Draht Photography, Kelowna, BC (2026)

09/06/2026

I arrived at St. George's Church in Langley about ten minutes late. I want to be transparent about why. There is a Costco on the way and I needed a glizzy. It's a busy Costco. Also traffic. These are my reasons and I stand behind all of them equally.

I walked through the doors with hot dog in hand trying to slip in quietly, which immediately failed because Scarlett — who I had never met in person — looked right at me and said "Hello Eric!" with complete confidence. I had been in the building for approximately four seconds and was still holding a Costco hot dog.

"You recognized me right away," I said.

She had. I introduced myself to the assembled family. "I'll be bossing you around tomorrow, but I'll try to be really cool about it." They laughed. I'll be honest, some of those laughs were pity laughs. I take the pity laugh. A laugh is a laugh and I'm not in a position to be selective about the source.

The next morning started at Riley's dad's place. Within sixty seconds of my arrival he said, with genuine excitement: "You should take a photo in front of the banana tree in the back."

"I'll bite."

He ushered me through a massive four-level house sitting on what was essentially a sixty degree incline of a road, which somehow still had a beautiful backyard at the bottom of it. The banana tree was there. So was a hydrangea, which is where my eye went immediately — specifically, a lacecap hydrangea sitting in a little pool of light filtering through the trees. I found the exact flower the light was hitting. Set the ring on it for maximum dramatic effect. The light cooperated completely. Greg, drinking a b**r shirtless behind me, voiced his approval. Under his meticulous supervision, I knew it was amazing. You need that. You need a shirtless guy with a b**r telling you the ring shot is working. It grounds you.

Inside, the debate about the correct way to fold a pocket square was ongoing. I was not asked to weigh in, which was wise.

Then I was introduced to Jenny, who was excitedly talking to me while I was building a flat lay. She noticed my cat socks, approved of them, and then issued what I can only describe as a formal warning about the general operating temperature of this family. I believed her instantly. She told me how Riley's parents had woken him up on his wedding morning. I still believe her. Details withheld but fully consistent with the warning.

Quick portrait of Riley, then off to the bride's house.

Scarlett's mother immediately tried to feed me, which I respect enormously as a life philosophy. I rearranged the living room, then went outside to set up the dress shot. There was an apple tree in the yard — full of actual apples, heavy with them — and the dress hung underneath it like it had always belonged there. It didn't need any help. I left it exactly where it was.

As I was arranging the jewelry for a flat lay, Riley's niece walked up to me.

"Look, you can make a smiley face!"

Say no more. That's in the gallery now.

I got to chatting with Scarlett's father, whose name is also Eric, which I appreciated as a choice. He was telling me about his own wedding day with this nostalgic look on his face, describing the whole morning. And then his daughter walked up behind him in her wedding dress. He turned around. The rest of that sentence doesn't need finishing. I cannot fully explain what happened to his face in that moment except to say it was one of the most purely emotional things I've witnessed at a wedding, and I have witnessed a considerable number of weddings.

Later, after Scarlett had gone back inside, I looked out through the window. Her parents were still in the garden among the flowers. He had his arms around his wife. You could still see the tears on his face. They were just holding each other in the quiet of the morning, not saying anything. If I had to guess, based on our conversation, he was back on his own wedding day for a moment — standing where he stood, feeling what he felt — and she was right there with him. With that smile. I left them to it.

I loaded Scarlett into my car — which is a sentence I never get tired of saying because it is objectively funny — and we made our way to the first look at Princess and the Pea Bed and Breakfast. Bright porch, vines up both sides. One instruction before we started: no video. Just photos. I could see exactly why within thirty seconds. It was a lot of happy crying while they read their vows to each other, private and unhurried, the kind of moment that belongs only to them.

Then we recreated a photo. Two generations of this family, kids leaning on cars — 50mm at 2.8, and I knew by looking at the back of the camera immediately. That one's a keeper. In three hundred years someone will ask about the origins of this tradition. I hope the historians find this post. I am prepared to be a primary source.

Botanical gardens next. High noon in Langley in summer falls at 4pm, which meant the 1pm light was coming in at an angle that was doing serious work. We ran all over that garden and I pulled out the prism for some shots that turned out exactly as fun as I was hoping. I had woken up that morning with a delusional amount of self-confidence, as I often do, and I will ride that high. I will ride it all the way home.

The church filled up for 3pm. Riley's mom walked him up the aisle and I have genuinely never seen anyone smiling that big — the kind of smile that takes over a person's entire face without asking. Then Riley saw Scarlett coming up the aisle and the smile went somewhere more complicated and more beautiful. The stained glass was throwing light in every direction and her father was beside her wearing an expression I recognized from the garden that morning.

Mid-shot, I noticed Jenny's shoes. Custom Fluevogs. She had clearly been waiting for someone to notice because the moment I looked she pointed at them immediately and with considerable authority. I took the picture. Then the ring. I zoomed in for a closeup. Then felt a hand at my back.

