Melissa + Mima | Intimate LGBTQ+ Wedding at Cambium Farms
Some wedding days are a long time coming. For Melissa and Mima, that was especially true.
After their original plans were delayed by 742 days during the pandemic, they finally celebrated their wedding at the beautiful Cambium Farms in Caledon, Ontario, surrounded by 50 of the people who mattered most to them.
And it was absolutely worth the wait.
Their day began with a first look, witnessed by their immediate families. I love when couples choose to make traditionally private wedding-day moments their own, and having their families there made this one feel particularly meaningful. Afterward, we spent some time taking family photographs before wandering the property together for portraits.
One of the things I love about photographing weddings at Cambium Farms is how much variety exists within one property. The rustic barn, open fields, mature trees and surrounding countryside create a beautiful backdrop without couples having to leave their celebration—or disappear from their guests for hours—to make photographs.
As guests arrived, they gathered in the courtyard outside the barn, sipping handmade cocktails and enjoying appetizers in the late-afternoon summer sunshine.
Melissa and Mima held their ceremony outdoors, in a grassy clearing framed by trees. Their ceremony was personal, emotional and unmistakably theirs. They wrote their own vows, incorporated traditions that felt meaningful to them, and even included their two dogs—the affectionately named “ladies”—as ring bearers.
After making it official, they celebrated the signing of their marriage certificate with champagne alongside their guests.
It was joyful, relaxed and wonderfully personal.
The celebration continued inside Cambium Farms' restored century barn, with its soaring ceilings, exposed wooden beams, original barn-board walls and warm string lights. Melissa and Mima had put so much of themselves into the details of their wedding, including designing and making their own table centrepieces.
After dinner and speeches, the three of us quietly slipped away from the reception and headed into one of the open fields.
Golden hour is one of my favourite times to steal a newly married couple away for a few minutes. The pace of the day slows, the light softens, and after spending most of the day surrounded by other people, they finally get a little space to simply be together.
Those few minutes with Melissa and Mima gave us some of my favourite portraits from their wedding.
Then it was back to the barn—and time to celebrate.
What I love most about intimate weddings like this one is that smaller doesn't mean less. If anything, having 50 guests meant Melissa and Mima could spend their wedding surrounded by a closely connected community of people who genuinely knew and loved them.
As a queer wedding photographer in Ontario, these are celebrations I feel especially grateful to document. LGBTQ+ weddings aren't simply an opportunity to create beautiful photographs; they're an opportunity to preserve stories of queer love, family, community and joy.
Melissa and Mima's day had all of it.
After waiting more than two years longer than they had planned, they finally got to stand together, say their vows, marry each other and celebrate with their people.
And I had the privilege of documenting it.
Wedding Vendors
Melissa’s Dress: Best For Bride
Mima’s Dress: Avenue 22 Bridal
Makeup & Hair: Catseye Cosmetology
Officiant: Married by Marilyn
Venue: Cambrium Farms
Videography: Brimecine
DJ/MC: Sean Caff
Looking for an LGBTQ+ wedding photographer or planning a wedding at Cambium Farms? I photograph weddings throughout Toronto and Ontario with a candid, documentary-inspired approach centred on connection, community and the moments that make your celebration uniquely yours.
If you're planning a wedding that feels authentically like you, I'd love to hear about it. Get in touch and tell me a little about yourselves and what you're planning.