Photography Blog

I knew Lee and Dee would have an awesome wedding, but I didn’t know it would be filled with so many unique and super cool details!  Their wedding definitely had a downtown Toronto feel, since Lee got ready at The Hilton Garden Inn around Jarvis and Dundas, Dee got ready at their place in Leslieville and the wedding took place at a new venue called The Gates at Gerrard and Church.

Lee and the Groomsmen watched some videos on YouTube before they put the boutonnieres on, to make sure they were doing it right.   You can see the results below.

Dee and her bridesmaids made the bouquet and boutonnieres out of paper.  These were definitely among the most incredible bridal bouquets I have ever seen and they were definitely the most creative!

Check out Dee’s bridal themed nails.

Dee’s matron of honour wrote out her speech in an attempt to memorize it. In case you were wondering, she rocked it! It was filled with emotions from tears to laughter.

Dee getting ready.  I thought it was pretty funny when she stood in front of the cow’s skull on her wall and it looked like there were horns coming from her head.

Almost done getting ready! Note the beautiful painting of Dee on the wall, by Heather Horton.

Dee’s dad walks her down the aisle to  immeasurable applause!

First married kiss!

They brought some props.  Note the black and white photos. Dee’s photo is of her parents on their wedding day and Lee’s photo is of his parents on their wedding day.  I find it amazing that both sets of parents are posing the same way.

It’s OK if it rains on your wedding day! You can still take photos outside!

Dee’s matron of honour likes joking around.  She was framed here!

Lee’s family and Dee’s family.

Don’t you love Dee’s dress? It is by Starkers! Corsetry. I also love Lee’s hair…er…wait…I mean Dee’s hair.

Their friend Kalli Roger did an amazing job making the cake. I think Dee was pretty excited to dig into it!

Their friends and family were this enthusiastic for the entire reception.  I think they win for ‘least subdued crowd’ I have photographed in my over 14 year long wedding photography career!

I brought them outside for some night photos. It was raining a tiny bit, but that was OK!

Is it just me, or does Dee remind you a little bit of Amelie here?  Don’t  you love her shoes? She designed them herself!

Last dance together before the night came to an end.

Congrats on your marriage, Dee and Lee!  May the fun continue with many more dances and creative endeavors.

Thanks again for having me there to photograph your wedding!

Andrea had a birthday celebration a few years ago, which I attended.  It was my first time meeting Ian and I whispered “I think he likes you,” to her.  More recently, she told me they got quite a kick out of my comment because it was their third date!

They met at Tweed Ride Toronto , so of course their bicycles were an important part of their romance (and were an absolute must for their engagement session).

Bicycles are their main mode of transportation.

This is “Their pose,” because they are “That couple,” as they would say.

I love the way he is looking at her here!

“Their pose,” again!

I think photos taken just before and just after a kiss are the most romantic.

Ian pulled the flowers out of his pocket and completely surprised Andrea with them.

They  surprised me with the jump. I think they may have surprised themselves too.

We happened upon this car.  Someone else was getting married that day.

Holding hands while biking is not an easy feat.

Congrats on your engagement, Andrea and Ian! I am looking forward to photographing your wedding, soon!

My associate, Sarah will be photographing this awesome couple’s wedding soon.  Sarah did their engagement session along the Humber River.

Congrats on your engagement, Rachel and Mike! Sarah is really looking forward to photographing your wedidng.

Greg called me less than two months ago to ask if I was available on his wedding day. Fortunately, I was. Fang came in the next day and we got along immediately.  She had me laughing a lot and I hope the reverse is true too!

They told me their wedding was going to be fairly laid back with under 35 guests and that they were going to get married at Toronto City Hall. They were originally planning to have their reception in their condo’s party room, but it got changed at the last minute to The America Restaurant in the Trump Hotel because the condo party room was not yet finished. That restaurant was an excellent choice because the venue was perfect for the number of guests and the food was scrumptious!

I arrived to take photos of Fang getting ready in their condo.  I knew they were serious about being laid back when she invited Greg to come and see her just after she finished getting ready.  I love his expression upon first seeing her in her wedding dress.

Fang and her guests are about to enter City Hall before the ceremony.

Greg and his best man as well as the guests are eagerly awaiting the ceremony.

Ring exchange!

They are very happy to have their marriage license.

We took a photo of all the guests at City Hall.

I was so happy that the iconic Toronto sign was still up in front of City Hall! Fang is originally from China and she is eager to show these photos to her relatives who are still there.  This is Toronto!

They were pretty happy to celebrate with some champagne after the ceremony.

Portrait of the bride and portrait of the groom at U of T.

Bridal party.  Fang’s daughter is beside her.

Bridesmaids and Fang with her two brothers, who also now live in Toronto.

Family and bridal party.  Greg’s mom (in the green dress) came from England. She only came for 3 days because her other son is getting married next Saturday in England!

Being playful.

Photos at Hart House. I was thrilled to be back there taking photos, because I had my own wedding reception there over a decade ago!

I could not resist the light or their expressions.

West meets East.  Bridal portraits.

Speeches.

Recording the speeches.

