Photography Blog

I first met Rachel over 15 years ago at a dance because she made a comment about my hair, which is the same colour and texture as hers.  We became fast friends and she even introduced me to Janette, who was her Maid of Honour and my photography associate for many years.  Rachel dated extensively, but it wasn’t until she met Jay that she was ready to make that final commitment.

She was single for awhile, and some friends joked with her that she should go downstairs to the barber shop (which she lived above) and meet a man there.  That was how she met Jay.

We were all thrilled for Rachel when Jay proposed.

He is quiet most of the time, but when the party starts, he is in the middle of it. Rachel needs someone who can listen well and keep up with her and she found that in Jay.

Congratulations, Jay and Rachel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob and Joan were hoping for fall colours for their engagement session at James Gardens. It was only 2 degrees celsius, but we definitely had fall colours. I made sure they cuddled lots for the photos to stay warm and of course, cuddling looks good in romantic photos. They took me to parts of James Gardens I hadn’t been to in awhile and the colours and their chemistry were incredible. I first went there over a decade ago and this was the first time I learned that it was sold to the city by the James family and that the house they lived in is still there and is now used as a recreational facility.

Thanks for choosing such a lovely spot and time of year for your photos, Rob and Joan!

Ashley and Marwen had their Toronto wedding on a beautiful late September day at City Hall. Their actual wedding is going to take place in Tunisia in January, which is where Marwen is from.
He is a pilot, but they met as passengers on an airplane en route to Nashville. Only their immediate family members were invited to the ceremony, but they celebrated with around 40 guests at their condo party room afterwards. Some of them are really looking forward to their Tunisia celebration, which is where they will exchange their rings.
Thanks so much for having me be part of the special Toronto celebration, Ashley and Marwen. Congratulations on your marriage! I can’t wait to see photos from Tunisia!

 

Katie and Christian had an incredible wedding day at La Maquette restaurant, which is now a Berkeley events venue. My cheeks hurt from laughing for a week after photographing this awesome event!

I knew this was going to be a super fun wedding as soon as Katie arrived with a big smile and when Katie and her bridesmaids decided to loosen up with a mini dance party before they even put their outfits on.

Christian wrote his own vows and they were hilarious. As you can see from the photos of people reacting to the speeches, they were also filled with emotion and the guests went from laughter to tears and back again.

I wish you many more years of laughter together, Katie and Christian! Thank you so much for having me there to document your day.

Vendors:
Wedding Day Coordinator: Ange Kavanas from La Maquette
Officiant: Martin Frith
Hair and Make-up:  Claudia Coellho Artistry
Jeweller for rings: Aret Oymakas 
Donuts: Von Donuts
DJ and/or band: Evolved Entertainment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This summer my cousin got married in PEI (she married an Islander!), so we went out East this summer for her wedding. We flew from Halifax to Hamilton on Swoop Airlines, which is West Jet’s low cost carrier.  We paid $250 per person instead of $500 from Toronto to Charlottetown, plus it was cheaper to rent a vehicle in Halifax than Charlottetown.

We stayed at the newly renovated Mill River Inn in Woodstock, Prince Edward Island. The rooms were bright and comfortable and the indoor pool had a really awesome waterslide!  We had delicious breakfasts there too.

We were guests at this wedding and I had all three kids, so I only took a few photos at the reception, which took place at the O’Leary Legion Hall.

The day after the wedding, we went to The Village Feast. Esteemed chef Michael Smith puts it on every year as a fundraiser.  There was steak, lobster and Kenyan ghiteri,, which I tried for the first time in my life. It is healthy and delicious. We were lucky we had such nice weather, or it would have taken place inside a hockey arena.

After dinner, we went for a walk on the beach in Souris.

Here is one of many jellyfish we saw on our walk. We were skipping over them because there were so many.

We went to Basin Head Beach as well.  There were quite a few jellyfish there too.  The next day, I rented a paddleboard and brought the kids on it with me.  The jellyfish added an element of risk, which made it a little more interesting than usual, but we didn’t fall in (much to my children’s relief).

My mom took this great photo of our family!

We went to the Anne of Green Gables Museum in PEI and the girls took turns dressing up as Anne.

We were pleasantly surprised by a concert at the Anne of Green Gables Museum.

We went to Cavendish Beach, but we forgot the girls’ bathing suits. They didn’t mind at all!

We stayed at The Best Western Chocolate Lake in Nova Scotia and our hotel had a room full of video games. Our daughters enjoyed playing some of the games we played as children.

We ended our trip in Halifax. We took the ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia and that was a great choice because we were treated to a concert on the boat.

We were very impressed with the Halifax public gardens.

Our baby Chloe calls all birds ducks. We actually saw a baby duck and of course, she shouted, “Duck!!!”

I loved this beautiful mural that we saw in downtown Halifax.

The kids loved this wave near the playground by the pier.

We went to the beautiful Peggy’s Cove. We ate dinner at the Sou’Wester.

 

I have been getting a lot of spam inquiries recently, so when I first received an email from Matt and Lily where they told me they were going to be the only people at their wedding and that it was going to be at 7AM, I worried about the legitimacy.
Fortunately, I did respond and when I met with them in person, I discovered they were both incredibly genuine people. I am so glad I responded and was able to photograph their wedding because photographing two people who adore each other is now my favourite way to start a morning.

