Wedding Photography

with a documentary approach

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Candid Moments, Genuine Emotion

A wedding day is more than the clothes you wore and the bouquet you toss away later anyway. It’s more than cake, centrepieces, and something blue. It’s even more than the signed sheet of paper connecting you to one person as long as you both shall live. Weddings bring people together. Magic is bound to happen.

 

Real life is so much more interesting and exciting than anything that can be orchestrated. Opting for the photojournalistic approach to your wedding photos means that you are going to have all those gorgeous, honest moments of chest-squeezing love, cheek-hurting smiles, and tear-jerking tenderness bottled up into photos that you can have and hold from this day forward.

Beautiful, Not Just Pretty

Your wedding photographs can be created in such a way that when you look at them you aren’t just seeing the items you spent money on to make the day happen. You can be taken back to your magical day and really feel like you are reliving it.

 

I don’t want you to just get pretty pictures, I want to give you beautiful pictures with an array of emotion that let you completely feel the way that day felt.

 

Weddings are incredible events with an explosion of emotion, and there is nothing I love more than being there to share in that excitement, that endless love, and the start of something new and special. I can’t wait to meet you!

“You really captured the magnificence of the day”

This is so beautiful and I went through the emotions of the whole day looking at the photos! We are absolutely thrilled with the coverage of our wedding! It's creative, it's beautiful and you caught some great magical moments of love for us to enjoy forever. You really captured the magnificence of the day.
Dani & Matt
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

Review

Client Love Letter

Just spent the last hour going through the gallery and my face hurts from smiling! These photos are AMAZING!!! Seriously, it’s amazing, it was like reliving the whole day over again. You seriously rock!!! I’m so glad you stayed the whole day because we got so many awesome photos.

 

Kelsey & Brett

Lloydminster, Alberta

Unposed, Unplanned, Unforgettable

This is how we do it

(to quote Montell Jordan...)

01

We connect

It Starts with a "Hi."

Click “LET’S DO THIS” and say 'Hi'. I'll get back to you in your preferred way (phone call, text, or email) and we'll talk photos!

02

We become friends

I’m really easy to get along with – promise!

I take the time to get to know you so that when your wedding day arrives, I know your style, the names of your wedding party, and we'll be able to jump into the day like old friends carrying on from where they left off.

03

The Big Day



The most fun part

Typical coverage is from noon 'til night, with hair & mimosas, the ceremony where things get official, to the party moments when everyone lets their hair down. While "all day" coverage is available to you, I am flexible and will work with you to meet your personal needs.

04

Your photos are presented to you!

The part where you might cry

While you relax on your honeymoon, I put in an additional 50 hours creating a stunning photography package that you can treasure from this day forward. When you see your slideshow for the first time, have the tissues nearby.

Review

Client Love Letter

Codetic

This is so beautiful and I went through the emotions of the whole day looking at the photos! We are absolutely thrilled with the coverage of our wedding! It’s creative, it’s beautiful, and you caught some great magical moments of love for us to enjoy forever. You really captured the magnificence of the day.

 

Dani & Matt

Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

“Seriously, the photos are amazing, it was like reliving the whole day over again”

Just spent the last hour going through the gallery and my face hurts from smiling! These photos are AMAZING!!! Seriously, it’s amazing, it was like reliving the whole day over again. You seriously rock!!! I’m so glad you stayed the whole day because we got so many awesome photos.
Kelsey & Brett
Lloydminster, Alberta

FAQ’S

Got Questions?

Typical wedding coverage is often from noon ‘til night to capture everything from the ‘getting ready’ moments of hair and mimosas, guys goofing around, to the ceremony, to supper, and the dance/party… Yet while “all-day” wedding coverage is available to you, I am flexible and want to make sure you have the photos and coverage of your wedding day that meet your personal needs.

 

Outside of the three packages, additional hours of wedding coverage can be added at $300/hour and include 30 digital photo files (jpegs) per hour.

Sure! We can absolutely incorporate typical portraiture into your day. I affectionately call these, “Grandma’s Mantel” portraits where everyone is facing the camera to capture everyone happily together.

 

We start by finding stunning light at your chosen location and have you and your spouse, or you and your family, gravitate to that beautiful spot. I won’t pose you in a specific way, I love to see the way people naturally come together, but I will definitely aim for authentic smiles and fun interaction. Your photos will look genuine if the moments are genuine.

Weddings bring family and friends together, sometimes in a way that people haven’t been together in years. I get that families can be complicated especially when they include situations like divorce, and I recognize that your guests are there for you and not to be confronted with awkward situations imposed by a photographer.

 

I am well practiced in the area of quickly swapping extended family in and out of ‘posed’ portraits quickly, efficiently, and painlessly. I want you to have photographs together with everyone special to you, without forcing anyone into uncomfortable situations just in the name of photographs.

 

This is also the added beauty of a candid approach to wedding photography – everyone can be left to enjoy the day in their own style and I will still be right there to include them in the photographic mementos.

The album is a large (12” x 12”), hard-cover book with a photo printed into the cover. The inside pages of the album are lustrous semi-gloss photo paper with rich colour, deep blacks, high contrast, and good saturation. One or more photographs are printed on each double-sided page. Special care is given to the selection, order, and presentation of photographs in an album, guiding the viewer through your wedding day.