Congrats on such an awesome wedding day, Fang and Greg! Thanks again for allowing so much time for portraits and for having me there to photograph it.

Christine and I played on our high school tennis team together (and have played a few times in our adulthood, but not as much as we would like).  I photographed her sister Jennifer’s engagement party in 2013 and Christine did not have a boyfriend at the time.

I got an email from her asking if I was available on Sunday September 13 and was about to write back asking for details about her friend’s wedding. Before I did, I paused and asked, “Are you getting married?”  That was how I found out she was engaged!

I was very happy to find out that Bryan plays tennis as well, so I predict a good doubles match in our future.

I knew she had a boyfriend because she mentioned him the last time I took my kids to get their eyes checked with her at Oakville Eye Care. As an aside, I highly recommend you take your kids there too (or yourself) because she is so gentle that my 7 year old has wanted to be an optometrist ever since her first visit with Christine.

Christine and Bryan wanted a downtown feel to their engagement photos.

In my over 20 years of knowing Christine, I can tell Bryan is definitely the right man for her (and vice versa, as you can see in the photos).

Plus, besides playing tennis (though he is now more into horseback riding), he knows how to shuck oysters.

Congrats again, Christine and Bryan! I am looking forward to photographing your wedding and our doubles match after your wedding.

I had the pleasure of doing Lee and Dee’s engagement photos at Sunnyside Beach recently. It was the first really hot day of the summer, so we were all thrilled to be so close to the nice, cool water.

Sunnyside also brought back great memories for Lee and Dee, because they had their first date there.  I love doing engagement photos because I get to find out what the couples I photograph like to do together and what their chemistry is like. These two were not afraid to let their chemistry show!

Dee and I met lindy hop (swing dancing), so I thought it would be a good idea for them to do a swingout in front of the historic Palais Royale, which has hosted many swing dances.  Lee lindy hops a little too.

Congrats again on your engagement! I am looking forward to your wedding.

Scott stayed with my family for several Toronto Lindy Hop events over the years.

It had been a few years since we last saw Scott and I found out why when he emailed to ask if I was available for his July 1 wedding this year. It turns out that his fiancée’s parents live pretty close to us, so he had been staying with them when he came to Toronto in recent years.

Carissa lindy hops as well, but she is a woman of many talents.  She won the gold at the Chinese National Ultimate Championship in Beijing earlier this year and will be playing at the Canadian Ultimate Championships in Winnipeg later this year.

Carissa got ready at the Park Hyatt Hotel in downtown Toronto.

She actually put her earrings on with the mirror behind her, which made for a cool photo.

Carissa had photos with the ugly dolls all over the world, so of course she wanted to incorporate them into her wedding photos.  I asked her bridesmaids to give me a silly face (to try and match the ugly dolls, not that they could ever really do that, because they are all beautiful).

Carissa and Scott’s wedding ceremony took place at Bishop Strachan School. Carissa is a BSS alumni.

They had bagpiper play before the ceremony.  I love how happy Carissa and her parents looked as they walked down the aisle.

At last!

The entire bridal party participated in the hymn sing.

As soon as they exited from the chapel, the bridal party was ready with their bubbles!

Happily married!

I love this reflection in Scott’s brother’s sunglasses.

They wanted to do a ninja pose, so we did!

Family photos on the deck of the Palais Royale.  I have always wanted to photograph a wedding at the Palais Royale, since I go to their amazing charity lunch almost every week. I even bumped into Carissa and Scott at that lunch! The lunch was actually my first time meeting Carissa, because they live in Ottawa.

I couldn’t resist taking Carissa’s photo when I saw her standing beside this window inside the Palais Royale.

Tea ceremony.

A few portraits of Carissa and Scott.

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Laughing during speeches. Note the outfit changes.

They were asked a series of questions, like “Who is the better cook?” and had to answer with the appropriate shoe (without knowing each other’s answers).

Outfit change #3 for Carissa and their speech.

They did an amazing job lindy hopping the first dance.  Everyone was surprised to learn that it was completely improvised.

Congrats on your marriage, Carissa and Scott!

I had a great time photographing Anna and Michael’s engagement photos at The Music Garden!  I used to lindy hop (swing dance) on Sunday afternoons there, but I had not been there since I photographed Michelle and Geoff’s wedding party there in 2009.  In spite of being in the heart of Toronto, it was incredibly peaceful and rather quiet.

You can definitely tell that Anna and Michael are madly in love from these photos! Sometimes I pretended not to be taking photos and some of the photos that happened when they thought I was just ‘setting up’ are the ones you see below. There were so many moments between them that even if I looked away for a second, something would happen that would make for a great photo!

I love how they brought this “&” sign to their session.

The photo on the right happened when they thought I was getting ready.  They didn’t realize I was taking pictures then!

I love Mike’s expression here.

You know it’s a Toronto engagement session when you can see the CN tower!

You have to love the boats at Harbourfront!

They wanted to incorporate eating gelato into their engagement session, so we did.  The tall ship happened to go by in the background.

Congrats again on your engagement, Anna and Mike! I am looking forward to your wedding!

Silvana, the CEO of Levey Industries came in for some headshots.

Thanks for coming into the studio! It was really great photographing you again!