The day started with a little bit of… let’s call it uneasiness. It is late in the season so if the Canadian weather refuses to cooperate there’s not much anyone can do and that raises some questions for a wedding at a golf course with many activities, including the ceremony, scheduled to take place outside. We went into the preparations with an eye on the sky and the other on the weather reports.
But it takes way more than just the weather to dampen Oleg or Miriam moods, this was their Big Day and, regardless of what happened outside, they were ready and really looking forward to tie the knot. Their good spirits were so contagious everyone reciprocated and even the capricious weather held.
The following is a snippet of their Wedding Day. Enjoy
It was a breath of fresh air to meet Miriam and Oleg for their engagement. Times being what they are, things have slowed down or stopped and events were postponed or outright cancelled, so going out for a shoot was something I was really looking forward to. The weather also was not exactly cooperating, alternating heatwaves with thunderstorms, making the anticipation even more intense.
Miriam and Oleg are the kind of easy going couple we love to photograph, natural and at ease in front of the camera, a delight to work with, the few hours spent with them in Richmond Green passed almost in a flash.
We are back today with Leah and Kevan for their wedding day celebration. We caught up early with Kevan and the boys in beautiful Mount Albert and with everyone in high spirits, the day got off to a great start. They were right in the mid of getting all dressed up, tuxes and all, down to the colorful, wacky socks Leah picked up for all of them.
A short drive away in Uxbridge, the rest of the day preparations were well under way, the tent up and the delicious smell of the caterer’s food preparations tantalizingly signaling every now and then the coming of a feast fit for the day.
And what a great day it was!
You don’t have to take our word for it, here is a snippet of how it all went. Enjoy!
We’re back today with Anca and Silviu for their wedding day. There was this big sense of anticipation brewing in the air, some people, like Silviu’s folks and Anca’s Grandfather, had traveled all the way from Romania to be close with them and participate in the service and the festivities. Everyone was busy grabbing one last quick bite, maybe a cup of coffee and getting ready.
The ceremony was held at The Holy Resurrection Romanian Orthodox Church. One distinctive way of the Romanian Orthodox service, is that there are no exchange of vows, no asking of “forever holding the peace” or anything like that. You show all dressed up at the church at a pre-arranged service it is wholly assumed that you figured all that stuff already and you’re there to tie the knot so the service proceeds accordingly and directly.
When we reached Liuna Gardens, preparations under way were tremendous including a big tower made out of prosciutto which looked like a cake and two, pretty sizable, pepper encrusted whole salmon. Yes, pretty impressive the whole sight of it. Delicious too!
What followed was lots of good food, a great atmosphere and lots of “hands in the air” dancing. The following shots will give you an idea on how it all went. Enjoy!
I haven’t shot an engagement session in the Distillery District for some time so I was quite pleased to see the construction there all finished. I was lest pleased to see some of the “staple” features we used in our engagements gone, however. It did not matter much for Anka and Silviu though. They came all the way from Stoney Creek and they never visited this part of Toronto so, for them, The District was all new and a pleasant surprise.
We took our time walking around, see what’s changed and shooting at a cool, leisurely, casual pace. We had a bit of fun then we went in for a late breakfast.
Leah and Kevan were part of a wedding we’ve photographed a few years ago, Kaitlyn and Ryan’s , they liked our work and now it is their turn in front of our lenses.
Leah met Kevan while working part time as students for her parents. They had time to talk a bit and were surprised when they discovered having a lot of cool common interests. Becoming good friends was only the start. Kevan played it cool for a year, however, over birthday blues, their friendship grew closer . As they danced around dating a little, at some point they went home after one of their shifts but then the next time they saw each other they knew they were officially together. Last December they decided it was time to get married and started to look at rings. Here’s the rest of the story in Leah’s own words: “On News Years Day we cuddled up on the couch, decided on the ring and made a guest list. Despite me knowing about the ring, Kevan was still able to surprise me, I got home late from work (after he vehemently told me I had to come home and not work the graveyard shift) to flowers, music a homemade dinner and my ring. It was a beautiful moment.”
There are not too many places to go in the city when the weather does not cooperate, as it kind of didn’t, so after a bit of brainstorming we decided to go to the Royal Ontario Museum. We’re members there and it’s a great place to shoot a few frames.
Talking about days specifically, this particular Fall Season was more humid than usual and a bit unnerving, with perfect, sunny, warm days during the week and drab, rainy weekends. Our collective prayers for fair weather on this particular Saturday however, were answered, at least for the most important parts. We wanted good weather because today we’re back with Bettina and Luke for their wedding. We knew after their engagement story of proposing above the clouds in the Himalayas, the wedding will undoubtedly have all the heartfelt touches of this special couple and perhaps a hair of a fairytale feeling. From traditional to the whimsy, from the austere to letting it out on the dance floor this day had it all.
It’s not the first time we shoot at The Heintzman House and this venue provides just about the perfect setting for everything wedding, including photography. Today it was no exception so, if you doubt this fairytale feeling was present, please check out the stair shot at the end of this posting. Does it remind you of anything ?
To say we were excited to shoot this maternity session is severely understated. We were absolutely ecstatic and that for very good reasons. Roni-Lee and Brian are one of those very special couples to us, the kind of people who kept in touch, refered other couples and generally spread a lot of good vibe not only around us and our business but around everybody. We knew early on, since their engagement and their wedding that spending an afternoon shooting with them would be a fun experience so we were looking forward to see how the bump shoot will turn out. This year the weather has been rather uncooperative so finding a fair day was not easy and with the delivery closing fast swiftness was imperative. In the end we decided home and a park close to home (if God forbid rain starts) would work best so Anchor Park in Holland Landing it was. For the uninitiated (like we were as well, so don’t feel bad) the name comes from the large anchor on display there, an old British made one, which was abandoned on it’s way to an unnamed Great Lake ship at the end of the 1812 War. Funny how history pokes up from the most unexpected places!
Without further ado, here’s a snippet of how ous shoot went. Enjoy!
You might remember this lovely couple from their 5 year anniversary shoot we had at Richmond Green Park in Richmond Hill. Well, with a new addition to their family coming soon Amanda wanted to have a few maternity photos taken and for the sake of symmetry, we went exploring the same spots we went to last time. I’m not sure how anyone else feels about this, but welcoming new life on this world makes me really happy and it makes me remember my own experience as an expectant parent which was, well, also pretty happy.
It was a pretty hot and humid day and we had to dodge quite a few wedding parties shooting in all the good spots in the park but, despite all the agitation we managed to have quite a bit of fun and shoot a few photos. Here’s a few of them. Enjoy!
When Luke contacted us, him and Bettina were interested in and intrigued by our trial offer. It was not easy finding a proper weekend for an outdoor engagement shoot, the weather here in Toronto was pretty wet, essentially dashing our hopes to have this done on Toronto Island. Finally some luck and some (very) hot weather enabled us to meet at the Edward Gardens and have a bit of fun.
Bettina and Luke’s love story begun some ten years ago on a rainy, chilly Valentine’s day when Luke showed up at Bettina’s doorstep with three roses in hand and a big smile on his face. Their story continued thru high school and U of T and thru the hardships of long distances across continents. One day while working in Nepal, Luke whisked Bettina above the clouds to 4600 m and proposed to her with the Himalayas in the background as their witness. We are a bit gobsmacked by this and we’d only wished to be present there to capture the moment when she said yes. They are an awesome couple, we can hardly wait to shoot their upcoming wedding this fall.
Here’s a small sample of our fun engagement shoot. Enjoy!
