Fiona & Josef’s Heritage Acres Wedding, Featured on Junebug Weddings

Fiona and Josef’s Heritage Acres wedding was recently featured by Junebug Weddings, and if there was ever a wedding that deserved a little extra attention, it was this one.

Set at Heritage Acres in Saanichton on Vancouver Island, their day included a tiny chapel tucked into the trees, a traditional log-cutting ceremony, miniature train rides, homemade pies and one of the best willow trees I’ve had the chance to photograph under.

It was relaxed, personal and a little unconventional. More importantly, it actually felt like them.

A Vancouver Island Wedding Featured on Junebug

Having a wedding featured by Junebug Weddings is pretty exciting. Having this wedding featured felt especially fitting.

Junebug highlighted many of the same things that made Fiona and Josef’s wedding so good to photograph: the woodland chapel, the personal traditions, the DIY elements and their decision to create a wedding around what they actually enjoyed rather than what they felt a wedding needed to include.

They described their vision as a “modern peasant wedding.”

I’m not sure I could come up with a better description.

Their priorities were fairly simple: be outside, eat good food and spend time with people they loved.

Heritage Acres gave them a setting where they could do exactly that.

Getting Married at Heritage Acres in Saanichton

Heritage Acres is a historic property just outside Victoria in Saanichton, BC, and it’s one of the more unique wedding venues I’ve photographed on Vancouver Island.

The property has a tiny wooden chapel surrounded by forest, heritage buildings, open fields, mature trees, an outdoor reception area and a working miniature railway.

There is already so much character here that you really don’t need to fight with the venue or transform it into something else.

For Fiona and Josef, it suited the kind of wedding they wanted perfectly.

Their ceremony took place inside the small chapel, surrounded by their closest people. Afterward, everyone spilled outside for one of the more unusual wedding traditions I’ve photographed.

A Log-Cutting Ceremony and a Miniature Train

Immediately after their ceremony, Fiona and Josef took on their first challenge as a married couple: cutting through a log with a two-person crosscut saw.

Josef had restored the saw himself for the wedding.

The tradition is meant to symbolize working together to overcome the first obstacle of married life.

In reality, it also involved plenty of laughing, a stubborn log and eventually a few guests stepping in to help hold everything steady.

Exactly the kind of slightly chaotic moment I want to be there for.

Later, guests climbed aboard Heritage Acres’ miniature railway for a ride around the property during cocktail hour.

There aren’t many weddings where photographing the couple riding a miniature train makes complete sense.

Here, it did.

The Details That Made Their Wedding Personal

Fiona and Josef didn’t fill their wedding with details simply because they photographed well.

Everything had a reason for being there.

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, they served homemade pies baked by their friends and family. Some of their guests even learned how to make pies specifically for the wedding.

There were handmade elements throughout the day, personal traditions and details that reflected the people who were actually getting married.

That’s something I will take over a perfectly styled wedding every time.

Give me a wedding with personality.

When Wedding Days Don’t Go Exactly to Plan

Of course, no wedding day goes completely according to plan.

Just before Fiona was supposed to leave for the ceremony, one of the straps on her wedding dress broke.

Fortunately, her aunt had previously worked as a seamstress.

A few minutes later, the dress was repaired and the wedding continued.

These are the parts of wedding days I think are easy to underestimate when you’re planning one.

The finished details and portraits matter, but so do the things you couldn’t possibly put on a timeline.

Someone fixing your dress.

Your friends trying to stabilize a log while you attack it with a giant saw.

The expressions happening two rows behind you during the ceremony.

The people laughing when they don’t realize I’m photographing them.

Those photographs are usually what make the gallery feel like your wedding rather than simply a collection of beautiful wedding photos.

Documentary Wedding Photography at Heritage Acres

Fiona and Josef told me they weren’t particularly comfortable in front of the camera.

Most couples aren’t.

You don’t need to know how to pose or spend your wedding day wondering where your hands should go.

For portraits, I’ll step in when direction is useful. The rest of the time, I’m paying attention to what’s already happening.

Heritage Acres gave us plenty of room to do both.

We photographed beneath the huge willow trees, wandered through the property and took advantage of the evening light without needing to leave their wedding for an entirely separate portrait session.

The result was a gallery with more refined portraits alongside the weird, funny, quiet and completely unplanned photographs that told the rest of the story.

That’s the balance I’m after.

Why This Heritage Acres Wedding Stood Out

I think it’s easy to look at weddings featured in major publications and assume they need to be elaborate.

Fiona and Josef’s wedding is a pretty good argument against that.

What made their wedding interesting wasn’t how much they added to it.

It was how specific it was to them.

A tiny chapel in the woods.

A restored crosscut saw.

A miniature train.

Homemade pies.

A property full of their favourite people.

And enough space in the day to actually experience it.

That’s a wedding worth photographing.

And apparently, Junebug agreed.

Planning a Heritage Acres Wedding?

If you’re considering Heritage Acres for your Vancouver Island wedding, it’s an especially good venue for couples who want something relaxed, outdoorsy and a little different from a traditional ballroom wedding.

From a photography perspective, the variety throughout the property also means we can create a really diverse gallery without disappearing for hours or driving between multiple portrait locations.

You get the forest, open fields, historic buildings, the chapel and some incredible mature trees all within the same property.

More time at your wedding. Less time turning it into a photoshoot.

Looking for a Vancouver Island Wedding Photographer?

I’m Sarah, the photographer behind Latitude 49 Photography. I photograph weddings throughout Vancouver Island with a documentary approach and an editorial eye.

That means I’ll give you direction when you need it, create the portraits that deserve a place on your walls and spend the rest of the day paying attention to everything you didn’t realize was happening.

Because the photographs that look incredible matter.

So do the ones that make you say, “I completely forgot that happened.”

If you’re planning a wedding at Heritage Acres, Victoria, the Comox Valley or elsewhere on Vancouver Island, I’d love to hear what you’re planning.