I met up with the beautiful ladies at the Bride’s house and had some fun in their backyard photographing the accessories. Sara’s shoes were simple & classy but oh so sexy! Brandon also had a gift for Sara that morning – stunning Swarovski earrings for her to wear (great taste Brandon).

Once we were ready, we had some spare time waiting for the limo so we relaxed in the backyard for a bit. Then we headed to the Cloverdale United Church for the ceremony.

When I arrived I found Darko with the Groom, Brandon, and his groomsmen hanging out waiting for the all clear to get into position. I asked Brandon how he was doing & how he felt and when he responded with “We’re great we’re just missing the rings but we’ve got them”, I didn’t think anything of it. Little did I know that Sara’s dad had to lend his wedding band to Brandon for the ceremony because his band was left in the limo but the guys had managed Sara’s ring without anyone noticing! It was a great that the officiant pointed this out to us all during the ceremony – it filled the church with some fun laughter. The church was very cute & reminded me of something you would find in a small European town – maybe this is why they chose it because Sara’s familia is from Italy!

Darko & I, along with the bridal party all continued our day at the Historic Stewart Farmhouse. It’s such a fabulous location with ample room & excellent lighting even in the mid day sun. With our “juice” in hand we spent sometime wandering the property. We had some spare time so we all piled back into the limo and went just down the road to Crescent Beach. We did some fun in the sun & sand photos. We were there just in time to catch all the sail boats coming in and the groomsmen helped out a couple trying to push their boat up the beach. I was really enjoying working with the bride & bridesmaids – they’re all so gorgeous and extremely photogenic!

Everyone gathered at the Roma Hall in Queensborough to celebrate the newly-wed couple. This hall is absolutely amazing instead – the details, decor & employees make this a top venue in my book. There were some very heartfelt speeches from the parents and bridal party as well as Sara’s Aunt who flew all the way from Italy for the wedding! Even though it was 3am in Italy, she was receiving messages from family back in Italy wishing the new couple many years of love – how amazing is that?!

Once the music started, everybody was up on the dance floor showing off all their dance moves and having a great time. Even a few of the older family members were up there dancing to the hip hop hits!

I had a fabulous day with Sara & Brandon and their friends, family & guests.

Sara & Brandon – You’re both amazing people but you’re also an extraordinary couple! I am so happy that I shared this special day with you & hope to see you both again soon!

Enjoy my favorites from the day – there’s a few

We drove out to the Fraser River Fishing Lodge at Agassiz for an amazing wedding – Tanya & Dave officially became Mr. & Mrs. Smith (que the movie soundtrack!).  We got there a little early & decided to go for a little tour around the area and found our portrait locations for the day – we were super excited about all the sweet spots we found! The lodge is an amazing venue & the people there are fabulous – so incredibly friendly, organized & helpful. And the food…OH.MY.GOD. It definitely wins best food of the year award in my books. My second shooter, Darko, even found a fellow countryman in the kitchen as our chef! The lodge totally complimented Tanya & Dave’s personalities & I couldn’t of thought of a better location for them. Another pretty awesome part of the lodge…they have Bison there…so crazy and apparently the male is overly aggressive so we didn’t get too close.

The guys arrived a bit later than the ladies & they got ready in the house on the property while the ladies got ready in the spa room inside the lodge, after completing the decorating of the reception hall. I spent sometime with the ladies getting ready & Darko spent sometime with the guys.

Their ceremony happened out on the balcony of the lodge with the most amazing view behind them. We had a great view of the mountains & Fraser River and the weather was fabulous – not too hot & a nice breeze to keep it tolerable The ceremony was performed by the husband of one of Tanya’s co-workers and he did a great job. Dave even added a little something something to the ceremony by giving the first kiss a large dip! Well done Dave!

