Getting to Brittany + Tarek's wedding in Medicine Hat, Alberta was no easy task. What started out as a routine trip through the mountains, turned into a major detour with several extra hours in the car, a grizzly sighting, and an overnight stay in Leduc, Alberta.

Here's the story: We left before the sun was even up on Thursday morning and started our 13 hour drive to Medicine Hat. I had been following the weather in Calgary that morning as we were suppose to be having an engagement session that evening on our way to Medicine Hat. Rain + no signs of it stopping. Little did we know that all the rain that had been leading up to Thursday would turn into some of the worst flooding in Alberta history. I happened to be on Instagram just outside of Kamloops + noticed a photo from a fellow photographer that lives in Canmore, Alberta. The comment said that roads were washed out on either side of the town.

I texted her immediately to see what was happening + found out that highway #1 had been washed out in Canmore...the same highway that was our direct route to Calgary + eventually Medicine Hat. After speaking with a trucker in a gas station who informed me that the highway was closed but they planned to have it open by supper, we heeded his advice + headed out. 15 minutes into our drive past Kamloops, I got a call from my Aunt who had seen on Facebook that we were driving back to the prairies. I am sooooo thankful she called. It just so happened that getting advice from a trucker was not the best idea + that things in Canmore + area were worse than we thought. Normally I am a bad decision maker...I take forever to actually make a decision + then when I do, I immediately question whether I made the right one. In this case, Mike and I both knew immediately that the only option was to turn around + head north. And that's what we did. We are so thankful for social media + all of our friends + family who took the time to message + call us to warn us of the flooding...it really was the reason we were able to make it to Brittany + Tarek's wedding!

Not only did Brittany + Tarek have the stress of planning a wedding but they also had the stress of the flood hitting Medicine Hat. That's right, the high waters that devasted so much of Alberta was headed to Medicine Hat + was predicted to arrive on Saturday, their wedding day. Despite everything that was happening around them, these two did not let it affect them in any way. They were getting married + no flood was going to change that. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day which allowed Brittany + Tarek to have their outdoor ceremony in front of all of their family + friends. You know you are in the prairies, where one minute it's sunny, the next a dark cloud blows in, dumps rain, and then sun returns minutes later. And that's exactly what happened! In the end everything turned out beautifully. The flood hit later than expected on Sunday, the bit of rain didn't affect anything and these two wonderful people got married and partied the night away!

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