wedding photography

Heirloom Wedding Image

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Laura + Chris' Wedding at Paletta Mansion

Here's another submission in my ongoing Heirloom Wedding Photograph series.  I always love opening these emails because I'm usually surprised by the images they've chosen.

I was especially surprised with Laura & Chris' submission... I don't think I had any inkling of the backstory when I took this photograph.  I just remember her aunt giving a really emotional and heartfelt speech and their reaction to it.  Now that I know the backstory, the images in that sequence have a lot more impact and become much more powerful.

Here are Laura's own words about her Heirloom Wedding photograph:

"This photo was captured during a speech given by my aunt Carla.  My aunt had offered to say a few words on our wedding day, and I was very honoured by this request.  My aunt has suffered for several years with mental illness, but as she spoke in front of everyone on our special day she was so composed and spoke with such passion that you completely forgot about the illness which has controlled so much of her life.  Her words came from such a warm place in her heart, and she had such beautiful things to say about Chris and I that I was so moved and felt so loved.  Scott captured this wonderful moment as Chris and I were hanging on every word she said.  This is definitely one of my favourite photos of the day."

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You can see the rest of the Heirloom Wedding series on my website here and Laura & Chris' wedding at the stunning Paletta Mansion here.

North Bay Wedding Photography

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Jayde + David

Jayde and David decided to throw 200 of their closest friends an amazing New Years Eve party... oh, and they got married too. :)

North Bay, Ontario in the winter... so yes, it was it cold.  Let's just get that out of the way right at the beginning.   And it wasn't just the cold, we got a bit of a storm on their wedding day (the limo ride to the church was... interesting).

We began the day at Jayde's hair salon in North Bay, Vida Salon, and then the girls headed back to Jayde's house for the makeup and finishing touches.  After a quick visit to the guys at David's father's beautiful home  (that he built himself!) I joined the girls and we all piled into the limo for the snowy drive out to the little town of Bonfield.  Jayde grew up in Bonfield along with some of her bridesmaids and her parents still live there.   It was a beautiful old church of Ste.  Bernadette Parish, really interesting to see how French churches in Canada have a very distinctive look compared to English churches of the same age.

Jayde's father had a health scare just before the wedding and it was going to be hit or miss if he was going to be able to even be there so it was really amazing to see him walk Jayde down the aisle (and then their dance routine during the reception!)

After the church ceremony we all headed back into North Bay and Jayde had arranged for us to use the historic Capitol Theatre for some portraits.

The reception was held at the historic http://clarion-resort-pinewood-park-north-bay.hotelmix.co.uk resort and the cocktail hour featured an amazing spread put on by David's cousin who happens to be a great chef!

Jayde and her sister own an amazing dance studio (that they run when they're not busy being teachers and nurses) and some of Jayde's students surprised her with  dance-mob (is that a word?) during the wedding reception.   The look on Jayde's face was priceless as she fought to hold back the tears.

David's grandfather sings with a group of guys in their church and they entertained the guests with a couple of really touching Italian songs.   The rest of the night was filled with some really heartfelt speeches.

A really special moment for me was when David danced with his sister in memory of their mother who had passed.  I caught their father looking on and it's one of my favourite images from the night.

But I think the highlight of the night had to be the garter belt.  David went ALL IN on this... barely keeping it PG for the kids in the audience.  Not going to lie, behind the camera I was laughing.  :)

As the clock ticked down to midnight, we all gathered on the dance floor confetti guns, hats and whistles at the ready!

You can check out some of my favourite wedding photographs above and a full slideshow of wedding photographs below!
 

Toronto Wedding Photographer Year in Review

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2016 was a great year for me. Amazing clients, fantastic moments and some stunning weddings.

I had the pleasure to photograph weddings at some of Toronto and Ontario's best wedding venues including Malaparte, Fermenting Cellar, Langdon Hall, Liberty Grand, Sunnybrook Estates, SteamWhistle Brewery, Paletta Lakefront Mansion, Art Gallery of Ontario, Ancaster Mill and Graydon Hall
 

I had a really hard time picking these pictures, and I'm sure I forgot about a few, but I hope you like them and here's hoping 2017 is just as good!
 

Graydon Hall Toronto Wedding

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Jenny + John

Jenny + John had an amazing autumn wedding at Graydon Hall in Toronto.  For a November wedding we really couldn't have asked for better weather, sunshine and warm all day.

Both Jenny and John spent the morning getting ready at their parents beautiful homes in Etobicoke.  It's always nice to have the bride and groom surrounded by friends and family as they prepare for the big day.

The ceremony was at St Mary's, a beautiful old downtown church that I love shooting at.