The portraits were the most fun I’ve had with a bridal party – everyone was such a trooper. We found a corn field, a pile of logs, a perfectly symmetrical forest, Adirondack chairs in a field in long grass & so much more! We found all this within 2 minutes of the Lodge – even better. When we finished the portraits we had to get back to lodge to freshen up before the reception & so we piled 10 people into my car (shhh) and drove down the dirt road with the doors open – hilarious. We drove up to a pedestrian who looked rather confused at first but then quickly realized we were the bridal party & quickly congratulated the Bride & Groom. One piece of advice, when driving down a dirt road, don’t hang your feet out the trunk if you’re wearing a black suit – oops! So we all dusted off, literally, and got washed up and made an epic entrance to the reception hall.

Tanya & the bridesmaids wanted to make a memorable entrance – dance their way into the reception! They had to convince the guys this was a fabulous idea & with a little finessing everyone was on-board. We set up the camera to record this & also shot stills – the video to come in a few weeks! The reception hall is absolutely beautiful, lots of natural light with a view of the mountains, amazing carpentry throughout the room (even the ceiling). Darko & I were absolutely loving the ceiling and the warmth it gave the room – stunning!

My favorite part of the reception – CANDY TABLE!! We joked that all their photographs would be snapped from the same angle all night, the candy table, because they had my favorite candy – sour keys! Surprisingly, I barely touched that table all night. My eyes were larger than my stomach at dinner and so I didn’t have room for sour keys.

The entire day was such an amazing wedding & I’m so incredibly happy to have been included in it. The best part – I have 2 new totally awesome friends & their Canucks fans like myself!

Tanya & Dave – you guys are so in love & I wish you many many years of happiness. I hope to share in some more memories with you guys when the time comes!

Enjoy your Sneak Peek!

From the moment I arrived at Lorraine’s prep she was calm, cool & collected and so were all her bridesmaids. It was so refreshing to see everyone just enjoying the moment and going with the flow! Lorraine knew that no matter what happened she was still marrying her one, her only, her love – Jeremy.

The ladies started out their day at the apartment, getting all beautified by the Makeup artist & a friend helping out on hair, while Lorraine’s dad waited in the parking garage for mom to finish up for fear that we may subject him to the feminine happenings going on in the apartment. The ladies all looked beautiful & Lorraine was beaming as soon as she put on her dress. As amazingly gorgeous as she looked, I think the flower girl stole the show though – man was she ever adorable!! The bridesmaids dresses were amazing as well – a great color &…wait for it…THEY HAD POCKETS!!!GENIUS! I love love love dresses that have pockets!

The ceremony happened in Burnaby, actually only a few blocks from my highschool, in a church tucked away in a residential area & you would never think there was a church there unless you lived on that block! The church had a beautiful organ up above the alter – I love the way they photograph & I was able to get a great vantage point from up on the choir level I love it when churches have the upper level – makes for great atmosphere photographs that include the attendees as well.

We did a few quick family portraits just outside the church on the lawn & then the bridal party & myself all carpooled to Burnaby Village Museum for the fun portraits! Lorraine has a friend that works at the museum so we got in for free – shh don’t tell anyone! hehe Gotta love havin’ connections and seriously, who says no to a bride on her wedding day?!

We wandered around the museum grounds for about 2 hours and just enjoying ourselves, goofing around & sharing in the joy and laughter of their special day. Before we had gotten to the museum, I mentioned to the guys that there was ice cream at the museum and some of them seemed less than interested at the time but once we got there & about half way through the portraits they were persistent about getting some ice cream! The shop even made hot dogs for everyone, even though they weren’t on the menu – great service. While at the museum, you can’t leave the premises without a visit to the carousel & even though Lorraine and Jeremy opted out of riding it, we still did some romantic shots of them in the building. And while we were there, we just had to let the amazing flower girl go for a spin – you can’t deny a child that experience – and she had so much fun!

We had some spare time (or so we thought), so we made plans to all carpool to the reception and then go across the street to have a drink before the party started…while it’s a good thing we had that spare time because the traffic was a nightmare! We ended up getting to Heritage Hall just in time to make their grand entrance.

The reception was so amazing. I’ve never photographed at Heritage Hall and I was super excited for this wedding and was I ever happy to be there. I’m a sucker for old architecture and I seriously was just in awe of how wonderful & grand this building was! They added a modern touch by having a cute monogram lighting logo projected onto the dance floor as well.

