Friendly DIY wedding at Auberge des Gallant

I enjoyed photographing this wedding at Auberge des Gallant immensely! Leila and Ben planned a friendly outdoor celebration that kept things simple for their guests and gave them plenty of time to relax on their wedding day.

Auberge des Gallant wedding photos: Keeping it simple with a single location

Every part of the wedding day was held on the grounds of Auberge des Gallant, in the Rigaud area, near Montreal, Quebec.

The Auberge des Gallant hotel is a stylish modern inn with a beautiful landscaped property, including well-tended botanical gardens and a small lake. The staff are very used to hosting weddings and take great care of their guests. The dedicated wedding coordinator who works with each couple is very hands-on and helps everything run smoothly, with a friendly approach.

Leila and Ben chose to do most of their wedding portraits (including a brief couple’s shoot, fun photos with their wedding party and formal family group photos) before the ceremony. This freed up their post-ceremony schedule and let them enjoy cocktail hour with their guests.

Groom and bride holding hands without looking at each other — First look

Wedding couple seeing each other for the first time under a willow tree

An outdoor wedding near the Auberge des Gallant gazebo

Their wedding ceremony was held in a quiet area near a gazebo and a giant willow tree. A family member officiated the wedding ceremony, tailoring it to Ben and Leila.

Outdoor wedding ceremony in front of gazebo at Auberge des Gallant

Groom giving thumbs up to bride at wedding at Auberge des Gallant

Wedding couple giving high fives to guests as they walk down the aisle

Cocktail hour

After the ceremony everyone headed to the inn’s front lawn, where the bride and groom had set up lawn games (croquet, bean bag toss, and a giant homemade Jenga) and an outdoor bar provided refreshments.

Bean bag toss lawn game at wedding — Bean bag toss gets serious!

Indoor wedding reception at Auberge des Gallant

When night fell, the wedding dinner was held inside the modern reception hall (the Pheonix reception hall).

DIY done right

I could tell photographing the wedding decorations would be important to this couple, since all the wedding decorations were homemade and paid homage to their love of both art and science. The bride and groom celebrated their favourite books by stacking them as table centrepieces and opted for tiny potted succulents instead of traditional flowers. The table numbers each showed a pair of wildlife creatures stencilled onto dictionary page. A trivia game during the dinner (a pretty tough one!) challenged the guests to answer both questions about the bride and groom and general trivia knowledge.

Cute nerdy wedding decorations featuring books

Cute nerdy wedding decorations featuring books and succulents

DIY wedding decor featuring their favourite books

Wedding decorations with dictionary pages and animal prints

Photographing the wedding party posse

Ben and Leila’s wedding party was made up of siblings and friends. They all had a hand in making the wedding day fun for the bride and groom. They shared hugs and high-fives and gave speeches that made everyone cry, then laugh. They performed a flawless OK GO choreography of A Millions Ways that blew the wedding couple away. Then when the dance floor opened, they got the party started with epic spinning during the hora.