After the ceremony we gathered everyone outside on the church steps for a nice group photo.  A lot of my couples ask for this picture and I'm always happy to find a way to make it work.

We had the use of a great classic Rolls Royce for the day (and some great pictures).... the great thing about this one was how nice it was on the inside.  Some of those classic cars are great from far, but far from great.  :)

Jenny and John took the time to great each and every one of their guests as they arrived for the reception,  a nice touch that showed how much they value their relationships with their friends and family. 

After they made their big entrance we had one of the coolest moments from the day when John's cousin played guitar and sang for their first dance.

The food as usual at Graydon Hall was amazing.  After Jenny + John and gave a really heartfelt speech we had some parent dances and then the dance floor was open for partying. 

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

You can also see Jenny + John's engagement photos from the Guild Inn.

Toronto Indian Wedding

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Shilpa + Rishi 

Shilpa & Rishi were married in a beautiful Indian wedding at Toronto's Liberty Grand.

We started the day with portraits in the beautiful courtyard of the Liberty Grand, we even managed to dodge the raindrops.

It's not many times that the bride walking down the aisle can be upstaged, but since Shilpa had their beautiful daughter in her arms we can make an exception in this case. I actually did a newborn photography session with their baby a couple months ago, check it out here!

Indian wedding ceremonies are always so cool, so many traditions and details go into them.

It was great watching the kids at the wedding ceremony desperately searching for Rishi's shoes in order to sell them back to him after the ceremony (it's an old tradition at Hindu weddings!).  Rishi hid them VERY VERY well.   :)

After the ceremony everyone headed up to the lounge for appetizers and cocktails.

I thought it was really great that even with a wedding of over 400 people Shilpa & Rishi made the time to go around to every table and talk to everyone... it really shows how much they value their family and friends. 

Rishi is a very quiet guy when you meet him but he gave one of the most elequouent speeches by a groom I've heard all year... really well done!

The party was great, the DJ did an amazing job of keeping the dance floor jumping and playing a great mix of music.

A huge thanks for Steve from Tara Lilly Photography for helping out and doing an amazing job second shooting.

Julla from 87 Events did an amazing job planning and coordinating both the wedding and the mehndi ceremony the day before at the beautiful Sunnybrook Estates (check back soon for a blog post on this!)

Check out some of my favourite images above as well as the full slideshow below. 

WEDDING FLORIST  |  Berries and Blooms 

WEDDING DECOR  |  Dance Floor Decor

WEDDING PLANNER  |  87 Events

WEDDING DJ  |  Empire Entertainment

Steam Whistle Toronto Wedding

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Savannah + Bernie

A bit of the backstory how I know these guys. Bernie was a friend of friend who happened to be the bouncer at a local bar we all used to hang out at back in the day and especially for birthdays (21 shots on your 21st!). On my birthdays, it would be Bernie's job to 'escort' me out for some 'fresh air' when I looked too 'tired' He was always very gentle.  :)

Both the guys and girls spent the morning hanging out at the Radisson Admiral down on Toronto's waterfront.  Once everyone was ready, we headed out for a first look on the pier and some wedding day portraits. 

And even after 300+ weddings, there are always firsts.   This first was riding around in a fire truck limo... Bernie was living out the dreams of his 5 year old self.  :)

SteamWhistle is one of my favourite Toronto wedding venues, it's an amazing mixture of old and new school.

We really lucked out with some amazing light at Steamwhistle for the rest of the portraits and then the beautiful outdoor ceremony. 

One of the most touching parts of the entire day was that Savannah's grandmother is a minister from out west and she officiated the ceremony with a little help from a local officiant (that whole 'by the power vested in me by the province of Ontario' bit...)

The ceremony also featured a ring warming ceremony where the two wedding bands are passed around to each guest to hold and 'warm them up'.

Cocktail hour was spent in the SteamWhistle bar and featured some amazing appetizers by the Food Dudes.

The reception features amazing food stations (TACOS!) and some great speeches by their friends and family and then it was time to hit the dance floor!

Bernie has caught 42 garters as a guest at weddings so it was time for him to hang up his belt.

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

You can also check out their Liberty Village engagement pictures here!

WEDDING CATERER |  FOOD DUDES    

WEDDING MAKE UP  |  FANCY FACE 

WEDDING DRESS  |  PNINA TORNAI

WEDDING FLORALS  |  WILDFLOWERS & CO

WEDDING OFFICIANT  |   DREAM WEDDING OFFICIANTS

 

Malaparte Toronto Wedding

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Christina + Tim

Christiana + Tim had such an amazing wedding at Oliver & Bonicini's Malaparte on King Street West in Toronto.