It was a wonderful day, full of fun & laughter & love between two people who are very much in love with each other. I was so happy to be able to capture these moments for them on a very special day in their lives! Thanks so very much Lorraine & Jeremy for including me in your day.

Enjoy my perspective on your special day

While I spent the morning with the ladies at the house, Darko spent the morning with the guys at the best man’s house & getting his perspective on the preparations.

C&J had a beautiful wedding with their bridal party dressed in classy black with touches of fuchsia accents in the tuxes & dresses. The colors carried right through the entire day at the reception – everything looked very sharp with the splashes of fuchsia throughout the hall.

Here’s our perspective on the day – enjoy your sneak peek!

We spent the session walking around the area, making jokes & we also learnt that Great Danes are great apartment dogs (look out Sarah, that now gives Byron a good reason to get his desired Great Dane!) lol

I hope you enjoy the sneak peek (Sarah, you are so photogenic!)

The day started with the usual preparations but there was some additional fun had that I had never experience before and am I every glad I got to experience it! They did the Chinese “Barter the Bride” wager between the bridesmaids & groomsmen – this was so hilarious! They also did the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony after the fun was had.

The reception was held at the Kirin Restaurant in Richmond and words cannot express how amazing this experience was as well! I got to try some new dishes that I probably would never have ventured towards on my own – Shark Fin soup & Jellyfish being the 2 that stand out the most for me.

J&B have been together for quite some time and they share a very special bond! I am so happy to have been able to share & capture this momentous day with you both.

Enjoy your Sneak Peek!!

They got married in the very cute Chapel on the grounds of Burnaby Village Museum! So, we naturally (of course!) had to do the portraits at Burnaby Village Museum – it has so much to offer for photographs! We rode the vintage carousel & were lucky enough to get the last ride before a break to ourselves – that’s rare!!

We continued the day at The Riverhouse Restaurant in Delta – it was great food & had a great view of the river. We continued the reception at Meghan’s parents house – they have a very beautiful home with a fabulous backyard to host all the guests & family members!

It was such a pleasure working with Meghan & Devon for the whole day. They are both such calm individuals. They have a beautiful little girl & are expecting their second baby in 2011!!!

I am looking forward to working with you & your expanding family in the near future!

I hope you enjoy your Sneak Peek as much as I enjoyed photographing you throughout your day – you both looked spectacular!

ENJOY!

Barkley Brook is a great spot to get married – everything is in one spot & it’s a fabulous photo location as well. With a man made pond, a garden, old fashioned swing, an old western village set up & the super romantic island and bridge. And to make it better – the pond is surrounded by white LED lights at night!

We had a blast photographing their wedding! Lea made such a beautiful bride & Viktor was beaming with love and excitement all day!

You two truly are madly in love and it shows in all your photographs. You both deserve the best in life & already have a great family started!

I had a hard time selecting only a few so I went a little picture heavy on this sneak peek but I’m pretty sure you won’t mind

Enjoy!

It was an amazing wedding – there was so much detail in the decor & I loved it! Rachel sure has style From the dress, the shoes, the purse right to the monogram on the cake, the photobooth, the flowers & more I couldn’t get enough of it all – it looked AMAZING!!

To top off all the amazing details, the bridal party were an exceptionally good lucking bunch!

We started our day in White Rock for the prep, then ventured down to St. Michael’s Anglican for the ceremony, over to Campbell Valley Park for portraits, then ended the night at the Cascades Casino in Langley – all were such great locations to shoot at.

Even though the day had it’s hiccups, everything still went on as scheduled & without any problems. Rachel was such a trooper through the hiccups – I think she may have been the calmest of everyone!

Rachel & the bridesmaids – I can’t say enough how beautiful you all looked that day!! And Ryan & the groomsmen – you all looked pretty sharp as well

Rachel & Ryan, I am so happy to have been able to share your special day with and to be able to capture it all. You are both such amazing people – warm, loving, generous, calm, and of course totally awesome!

While looking through your photographs, I couldn’t stop picking favorites – you photograph so well Rachel – you’re model material!

I hope to photograph your family again soon.

Enjoy your Sneak Peek