Photography Blog

Courtney grew up in the city, but ever since meeting Daryl, she became a real country girl.   We did their engagement photos in and around the town of Gilford, ON, which is where they live.
The sun came out for very brief periods of time throughout our session.  We did the first photo at the docks, but then we headed to the incredible venue of Belcroft Tree Farm for the other photos.

They actually have a retro train caboose on their property – and you can even sleep inside it!

The people at my table for their wedding said that this photo is who Courtney and Daryl are.

Courtney used to play the piano.

Blast from the past.

I went back in time for these photos!

The farm has a pond!

Congrats again, Courtney and Daryl! The blog post from their wedding on Saturday will be going up next week. I can’t wait to post it!  They were real troopers and we got some amazing photos in the rain!

I met my friend Zack on the train to Montreal when he was a budding young jazz musician and I was a jazz fan.  Zack now lives in NYC, which is where my husband and I lived when he first started dating Alice in 2007. Unfortunately, my first encounter with Alice was not until their wedding, since she lived in Holland when were in NYC!  The words that most people used to describe her were “Talented, creative and kind.”  She met Zack when she sang at jazz Festival in Holland, where she is from, but she is now doing her PhD in Economics in NYC.

I was a guest at this wedding, but I was also the official photographer for the reception.  Their wedding took place at Hillsdale Golf Course.

Congrats to Zack and Alice on such a fantastic day!

I adore the hora dance.

You can tell they are in love from the way they are looking at each other.

Here, they are watching a video made by friends from around the world who could not attend the wedding.

Zack’s dad saved this whisky for this day from another special occasion 37 years ago.  It was handed out to all of the guests.

Alice designed the beautiful cake and cupcakes. They matched the wedding invitations!

Zack completed the cake cutting with a wink and a smile.

First dance.

Alice’s brother Danny sang an emotional song for them.

Zack’s sister Katie DJ’d.

The bride and bridesmaids towards the end of the evening.

Alice’s family and Zack’s sisters.

Congrats on a fantastic wedding Zack and Alice! It was so nice to finally meet you, Alice!

I spent a couple of extra days in Montreal.  This is their Olympic stadium.

The jardin botanique put on an incredible exhibit.

They tagged monarchs.

Thank goodness for honeybees.  Here’s one at the botanical gardens.  If you are worried about colony collapse and why the bees are dying, you can help out here:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/protect-the-bees-suspend-neonicotinoids-in-ontario-a-bee-cause

Alison and I went to high school together and her brother Jeff wrote and sings “If I could be the one,” which is the song that plays alongside my wedding portfolio on my site (click here to give it a listen! https://www.rabbatphoto.com/weddings.html ).

I also remember helping a friend deliver The Mississauga News with Alison when we were much younger.

I was thrilled to hear about Alison’s engagement and even more excited when she asked me if I could photograph her wedding.

The day started out at her parents house and the ceremony onwards took place at The Doctor’s House in Kleinburg.

One thing I really loved about photographing Alison and Jason’s wedding was how emotional they were.

I guess Alison’s dad doesn’t like wearing ties….

Mom is ecstatic.

This photo was in Alison’s parents backyard, which was also featured on a Mississauga garden tour.

Dancing in limo on the way to the ceremony. Limo provided by Erin Mills Limousine.

Guests waiting outside the chapel.

Ready to get married!

Alison and Jason at the Kleinburg Railway Station.

The wedding party at the Doctor’s House.

These were the games people played in order to get them to kiss.

First dance!

I love the expressions on people’s faces as they play the centrepiece game.

Bouquet toss. Alison changed part way through the reception.

Congrats on a successful wedding day, Alison and Jason!
Thanks again for having me be your photographer.

My daughter got on the bus for her first day of jardin (senior kindergarten) today!

She was pretty excited to see her friends.

Did you have a child go back to school today? Were they excited? How about you?

You may remember Erica and Kyle from their engagement photo session, which I had the pleasure of doing in Banff last September.  They finally came back to Toronto for their long awaited wedding!

I was very pleased when I emailed Erica to ask what the most important photos were to her and she responded, “For us, pictures of people are the most important.”

They had a fairly intimate wedding of 74 people, so everyone there was extremely special to them.

