- Calla

Treats are a great motivator.  Oscar was my BFF that day, especially when I had a treat above my camera.

I love it when couples have specific spots in mind for their pre-wedding session.  It’s like finding out another layer of who they are.  As well as wanting to shoot some pictures with their puppy and their bikes, John’s request was to shoot at one of the classic film theaters around Toronto.  We picked the Royal on College and got some great images.

Flash forward to their wedding day – or wedding weekend I should say.  Friday evening saw a sunset ceremony at the Estates of Sunnybrook, while Saturday night was paaaaaaaaarty time!

Michelle had her make-up done by the uber talented Stephanie Daga of Blush Pretty.  I can’t recommend Stephanie enough.  This was our third wedding working together, and as always she was incredibly professional, quick (which is a big plus on a busy wedding day!) and her make-up skills are second to none.  I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Stephanie to any of my clients.  To top it off, her website is full of awesome make-up tips that even the most lipstick challenged (ahem) among us can appreciate.  Go Stephanie!

Michael was a fantastic man of honour.

The colours of Michelle & John’s wedding were so amazing!  I loved the mixture of bright colours and more subdued autumn tones.

Can you spot the marriage proposal?

Michelle & John opted for a First Look, which gave us plenty of time for family and bridal party portraits before their ceremony.  It’s something I encourage all of my couples to think about if they’re having late afternoon or evening ceremonies.

Check out Oscar in his awesome wedding duds!

And now it’s time to PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTY!

I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house when Michelle’s grandparents danced to the first dance song they had at their wedding.

And of course, what fun is a party without some photobooth action!!  Michelle & John’s guests rocked it out of the park this evening.

Michelle & John, I hope you enjoy seeing your shots on the blog (finally!!)!  Aleks and I had such a great time getting to know your friends and family (let’s hear it for the Nelson BC folks!  Wooo Westcoasters!) and I was so excited to hear of your great news through the facebook grapevine!  You know, if you’re in need of a maternity photographer, I may know someone who knows someone who can help you out. 

- Calla

As well as welcoming you to the new blog, I want to use this post to thank everyone who commented for cans.  I had about 20 comments in the one week span of the cans for comments campaign.  Which I rounded up to a $200 donation to the Daily Bread Food Bank.  Thanks again for commenting for a good cause – not only did your comments make me smile but they also made a whole lot of other people smile too.

And now for some pictures!  Near the end of the wedding season last year we decided to do a couple trial runs of a service we’d like to offer our 2009/2010 couples – a wild and fun photobooth!  And it was a crazy success!  We’re officially offering this service to our couples from this point forward.  If you’d like to get your guests out of their seats and creating some awesome photographs for you to enjoy, just let us know.  Here’s some great shots from Julie & Jason’s photobooth last year.

I love this shot of Aleks and I with Julie & Jason, Trang & Scott (married October 2007) and Mike & Min (married last Saturday!), all couples we’ve had the pleasure of working with!

And I LOVE this shot of Aleks and I.  Lots of love for photographer extraordinaire Ryan Lash for tagging along with us that day.

Looking at these pictures has me so excited for all of the amazing and fun weddings we have on the books for 2009.  I can’t wait to make some fantastic images with you all.

- Calla