Happy new year everyone! 2011 came and went and although we are fresh into 2012, I’m still looking back at my 2011 wedding photography season. Yesterday I blogged my favourite photos, and today I’m blogging some of the most memorable moments of last year’s weddings. A lot of these photos never made it to the blog, so today I’m excited to be able to share some of the stories and moments that make weddings so memorable. (most of these were picked because they either made me laugh, cry or say, “aaaaaaw!”)
We took photos of Adrienne and Steve before their ceremony so we set up a “first look” photo moment to capture them as they saw each other for the first time. I particularly loved this first look because their son was nearby watching them. It was just so cuuuute! Totally made my heart melt, so I just had to share this moment with you.
When I first arrived at Kyla’s hotel room on the morning of her wedding to take getting-ready photos, she was having a private moment in the bedroom reading a letter that her soon-to-be-husband Darrin had given her. As I was peeking around the door I could tell this letter was a little more than just a simple “I love you, I can’t wait to marry you” type letter. There were about 2 or 3 hand-written pages that she was carefully reading as she was wiping tears away. It wasn’t until after the wedding when I was editing the photos that I had the idea of blending part of his letter into some of their wedding photos. They agreed to share snippets from the letter, and I was delighted to be able to combine this eloquently-written love letter into their wedding photos. Here is my favourite one:
This might be more of an outtake, but it makes me laugh every time I see it! Here’s Adrienne and Steve’s son, once again, stealing the show. I guess the ceremony was kind of boring to him, so he decided to take a little rest in the middle of the floor. That little guy just cracks me up! What a character. I love him to bits.
Remember Lisa & Neil’s ceremony on the beach? As picturesque as it was, it was interrupted by a slight mishap. In the middle of the short ceremony, the officiant dropped one of the rings into the sand! The ceremony was halted and everyone there started carefully sifting through the sand to try to find it. After about 10 or 15 minutes of digging (which seems like an eternity when the ceremony is only supposed to be about 7 minutes long!), the ring was finally found by none other than the groom himself! Yay!
Of course, I took pictures of all of this, in between helping dig in the sand too. That definitely counts as one very memorable moment. Getting married in the sand is a little trickier than you might think! 🙂
Meet Flint! The most good-looking dog I’ve ever seen in a tux! (hard to see, as he’s walking running down the aisle to bring his owners’ rings to them) I loved that Megan and Jeremy included their favourite buddy in their ceremony. He definitely put a lot of smiles on people’s faces that day, and I was happy to be able to take even more photos of him. Flint and I are even Facebook friends now! I love it. (you may remember Flint from these photos)
This was taken right after Julie & Sean’s wedding ceremony. I particularly loved this moment because I had never seen a bride’s mother and aunts soooo exuberantly happy! Julie’s mom and aunts are Italian and full of life, laughter and love – I couldn’t understand the language, but I could definitely see the emotions – lots of happy tears and big hugs and kisses. Aaaaaw! 🙂
I guess the funny-faces happen a lot more than I realize! Of course, these photos rarely make the blog post (or the wedding album), but they’re definitely fun. I had to share these two. Oh yes, you gotta have a little fun in the middle of your formal photos, right?
It’s kind of hard to share with you how beautiful the hymnal singing was during Naomi & Nick’s wedding ceremony, but I just had to share it anyway. This was from December 29th’s wedding, and I thought it was just so lovely. Their Mennonite church definitely knows how to put on some great singing. Complete with a music director on stage, the whole congregation took part in some multiple-harmony parts for a beautiful rendition of their wedding ceremony hymns. I almost wanted to put down my camera and join in with them!
I bet you remember this photo! I had been anticipating the big reveal of Laura & Chris’ cake for almost a year, having met their cake artist the summer before and hearing rumours of how great this was going to be. It certainly turned out even better than I could have ever imagined! Nina from the Cake Studio did a great job at tying in their love of football into their wedding cake! How awesome is THAT?!
One of the most memorable father/daughter relationships of last year was the one that Crystal shared with her dad. His speech to her nearly had me in tears and then seeing them dance together was so heart-warming. Just one look at their faces and it says it all.
Mario wrote a special song for Valérie and played it for her during their wedding ceremony. The words were up on the screen and I don’t think there was a single dry eye in the church that day, including myself, of course. It was written in French and was just about as poetic and lovely as a love song could ever be (and everything just sounds better in French!). There were many photos of Valérie, crying, smiling, but I loved this one the best, as she took in the moment. Beautiful and unforgettable.
Ok, how CUTE is this?? One of the most memorable moments from Charity and Sam’s wedding is when we were able to snap a picture of this cuteness… Charity and her little nieces with the red Chinese umbrellas. Such sweetness. Charity is one lucky aunt!
I think I have hundreds of photos of Kyla’s veil… because it almost stole the show on her wedding day (good thing Kyla was drop-dead gorgeous because instead, she stole the show). This veil was her mother’s wedding veil and so being able to wear it on her own wedding day was something very special. Not only that, but it was also a super long veil and Kyla told me ahead of time that she wanted lots of veil shots. To which I said of course! I love doing veil shots, but if there’s no wind it can get a little tricky. So we had a few veil-flufferer volunteers (bridesmaids and Duncan my second photographer). Yes, veil-fluffering is the official term.
Who needs a “just married” getaway car when you have a fancy motor boat at the lake! We ended the afternoon with a cruise around Joanne’s dad’s lakefront property. I was in a second boat while Joanne and Sam rode in her father’s boat. You can’t see him, but my second photographer Duncan is ducking somewhere in there. He got a few shots of them, but when they’d come near my boat for a few more photos I’d signal to Duncan to duck so I could take some photos of them without him being seen. So much fun! And what a picture-perfect day for a wedding boat ride! Look at the beautiful water!!!
Yes, I get super excited about fun shadows when it comes to photography. Especially when it’s the walking-into-the-sunset type of shadows! Amber and Matt finished their wedding afternoon with some lovely photos as the sun was getting nearer to setting. These are definitely some of my favourite moments of a wedding: the time I have alone with the couple to take some romantic photos in the beautiful glow of late-afternoon sun.
Ah yes, Laura & Chris’ wedding party. What more can I say? They were a hoot, and it was awesome to see everyone having such a great time. I love this photo. (and it made it into their wedding album. love love.)
Sometimes, summertime in Winnipeg gets a little hot. Here we have one of Crystal’s bridesmaids elegantly taking in the cool river breeze. I was busy taking bridal photos of Crystal when this was happening behind me. Sometimes it pays to steal a quick glance behind one’s shoulder. You never know what kind of photos are waiting for you!
I just love this photo! As the guests were entering the reception hall, I took a picture of each one of them. One of my favourites is of Katie & Graham’s minister who had married them earlier that day. He performed a lovely ceremony and I was glad to be able to capture such a great portrait of him!
Oh, and this one was pretty good too – of all the lovely ladies from Katie’s family!
This might be a subtle moment, but one that marks well the loveliness of Kim and Ryan’s wedding. This is one of her many “I love you” winks to her soon-to-be-husband. Aaaaaw! 🙂
Happy new year everyone, and to all my 2012 wedding clients, I can’t wait to share many more memorable moments with you too!
