Orange | You May French Kiss The Bride

Jan 2014

Diane + Guy

Fall Post Wedding Session in the Woods

I’m back to posting couple sessions! I kind of missed them, didn’t you? Diane and Guy are both photographers and got married in October last year. Those are some photos they did after the wedding. I love the slight mist of the valley and the gorgeous colors of the forest at this time of the year! But most of all, I love the energy of this couple. A few days ago, Guy left a comment on a wedding I posted saying that he loved how hot the newly weds were looking, and the fact that “there was no poney or flower crown”; well, let me return all those compliments to you guys! What’s more they had the great idea of having our good friend Elodie Winter of Photography by Winter take their photos – the same good idea we had a couple of years ago. Check out how perfect she was at capturing the atmosphere here!

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The word of the photographer.

I felt very honored when Diane and Guy asked me to be their wedding photographer, them being photographers as well. We got along right away, I liked them, their stories, the way they talk from each other 10 years after they started dating, how they look at each other and have fun together. Not only they’re beautiful people (people walking around and seeing us making pictures thought Diane and Guy were not a real couple but models… Come-on!!), but they’re among the sweetest persons I know of. The kind of people you want to hang out with, the kind you wish they would move in your neighborhood…oh wait. They did! (yeah yeah, I know it’s pure random, but let me believe they moved there because of me!) Once again, I’m very thankful to have such amazing clients that I can call friends. At first, we planned to do their couple wedding portraits during winter. But, their wedding day was such an amazing autumn day, they changed their mind and we quickly organized a shoot to enjoy the last days of fall. We couldn’t have been more blessed. Even though it was pretty cold out there, the sun showed up during our session and all three of us were just amazed by this insane light and beautiful landscape.

Jan 2014

Melissa + Jay

Fabulous Wedding at the Toronto Fermenting Cellar

I fell in love with Melissa and Jay’s wedding. The venue they found in Toronto is just perfect: a vaulted ceiling, rural stone work & wood trusses (see? you don’t necessarily need a barn); the atmosphere created with the lights in this place blew my mind; finally, this couple is both beautiful and fun – I also used the tag “hot” for the first time, I guess you’ll see why. I almost forgot to mention the fabulous pictures by Applehead Studio, the icing on the (wedding) cake. So, what do you say?

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The wedding took place on October 18, 2013, at the Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Here’s an anecdote of how the bride met one of her favourite singer on her wedding day.

We both love live music. One of Melissa’s favorite singer/songwriters forever has been Craig Cardiff. Since day one, she’s said that her wedding wish list item was to have him sing at the wedding. We made it work for the ceremony portion, and although she was ecstatic, she was a bit disappointed that she’d only get to hear him sing a few quick hazy moments walking down the aisle. Craig was gracious enough to work in cohorts with Jay to pay Melissa a surprise visit while she was getting ready on the wedding day. The photographers knew of the stunt and when Craig knocked on Melissa’s door, the images say it all – she was pretty shocked. Craig sat down and played a private concert for Melissa and her bridesmaids in her hotel room, playing some of her favourite songs. Craig’s special gesture has meant the world to both of us, and will forever be remembered as a very special part of our day and our relationship. We were lucky to then have our family and friends hear him welcome guests to the ceremony and sing Melissa down the aisle.

Name one thing you regret…

We had initially regretted that we did not get a videographer – until we saw our wedding photos. The fact that Applehead Studio managed to capture all of our important “moments” throughout the day truly blew us away. It is true what they say, “a photo is worth a thousand words.”

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

We couldn’t be more proud of our photos. We think they tell the true picture of how beautiful our favourite day was. From the prep work to the beauty of the entire venue, and the party we had, our photos tell that story in the way wanted it too! Super proud that they show a true love story and people genuinely “getting after it!”
So many loved ones came from far away to share this day with us. The majority of people travelled from Nova Scotia and they went out of their way to join us and make our day very special.
We’re also proud we drank the venue out of rum. Don’t judge us – it’s a badge of honour.
Overall, we’re most proud of the fact we look back and say “we wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

May 2013

Sonia + Tony

Parisian Jazz Musician Wedding

If I say Paris, you’ll probably start telling me how beautiful the city is, you’re gonna mention one of those famous jazz clubs and the way all couples look so in love everywhere… But you know how it is when you actually live in such a place; you don’t really take the time to enjoy these little things that seem to make the city so special to everyone, and end up thinking all those stuff are for tourists. But when I was preparing this blog post it hit me again: Paris is fabulous! And if you like all the clichés about this city, you’re probably gonna enjoy this post.

Second, when you’re preparing your wedding and decide to go for a music themed wedding because, say, you’re both musicians, there are many options. One of them is to put miniature instruments on your tables, old vinyl records in a corner, and all kind of music-related details you can think of. Which is great. One other choice is to decide to live your theme and be the detail that will make your wedding so special: Sonia and Tony rented a houseboat to host their party, had a very intimate/ jazzy atmosphere, and during the night, started an ox with some musician friends of them! Now how does that second option sound? Photos: Photography by Winter.

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Let me tell you a bit more about today’s couple, or even better, let the bride tell us a bit more about them.

We’re both jazz musicians and met at a concert organised by the Conservatoire. At the end of the repetition, we went to a restaurant and I found myself in front of Tony at the table. After 2 minutes, he said something really funny and quite unexpected. I looked up… a few weeks after we were inseparable, and here we are now beating all odds (we were both against marriage) a bit more than 5 years after that night, married! Never say never, as for me, I even had a veil.

And here’s about all those “music-related” moments of the day.

In the end it was an artists’ wedding – we had MC friends rapping a very beautiful text at the city hall (they even managed to involve Tony and everyone ended up following their lead), and my friends from the batucada waited for us outside with their drums and literally set the court of the city hall on fire! On the houseboat later that night we played a few songs with our friends who brought their instruments, and our dear friend Chris—DJ and funk singer—made everyone dance like mad to songs inherited from the 60s… This is what I like to call a party.

Name one thing you regret…

No regret! Everything was as we wanted it to be.

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

It was a wedding with a lot of friends and very few family members, which is what we wanted. Our families were the best: no pressure, no expectation, no one telling us what to do. We really appreciated that, even if this may be the result of long years of “we’ll never get married” speeches… But still, it was a quite unconventional wedding in the sense that we got rid of everything that didn’t make sense to us: no paper invitation but an email instead, no traditional sugar-almonds, no wedding cake, no church, no wedding list, no seated dinner, no table map, no folding paper crane workshop… The least possible stress for a maximum of pleasure, that was our idea. (But hey, I’m not saying we didn’t work on that wedding!)