Rheana + Chris New Years Eve Wedding
What can I say about my last wedding of the year. It was epic. I started at 11:00am and didn’t end until after 12:00am. It was actually my very first New Years wedding and it will always be one I remember. Many of you might think that is a long day but it went by so fast because it was just so much fun. I’m so happy Rheana and Chris invited me into their lives one day and allowed me to capture one of the most important day of their lives.
What can I say about my last wedding of the year. It was epic. I started at 11:00am and didn’t end until after 12:00am. It was actually my very first New Years wedding and it will always be one I remember. Many of you might think that is a long day but it went by so fast because it was just so much fun. I’m so happy Rheana and Chris invited me into their lives one day and allowed me to capture one of the most important day of their lives.
The day started with Chris and the groomsmen. It was my first time meeting him and I immediately felt comfortable. It was very laid back which made for extremely natural photos. I’m all about the candids and photojournalistic type style of wedding photography, and this was no exception. I was only here for about 40 minutes but I came away with a ton of great photos. The next stop after that was with Rheana and the girls. Just like Chris, this was my first time meeting Rheana too. She was immediately very inviting once I arrived. All the bridesmaids were also so nice and easy going. I spent a bit more time with them and it was equally as fun as the guys.
It was then off to the church for the ceremony. As you would expect it was quite beautiful. Even though it was a big church, it was an intimate gathering of family and friends which was really nice. As I always do I simply walked around and captured moments and people. Especially when in it’s in a church, the ceremony is one of my favourite parts of the wedding day, mainly because it really allows me to focus on the people of the wedding, not just the bride and groom.
Once the ceremony was done the wedding party left pretty quickly and made their way to Vickers Park for some outdoor portraits. Now remember, this is the dead of winter and it was very cold out. They were troopers though and we made it happen. I knew I had to work fast so people didn’t freeze to death so we found a nice backdrop in the park and set up shop there. Even though it was cold out, there was a lot of fresh snow on the ground and the trees so it was absolutely perfect. I think we managed to all the portraits in under 30 minutes, which was quite impressive.
The last stop on the day was the reception which took place at the DaVinci Center. I have shot quite a few weddings here so I was excited that Rheana and Chris chose it for their reception location. That is where I spent the rest of my night up until the New Year began.
As soon as I arrived I made sure to get photos of all the table settings and some of the decorations. Rheana wanted to do all the family portraits downstairs before the guests arrived and that is what we did. It was definitely a lot warmer then having all of the family go out to Vickers Park. I still had some time after that to go to the main ballroom and photograph more of the decor.
After the guests arrived and got comfortable there were some initial speeches, the an awesome 5 course meal which I made sure to eat. Chris checked on me to, to make sure I was doing so. You would be amazed how many wedding couple check up on me to make sure I eat. Chris and Rheana had their first dance after they officially entered the hall and Chris also had a dance with his mom. There was a bouquet toss which resulted in probably one of my favourite photos below which you can see below. Rheana’s daughters’ expression in the line up was just priceless. Of course, she caught the bouquet too.
After that there was just a lot of dancing and celebration up until the clock struck 12:00. As I mentioned above, this wedding will always go down as one of my favourites. Not only because it was my first New Years wedding but also because Chris and Rheana were such an awesome couple to photograph. Oh, and their family and friends were also very fun and friendly. I got approached a few times throughout the day saying I was doing a great job. That’s always nice to hear and reminds me why I do this thing called wedding photography.
Faith + Joe Wedding
Every once in a while I am asked to photograph just a small part of a wedding, which is always a nice change of pace. That is exactly what happened for Faith and Joe's wedding. They just needed me for the ceremony and some portraits afterwards. All in all, it was just under 2 hours. Even though it went by very very fast, short weddings like this are extremely fun and challenging in their own right. After all, I still want to make sure I tell their story through my point of view.
Every once in a while I am asked to photograph just a small part of a wedding, which is always a nice change of pace. That is exactly what happened for Faith and Joe's wedding. They just needed me for the ceremony and some portraits afterwards. All in all, it was just under 2 hours. Even though it went by very very fast, short weddings like this are extremely fun and challenging in their own right. After all, I still want to make sure I tell their story through my point of view.
I believe I accomplished that with Faith and Joe. The church ceremony was quite beautiful, and because it was fairly slow paced, it allowed me to really take my time and find those fleeting moments and frame my photos to the best of my ability. I'm always looking for angles and different compositions, and anytime I am working in a church, it's always something I really try and do.
Once the ceremony was done, we all headed over to Vickers Park for some quick family photos. I was able to get the important family group shots and even some candids in between. I also did a little bit of video at the very end as everyone was getting ready to go their separate ways for a bit. I'll be sharing that within this blog post once it's done. So be sure to come back if you want to check that out.
It was an honour spending a little part of their wedding day with Faith and Joe!
