Ashley & Kyle: Wedding Day

This outdoor wedding took place at such a gorgeous location in south Surrey; The Glades. This wedding wins `My Favourite Location Award' and `Best Departure Award' (you'll see!). It was raining but everyone, including the whole wedding party, handled it so well! It was the first time I've ever seen ushers handing out chairs and paper towel to their guests but it was beautiful. Ashley looked fabulous and see if you can figure out how many dresses she had on throughout the day!

{Ashley designed her necklace and earrings! I just can't believe how calm she was considering it was raining...a lot. Maybe that should be the criteria when choosing your wedding party; people who will celebrate no matter what the elements are!}

{We met up at the Glades to have their portrait session done before the ceremony}

{In the time that we were doing the photos, a large group of family and friends were helping to set everything up. There were a lot of flower petals to be scattered!}

{Check out the cuteness of the flower girls and ring bearer! The little guy made a beeline for his grandma and she had to carry him, crying, to the front.}

{Along with their regular vows, they also did their own personal ones. I love that. Gary and I did that too. The pastor that married them was a friend of theirs which just made is so much more personal.}

{After a break for the receiving line, there was a tea ceremony...}

{These pictures below show when they actually saw each other for the first time, it's always such a great moment!}

{The girls in the Zen Garden. Check out the wedding party in their zen poses!}

{And the guys...with their zen poses too. If you're wondering why there is sometimes and extra groomsmen in the pictures, he is their friend/pastor.}

{A little time in the Bamboo Garden.}

{Give the boys umbrellas and of course they will turn them into swords!}

{Some distracting groomsmen kept popping into the pictures:)}

{They had all these beautiful fans for the guests as favours but unfortunately, it was a bit too cold and rainy to use them. Although, the kids did play with them at the reception!}

{The reception was at the Chateau Cargill and there was bubble tea for everyone when they got there!}

{In order for the couple to kiss, groups sang songs with the word `love' in it. Then, they got to pick the kind of kiss!}

{The reason I'm posting the picture below is because it's her father-in-laws leg that she is feeling. Awkward!!}

{Ashley and Kyle met swing dancing so after having their first dance, they taught everyone a few moves...and then shared some more of their own.}

{The night ended with them running through some sparklers which was a super fun idea!}

Congratulations Ashley and Kyle! I'm so glad you had such a great day, we were happy to be there with you!

Celebrating 25 Years: Family Photos

This lovely couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this year and it was a great reason to get some family photos done. Let's be honest, any reason is a good reason to do it! Their second oldest son is moving away for school so it was another reason to have them done. We met at Derby Reach right at dusk (great lighting!) and it was so easy taking pictures of adult kids....they look and smile when you tell them to! This family is special to us because between Gary and I, we've taught all of the kids. Donna (the mom) is also working at the school with Gary now, so of course it was such a pleasure to photograph them. Enjoy and feel free to comment!

{With little kids, it's no problem hiding behind that white door and popping out. With super tall adult kids...not so easy! I won't tell you how long it took to try to figure something out:)}

{You might recognize Peter and Cara from their wedding last year!}

{I like the picture of mom and dad to the right. They were watching the kids being photographed and that's where I caught them being the most natural:)}

{In a family where everyone plays volleyball, you really need to have a jumping picture! Thank you so much for having me photograph your family, you are all so fantastic!}

Annelise & Rylan: Wedding Sneak Peek

Just a little sneak peek of a wedding this weekend. It involved two different types of veils, an antique car, a fedora, some 35+C weather, and a gorgeous location. Congratulations Annelise & Rylan! More pictures to come next week.

Cute Cousins: A Family Session

If you recognize these kiddos, it's because we've had the privilege of photographing them a time or two (or three!). When their Nana and Grandpa visited last year, we had a session in the freezing cold so it sure was nice to do it on a nice warm day this time! We had a mini session down at Derby Reach and I love all the bright summery clothes that the kids are wearing, super cute eh?