I heard a lot of people say that Kyle was usually pretty serious in photos, but he sure smiled at Erica.

Erica’s dad likes taking photographs too, so here is a picture off the back of his camera capturing Erica and her mom.  I noticed that her dad and both of his siblings were avid photographers.  Dad did a great job on the composition! I don’t think he knew that I was taking a picture of his picture.

They got married at Willowdale Baptist Church.  I love how excited they look to be getting married.

First kiss.

We took most of their photos after the ceremony at Dempsey Park, which turned out to be a really great place for wedding photos in Toronto!
Their wedding party consisted of Erica’s best friend and Kyle’s brother.

This photo was also taken at Dempsey Park.

We took some more wedding photos at The National Yacht Club, since that is where Erica and Kyle’s reception took place. It was such a perfect day!

Reacting to the speeches. Erica’s dad’s speech was quite funny.

They stood in front of this counter and I just had to take these reflections! These photos looked cool upside down, but they also look great right side up.

Erica and Kyle with some of their friends at sunset on the deck of The National Yacht Club.

Kyle’s speech.

Their cake cutting was one of the funniest cake cuttings I have ever witnessed!

First dance.  They knew how to dance!

Congratulations, Erica and Kyle! It was such an honour to be part of your wedding.  I hope you had a fanastic honeymoon in Kauai!

Val and Joe met in high school, where they both had crushes on each other.  Their relationship started off as a friendship, but it didn’t take too long for them to start dating.  They have been together ever since and now to the delight of both families and all their friends (and especially them), they are finally, married!

Their ceremony took place at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Aurora and their reception was at Crystal Fountain in Markham.

Thanks to Jing of Imajing Photography for photographing this wedding with me!

Val had to call her dad in to help with the lacing of the bridal dress because her mom was having trouble with it and she remembered her dad lacing up her sister’s dress too. I love how she is putting on her earrings as her parents are doing up her dress.

Joe looks pretty calm before the ceremony.

This day was a long time coming!

Val and Joe’s ring exchange was one of the funniest I have ever witnessed.  Joe had trouble getting Val’s ring on and then Val had trouble getting Joe’s ring on, which resulted in an outburst of laughter.

We took the wedding photos on Main Street in Unionville.

Check out the fuschia shoes! My 5 year old saw this picture and begged me for the same ones.

No trains coming!

First dance!

They had a huge crowd on the dance floor throughout the reception. Their friends and family know how to party!

Somebody looks happy to have caught the garter.

Congrats again on an awesome wedding, Joe and Val and thanks so much for having Rabbat Photography be a part of it!

Special thanks to:

DJ Jason Rolland of Bounce Productions for getting everybody up on the dance floor!

Jenn Thunem and Nancy Thunem for providing beautiful vocals and piano/organ during the ceremony

Posh Stylings for making the room look so luxurious

Mid-Valley Gardens for the gorgeous bouquets

Exotica Limo for getting everybody everywhere on time!

Last but not least, Hurst Bakery for the delicious and gorgeous cake (Val also happens to work there)!

Sophie and Mike‘s wedding took place in Ile d’Orleans, Quebec.

Le mariage de Sophie et Mike a eu lieu a l’île d’Orléans, Québec.

It started with a small party Sophie’s parents hosted at their 400 year old stone house.

Les évènements  ont commencé avec une petite  fête  organisé par les parents de Sophie à leur maison de pierre qui date des années 1600.

The following evening, there was a reception at Cassis Monna et Filles.  The desserts were all cassis flavoured and they were delicious!

Le lendemain, la réception  était chez Cassis Monna et filles. Tout les desserts avaient le saveur de cassis et ils étaient délicieux!

This is the view of Quebec from Cassis Monna et Filles on Ile d’Orleans.

Mike got ready for the wedding at this house, which belongs to artists.

Mike s’est habillé chez une maison d’artistes.

Sophie got ready at her parents place.

Sophie s’est préparé chez ses parents.

The church in Ste. Petronille.

L’église de St. Pétronille

A definite highlight of the wedding day was when Mike’s sister, Annie, played the violin. She is in a Boston based chamber orchestra, called A Far Cry.

Un clou de la journée de mariage était quand la soeur de Mike, Annie, a joué du violon. Elle est dans une groupe appelé A Far Cry.

