Harper unexpectedly drops in on Ottawa wedding photo shoot

OTTAWA – When a three-car motorcade rolled into the park where Laura Kelly was taking wedding photos of a young Ottawa couple over the weekend, one of the groomsmen joked that it was Lady Gaga.

But the celebrity who rolled down the window and wished his best to the newlyweds was none other than Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Kelly says Harper then became, for a few minutes, the 16th member of the wedding party, posing for photos with the bride and groom — 23-year-olds Jocelyn and Patrick Sullivan of Ottawa.

She says it’s been a goal of hers to get her photo taken with a celebrity, and now it’s “mission accomplished.”

Kelly says it didn’t sink in until the reception later that day how rare it was to have Harper in a wedding shoot.

The 22-year-old photographer says the prime minister became “the talk of the reception.”

I didn’t have to tell anybody to smile when I was taking photos of them,” Kelly said.