After the Ceremony: Celebrating in Quebec City

By the time a Quebec City elopement session ends, typically around nine or ten in the morning, couples are usually hungry and looking for somewhere to be without a schedule. The city does this transition extremely well. The restaurants in Petit-Champlain and Saint-Roch, the wine and cheese culture of the province, and the short drive to Ile d’Orleans or Montmorency Falls all work together as a natural second chapter to the morning ceremony.

Brunch in Petit-Champlain

Petit-Champlain in the Lower Town has several small cafes and restaurants that open early and serve the kind of Quebec breakfast that belongs on a honeymoon morning: tourtiere, maple products, local cheeses, and good coffee. I always walk couples down the lane after the session and recommend they find a table before the tourist traffic builds. The restaurants here are small and fill quickly in peak season, so arriving before nine is the practical advice. The ambiance of a tiny stone-walled Quebec City restaurant on the morning of your elopement is something I hear about in the messages couples send later.

Montmorency Falls

Montmorency Falls is fifteen minutes east of Old Quebec on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, and the falls are higher than Niagara by thirty metres. I have photographed couples at Montmorency after a morning Old Town session on several occasions. The suspension bridge over the gorge gives the falls behind the couple at close range, and the promenade below on the south side of the falls gives the full height of the drop in the background. The contrast between the intimate stone streets of the morning session and the scale of the waterfall in the afternoon gives a day that has genuine visual variety. Bring dry clothes.