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Some cities sweep you off your feet immediately. Others quietly settle into your heart without you even realizing it. For us, Gent was the latter. (And yes, before anyone asks: you’ll often see it written as Ghent in English, but the locals call it Gent, the Flemish/Dutch spelling… so Gent it is 😉)

Tucked between bigger names and bucket-list destinations, Gent, Belgium became our cozy home base for a week and a half during a winter trip abroad. We had originally found ourselves in Belgium for personal reasons and, while much of our time would include appointments and day trips, Gent quickly transformed from a temporary home base into one of the most unexpectedly charming cities we’ve ever experienced.

And somehow, despite all the places we visited during that trip, it became one of the places we still talk about most.

After landing in Brussels, our very first stop (naturally) was airport coffee and Belgian waffles. Priorities.

Jet lagged, slightly overwhelmed, and trying to navigate public transportation in a brand new country for the first time, we boarded the train toward Gent with our luggage, Google Maps open, and only a vague understanding of where exactly we needed to go. If you’ve ever landed somewhere unfamiliar, you probably know the feeling: trying to quickly master ticket systems, train routes, languages, and directions while simultaneously pretending you absolutely know what you’re doing.

Unsure which stop to get off at, we asked a kind woman sitting nearby who happily pointed us in the right direction and wished us well.

The sweetest plot twist? We saw her again the next morning at breakfast. Turns out, the first person we had spoke to in Belgium worked at our hotel. It somehow felt like the warmest possible welcome to Belgium.

Our home for the week was Hotel Astoria – a cozy family-owned boutique hotel conveniently located near Gent-Sint-Pieters Station, making it the perfect jumping-off point for exploring both Gent and nearby cities. After rolling our suitcases along old cobblestone sidewalks and settling into our room, we discovered one of the hotel’s best features: a private sauna available to pre-book. Needless to say, after a long flight and travel day, we booked it immediately. There are few better feelings than warming up in a sauna after a long travel day in the middle of winter.

Gent itself felt cinematic in a way I hadn’t expected.

As a photographer – and someone deeply obsessed with architecture, history, and old buildings – I found myself endlessly inspired simply walking the streets. Towering churches, textured stone facades, winding alleyways, quiet canals, centuries of history tucked into every corner… it felt impossible to stop photographing.

While many visitors opt to bike through the city (a very common way to get around Belgium), we chose to wander on foot instead, slowly discovering the city one cobblestone street at a time.

And honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing. Walking gave us permission to notice everything. The details. The architecture. The quiet little moments that make a place memorable.

Gent in winter carried a kind of quiet magic. One evening after dinner, snow began softly falling around us – something surprisingly uncommon there – and suddenly the city felt like a scene from a movie. Walking through centuries-old streets dusted in snow while bundled in winter coats somehow made everything feel even more surreal.

If Paris felt cinematic, Gent felt like stepping into a storybook.

Some of our favourite memories happened in the simplest places. We quickly fell in love with Bookz & Booze – one of the most eclectic little shops imaginable, filled with books, liquor, curiosities, and treasures from around the world. Equal parts cozy, quirky, and impossible to leave empty handed, it instantly became a favourite stop.

Then there were the fries. Listen – I’ve always said potatoes are one of my main food groups, but Belgian fries? Elite. Being in the birthplace of fries felt like a personal pilgrimage. We found ourselves returning to Frites Atelier more than once, happily indulging in some of the best fries of our lives and fully embracing Belgian comfort food culture. As a self-proclaimed fry connoisseur, this felt deeply important.

And of course, there was chocolate. A lot of chocolate. One of our favourite moments became wandering Graffiti Street with warm drinks in hand from Chocolaterie Luc Van Hoorebeke – rum hot chocolate while admiring colourful murals and soaking in the atmosphere. We returned more than once for creamy Belgian chocolate treats to bring home for family… and admittedly, a bit for ourselves too. I still think about that chocolate a little too regularly.

Another unexpected obsession? Cuberdons – also lovingly called neuzekes or “little noses” – a cone-shaped purple candy native to Gent with a firm outer shell and gooey raspberry centre that somehow feels nostalgic even when you’ve never tasted one before.

