How My Job At A Pool Store Got Me A Wedding In Yosemite

When I was in Grade 12, I got fired from East Side Mario’s for not smiling enough. Seriously. You may be thinking - thanks for oversharing that you had bad enough RBF to get fired from a very subpar chain restaurant, but what does that have to do with anything?! Well, if it wasn’t for some lady telling me that if I EVER got another service industry job, I’d better learn to smile, my mom wouldn’t have gotten really mad and came to my immediate rescue mass texting all of her friends asking if they knew of any places hiring for the summer. Because of that text, I was introduced to Shane, the owner of Cannonball Pools, and thus began what ended up being my 8 year career as a pool & spa expert (who could have ever guessed this). I could write so much about my time there, and how appreciative I am of both Shane and Jamie - they are two of the best people you could ever meet, and my favourite bosses I’ve ever had. And because of Cannonball Pools, I met Connor, who I got to know through the routine post work day hang outs held in the back of the store where everyone used chlorine containers for chairs. Maybe this whole timeline sounds silly. But, I enjoy looking at the world through that lens. Considering all of the seemingly normal events that led to something unbelievable.

Not long after we met, he started dating Michaela, and I started taking photography more seriously. The timing was perfect, and they became one of the first couples I did a photoshoot with. It was pretty obvious they were a forever thing. Fast forward to October 2022, and there I was, on a plane to Cranbrook, BC to capture their engagement shoot.

We galavanted through the mountains and ensured we had enough time for family portraits with Finley & Guinness and I made Connor turn the car around after spotting what looked like some abandoned cars in the middle of nowhere. It was the best day that ended with cocktails and brie at The Hourglass in Kimberly, BC.

One year later, October 2023, Travis and I were en route to California to meet up with Connor, Michaela, her brother Kohl and his girlfriend Casey. The plan? Nothing crazy, just waking up one morning at 4am to drive for two hours in pitch black so Connor & Michaela could get married on top of a mountain at sunrise. Very casual and not out of the ordinary behaviour for them.

They did an unintentional first look in the trailhead parking lot, got everything we needed packed up, and started on the trail. The view when you got to the clearing….no words. It added to the magic that we were the only people there.

At approximately 7:27am, Connor and Michaela exchanged their vows, rings, and a shot of tequila. It was one of those times where it felt like nothing else existed. It was just the 6 of us and the mountains.

After they did the thing, took it all in, and made a few Facetime calls, we started heading back to the parking lot. On our way through Yosemite, we made sure to stop at a few more iconic spots for photos. One of my favourites being the chapel that kind of gave scary movie vibes but in a good way because that’s my favourite genre of film.

Once we wrapped on photos, we drove back to our airbnb, where a much needed afternoon nap awaited. We all had big plans to dress up for dinner, even though we were staying in. But, as the evening came, dressing up quickly turned into blanket dresses and sweat pants. In true non-traditional fashion, Connor and Michaela cooked their own wedding dinner for us, and we put the pressure of needing to capture anything on camera away for the night. Maybe it’s because I’m immersed in capturing photos for a living, but to me, there was something so deeply meaningful about just sharing the evening between us (and maybe a disposable camera or two, but I don’t think that counts). The idea that the 6 of us get to hold the memory of that night and what it felt like is really special to me. It prompted me to reflect on how tricky the balance is on wedding days between making photos a priority and knowing when to sink back into the bushes, capturing moments as they happen. Much easier said than done, a forever work in progress. I wish it could have gone on much longer, but Trav and I had to be up at some ungodly hour to catch our flight home. It just means we’ll have to make up for it sometime in 2024.

Ultimately, I believe the biggest take away from this is to refrain from looking at your day to day as mundane. If that’s how you see it, this is your sign for a perspective shift. You never know how the seemingly normal events in your life will lead to something unbelievable. In fact, I’m sure they already have, at least once. Think about it.