Same Day Edit

July 20, 2015 Category: Wedding Cinema

This was a big one. Four days of celebration, food, family, friends, dancing, tradition, amazing wardrobe and jewelry, a horse-drawn carriage, and a mighty-nice view of Niagara Falls behind their outdoor ceremony. I kept a few notes along the way…

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Day 1 of Mona+Vipul’s four-day wedding! This is without a doubt the longest wedding shoot I’ll have been involved in. Two ceremonies, Sikh and Hindu, lots of partying, lots of food, and an edit that will premiere on Saturday night covering the whole week. Here we go!

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Day 2, the Haldi ceremony, where members of her family applied tumeric paste to Mona’s face, arms, and legs, among other traditions. Tonight, some live performances!

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Day 3, ceremony number 1. The edit is starting to come together; in between events we’re assembling as much as possible. After the ceremony today, Mona’s family “gave away” their daughter, an incredibly emotion-filled moment. They drove away into the afternoon rain (to Niagara Falls, I presume, to get ready for an even longer day tomorrow!).

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Day 4, ceremony number 2. I can’t think of many backdrops to a wedding ceremony more epic than Niagara Falls. Maybe the Grand Canyon?

Today was a whirlwind; the chairs were late to arrive and in the early morning it looked as though it could be a dreary day. Then the sun poked through and the venue was setup. Everything came together at the right time, our Same Day Edit premiered at the reception in front of hundreds of family and friends, and the four-day celebration was done.

Shauna+Jerry

July 4, 2015 Category: Wedding Cinema

Shauna is obsessed with mugs. It’s only fitting that one of Jerry’s gifts to her was a new mug with a personal message Sharpie’d onto the side of it. And inside, there was something more.

The day seemed something like a tour around Toronto; after the ceremony they strolled around Evergreen Brickworks, a beautiful space with a mix of natural and industrial elements, and a hint of street art. Keep it in mind if you’re looking for shoot locations in TO, or simply a nice place to spend the afternoon. The reception was held at 2nd Floor Events, a newish venue downtown, also very cool and modern.

Shauna and Jerry’s wedding marked a huge transition in their lives; they went from living far apart (both in Alberta) while Shauna finished med-school, to a big move together across the country to Ottawa. Everything felt a little like a going away party. A theme that seemed to emerge, however, was how the bonds of family and friendship and love can go beyond the things that might keep people apart.

Ashley+Mike

June 7, 2015 Category: Wedding Cinema

“I have loved you for 4,727 days” was written on the front of Ashley’s letter to Mike. I’ll save you the math: that’s almost thirteen years! To say that their wedding was something they had pictured for a long time is an understatement. Ashley and Mike met when they were just kids, and Mike’s family had moved in across the street.

This was a fun one to be involved with; Ashley is a wedding planner at Hacienda Sarria, and is someone I’ve worked along side with on many other weddings. Her hands are literally all over my last video, Lauren+Mitchell, which took place only two weeks prior. I’d see her every once in a while and we’d discuss her big day, their concepts and plans, the way the venue was going to be decorated, and more and more about their backstory. At some point, there was a clear pattern emerging… fairy tales, books, love stories. It’s a theme that definitely played out on the day… it was a magical wedding. Congrats, guys!

“Once in a while, in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale”

#mashleyswedding

Lauren+Mitchell

May 21, 2015 Category: Wedding Cinema

Lauren and Mitchell live up in Iqaluit Nunavut, where they had met years ago. It wasn’t until they flew in to Ontario some months after booking with me that I actually got to meet them! It was something of a destination wedding for the couple and all of their guests; not one was from Waterloo, site of the beautiful Hacienda Sarria, but it seemed central enough! Lauren and Mitchell have a unique banter together that I wanted to capture… they themselves can’t agree on who talks more, which was a theme that kept coming up. I’m still undecided, but I believe Lauren gets the last word in the video :-)