Food (as usual) quickly became one of our favourite ways to experience the city.

The Crispy Crunch, a tiny family-owned hidden gem, served what may genuinely have been the best biryani I’ve ever eaten. Meanwhile Sole d’Italia became one of those quietly unforgettable restaurants we kept thinking about long after dinner was over – warm, welcoming, and serving some of the best meals of our trip.

We also fully embraced Belgian beer culture (yes, there were many Stellas involved). One of my favourite parts of travelling is noticing the little cultural differences, and I still laugh thinking about how much we loved visiting the local cinema – especially discovering you could enjoy a beer during your movie. Honestly, Belgium gets it.

Gent’s beauty also lives in its landmarks. We spent countless hours wandering places like Saint Michael’s Bridge and Korenlei, camera in hand, admiring canal reflections framed by centuries-old buildings. We explored Gravensteen Castle imagining the stories hidden inside its stone walls and visited Saint Bavo’s Cathedral where I quietly lit a candle for my grandparents – one of those small, deeply personal moments while travelling that somehow stays with you long after you’ve returned home.

Between museums, galleries, architecture, bookstores, cafés, and endless wandering, Gent slowly became less of a stop and more of a feeling. Though we ventured off for side trips to Bruges and Paris, returning to Gent each evening always felt like coming home.

Quietly romantic. Underrated. Comforting. The kind of place that reveals itself slowly.

Sometimes the destinations that stay with you most aren’t the loudest or most famous.

Sometimes they’re the places where you walked a little slower, wandered a little longer, and unexpectedly found pieces of yourself tucked into old streets and warm cafés.

Gent was that city for us. And while Paris may have been the bucket-list dream, Gent became the place we unexpectedly fell in love with.

Explore some of my favourite snapshots in the gallery below…

All photos here taken & edited by Meg Kristina Photography.
Copyright 2025 by Meg Kristina Photography. All rights reserved.

Want a wedding that’s off the beaten path, exclusive, and elevated all in one? A dinner cruise ocean wedding might be just the thing. Best part: it’s not even on a path! It’s on an exclusive yacht with beautiful views of Vancouver and the North Shore mountains. 

Now, you know me. I absolutely love it when my photo sessions take me on an adventure. And a Pacific Yacht Charter with Stacey and Marty’s wedding was a fun mix between urban excitement and elegant celebration. 

The dinner cruise ocean wedding appeal

As a photographer, a dinner cruise wedding is more than just venue pictures. We got to take quite a few pictures around the harbour, and surrounding areas. And I have to say that the result of both urban landscape and ocean wonder elevates the whole experience. 

I had so much fun capturing their first look in a narrow walkway between the buildings in Yaletown. I was able to create a moment that contrasted the harshness of city living and the utter elegance and beauty of Stacy in her dress. And when Marty saw her for the first time… The world melted away, and it was just them and their love for each other.

I was so happy they shared these moments with me. And I was glad to add a touch of sophistication and luxury to their portraits before heading onto the boat. 

Which, if you haven’t guessed, a Pacific Yacht Cruise gives you that luxurious, exclusive feeling to any event. You get a lovely cruise around Vancouver, a decadent dinner, breathtaking views. And a whole boat with your favourite people celebrating you!

It was such an intimate setting, and absolutely perfect for Stacey and Marty. I was able to capture the gentle, sweet, loving moments between Stacey and Marty against the backdrop of the Burrard Inlet. And seeing their celebration through my lens with the mountains, ocean views, and the setting sun was a fantastic experience. 

The Pacific Yacht Charter really does give an exclusive, intimate feeling, and I loved that about Stacey and Marty. It allowed for their love to shine through and really be felt by their family and friends. 

Dinner cruise photos

It was an exceptional experience being part of Stacey and Marty’s celebration. I get so hung up on the details of how every moment played out behind my camera, and how their venue added to the romantic atmosphere. It was a true pleasure to be part of this day. 

So without further ado, here’s a selection of photos, and you can see for yourself what a dinner cruise wedding looks like.