Lacey + Andy Wedding
This past October saw another fun filled wedding with Lacey and Andy. They were such a fun, happy couple to photograph. Every time I turned around to take a photo of them or even someone else, they were always laughing and smiling. You could just feel the joy the whole day. It really came through in almost every photo I took that day.
I met up with both of them in the early afternoon at the Victoria Inn. We weren’t there long but I did manage to get some photos of them getting ready and before we all headed off to Vickers Park. Once we got to Vickers Park, Lacey and Any did a bit of housekeeping, to make sure everything was in order and then we spent some time getting the wedding party portraits done. Vickers is such a beautiful location and the weather was so nice for an October afternoon.
This past October saw another fun filled wedding with Lacey and Andy. They were such a fun, happy couple to photograph. Every time I turned around to take a photo of them or even someone else, they were always laughing and smiling. You could just feel the joy the whole day. It really came through in almost every photo I took that day.
I met up with both of them in the early afternoon at the Victoria Inn. We weren’t there long but I did manage to get some photos of them getting ready and before we all headed off to Vickers Park. Once we got to Vickers Park, Lacey and Any did a bit of housekeeping, to make sure everything was in order and then we spent some time getting the wedding party portraits done. Vickers is such a beautiful location and the weather was so nice for an October afternoon.
After Vickers, Lacey and Andy wanted to get a few quick portraits at Kam Park, which is always a great location that I don’t think a lot of people, especially weddings, even consider. By that point I already had a ton of photos and we hadn’t even gotten to the ceremony portion of the day yet. By the time we got back to Vickers Park, guests were beginning to arrive so I went into full candid mode, just capturing moments between guests and the wedding party itself.
Shortly after, the ceremony began and of course there were tears but also a lot of laughter, because that’s what Andy and Lacey are all about. It was a very intimate ceremony with all the guests gathered around the happy couple in the middle of the park. It was a photographers dream, because I could just roam around wherever I liked not having to worry about really getting the way.
Once the ceremony was done Lacey and Andy were congratulated and we got a few more important family member photos. The Columbus Centre was the next stop and where the reception took place. This was the first time I had photographed here and it was really a nice venue. Plus, the food was amazing! Lacey and Andy had a neat little photo printing station set up for guests and a few other details spread out that really made the ceremony unique. Instead of a receiving line, they just decided to mingle around the room with guests which was perfect, because it allowed me to get some great photos of everyone before the dinner and everything else actually started.
The speeches were done while dinner was served which really kept everything moving. Honestly, every speech was quite entertaining too. Once of the funniest things I saw that night was everyone gathered around the TV in the lobby watching the Blue Jays game. They did end up wining too, so what more could you ask for. My night ended after the garter toss, which, by looking at the very last photo I posted on here, got quite the reaction.
I couldn’t have asked for a more easy going and fun wedding couple to photograph. They made my day so easy and I had such a great time following Lacey and Andy around for the day.
Jamie + Cory Engagement - Vickers Park
It looks like winter is slowly creeping in so I was so excited when Jamie and Cory contacted me for an engagement session. I decided to do it at Vickers Park because there was still some colour there and plenty of leaves. Plus, there was a playground for the kids too!
The shoot didn't get off to the greatest start though. As Jamie and Cory were getting the little ones ready I decided to get up close for a quick photo of Sophia and she wanted nothing of the sort. She screamed and cried like I just took away her favourite toy. Luckily it didn't last long and she calmed down shortly after. Jamie told me that she was just going through her terrible 2's phase. Well, it wasn't the first time I have made a kid cry during a portrait session. I'm sure it won't be the last though.
It looks like winter is slowly creeping in so I was so excited when Jamie and Cory contacted me for an engagement session. I decided to do it at Vickers Park because there was still some colour there and plenty of leaves. Plus, there was a playground for the kids too!
The shoot didn't get off to the greatest start though. As Jamie and Cory were getting the little ones ready I decided to get up close for a quick photo of Sophia and she wanted nothing of the sort. She screamed and cried like I just took away her favourite toy. Luckily it didn't last long and she calmed down shortly after. Jamie told me that she was just going through her terrible 2's phase. Well, it wasn't the first time I have made a kid cry during a portrait session. I'm sure it won't be the last though.
We made our way to the middle of the park and found a nice spot where there were some leaves and an open area. Jamie had a fantastic idea to bring a red wagon, some pumpkins and she also managed to find matching outfits for both Teagan and Sophia! Sophia was not the happiest camper for the first few minutes but as soon as Cory propped her on her shoulders and started running around she loosened up quite quickly. After that, we were off to the races.
Even though it was an engagement session, we managed to get a lot of family portraits well along with some great candid photos of the kids. I think they enjoyed the playground the most, and some of my favourite photos came when they were on the swing set.
I'm looking forward to Jamie and Cory's wedding next year! They are such a great family to photograph and they always make me look good.
