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Congrats to Samson and Donna who were married recently in Calgary! I photographed their engagement session last winter and had been looking forward to their wedding—I knew that it would be a fun day.

Their ceremony was held at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church and after the family photos we took the wedding party to a couple of nearby parks for their wedding party and couple portraits. This was an action-packed wedding, yet Samson and Donna were relaxed and happy all day, which is a big testament to their easy-going personalities.

Donna and Samson both wore a variety of amazing outfits, from a beautiful white wedding gown—obviously, I’m just talking about Donna now—to traditional Indian and Vietnamese clothes, and then into a shorter white wedding dress for the dancing. Samson also wore traditional Indian clothes at their reception as well as a cool suit. There were so many personal touches during the day, but especially at their reception. For example, check out the cake! That’s so funny and so cool!

There were a lot of activities and events during the reception, including some very talented dancing by an Indian dancing team and then a couple who salsa danced. There were also some wedding reception games, such as the Shoe Game (photo below) and some wilder ones as well. I have some very incriminating photos from those other games.

Samson and Donna are great dancers and their first dance was a blur of twirls and dips around the dancefloor. Then the floor was opened up to everyone and it was packed with people of all ages out there having fun.

Here is a small sneak peek of the wedding photos.

I really enjoyed photographing Matt and Andrea’s engagement session. We met up at Milestones restaurant on Stephen Avenue to chat about their session and it seems like every time I mentioned a possible location idea they’d get excited and say something like, “That place is special to us, because we went there on our first date!”. That was very cool. I also noticed as soon as they sat down that they were very affectionate with each other. They held hands across the table the whole time and and it was totally clear that they really loved each other.

Their whole session was very relaxed. We all wandered around Calgary Zoo and nearby areas chatting about various things as we did the photos. They were s-o-o-o-o easy to work with and great fun. We are photographing their wedding at the Rimrock Resort very soon and I’m looking forward to seeing them again.

I always say that wedding photography is all about the people and the wedding of Ryan and Milena is a perfect example of this. Their wedding was a very intimate one, with just family and close friends. As you look through the photos you’ll see the love everyone had for one another—almost every image has someone laughing or crying, or both at once.

Milena, her mom, and her bridesmaids got ready at the El Dorado Hotel and when we walked in that morning Milena’s face lit up with a huge smile—it’s great when brides are excited and not stressed about their wedding day!

Right before Milena’s dress went on we quickly hopped across the road to the Playa Del Sol Resort where Ryan and the guys were getting ready to get some photos of them. That’s where I took the cigar photo. I’m not a smoker, but I liked the ironic juxtaposition between the cigars and the nearby sign.

Their wedding ceremony and reception were both held at the Summerhill Winery, on a terrace overlooking Lake Okanagan in Kelowna. There are only two ceremony images below, but you can feel the emotions in them and we have photo after photo showing their love for each other.

After the ceremony we did the portraits in a cherry orchard and the winery. There are two photos from the portraits that I normally would not include on the blog. One is from the family portraits, where Milena is joking around with her parents. I’ve never put any family formals on the blog before, but I love the interaction between them. The other image is a “smiling at the camera” photo (the first photo in the cherry orchard), but I love it because Ryan has a huge grin and just looks so happy. I didn’t tell him to smile at the camera; it’s a genuine smile.

As Jessica and I were leaving they took the party outside and danced to traditional music from their home country, whirling and laughing on the patio as the full moon rose over the lake.

I am very pleased to tell you that the ISPWP has featured me in a member’s spotlight interview! The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers is a photography group that I am definitely proud and honoured to be a member of. From their website:

The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP) is a rarity among wedding photography organizations. Photographers cannot simply buy an ISPWP membership, they have to earn it . . . Our requirements are experience, talent, and professionalism. To be accepted, a photographer must have shot at least 50 weddings, submit their portfolio for review, agree to operate under the ISPWP Code of Conduct, and have an ISPWP Sponsor or four references. And THEN they have to be voted in by current members.

It’s a really cool organisation and I admire the stance that Joe Milton, the founder, has taken in being true to the high standards he started out with and not compromising. And now they’ve been kind enough to feature me as a guest interviewee. You can read about my thoughts on my style and some of my favourite tips for brides who are planning their weddings HERE.