waterfront wedding

Royal Canadian Yacht Club Wedding

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Rocio + Geoff

It’s not every day I get to photograph a Monday wedding…. and one on an island too!

Rocio and Geoff had one of the loveliest, intimate weddings I’ve been a part of in a long long time. This was a wedding where they were surrounded by family. As Rocio is from Mexico, they’ll also be having what sounds like an amazing reception down there later this spring!

The day began at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto’s Yorkville district as Rocio and Geoff got ready for their wedding in separate suites. I love when couples get ready in the same location (or at least really close) as it lets me be in both places to document the wedding preparations.

From there it was a quick Uber and then a quicker ferry ride (I love being on the water!) out to the Royal Canadian Yacht Club where they had an emotional outdoor wedding ceremony under a big tree overlooking the Toronto skyline.

We made use of the beautiful grounds of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club along with the stunning view of the Toronto skyline for some wedding portraits and family pictures.

The wedding reception was held indoors in what the RCYC calls a ‘covered verandah’ but in reality is one of the most light filled wedding venues (and still with that killer view!).

Rocio and Geoff’s siblings did an amazing job MC’ing the evening, even providing translation between English to Spanish and vice versa. The speeches themselves were very heartfelt with many, many, many funny moments!

The rest of the night was spent dancing away outdoors on the patio and then everyone headed out on the pier to board the ferry back to the mainland.

If I could photograph a wedding like this every week, I’d be a very happy photographer.

You can see some of my favourite wedding pictures above as well as their full wedding slideshow below.


Argonaut Rowing Club Wedding

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Huong + Aaron

People always ask me what my best wedding story is. Usually it’s the time the reception venue had a fire and we had to relocate the reception to the church basement.

Going along with a theme, this is the wedding where my car caught on fire. On the Gardiner Expressway. In the middle of the wedding. On the plus side, I’ve got a really nice new car!

But the day started really great. Honestly.

Huong + Aaron began their day getting ready at Aaron’s fathers beautiful home. I love when couples throw out traditions out the window. Once everyone was ready, they had a really lovely first look in the backyard by the pool. First looks can be a great idea to help smooth out a wedding day timeline and the nerves of the couple. :)

From there we headed off to their church ceremony at the stunning St Gabriel’s Parish in North York. I absolutely love this church, it’s so different than 99% of the churches out there. Clean, modern lines and tons of natural light… A photographers dream. The wedding ceremony featured some beautiful readings, a great singer and some great moments as Huong + Aaron exchanged their vows, rings and a kiss.

We hung out the church for a while, getting some family portraits done and then it was off to the Argonout Rowing Club for the reception… and that’s when my day went HORRIBLY WRONG. :)

Luckily Huong + Aaron’s wedding had a nice break built into the afternoon, plenty of time to wait for the firetruck, get my SUV towed to a dealership and then Uber it over to the reception. Technically, I was only 2 minutes late.

Cocktails and the wedding reception at the Argonaut Rowing Club was great. It’s a beautiful venue right on the waterfront in Toronto, a real rarity. The night featured TWO live bands, some great speeches and a beautiful sunset.

You can see some of my favourite wedding pictures up top and their full wedding slideshow below.

Before you leave make sure to check out some pictures from Huong + Aaron’s amazing Ottawa engagement session.

Tobermory Wedding Photographer

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Joohee + Joel

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from Joohee + Joel's rehearsal!  And now it's time for the wedding post!

I've been to the Tobermory area a bunch of times so when I got an email from Joohee + Joel I was really excited to be going up there for a wedding!  We decided to make a little family trip out of it and rented a cottage for the week!

Joohee is originally from Korea and her family made the trip over to Canada for the wedding which was great!  I really like weddings where it's two cultures coming together.  You get to see the differences but even better you get to see all the similarities in the cultures.

Joel's mom has a beautiful property right on the water outside of town (little bit jealous) so everyone gathered there in the morning to start the day.  There were actually two wedding ceremonies, the first one was in the morning right on the windy waters edge with Joohee and Joel wearing traditional Korean wedding dress.