Of course, the wedding might not have been quite so amazing if all the rain we got in the morning hadn't stopped by the afternoon.

Christina had one of the most beautiful and unique weddings dresses I've ever seen even after over 300 weddings.  She got the wedding dress from an amazing store called Lovers Land out on Ossington.   The look on Tim's face when he saw it for the first time during their pre wedding reveal was great.  

Right after the reveal was a touching Ukrainian tradition where Christina's mom blessed the couple before we headed off to the church.... but not before we managed to sneak in some pictures with their three beloved dogs!

The ceremony was held at the absolutely stunning Ukranian church of St Mary's in downtown Toronto.   Lots of different things going on in a Ukrainian wedding ceremony... the priest meets them half way up the aisle, crowns are worn and exchanged and the circle the alter several times.  The little ring bearer was an absolute dead ringer for one of my sons (but much better behaved through a long wedding ceremony than one of my kids ever would be!).  

Christina + Tim each wrote their own vows and after Christina read her amazing and heartfelt vows to Tim I think everyone was holding their breath to hear what Tim had written... and he hit it out of the ballpark!  His vows were amazing.... not going to lie, I wasn't sure he had it in him.  :)

We headed down to Osgood Hall and the King West area for some pictures and then headed up to Malaparte on the 6th floor of the Bell TIFF Lightbox.

The reception featured three performances by a troop of traditional Ukrainian dancers from Arkan Dance Studio in full costume to entertain the guests in between courses.

Angela from Maven Weddings & Events did such an amazing job co-ordinating the entire wedding day but without a doubt the highlight of the night was Christina + Tim's candle lit first dance.

A huge thanks to my second photographer Nick from Artanis Collective for doing such an amazing job covering the groomsmen in the morning and the wedding details at Malaparte.

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


If you have the password for their full wedding gallery, you can access the gallery here.

WEDDING PLANNER   |  MAVEN WEDDINGS AND EVENTS

WEDDING DJ  |  SOUND OBSESSIONS

WEDDING VENUE  |  MALAPARTE

WEDDING DRESS  |  LOVERSLAND

WEDDING DECOR  |  SUSAN MURRAY INTERNATIONAL

WEDDING FLORALS  |  CARISMA FLORISTS

WEDDING DANCERS  |  ARKAN DANCE COMPANY

Langdon Hall Wedding

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Alex + Bobby

This was such a great little intimate wedding at Langdon Hall!  

Alex and Bobby were joined by some of their closest friends and family for the ceremony and then dinner in the Colonel Langdon room at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario.  As you would expect, the food at Langdon Hall is second to none.  The presentations are a work of art!

In a former life, Bobby was an assistant OHL coach so it wasn't really a surprise to anyone there that he had the staff at Langdon Hall set up a TV during dinner so they could all watch some World Cup of Hockey!   They even had a custom hockey stick made up with their wedding date and his team colours on it!

It was a beautiful autumn day and we got an amazing sunset for pictures.    

I really love shooting these smaller, intimate weddings at Langdon Hall!

Ancaster Mill Wedding

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Mashael + Augusto had an amazing two day wedding in her parents backyard and then a beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony and reception at the Ancaster Mill in Ancaster, Ontario.

I always joke with my clients that it almost never rains on weddings that I photographer... something like maybe 10 out of over 300 weddings?  

Well, this one was the exception to the rule.  But honestly, it really didn't matter.  Everyone was having such a good time and we just sort of rolled with it.  

It's no secret that I'm a fan of weddings where two cultures come together and it was great having both Pakistani and Columbian traditions at this wedding.

Both days began with Mashael getting ready at the Janie Laing Salon in Oakville with her family and friends.   As we looked out the window it was pouring cats and dogs!

We headed back to the house where Mashael put on her traditional Pakistani wedding attire.  It was so cool to see how intricate and detailed it was!   Augusto and his family from Columbia where then led dancing into the backyard by a traditional drummer where he waited for his future bride who made quite the entrance under a canopy of umbrellas!

The rest of the night consisted of traditions like guests feeding the bride and groom and lots of traditional dances... thankfully all under a tent to keep us dry!  The dinner was a fantastic Pakistani BBQ all cooked right on the spot.

Day two of the wedding was a more traditional 'western' wedding at the Ancaster Mill.  We snuck off to a beautiful waterfall for some portraits and then had a intimate outdoor wedding ceremony. My favourite part of the ceremony was the recessional when they danced down the aisle as the guests blew thousands of bubbles.

The reception featured some traditional Columbian dancing, some amazing food stations and finished off with a sparkler exit!

You can check out some of my favourite wedding photographs in the gallery above as well as the full wedding slideshow below!