Hotel Place d’Armes de Montreal – Mariage/wedding of Y & M

At the Hotel Place D’Armes in the old Montreal last August, I was the lucky photographer for Yukiko and Mark’s wedding. The couple living in BC, we met for the first time in a Zoom meeting a year before the big day. When we met, I thought they were so cute together, as if they were in their first years of being together. But no, they form a couple since 2016 haha! Mark, originally from England, was practicing his French during the meeting. He came to study in Montreal a while back and that’s where they fell in love : in a laboratory at McGill University!

In their years of living in Montreal, they’ve always liked the old port. And that was the main reason they chose the Place D’Armes hotel for both their ceremony and venue. They loved the look of the building and the service they were providing. The couple wanted also a place where it was easily accessible by transit since a third of their guests were from out of town.

I remember being excited to meet Yukiko and Mark, since we laughed so much during our 2 e-meetings. I knew the day would go well and that we would have fun together!

Le MAGNIFIQUE bouquet de Yuki (ainsi que les autres fleurs) venaient de chez Astilbe fleuriste. Je serais bien partie avec son bouquet tellement je le trouvais beau!

Indoor wedding ceremony

We were hoping until the last minute that the ceremony would be held on the rooftop. But the rain fell and stopped and fell and stopped. So the bride and groom didn’t take any chances and decided to do it indoors at the Hotel. The officiant was one of their friend. The ceremony was beautiful, emotional and fun. Even I held back a tear when Mark read his vows!

Yuki’s mom told me that her daughter was so happy with my attitude towards the rain. It reassured her. I didn’t mind the rain and it doesn’t matter when you are in the old port. There’s always lots of solutions to take good pictures and the light was great! But you need to concentrate more to be efficient. We also had help with one of the bridesmaid and one of the groomsmen with the numerous umbrellas we had to carry with us.

Surprise Surprise!

The rain stopped for a few minutes, just in time to take family pictures. But I wanted to take a few pictures with the bridal party in front of the hotel and just then, it started pouring down again. Like really hard haha! I remember seeing everyone’s faces with surprise when looking at me (the bridal party had a roof above their heads, but not us)! Guess they had pity for the photographer (and videographer who was my partner) lol but luckily, we had umbrellas.

We decided then to go on the rooftop.. and I cannot still believe this happened to us, but we got stuck in the elevator for AT LEAST 20 MINUTES! We were 14 in a small space (with a pregnant bridesmaid)! Furthermore, firefighters even came to our rescue! I was so in shock I think, that I forgot to take a picture of the fire truck lol. As a result of that, I thought we would be squeezed in time for the pictures. So I decided it was a better idea to take shelter from the rain under the large buildings in the the old Montreal with only Yuki and Mark. But we later called the bridal party to come and join us again.

Wedding reception at the Hotel Place D’Armes

It still amazes me but we were right on time for the first entry of the bride and groom at the Place D’Armes. Guest were so happy to be there. The evening was great : it was filled with speeches, laughter, happy tears, great discussions, lots of fun and a photobooth. The dance started at the end of the meal and the guests were incredible. They were killing it! With the dance floor never empty (at least when we were still there lol) I almost didn’t want to leave. But my job (feel like it’s not one sometimes) was done for the day and it was an intense one overall haha. But good intense!

You liked Yuki and Mark’s wedding at the Hotel Place D’Armes? Take a look at my wedding portfolio over HERE!