My shirt was untucked.

Thanks Jenny.

The officiant was sharp and funny and when she mimed — physically acted out, with commitment — how ridiculous a person looks holding a phone up during a wedding ceremony, the room laughed in the specific way people laugh when something is funny and also extremely accurate. Brilliant. The ceremony was beautiful and when she announced them at the end her voice filled that entire church and everyone completely lost it.

We poured outside for a group shot I wanted to feel like 1960 in front of a church, and it did. I balanced myself on a chair I had borrowed from inside — borrowed, not stolen, I returned it, I'm not an animal — got the angle I needed, climbed back down, returned the chair, said nothing. Then to the old hall, a building full of the kind of character that newer venues spend a lot of money trying to fake and never quite get there.

After the meal I grabbed the two of them for the sneak away. I had scouted specifically the day before for the one spot in downtown Langley where the mountains are visible. Found it. Right in front of the Fraser River — lakes, peaks, sky stacked up behind them like a backdrop that cost someone a significant amount of money. We got everything out of that location and came back to speeches and dancing with the quiet satisfaction of people who know they got the shot.

All day, I kept seeing Sydney Klassen in motion. She's the coordinator, and what she sustained over eighteen hours — keeping me fed, ferrying desserts up and down stairs, managing everything simultaneously with a smile on her face — was genuinely extraordinary. The amount of energy that woman runs on is not fully explained by any known food or sleep science.

Then the late night situation revealed itself outside: Hot Dog Hill. An actual hot dog stand serving items with names like the Jalapeño Cheddar Homewrecker. I respect this deeply and without reservation.

And there, standing proudly beside the hot dog stand, was Scarlett's father. Eric. He had commissioned — and personally erected — a full body sized blowup of the bride and groom eating a hot dog. Life sized. Outdoors. Right next to the actual hot dog stand. He stood beside it with the energy of a man who has executed his vision exactly as planned and will be accepting compliments for the remainder of the evening.

That's where I'll leave it.

A father. Proud of his kids. Proud of their taste in hot dogs. Shirt tucked in and quite visible, unlike some people.

Scarlett and Riley — you are surrounded by the absolute best people. Don't ever forget it. 🤍

Enjoy your sneak peek. Sign ups for the gallery are here:
https://galleries.drahtphotography.com/client/riley-and-scarlett/register

With love,
Your glizzy loving Photographer.

09/05/2026

This fella planted 10,000 sunflowers in his backyard just so he could kiss his new bride on his wedding day in them.
She loved it. He loved it.

09/03/2026

Lizzii Burnett Makeup Artist and Kyle's wedding goes out today. I'm so heckin' excited.

09/02/2026

There's a new blog entry. The rainiest day ever at The Barn at 4404

Get this juicy sampler at https://www.drahtphotography.com/the-barn-wedding-at-4404-sampler/

08/31/2026

I pulled up in the rain. Not a light rain, not a romantic drizzle — rain. The kind that soaks through a jacket in under a minute and reminds you of your emo days in high school. I was already wet by the time I got to the door.

Alice came right up to me with a smile that had absolutely no business being that big given the weather situation, and said: "I think it's going to be a good day."

I hoped so too. I was also already wet.

She walked me to her parents' room where the dress was hanging. Heavy satin, simple, beautiful — the kind of dress that doesn't need anything extra to make a statement. She handed it over to me with complete trust, which in retrospect was generous of her given what was about to happen to it. I had an idea. There was a big field right next to the house. I walked to the middle of it, set up the dress, and took the photo in the pouring rain. If you zoom in on that photo you can see the individual raindrops. I love it completely and have zero regrets.

Then, the boys.

They were at an oversized mansion on the outskirts of Armstrong, which is exactly the kind of detail that sounds made up until you're standing in the foyer of an oversized mansion on the outskirts of Armstrong. Clinton and the guys were getting dressed — suspenders, open collars, boutonnieres — helping each other look sharp in the way that guys do when they're genuinely happy for each other. The light inside that house was something else. I got the group, I got the details, I got the fancy socks, which were excellent and deserving of documentation.

Then I headed back to Alice, and found something I was not expecting waiting outside.

The same car that had carried her mother to her wedding — the actual car, on an actual transport truck, shipped in for this day — was parked right there. Her father was waiting to help her in, the same way Alice's grandfather had helped her mother in decades before. Same car. Same gesture. Same love, one generation later. I stood there for a second and just let that land. It was nostalgic and traditional and quietly one of the most beautiful things I've seen at a wedding in a long time.

At the venue, the rain was still going. Everyone had their umbrellas up and nobody seemed particularly bothered by it, which tells you everything you need to know about this crowd. Then Talon stepped up to speak.

