Mikily and Brenden's Wedding at St. Agnes Cathedral and Chateau Charmant

Dec 22, 20226 min read

A Magical Christmas Wedding

The day before the wedding, the sun shone brightly. Overnight, clouds rolled in. Bringing rain and fog. The day of Mikily and Brenden’s wedding, the skies were dark gray. The ground was wet. Cold, misty rain prickled your skin. You know what they say? Rain on a wedding day is good luck 😉. The weather reminded me so much of my own December wedding day. Maybe too much to be a coincidence as Mikily and Brenden planned the ultimate Christmas themed wedding. Rain or shine, I was beyond excited. Mikily planned to get ready at her parent’s condo and Brenden was at Hotel Vandivort. Alex and I chose to divide and conquer. I stayed with Mikily at the condo and he headed to Hotel Vandivort. Mikily was in the master bathroom sitting next to her mom. Simultaneously having her hair and makeup done while she carefully put on custom nails. Slippers on her feet were labeled “Mrs. Fandel” in red glitter. This was all about the details and I was loving it. Hanging from the four poster bed was her wedding gown. Purchased from Norman’s bridal, but made fit for a princess by Coco Couture. I’m not 100% sure the extent of the alterations Coco Couture did, but let me tell you…it was STUNNING!! An entire train of custom glass beading was added. Each bead carefully placed to create hundreds of snowflakes. I was in photographer heaven. ❤️❤️❤️

Mikily made me smile all day long 😂 She realized time was getting a bit tight and made the announcement, “nobody say the time around me.” Alex almost blew that for her when he came back to the condo, but I gave him a look and shook my head. Don’t say it. 🤣 Since everyone knew the ceremony time was approaching, things started to move faster. The second hair and makeup was done, Mikily got into her dress. Allie set to work on the corset. Poor Allie fatigued halfway through due to so many loops and the gown behind heavy 😂 Two other people stepped in to help her out. Mikily's sister arrived with the glitter spray and joined the help party. At one point, I think Mikily had four people helping her at once. Once shoes were on, we were out the door and headed to the church.

St. Agnes Cathedral was only five minutes from the condo. Alex and I arrived right at the same time as Mikily. Catching up to her right as her entourage turned the corner. Four to five people lifted up the bottom of the gown so that the dress wouldn't get wet. While this photo didn’t make the blog, it will be in their gallery 😁. Family filtered into the church and took their seats. The processional began. Parents walked down the aisle, followed by the bridesmaids. Brenden and his groomsmen appeared from a room hidden behind the altar. Walking in a single file line until they were in position. Brenden turned his eyes towards the back of the room and the doors opened to reveal Mikily and her dad. A giant smile broke out over Mikily’s face. Brenden’s eyes glistened as he saw his bride for the first time. Once at the altar, Mikily’s dad gave her a hug and took a seat. The priest cued the guests to sit and Mikily and Brenden walked to their designated chairs to the right of the altar. During the ceremony, Readings from the bible were carefully chosen. As the final reading came to a close, Mikily, Brenden, and their wedding party rejoined together at the altar. They exchanged rings and the ceremony ended with a kiss. Family celebrated as they made their way back down the aisle. In the foyer, family gathered and hugs were shared with the couple. A car was waiting outside to take them to Chateau Charmant for the reception. With the help of Brenden and her best man. They lifted up the dress again and made their way to the car.

Once at the reception, staff was busy setting up tables and decorating in preparation for the bruch. Mikily and Brenden were eagerly waiting for the remainder of family to arrive in order to start family photos 😂. We knew that it would be a slight risk to travel in between ceremony and reception. There is always the chance that we might lose a few people along the way….and we did. We managed to photograph Mikily’s side, but we were still missing quite a few from Brenden’s. Adjusting our plan, we decided to tackle his photos later and go straight to the wedding party and then attempt some photos of Mikily and Brenden. The owners of Chateau Charmant gave me a quick tour and showed me all the fun places around their castle. Mikily had mentioned that a dress shot of her walking up the spiral staircase would be amazing! Thinking of the spiral staircase I had seen on my tour earlier, I was on board. 🤣🙌 Funny part was, Mikily and I were thinking of two different staircases. When she saw the one I brought here too I think I saw some panic in her eyes. Mikily, you are such a trooper. She gave it a go and it took Jenna (her planner), Brenden, and some help from Alex to even get up the staircase. The gown barely fit and we decided to abandon ship. As she made her way back down though, the composition was just right and you would never know from the photo that we were on the struggle bus. Mikily, I actually am LOVING the photo we got 😍. It’s another one of my favorites. We decided to attempt a few photos outside…but the ground was so wet. To try to keep the dress dry, we stuck a blanket under the gown. Knowing we might be out later, we decided to head back in for Mikily to have her jewelry change and gown bustled.

As Jenna and her bridesmaids went to work bustling the gown, Brenden helped swap out her necklace. Before her veil was switched with a tiara, a special photo of her and her flower girl was taken. An eskimo kiss with a covered veil. So stinkin cute 😍 As the bustle was complete, I was in awe. This was probably one of the most beautiful bustles I have seen! It was designed in a way to further accentuate her custom train with snowflakes. GORGEOUS! Mikily and Brenden made their way down the stairs for their grand entrance. THIS was the staircase Mikily was thinking of 😉 I managed to get a few photos of her as she came down ❤️❤️❤️. She joined Brenden at the bottom of the staircase and they stood in the archway ready to be introduced to their guests. As they entered, they were all smiles. Making their way across the room, they took their seats at the head table and brunch was served. Friends, if you don’t know this about me…I LOVE breakfast food. This wedding had two of my favorite things…Christmas and breakfast food. I was in heaven. 😍

After brunch, speeches were made, followed by the cake cutting, and dances. Mikily and Brenden walked gracefully onto the dance floor. They had been taking lessons to prepare for this moment. “I see the Light” from Tangled began to play. The amazing part about Chateau Charmant is that they have a balcony to get pictures from above. This made their dance look even more magical! The sun started to make its dissent outside. Since we needed to capture Brenden's family photos, we decided to quickly tackle those. After family photos were officially done, I told Mikily and Brenden that we were almost out of light and I would love to get a photo of them in front of the castle. The plan was made and we headed outside. I am so glad we made this happen because that castle photo is PERFECTION!!! (see first photo in the blog 😍)

The sun was almost gone. Headed back inside, Jason made the announcement that guests needed to line up outside in preparation for the grand exit while Mikily and Brenden shared their last dance. Robert, one of the owners from Chateau Charmant went up to offer his congratulations to the newlyweds. He got to chatting so much that his wife came to pull him away so Mikily and Brenden could dance 😂. “Times like These” began to play. Dusk blue light shone through the windows. As the song came to a close, Brenden and Mikily prepared for their final exit. As they stood in the archway of the main doors, guests held confetti guns high in the air. As they began to move forward, one by one the confetti guns exploded. Shooting thousands of white flecks into the air. Creating the effect of snow. Mikily and Brenden were all smiles! 😍 It was the perfect end to a magical day ❤️.