They regularly walk their Border Collie at Humber Bay Park so it made sense for them to officially get married there too.  The Marrying Lady, Tade Cradgeur did a beautiful job officiating their ceremony.

My assistant and I also had the privilege of being their witnesses, which was truly an honour.

This was probably the shortest and smallest wedding I have ever done and while I love full day weddings, I would love to also photograph more elopements and super small weddings.

Thanks so much for thinking of me, Matt and Lily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations again on your marriage and beautiful ceremony!

You may remember my associate, Janette as she photographed many weddings for Rabbat Photography over the years.
She stopped photographing weddings to concentrate on art, which is something she began doing even before she became a photographer.
Janette illustrated this children’s book that her friend Guinevere wrote. Here are some long overdue photos from the book launch, which happened at her place in Mt. Albert. The launch was so successful, they sold out of all the books they had! They can order more though, so if you would like to order one, please let me know and I will arrange it with her.
Congratulations, Janette and Guin!

Here they are with the book.

Janette and Guin’s children were all very excited about the book launch and had fun drawing on the board.

These are just a couple of Janette Rojas’ incredible paintings.

The drawing on the right hand side is of my baby, Chloe in my husband’s arms. I looked at the drawing and immediately knew it was Chloe.

Our good friend Rachel recently got engaged!

Dawn’s birthday was the same day as the book launch, so we surprised her with a cake.

Congratulations, Janette and Guinevere!

I had been looking forward to Christopher and Shannon’s Albany Club Wedding ever since their Hamilton Waterfalls Engagement session. 

I knew that no matter the weather, they would be prepared and accepting.  In spite of a fairly lousy forecast for many days before the wedding, we did not have to worry about that because it was an absolutely perfect day.

We started off at the Omni King Edward Hotel, where Christopher and Shannon were getting ready in separate rooms and then made our way outside for the bridal reveal.

When Christopher saw Shannon for the first time, he appeared to be stunned into silence.  It took a few minutes for him to take her in, but when he did, it was beautiful.

Afterwards, we headed over to the grounds of the Cathedral Church of St. James for photos of the families, couple and wedding party before the ceremony began at the Albany Club.

 

Shannon had her makeup done when I arrived.

Shannon had a photo of herself as a child clipped into her dress.

 

Sarah was upstairs photographing the groom and his people when I was with the bride.

Christopher’s cuff links say “Grow Old with Me. The best is yet to be.”

 

 

This wedding not only featured a bridal reveal, but also a reveal of Christopher’s mom to his dad, because she is a farmer who doesn’t dress like this for the carrots!  Everyone kept saying his dad was going to “Drop his teeth” I think he came close.

 

Christopher burned off some energy as he waited for Shannon’s arrival.

 

Christopher went into anticipation mode when he realized she was coming.

 

Shannon is ready to surprise Christopher!

 

People were saying this may have been the first time Christopher was stunned into silence.

 

We walked towards the grounds of St. James Cathedral. First, they stopped outside the Albany Club.

 

The two families together.

 

The bridal party. Shannon went to elementary school with Jessica and of course, Stephen is Christopher’s brother.

 

We had time for some romantic photos.

 

Christopher entered the Albany Club and immediately stuck his head of the doors so I could take a picture of him before the ceremony.

 

Shannon asked for some photos of the back of her dress, so we took them just before the ceremony, while she waited in this room with beautiful light.

 

I like how the Reverend is laughing and how Stephen is smiling as Shannon’s dad prepares to hand her over.

 

Looks like somebody is very excited!

 

Sarah ran upstairs to the little window to take this photo of everyone when the ceremony ended. I found myself caught in the middle after I directed the last few rows to move back so they would be in the photo too.

 

We went upstairs to the Albany Club rooftop to take a few family photos.

 

Shannon’s mom and her sisters share a laugh before heading to the reception area.

 

First dance with their parents joining them at the end.

 

There was lots of laughter throughout the speeches!

 

They had their wedding rings custom made for each other. Shannon’s wedding ring is Alexanderite, which changes colour from emerald to ruby depending on the time of day.

 

We snuck outside for some off-camera flash evening photos with the cathedral and city lights in the background. We also got a streetcar photo.

 

It’s always lovely when one half of a couple catches the garter and the other half catches the bouquet. In this case, it was Shannon’s brother and his girlfriend.

 

Most of the guests got on the dance floor and stayed there all night (well, until the party ended)!

 

Congratulations on a super fantastic wedding day, Shannon and Chris! I hope you had an amazing honeymoon in Mexico too! Thank you also for choosing such great times for the photos in terms of the light and thanks to the guests for having such an awesome time!

I was reminded of Thomas and Afsoon’s wedding reception when they invited us to celebrate Nawruz, which is the Persian New Year celebration.  I did find this article about it if you would like to learn more:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/19/17138516/persian-new-year-nowruz-explained

I mostly tell stories with my camera and I remembered that I had not yet had a chance to post the photos from their wonderful wedding reception, which took place at Gilaneh Restaurant. in North York. Gilaneh has an authentic Persian menu and when you enter, you feel like you may be in Iran. What I love the most about being a wedding photographer in Toronto, is being able to experience so many different cultures. Thank you Afsoon and Thomas, for having me there to experience yours.  It is always a special honour to photograph the weddings of friends you grew up with, friends whom you imagined important milestones with (like weddings!), years ago.

The first two photos are cellphone photos from the Nawruz celebration.