This wedding also had a first for me... a break in the middle of the day!   So I met up with the wife and kids for lunch before the second afternoon backyard ceremony with everyone changed into traditional western wedding attire.

We hung around for a nice cocktail hour and some pictures we then loaded up the school bus and headed into town for the reception at the Tobermory Community Centre.  I know many photographers out there would shudder at the thought of shooting a wedding at a community centre but I loved it.   So much of my photography is about the emotions, moments and people at a wedding that it really doesn't matter to me what the venue looks like.   Plus, the decorator did a fantastic job making the community hall look great!

Check out some of my favourite pictures from this Tobermory wedding above and the full slideshow below.

Hesseland Inn Wedding Photographer

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Rebecca + Jeff

Rebecca & Jeff's wedding at the Hessenland Inn on the shores of Lake Huron was one of my favourite weddings of the year!

Rebecca was a bridesmaid from Nicole + Bobby's wedding last year so there was an automatic comfort level for all of us working together!  Plus, we did some great engagement pictures you can see here.

It was my first time photographing a wedding at the Hessenland Inn and I have to say it's an amazing venue.  The reception room is an old stone barn and the bridal suite is in the converted silo with amazing views!

After everyone was ready and looking great, we headed across the grounds for an outdoor wedding ceremony.  The weather forecast hadn't been looking great all day, and there was a brief moment it looked like we might be getting wet during the ceremony, but my lucky habits foot worked again and it blew past us.

Hessenland Inn has access to a great beach so after some portraits with the families and the wedding party I took Rebecca + Jeff down there for some portraits of just the two of them.

The reception had everything... great speeches, great food, great party, great tornado.... Yep.

The weather held out out for the ceremony and pictures but once the reception started it was a full blown thunderstorm for most of the night.  At one point, during one of the fathers speeches the normal sounds of rain, thunder & lighting were replaced by about 15 seconds of a loud roar.   We all kind of paused and looked up, half expecting the roof to come flying off but it quickly passed.  The worst of the damage was several big trees on the property knocked down!

You can see some of my favourite wedding photographs from their wedding above as well as the full wedding slideshow below!

Tannery Wedding Photographer

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Jennifer + Ian

Jennifer + Ian had a great wedding this summer at Waterloo's Tannery Event Centre

First off, a huge shoutout to Sath who did an amazing job second shooting as well as their wedding planner Afzia of Style & Elegance Wedding and Events.

Jennifer + Ian both attended and work at the University of Waterloo so the campus played a huge part in their wedding (and their engagement pictures!). 

I started the day at Voila Salon in Waterloo with girls for hair and makeup while Sath met up with the guys at their house for some getting ready pictures.

We then met up for a first look at the Breithaupt Building and then some more wedding pictures at Victoria Park in Kitchener.

The reception was held at Bingemens Tannery Event Centre in the old Lang Tannery buildings in downtown Kitchener.  The space is stunning with massive video screens on every wall!


Muskoka Wedding

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Sasha + James

Such a fantastic wedding up at The Rosseau Muskoka by JW Marriott with Sasha and James!   

James was the best man from Phil + Stephanie's wedding last year.  I've shot 3 weddings for Phil's family so this day was full of friendly faces and past clients!  
 

The rain held off and we were able to have a beautiful outdoor ceremony overlooking the lake.

One of the coolest parts of the day was the lawn games they set up to entertain the guests in between the ceremony and reception.

We took some time to head down to the waterfront for some great pictures of Sasha + James and their wedding party on the docks.... Sasha even helped a stranded paddle boater in her wedding dress!

The dinner and reception was an awesome night in the Russeau Ballroom.  The night ended with smores in the fire pit.

A huge thanks to Toronto wedding photographer Sam Wong for making the trip up to the Muskokas and helping out with second shooting.
 

Check out some of my favourite photographs from their Muskoka wedding as well as the full wedding slideshow below!