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!
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 ?
We love Romanian weddings. Apart from sharing a common language with just about everyone else in the party, there is this lightheartedness and openness of feelings permeating in all the proceedings. I’m not sure anyone really internalizes this but in the Orthodox Christian tradition once in front of the altar, the priest never asks the couple to say the I do’s or wows or anything, if you show up to this well in advance planned service, all dressed up, family and friends in tow, the Church assumes not only that you know why you’re there in the first place, but also that whoever had anything to say against the union they’re already forever holding their peace, so you’re there to tie the knot in joyous celebration.
Sorina and Bogdan’s wedding was no exception to those “rules” from getting ready, thru the Ceremony at St. George and the party, all done in good spirits and lots of laughter (including at the ceremony). Even Mother Nature was generous with us this day, offering perfectly spotless weather which lifted everyone’s mood. The evening ended at the Storys Building, a great venue, intimate and welcoming, the perfect place for a good meal and a fantastic party.
A great day indeed and we have the pictures to prove it!
We’ve been in Kleinburg many times and to the Doctor’s house a few times, we even went to a New Year’s party there but for whatever reason never got to photograph a wedding there. We can see why Kay and Sean wanted to tie the knot here. It’s a warm, charming place with perfectly manicured grounds, great food and good “old times” atmosphere, the perfect setting for nuptials. It is the kind of place that can make a large wedding feel like a small, intimate family affair.
Laughter, tears, midnight seafood buffet, this day had them all. We had a great time photographing this wedding. The following is a snippet of the day.
Note to wedding invitees of all ages: avoid mild awkwardness by rehearsing your Twinkle Twinkle Little Star lyrics a few times at least the evening before an event. You may never know when you’ll be called to “serenade” your happy couple with it. (see the “serenade series” below)
It’s nice to start the day bright and early, especially when the schedule is filled to the absolute max… Starting early however has some disadvantages as well as Aaron found out when he learned about one of his traditional game challenges. Pulling marbles out ice water with your bare toes outside, in a crisp October morning is pretty far from exciting but it turned out to do very little in keeping Aaron from acing everything Felanna’s bridesmaids threw at him. Onto the more significant events, we’ve been impressed by the emotions we witnessed throughout two tea ceremonies and by the extraordinary band playing at their wedding ceremony.
We’ve been lucky enough to catch perhaps the last appropriate weekend to shoot a quick outdoor photo session session at the Osgoode Hall before heading over to The Canoe where the reception and the rest of the day played out.
The day is perhaps best summarized in this message we received from Aaron:
“Both of us are so thankful for all the friends and family that surrounded us on our “big day.” We could not have asked for a better start to our lives together then to be so completely surrounded by love and affection. We were warned by our friends well in advance that the day would go by in a flash, and they were correct on all counts. The games, the ceremony, the photo shoot, and the reception all seem to be over in a shot. However, what we could not fail to notice was the joy that our family and friends celebrated our marriage with us. We will be storing up these memories and reminisce over them for the rest of our lives.”
The following is a bit more long winded photographic account of their day. Enjoy!
We’re back to Sandra and Balazs for their wedding day and this time around we were a bit anxious. Sandra’s parents are very dear friends of us plus a good part of the people invited are also good friends and colleagues. None of these people have ever seen us “in action”… so, we had to be… well… friendly, but we also had to manage the unavoidable distractions so we could concentrate on the reason we were there. Fortunately all our friends are easygoing, relaxed people who, on this occasion, gathered together to celebrate the happy union of Sandra and Balazs, so smile and laughter (along with some happy crying – see the ceremony below) were the order of the day, right from the get go. As couples go it’s simply impossible to imagine someone more in love, they reminded me of Alexandra and myself back when we got married, their love is simply contagious 🙂
McMichael Canadian Art Collection provided the perfect photographic backdrop for this event along with excellent food and drinks aplenty.
We were among friends, we had a good time shooting this wedding, I can only hope we managed to show it in our pictures.
I must have driven past WaterStone Estate a million times never noticing what is really there. Just North of Hwy.9 on Dufferin St. lies this quaint, charming estate, well off the main road, an absolute perfect setting for Laura and Chris’s wedding. Chris likes hunting, something that will become obvious as you scroll down, so Laura decided to incorporate hunting details not only on the decor and groomsmen’s attire but also on her choice of wedding band for him.
If you visited this blog along the years, some of the people in the following pictures will indeed be familiar to you. To describe this event is not easy, it feels like we’re almost family here and we were treated as such. It is hard to describe the mix of emotions in certain parts of this day, the ones present celebrated and the ones not present were remembered and celebrated. Laura seemed to glide effortlessly on cloud nine while Chris’s joyful, easy going attitude proved to be simply contagious to everyone there. The atmosphere was warm, cozy and happy, a stark contrast with the rather rainy disposition of the weather outside. “It’s OK” I told the couple. “Raining on your wedding day represents not only luck and prosperity but also an opportunity for me to have one of those backlit umbrella shots!”.
Thank you guys for allowing us to be part of your day!
I felt incredibly privileged to help H and A on their wedding day. From responding to their simple ad, to meeting them I knew they were a special couple. For them it started with getting engaged, with big wedding plans and living happily ever after dreams. Life, however, happens differently sometimes and 3 beautiful children later, having a big wedding somehow fell by the wayside. Life also occasionally has its way of throwing wrenches in the best laid out plans and when that is discovering you have breast cancer, the situation takes all of a sudden a very serious turn where everything gets put on hold so a family can concentrate on dealing with a life threatening disease. Getting married and making it all “official” takes a whole new meaning in these circumstances.
Having lost family members, including my father to cancer, I’ve become sensitive to situations like these so upon meeting with them our conversation turned towards what I could effectively do to help them have a proper wedding, an event they will look back at without any regret whatsoever. The least I could do in this respect was to shoot this wedding for no money. It turned out to be a very positive conversation and their planning went ahead.
I’m happy to mention other participating vendors also decided to offer their services for free thus making this event a happy, joyous affair I invite you to enjoy below.
P.S. The card I received from them at the end made me remember why I got into photographing weddings in the first place. It is one of the nicest and most valuable things I’ve ever been given and I will forever cherish it. Check it out at the end of this posting.
“Do not approach the bears that might be feeding on the property”. Yes, we knew this wedding will not be a run of the mill one exactly but I could sense Sandra tensing up after she read this little warning casually posted outside the hotel Macy was getting ready at. Speaking of Macy she was terribly late, caught up at her hair salon somewhere in Perry Sound. Gabrielle, the Maid of Honour found herself a little lost in an area where cell coverage is patchy at best. The day was off to a bit of a rocky start. However nothing could possibly ruin the mood of this day so things were smoothly brought back on track and we made it to St. Peter’s Church with minutes (admittedly not that many 🙂 ) to spare.
To say this wedding had everything would be an understatement. From the lighthearted, emotional ceremony to the swiss watch like organized services on the impeccably groomed parent’s property where the reception was held, no detail seemed too small or deemed unnecessary. This might sound a bit boring and precise but the day was anything but. Very casual attire was encouraged and flipflops were provided along with an extensive collection of baseball caps. Bug spray as well, as we were deep into cottage country after all. And if you believe this was not enough try to think how many weddings you attended had a big bonfire (marshmallows included), an ice cream truck, a poutine truck, pit roasted suckling pig, an open bar where there were no two wine bottles alike and enough cupcakes to keep a small town happy for a couple of days.
Good people, good food and good music. What a lovely day this was.