 

Upgrades to cover material (leather, linen, etc.) and additional pages are available upon request.

Yes, and you won’t have to ask me twice! I love weddings and I love to travel, so the two together is a killer combination for me. Depending on how far the travel is, there may be a travel fee to include but my answer to travel is a solid ‘yes’.

Even though I believe there is nothing more beautiful than a genuine smile and people being unapologetically their self, I know some clients worry about how they will look in a real-life photograph. Let me tell you what previous photography clients of mine have said about this concern:

 

Photographers always make me apprehensive as I’m not one who is eager to be photographed and I was even more nervous when I wasn’t being posed (Would I look TOO natural? How do I hide my double chin?). But when Paula started photographing us, none of that mattered. It was just time and space and Paula capturing it all.” — Stephanie M. 

 

“We are both camera shy and we’re worried that are wedding photos might show that but Paula was very good at putting us at ease and capturing at our best. Couldn’t be happier with the results! It was very fun and effortless. When we saw the photos for the first time, they were everything we hoped for and more and I just can’t say enough good things about the entire experience with Paula. We really like that she took the time to meet with us before hand and considered every aspect of the day. We quickly realized we were in good hands.” – Dani P.

Sure, sometimes, but that’s life and just part of the adventure! Wind, drizzle, and blinding sunlight will only add to the creative elements we can include in your photographs.

Whether your special needs are physical, mental, or social, I am here to give you the extra time and attention you require. In fact, the photojournalistic approach is known to be the most inclusive type of photography because there is no pressure to appear a certain way or to do certain things, and everyone is given the freedom to be just as they are. I am happy to adapt in any way that meets your needs and makes you feel comfortable.

Absolutely. I am a business that proudly embraces everyone and offers a safe space for all ethnicities and the entire LGBTQIA2S+ community. I firmly believe that everyone(!) deserves the highest degree of respect. I am excited to work with you so come as you are and expect a smile and a friend.

About me

Hello, I’m Paula (she/her). I have been described as someone with a quirky and somewhat dry sense of humour, a positive attitude, and a calming aura. After graduating university with a Commerce degree, my 20’s and 30’s were spent mostly in Europe chasing dreams and love, and that’s where I discovered that I wasn’t destined to climb the corporate ladder but I had an artist’s heart all along.

 

Edmonton, Canada is where I have built my home and business yet wanderlust still runs strongly through my veins and I will eagerly go anywhere.

 

For me, photography is a form of time travel, bringing stories and loved ones vividly back to life, making me smile with appreciation of the experiences I’ve had and inspired for things yet to come. This is what I want my photography to give to you.

  • I love being outdoors and believe there is no such thing as bad weather, only badly dressed. Water and I are like magnets but I’m terrified of lake weeds and sea cucumbers.
  • Intimate live music performances send goosebumps down my spine and music plays 24/7 in my house. I’ve played the piano since I was 6 and my current favourite songs to play are cinematic moody ones.
  • I’m married to a Dutchman and we have 2 daughters and 2 cats.
  • My culinary guilty pleasures are Mr. Noodles, ketchup slurped straight from the little takeout packs, and peanut butter by the spoonful. I also get pretty excited anytime I find popcorn, prosecco, and deep fried pickles.
  • I volunteer for the Kids With Cancer Society of Northern Alberta on Wednesday mornings and for special events.
  • I have an ongoing street photography project of discarded banana peels I find laying around. As a kid I thought it was hilarious when cartoon characters would slip on peels in the street and I guess the fascination has continued.

Awards & Appearances

Packages

Highlights Package

  • 5 hours of photographic coverage
  • One photographer (Paula) to capture all moments
  • An online gallery for you, your family & friends to download and order prints
  • 150 high-resolution digital photo files (jpegs) hand-edited
  • 30-page hard-cover keepsake album
  • 3000

Wedding Day Package

  • 12 hours of photographic coverage
  • One photographer (Paula) and one photographer assistant to capture all moments
  • An online gallery for you, your family & friends to download and order prints
  • 400 high-resolution digital photo files (jpegs) hand-edited
  • 75-page hard-cover keepsake album
  • A photo slideshow set to licensed music for you to download, keep & share
  • 5000

The Works Package

  • 1 hour "engagement" photo session including 15 high-resolution digital photo files
  • "Sun Up to Sun Down" (15+ hrs) of photographic coverage
  • One photographer (Paula) and one photographer assistant to capture all moments
  • An online gallery for you, your family & friends to download and order prints
  • 500+ high-resolution digital photo files (jpegs) hand-edited
  • 100-page hard-cover keepsake album
  • Two parent keepsake soft-cover albums (30-pages each)
  • A photo slideshow set to licensed music for you to download, keep & share
  • 7000

“Taking pictures is savouring life intensely. Every hundredth of a second.” - Marc Riboud

OH HEY!

Once a month I send a fun email with quirky musings and “insider” specials. Join us!

Boy makes a silly face - from an Edmonton Family Photographer

Paula Gerein Photography

Documentary photography for families and businesses of Edmonton and Central Alberta, Canada. Available for travel.

 

© Paula Gerein Photography 2024

All rights reserved.