All Photos by Meg Kristina Photography

There’s something wildly romantic about deciding to hop on a train and make one of your biggest bucket list dreams come true.

While travelling through nearby Belgium during our engagement, we realized we had a spare couple of days in our itinerary and suddenly the idea became very real: what if we went to Paris?!

As a photographer, my mind immediately began racing with possibilities. Not only was I finally about to see Paris for the very first time, but I also started scheming ways to somehow turn this whirlwind trip into the engagement session of my dreams. Sure enough, after some searching, I found an incredibly talented local photographer willing to meet us at sunrise during our one and only morning in the city.

And just like that, our 24-hour Paris adventure began.

Our carefully timed plans almost fell apart immediately when a nationwide train strike in Belgium threw our travel day into chaos. Suddenly trains were cancelled, routes were changing, and our perfectly coordinated itinerary felt impossible. After some scrambling and rebooking, we finally made it onto a new train bound for Paris with just enough time left to salvage the day.

The second we arrived, we dropped our bags at our hotel and practically ran through the streets of Paris to take it all in. We quite literally sprinted past the Eiffel Tower just to catch our first glimpse before continuing on to Pont de Bir-Hakeim – a surprise stop I had planned for my fiancé because of our shared love for the movie Inception. Standing there together, in the middle of Paris, at a filming location from one of our favourite films felt surreal in the best possible way.

After another jog back through the city and a very quick outfit change, we headed to dinner at La Fontaine de Mars – a classic Parisian restaurant known for serving everyone from celebrities to world leaders over the years. It was the perfect cozy winter dinner. I ordered a rich creamy chicken & morels dish with rice while my fiancé surprisingly went for the more adventurous black pudding sausage… alongside what was a recurring theme of the entire trip: French fries with absolutely everything.

Our hotel, Les Jardins d’Eiffel, ended up being one of the greatest finds of the trip. Tucked away in the 7th arrondissement and within walking distance to so many iconic sights, it somehow felt both peaceful and perfectly central. Knowing how short our stay would be, I had arranged ahead of time to have champagne and locally made macarons waiting in our room. The view from our window looked directly toward the Eiffel Tower, sparkling and twinkling through the night like something straight out of a movie.

It still feels impossible that it was real.

The next morning, we woke before sunrise and made our way through the freezing streets of Paris toward Montmartre for our engagement session. It was one of the coldest stretches Paris had seen in years – it actually snowed only days after we left, which is incredibly rare for the city. We happily froze our ears and hands off wandering the cobblestone streets, photographing this once-in-a-lifetime chapter of our lives together.

Meeting another photographer while being photographed ourselves was such a unique experience, and I’m endlessly grateful both to our photographer and to my fiancé for surviving a session involving two photographers in freezing temperatures.

Afterward, we warmed up in a tiny neighborhood café with coffee and fresh croissants while the city slowly woke up around us. Since we were already nearby, we walked over to Moulin Rouge for a quick photo stop before admitting defeat to the cold and buying hats and gloves from a local street vendor. It was during this exact moment that I realized I might actually love wearing a beret.

From there, we hopped in a cab to the Louvre Museum. While the museum itself happened to be closed the day we visited, we still wandered the incredible grounds outside, completely in awe of the architecture and sheer scale of it all.

Lunch brought us to Le Saint Regis on Île Saint-Louis where we tucked into French onion soup, croque madame sandwiches, more fries, and ice cold Coke while thawing out from the winter air. Only a short walk away stood the newly reopened Notre-Dame Cathedral, which had reopened only weeks earlier after years of restoration work. Somehow, despite our incredibly limited time in Paris, we arrived at exactly the right moment to witness it.

One of my final surprises for my fiancé was a visit to Shakespeare and Company – one of the most famous bookstores in the world and a place steeped in literary history. Knowing it had once welcomed writers like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald made it feel almost sacred for two people who bond deeply over books and storytelling. We lost track of time wandering through narrow shelves and unique collections, leaving with far more books than we had room for.

And then, almost as quickly as it began, our 24 hours in Paris came to an end.

