The Brides of Montreal
Photo Shoot at the Botanical Gardens
By: Charles Giuliano - May 10, 2009
Some years ago, when first visiting the Botanical Gardens in Montreal with my Mom we were surprised to encounter bridal parties. So many of them that we dubbed them the "Blue Bride" the "Pink Bride" the "Yellow Bride." They were everywhere.
This time, however, it was the first week in May. Spring arrives later in Montreal so the gardens were just coming to life with some trees blooming but the flower beds revealing just shoots popping up.
The greenhouses were just glorious as they are year round. In the lobby we were regrouping after a thorough tour when the wedding party walked in.
The first bride of spring it would appear. The couple, as we learned, was Kurdish. How interesting that they had settled in Montreal. The bride, for course, was just radiant on her day of days attended to by a girl holding her train.
The groom, however, seemed distracted by his cell phone. So, what else is new? So much for romance in the digital era.
There was a bit of sticker shock as the groom learned that it was going to cost $15 a head for the party of a dozen and more to enter the greenhouses. No discounts for brides it appears. Of course, in better weather, the shoots are in the gardens. But it was not to be so early in the season.
Oh well the cost of marriage. Just the first of many bills. Leaving the gardens we encountered a young family with a toddler. She was pregnant with what appeared to be their second child. I wondered if they posed for wedding pictures in the Botanical Gardens? Perhaps it is all a metapohor for Eden's Adam and Eve. Where it all began. Or so they say.