Lucy, I hope you had a wonderful birthday with your grandparents. Happy birthday! Thank you to you all for having me take pictures of your beautiful family again!

Cuteness: A Sneak Peek

I haven't posted anything new in almost a week so I thought I would show you some absolute gorgeous kiddos. I can't believe I get paid to capture these eyes...I love photographing kids and realize that I miss it amongst the craziness of wedding season! I'm looking forward to a bunch of family shoots in a week from now, that's for sure. Oh and the fact that my sister is going to have a brand new baby in a few weeks, that will be awesome! I will be blogging one wedding and two family posts in the upcoming week so make sure you check back.

Ashley & Kyle: Wedding Sneak Peek

Gorgeous wedding this weekend at my new favourite location. Yes, it was raining but it didn't even matter. Check out the gorgeous bride and...

gorgeous location; The Glades (privately owned and only open to the public on Mother's Day).

There were some really amazing pictures taken there and I can't wait to share them sometime next week!

Jeff & Natalie: Wedding Day

It sounds like I love every wedding, and well, I do! Each one has it's own personality and when you spend so much time with the bride and groom, you get to know them quite well (especially on an emotional day like their wedding day!). Gary and I knew these two already, before we began, as I taught them both way back in grade 9. This wedding gets the `Best Props' Award. I mean, usually there are shots where everyone wears sunglasses or something, but in this case they also had balloons and paper parasols. I'm not suggesting that you go all crazy with props on your wedding day but it is fun once in a while. Okay, let's get started!

{The girls were getting ready super early as they did their portrait session before the ceremony. Natalie was super calm and relaxed about everything. Meanwhile, her sister was madly working on her speech:)}

{They had a great yard to take photos in!}

{Mom did up her dress and we were ready to go! I love the middle picture of Natalie looking at her mom. Pretty much 99% of the photos we take of the bride and groom getting ready are candids and I LOVE candids:) I'll show the ceremony pictures next which includes the pre-ceremony huddle....}

{Natalie all smiles as she was heading down the aisle with her dad. Well, let's be honest, she was all smiles, all day! I loved the arrangement that the had on the stage. They had bridesmaid and groomsmen coupled together and scattered around the stage....yay for breaking tradition!!}

{Check out the interaction between bride, groom, and dad. The handshake/hug says so much at the end of the aisle. Below you can see that Jeff was pretty emotional, a happy kind of emotional.}

{A bridesmaid, Brittany, and best man Harold led the singing which is always fun and meaningful.}

{So you know how when you have to go up on a stage, you might worry that you'll fall off or something? Natalie's sister, Richelle, did just that in the middle of the message. She was fine and we all laughed. It was great:)}

{The first picture in this group above shows when Jeff and Natalie first saw each other. I always feel a little sneaky watching them in such an intimate moment but you have to capture it!}

{They have a very fun metal chapel at Bear Creek Gardens so we started there. I guess I'm only posting one picture with balloons, but, there were a lot! Some fun jumping ones too, of course.}

{Parasols=great touch for girls in the garden! And let's be honest, they nicely blocked out the sunspots.}

{Jeff with the boys and then the girls. Isn't it cute with them peeking over the umbrellas?}

{We had all of the flowers except for Natalie's. Her bouquet took a bit of time getting there but fortunately her aunt delivered it for us, just in time!}

{Please note that along with the boys spying on them, they are standing in front of a giant bear shaped bush. You know, for Bear Creek Gardens. Kind of random. Below, nose to nose...cute.}

{I love fun coloured shoes!! If I did our wedding over again....}

{And, on to the lunch reception where there were games, speeches, and food galore.}

{The groomsmen even did a musical number.}

{And even though it was a lunch reception, they still got in a first dance, with their bridal party as well.}

Congratulations Jeff and Natalie. May your marriage be filled with love and laughter like the photo above. Thank you for inviting us to share in your day, we loved being there with you!