Winter wedding at Pavillon de la Jamaïque

A winter wedding in Montreal, Canada

Planning to get married outdoors in the dead of a Canadian winter is already adventurous enough! But when the weather suddenly dropped overnight, it took lots of courage for this wedding couple to stick to their plan and get married outdoors at 25 below freezing!

Karine and Alexandre were married at the Pavillon de la Jamaique, a modern wedding venue with large windows on 3 sides of the room to let in scenes of the surrounding nature at Jean-Drapeau park.

Wedding portraits among the pines

Before the ceremony, the wedding couple joined me outside for an oh-s0-brief photo session among the pine trees of the Jardin des Floralies.

Outdoors wedding ceremony in the midst of winter

When it came time to begin the wedding ceremony, all the guests headed out to the terrace. There, they kept warm with mulled wine, blankets and hand-warmers. There were also some portable outdoor heaters set up with beautiful flames.

Laurent, a friend of the wedding couple, officiated their wedding ceremony. He was the one who originally played cupid and introduced the two.

Karine and Alex read their vows, exchanged rings and had their first kiss as newlyweds surrounded by their loved ones!

After the ceremony, everyone hurried indoors to warm up and celebrate together.

Wedding reception at the Pavillon de la Jamaique

For their wedding dinner, Karine and Alex chose a creative and no frills option: Pas d’cochon dans mon salon. Pas d’cochon is a street food truck and caterer that specializes in BBQ. The down-home vibe of family-style dining gave the wedding dinner a cozy and relaxed ambiance. An amazing team from Forand Évènements served the food and kept everything running smoothly.

During the evening, parents shared emotional speeches and friends toasted the couple.

The wedding couple improvised a lovely first dance.

And, with a custom playlist of all their favourite songs, the wedding couple danced the night away with their guests.

Photographing a wedding in below freezing weather

For photos outside in the winter, I was ready with extra batteries for my cameras (batteries die faster in the cold). For winter weddings, it’s also smart to leave a camera inside to use when moving from outdoors to inside. Cameras will get foggy right after moving from the cold air outside to the warmer indoors temperatures. Since it’s important to be ready to shoot at any moment as a wedding photographer, you want to avoid having to wait 15 minutes for condensation to go away.

more resources on winter photography and outdoor weddings:

Outdoor Photographer: Cold Weather Photo Tips

The New York Times: Outdoor Winter Wedding Hacks