You can see Montmorency falls in the background of the photo on the right.

Vous pouvez voir les Chutes Montmorency en arrière sur la photo de droite.

Their wedding took place in the Mary Patterson room of Manoir Montmorency.  The balcony overlooked the bridge to Ile d’Orleans.

Leur mariage a eu lieu dans la salle Mary Patterson du Manoir Montmorency. Le balcon donnait sur le pont de l’Ile d’Orléans.

There were lots of fun moments throughout the reception, including when Sophie’s high school friends performed The Macarena to get them to kiss.

Il y avait beaucoup de moments amusants tout au long de la réception, y compris le moment lorsque les amis d’ecole secondaire de Sophie ont dansé la Macarena pour leur faire donner un bisou.

It worked!

Succès!

First dance and dancing with the guests.  This party continued well into the night!

Première danse et danse avec les invités . Cette fête a continué ainsi dans la nuit!

The wedding events ended with a Sunday morning brunch.

Les  événements du mariage ont fini avec un brunch du dimanche matin.

This wedding was extra special for me because it was Rabbat Photography’s first Rabbat wedding (Mike is my second cousin), which also meant that I got to meet and reunite with a lot of my own relatives!  It was definitely a big success!  As they hosted so many events, most of the guests got to get to know one another, so everyone left with some new friends from this wonderful event.

Congrats again on your marriage and thanks again for having me photograph your wedding, Mike and Sophie!

Ce mariage a été très spécial pour moi, car c’etait le premier mariage Rabbat pour Rabbat Photography (Mike est mon cousin au second degré), ce qui signifiait également que j’ai rencontré et j’ai été réuni avec beaucoup de ma propre famille ! C’était vraiment un gros succès ! Comme ils ont accueilli de nombreux événements, la plupart des invités se sont bien connus et sont parties avec quelques nouveaux amis de ce merveilleux événement. Félicitations encore une fois sur votre mariage,  Mike et Sophie !

Wedding venue: Manoir Montmorency

Dress designer: Hamideh Abol.

Edith’s family set up a surprise Mexican themed birthday for her.  They settled on a Mexican theme, because she was going to go to Mexico to celebrate.  They decided to go to France instead, but the Mexican theme had already been set.

Here is the guest of honour, arriving with a look of shock on her face.  I love her granddaughter’s expression.

Her daughter-in-law was one of the main organizers.

Her husband was happy that it all went so smoothly.

They even had a Mexican Mariachi band! They were fabulous!

Edith could never convince Henri to dance, but he was quite a good dancer!

Edith’s son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are getting into the music.

What’s a party without a pinata? Edith let her granddaughter break it, but I’m quite certain she would not have been so enthused had she known what was going to be inside.

Watching the pinata get attacked.

The rewards of the pinata.

The families.

Happy birthday, Edith! Hope you are having a fabulous time in France!

Jennifer and Allen celebrated their wedding engagement at the Shangri-La Hotel in downtown Toronto. They currently live in Indiana and they will be having their wedding reception at the end of the month in Taipei, Taiwan.  Their guests came from all over and included many from Asia.

Jennifer and Allen were left this little note in their hotel room.

Jennifer’s sister Pearl gets her make-up done.

Jennifer and Allen looking out the window just before heading down for cocktails.

The gorgeous room before the guests arrived.

Guests couldn’t resist admiring this baby at cocktail hour.

These 5 year old triplets came all the way from Chicago. Their mom told me, “We really, really love Jen.”

Jen’s sister Christine reviews her speech.  Her other sister, Pearl is happy to be at the reception with her boyfriend.

I love how Jen is looking at him lovingly as he fixes her necklaces.

The first dance was very short, but it looked like they had a lot of fun.

These were some of the best desserts I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing.  The brownies had crunchy salted caramel at the bottom.  There were also melt in your mouth macaroons and passion fruit pudding.

Allen’s family (on the left) came all the way from Taipei for this party.  The families will meet again for the wedding.

Allen’s cousins and brother.

The bartender poured 18 shots of vodka.

Congrats on your amazing engagement party, Jennifer and Allen!  If your engagement party was this much fun, I can only imagine what a blast your wedding will be!