We walked all the way back toward our hotel along the banks of the Seine, taking in the architecture, museums, galleries, and artists lining the riverbanks. I especially loved browsing the vintage books and artwork from the famous Les Bouquinistes stalls along the water. Every street seemed to reveal another beautiful corner of Paris that we wanted to come back and properly experience someday.

Eventually, we navigated the Paris Metro back toward the train station and made our way back to Belgium – exhausted, a little frozen, and completely in love with the city.

Did we see every major highlight Paris has to offer? Not even close.

But for one whirlwind day, we saw the version of Paris that mattered most to us.

And honestly, I think leaving a little unfinished magic behind is part of what makes a city unforgettable.

There are still so many things waiting for us next time: the Arc de Triomphe, wandering through the galleries of the Louvre properly, seeing Van Gogh’s work in person, shopping along the Champs-Élysées, and strolling through the Luxembourg Gardens.

Some places in life feel almost too iconic to imagine seeing with your own eyes until suddenly you’re standing there in the moment trying not to cry because it’s actually real.

For me, this trip held two of those moments:
the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame.

And somehow, even after all these years of dreaming about Paris, reality was even more beautiful. Take a little glimpse into moments of our 24-hours below…

All Photos here taken January 2025 by Meg Kristina Photography.

Picture this: You want a low-key, beautiful wedding venue, with an elegant space, beautiful scenery, and options for indoor and outdoor celebration areas. Well, let me tell you about the Zoo Event Space in Langley. 

No, I don’t mean the zoo with the animals, I’m talking about the Zoo Event Space, an up-and-coming off-the-beaten path family-owned private estate in Langley. Now, don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of The Zoo before, it opened in 2023 and has been quietly gaining in popularity since. 

But I had the privilege of photographing David and Devon’s wedding there, and I am excited to share just how gorgeous this place was. 

About the Zoo Event Space

You can find the Zoo Event Space tucked away between 264th and 272nd Street in Langley. It offers a little bit of everything, which makes it pretty perfect for couples looking for a beautiful natural backdrop for their wedding. Especially if you want to have a selection of beautiful forest canopies with tall trees, grassy areas, and a good indoor space. 

I love that this venue has so much space. It can host parties from 50 to 150 people. Which really opens it up to both those intimate and mid-sized celebrations. 

I was excited to be able to capture all the different parts of this venue, including the quirky things like the life-sized chess board and other games that were available for entertainment. But what really blew me away was the set up that David and Devon had, with a beautiful wedding arbor set against the backdrop of trees. The contrast of white seats filled with guests adding to the charm and intimacy of the moment. 

It was special. But of course, it was made more special because of the wonderful couple who asked me to be part of their day. 

The Zoo Event Space with David and Devon

Because I’m a wedding photographer, I can tell you all about the venue in great detail – which, really, The Zoo Event Space is an awesome new space you should be checking out!! – but I also like to get into the details of the love stories. 

I met David and Devon at a wedding I shot the year before. David was a groomsman and introduced me to Devon. We hit it off instantly, which I always love. 

They told me about their first meeting, which as a Canadian girl, is pretty awesome. They met at a hockey tournament in Victoria! Because of course, they both play hockey! The rest is history. Since that first meeting, Devon and David have built their life together. They keep their hockey game strong, but also just enjoy each other’s time with games and golf. 

But there is this moment, during our first look photos, that really stood out for me. I mean, first look photos always capture this intense look between couples that is full of love and devotion. Well, the way David looked at Devon was no different. 

The way his face broke into a huge smile, the look in his eyes when he saw Devon standing there in her (gorgeous!) dress… it was everything. It was perfect! 

Why should you book your wedding here? 

Ok, I know I am pushing this venue hard. And I promise, I’m not affiliated with them, I’m just a photographer who absolutely loved this space. 

I mean, just take a look at the gallery and see just how neat it is. It’s got everything you need to make your wedding yours. So do yourself a favour, if you’re looking for a Fraser Valley wedding venue, check out The Zoo Event Space. It is stunning! You’re going to love it! 

All Photos Copyright Meg Kristina Photography.