Niagara Butterfly Conservatory wedding

Updated March 2024

Intimate, Non-traditional Niagara-on-the-Lake Wedding

Adam and Elizabeth created a completely intentional non-traditional wedding day. They chose to get ready together at Queen’s Landing Hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Then host their 25 guests for dinner in the Barrel Cellar at Trius Winery. Then change outfits and bring their guests to the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory at the Niagara Botanical Gardens for an intimate wedding ceremony among the butterflies. After the ceremony, they celebrated with their guests at Oast House Brewers in Niagara. This intimate non-traditional wedding is featured on So This Is Love here.

Bride and Groom Getting Ready for the Wedding Together at Queen’s Landing Hotel

Queen’s Landing Hotel is stunning. Full stop. The suite Adam and Elizabeth chose had plenty of space, a bedroom, a sitting room and two bathrooms. It worked perfectly for a chilled morning, getting ready and popping champagne. Adam and Elizabeth chose to get ready together, with no bridal party. Both Elizabeth and Adam had such intentional outfits and details. Elizabeth made her own dresses, a floral one for dinner, and a white dress for the wedding ceremony. She paired both with clogs from Bryr Clogs. Adam paired a floral bowtie with a white dress shirt and grey pants. Elizabeth surprised Adam with a new handmade leather belt from Solid Leather as a wedding gift. Elizabeth’s parents popped in for a quick hello and dropped off the most thoughtful gift of vintage wine (from Elizabeth’s birth year) and then it was time to pop some bubbly and head out for a mini couple’s portrait session on the grounds of Queen’s Landing Hotel.

Couple’s Portrait Session at Queen’s Landing Hotel, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Despite being the middle of the summer season we were able to find a quiet corner on the grounds of Queen’s Landing Hotel in the middle of the day to shoot some couple’s portraits before we headed out for dinner at Trius Winery. Adam and Elizabeth were so freaking excited about the whole day and the smiles never left their faces. We love taking a few moments at different times throughout the wedding day for mini couple’s portrait sessions. It gives our couples time to slow down and stay present with each other, it allows us to capture their energy at different times throughout the day and it gives so much variety for your gallery wall!

Trius Winery Wedding Reception in the Barrel Room, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Trius Winery is a stunning location for a wedding. Adam and Elizabeth reserved the Barrel Room for their private wedding dinner with their 25 guests. The staff at Trius walked the group through the different wine offerings and thoughtful meal pairings. The Barrel Cellar is a cozy, rustic venue for a wedding dinner. Adam and Elizabeth broke with tradition by hosting their wedding dinner before their ceremony. With this timeline, they were able to ensure both events were completely private for their guests. With only 25 guests, both their wedding dinner and wedding ceremony were incredibly intimate events.

Intimate Niagara Butterfly Conservatory Wedding Ceremony

After dinner, Adam and Elizabeth brought their guests to the Niagara Botanical Gardens, Butterfly Conservatory for an evening wedding ceremony. The Butterfly Conservatory was reserved for only their party and everyone was able to wander the space, observing the butterflies and their habitat for 30 minutes before the ceremony.

Adam and Elizabeth were married in a circle of their friends and family by Lori Blake from Cathy Davis and Company Officiants. The couple and guests were joined by so many curious butterflies who tended to flutter in and perch on people’s shoulders and heads often throughout the ceremony.

We were able to do unique family formal portraits with the butterflies and greenery in the background.

Wedding Couple Portraits, Niagara Botanical Gardens, Niagara-on-the-Lake

After their evening ceremony, we whisked Adam and Elizabeth out to the exterior grounds of the Niagara Botanical Gardens for a quick wedding couple’s portrait session. As the light faded we wandered through the beautiful pathways lined with interesting plants and flowers. The park was closed to visitors so again we had the space completely to ourselves and took the opportunity to set up some beautiful creative portraits.

Post-Wedding Drinks at Oast House Brewers, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Following the ceremony, Adam and Elizabeth and their wedding party went for drinks at Oast House Brewers. They had reserved the upstairs patio but when the weather changed abruptly and it started to hail they moved the party inside. The post-wedding drinks were just as Adam and Elizabeth had hoped. All of their close family and friends, hanging out, having real conversations in a relaxed atmosphere, with great beer and snacks.

As far as non-traditional weddings go this one was perfect. Every element was carefully curated to ensure Adam and Elizabeth could offer their guests a taste of their favourite places in Niagara-on-the-Lake with no stress or fuss. Ensuring no one had to worry about transportation or fees on-site made the day run incredibly smoothly.

If you’re considering a non-traditional intimate wedding in wine country I can highly recommend this approach!

“Patrick and Alecia are everything we could have hoped for in photographers and more! Their level of professionalism, responsiveness, and organization gave us confidence going into our wedding day, and they far exceeded our expectations. They constantly communicated with us leading up to the event to make sure they were catering their services to what we were looking for in the photos they would be capturing, while guiding us with their professional opinion when we asked for it. On the day of the wedding, they did an incredible job of pre-identifying locations to capture our couples photos, making it a seamless process when it came time to step away from our group, and the locations they suggested were perfect. They were organized and coordinated to know exactly who to photograph during our family formals, and respected the time we had to capture the formal pictures. Throughout the day, they were able to accommodate changing venues, loss of daylight (as it was an evening wedding), and through their talented work they were able to brilliantly capture the atmosphere with quality photos at every step. We had a very tough time narrowing down our 'favourites' to less than 25! Our one major ask prior to the wedding was capturing organic and candid photos of our guests. Being so friendly and modest, they were able to fit into our small group of guests, making everyone comfortable, and the photos they captured reflected that by perfectly representing people's personalities. We are absolutely thrilled with the outcome of the photos. The level of service and professionalism Patrick and Alecia provide is the gold standard for what professionals should strive to achieve. We could not have been happier with the service and product they provided. We can not recommend Patrick and Alecia highly enough! Thank you so much again Patrick and Alecia!”