I have been to a lot of weddings. I have heard a lot of speeches. Talon's was a barn burner. In the rain. Everyone stood there getting rained on and nobody moved an inch because nobody wanted to miss a word. It was funny and warm and deeply loving and by the end of it the rain was the least notable thing happening in that space.

Group shot. Then my favourite part of any wedding day — the bridal party.

We took some photos with the car, which was picturesque in the way that only a vintage vehicle in soft rainy light can be. Then the bridal party walked toward the woods, and the only way to describe the way they moved is: with flair. The specific flair that belongs entirely to this group of people and cannot be taught or borrowed. In the woods, I gathered everyone around an old evergreen tree and had them all peek out from around it at once. The result was exactly what I hoped for and also somehow better.

We made our way inside where an incredible spread was waiting. The beef brisket. I need to talk about the beef brisket. It was one of the best things I have put in my mouth at any event in recent memory. I ate until I hated myself. Then I ate more. Outside, I'm told there was a cow on standby in case anyone needed additional beef options, which is the most confident catering decision I've ever encountered.

Then I saw something I hadn't seen in weeks.

A sunset. Just a sliver of it, pushing through the clouds over the meadow like it had been waiting for the right moment. I moved fast. We got Alice and Clint down to the meadow and I asked Alice and Clinton if they thought they could balance on a hay bale. I didn't finish the sentence. The next photo is the two of them already running toward it, full commitment, no hesitation.

You can tell in the photos that we were not particularly kind to that wedding dress by this point. It was dirty. Beautifully, authentically, unapologetically dirty. Which, it turned out, was not yet its final form.

Back at the venue, the sparkler arch was forming. Every guest with a lit sparkler, lining up on both sides, because the legend goes — each sparkler is a blessing from whoever holds it. Alice and Clinton came through that arch and the sight of it was something else entirely — this tunnel of light and warmth and the faces of every person they love grinning on either side of them. At the end, Clinton dipped her. Kissed her. The crowd lost it completely.

We finished the night dancing, eating desserts that were doing what the brisket had done earlier, and drinking well. At some point I found Talon and Morgan and made sure to thank them properly. They had, by their own proud admission, inducted Clinton into what can only be described as the Terrorize Alice Club — but everything they did that day, every bit of it, was done out of love. The day couldn't have been more perfect and they had a lot to do with that.

Alice told me at the start, soaking wet at 11 in the morning, that it was going to be a good day.

She was right. She was so right.

It was a great day. One of the best. 🤍

Enjoy this sneak peek. Sign ups for the gallery are here:
https://galleries.drahtphotography.com/client/alice-and-clinton-are-married/register

With Love,
Your photographer

08/27/2026

If you eloped last week, your photos aren't ready because I'm obsessed with them. Very sorry and you're welcome.

08/23/2026

Everyone who pulled up to the venue immediately assumed it was an Airbnb. The pool, the view overlooking Vernon, the kind of backyard that makes you reconsider every life decision that led you to a smaller backyard — this was someone's actual home, and they opened it up completely for one of the best days I've shot in a long time.

The ceremony arch was the first thing that grabbed me. Huge, architectural, draped, and the florals that were doing something really specific and really right — vibrant oranges and reds that lined up perfectly with the bridesmaids dresses like someone had held them up side by side in a planning meeting and refused to move on until the colours were exact. They were exact. Then Kennedy's dress. Fully custom, 80's glam movie star energy in the absolute best interpretation of that sentence — the kind of dress that has presence before the person wearing it even enters the room. I was already excited for the reveal.

Outside, the wildfire smoke had mostly pulled back, leaving just enough haze on the horizon to give the Vernon skyline that soft, golden, cinematic quality that you can't fake and can't plan for. The benches were rustic and the whole setup felt considered without feeling overdone.

Phoenix stepped up and announced the start of the ceremony, and the music that came on was not what anyone expected. In the best way. The kind of song choice that makes you look around to see if other people are having the same reaction, and they are.

Then Kennedy appeared, her father at her side, walking along the pool toward Gareth. I had my eye on Gareth's face. He didn't disappoint. The look of a man completely unprepared for how beautiful his person looks, even though he's been thinking about this moment for months — that look landed exactly on cue and stayed there. Her father walked her up, delivered a secret joke that earned a genuine laugh, and stepped back. The officiant kept everything warm and moving, the vows were real, and when it came time for the kiss Gareth leaned her all the way back like the music was already playing in his head. It was already playing out loud a half second later — blaring from the speakers, the crowd erupting, the two of them walking out into a wall of applause and so many hugs that it took a while to get anywhere.

Then we went to find a waterfall.

The light through those trees was doing something special — dappled and warm and shifting — and the creek bed turned into our playground for the next stretch of time. Up the mountain, down through the forest, across the rocks, the whole bridal party game for every single idea. Those locations rewarded us. Every setup worked. The water, the trees, the light — all of it cooperated like it had been briefed in advance.

