to have these kinds of performances at Lebanese weddings, and it was important to me to pay respect to their culture. Abraham’s dad cried when he saw them come out!
- Abe: My pre-party and dancing prior to the ceremony
- Seeing our families and friends come together throughout the weekend – We’ve been shocked by the relationships that were formed or strengthened.
- Seeing each other from the ends of the aisle – We were so glad we forwent a first look. It was a perfect moment!