Back at the venue, Two Sparrows Pizza & Catering was setting up the food situation. I want to be clear: it was unlimited pizza. Handmade. In the driveway. Straight from the dough. The speeches were beautiful and heartfelt and the kind that make a room go quiet and then loud in quick succession — tears, then laughter, then both at once. I ate a lot of pizza.

My wife stopped by with our daughter Madeline, which meant this was officially Madeline's first wedding. She was small and impressed and perfect, and she fit right in with a crowd this warm.

We finished the night at the top of a nearby mountain. The rain had cleared out, and below us the city of Vernon was lit up in little yellow points of light against the blue dark. The clouds were moving and the air had that charged, electric quality that makes the back of your neck stand up. We shot in that atmosphere for as long as we could, getting everything the light and the landscape were offering — and then the sky lit up. Thunder. Lightning behind the clouds in the background of a frame. You don't plan for that. You just have your camera up when it happens and you hope, and sometimes the sky delivers.

On my way out, Kennedy stopped me. Sent me home with both hands full of desserts and absolutely would not hear otherwise. My wife extends her sincere personal thanks. RIP to your short and beautiful life, pastries.

Kennedy and Gareth — you are the kindest people, you threw the most fun party, and you let me chase lightning on a mountaintop at the end of it.

An incredible day. Every bit of it. 🤍 Enjoy the sneak peek. https://galleries.drahtphotography.com/client/kennedy-and-gareth/register for more when it's ready.

08/16/2026

Just past Oliver, the smoke was sitting light on the horizon — enough to notice, not enough to complain about, and as it turned out, exactly enough to do something magical with later. I pulled up to what I was told was a backyard wedding and immediately had to recalibrate my understanding of the word backyard.

This was not a backyard. This was an estate that happened to be attached to a house.

A massive bed of wildflowers greeted me first — the kind that look intentional and wild at the same time, every colour competing for attention and somehow all winning. Beyond that, a path cut through the trees leading to a clearing that, according to a guest standing nearby, used to be nothing but forest. They had gone in there. Cut it down. Levelled it. Laid grass. Built an oasis from scratch in the middle of the trees like it had always been there and the trees had simply forgotten. Two rows of oak chairs faced an arch dressed in a long white bow — simple, elegant, the kind of setup that photographs itself.

Every single photo in that clearing turned out beautifully. Every one.

The ceremony was at four, which meant the light was doing exactly what afternoon light in the South Okanagan does in summer — warm, golden, coming in at an angle that makes everything glow. The flower girls came first, young and absolutely committed to their job, petals going everywhere with great enthusiasm and zero restraint. Then Lizzii.

Kyle's face said everything. He looked like a man seeing something he couldn't quite believe was real, which is the only appropriate reaction and he nailed it.

The officiant was spectacular. He surveyed the crowd early on, spotted the inevitable forest of raised phones, and addressed it directly — "I know you all think you're photographers, but put the cell phone cameras away for a moment during the ceremony." Delivered with a smile, landed perfectly. He kept it warm and funny throughout, which didn't slow down the happy tears one bit. Some things cannot be joked away and apparently this ceremony was one of them. Tissues were involved. No one was embarrassed.

They kissed. He introduced them. They walked back down that aisle looking like they owned the world, because for that moment, they did.

Group photo, then I stole them.

The wildflowers were waiting and I wasn't going to let the light get away from us. We spent time in that massive bed of colour, the two of them in the middle of it, and the photos have that feeling of stumbling into something secret and beautiful. Then into the trees for something darker and moodier — and this is where the smoke earned its place in the story. That light coming through the forest, filtered through just enough haze, turned everything orange and gold. The woods looked ancient and cinematic and like nowhere else on earth. Those photos have a quality you simply cannot manufacture. You can only show up on the right day at the right time and let the landscape do what it wants to do.

The rest of the night was great music, the best food — genuinely, seriously good food — and drinks that kept the dancing going well into the dark. The kind of evening where you look up at some point and realize hours have passed and nobody noticed because everyone was too busy having the best time.

Lizzii and Kyle, what you built back there — in that clearing, in that wildflower field, in that room full of people who love you — was something really special.

Thanks for letting me be part of it. 🤍

Enjoy this massive sneak peek. Want to see more? Pop by https://galleries.drahtphotography.com/client/lizzii-and-kyle/register

Hair: Natasha Ann .astylist
Makeup:
Dress: Mie Tran Vietnam
Alterations: The Couturess .couturess
Suit: Elliott Row
Rentals: Westminster Party Rentals & Bask Event Co
Rev:
Location: Oliver, BC

08/12/2026

Kelly, your engagement photos are ready. They are, of course, stunning, but more importantly I had fun.

Draht Photography

09/06/2026

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