We started the day with Kyle and his groomsmen out on Taber golf course as they played a quick round before coming back to Stephanie’s parent’s house to get ready. Well, to eat burgers and kick around a soccer ball. Same thing, really. Kyle is such an incredibly easy-going guy and the whole time I was with the guys there was a great laid-back feel with no pre-wedding jitteriness.

The property where Stephanie got ready, and where the wedding reception and ceremony were held on, was amazing—equal parts farm and mansion. I could have spent a day just photographing all the cool architectural details and the decor. When Stephanie was putting her dress on, Lindsey from Once Upon a Bride in Lethbridge had a tip for getting the dress on without messing her hair: a plastic bag over her head! It sounded funny to me at the time, but it works really well and was a clever idea.

The ceremony was held outside in a cobblestone courtyard and I have so many photos of people wiping their tears!

After the ceremony we stayed on the property for all the photos. It was a very diverse place, with a vineyard, some cool old stone constructions, and my favourite thing: a bouncing castle for the kids. As soon as I saw the bouncing castle I knew I had to get the wedding party in there. Fortunately, they were a super-fun bunch and felt the same way. It was so much fun in there! At first everyone was just kind of standing around looking at the camera, but I encouraged them to really go for it—which was interesting for my assistant Jessica, who weighs about 20 pounds and got thrown around like crazy—lol! We actually tipped it over at one point when everyone was on one side. Good times. Every wedding should have a bouncing castle.

After the fun reception guessing games and speeches, awesome Lethbridge band Hippodrome got everyone moving out on the grass of the reception area. I’ve seen Hippodrome perform at a couple of weddings this year and they really make the place come alive. It’s not just excellent music, but also a great feel that only a good, experienced live band can bring to an event.

And, best of all, there were no blizzards; just beautiful weather all day and night.

As you will see when you look through the photos, this was a fun session. We met up at their favourite bubble tea place in Calgary to chat a bit before going out to do their photos. I am not a bubble tea kinda guy, but according to Susan and Krister, Bubble Mania is the place to go for it in Calgary. Just so you know. (I can tell you where the best organic coffee is, but that’s not really a part of this blog story).

Krister, in particular, is a big movie buff who has even got them both into major film festivals—the ones where even actors have to apply for a seat—and so we did something fun that was kind of associated with this interest of theirs. I couldn’t get a star-studded list of international actors in time for their engagement session, but an old TV set in a tunnel was just as good. It was even fairly clean.

We hit up a couple of parks around the north side of Calgary. Krister and Susan were great to work with! As we hiked up the side of a hill in one of the parks, getting further and further from the car, I asked them, “How do you guys feel about being blindfolded?” Not really a typical engagement session question, I suppose, so I understand the looks they gave me. But when I explained my idea they got into it really well and the end result was a real heightened connection between them. I have a whole series of images from this segment that show an amazingly loving connection between them. It was very cool.

I look forward to seeing them again on their wedding day.

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.

And the most important thing: a happy couple in love.

From my very first lengthy and chatty phone call with Ngan, in response to her enquiry email, I knew this was a wedding that I wanted to photograph. I book most of my couples without meeting up first and I’m used to getting right into the swing of things on the wedding day itself, so it’s such a good thing when you can click so well and have such a cool connection right away.

John and Ngan were married at the Juniper Hotel in Banff, which is a stylish, modern-rustic venue away from the main town. The place has an eco-friendly focus and is entirely wind-powered, which is pretty cool. Ngan and John were ably assisted in many things throughout their day by wedding planner Sonia and her assistant from Cornerstone Events. They did a fantastically amazing job and I highly recommend them.

The first event of the day was John and Ngan’s Vietnamese tea ceremony. We’ve photographed a number of Asian tea ceremonies (Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, etc.) and they have to be some of the most challenging things we photograph. So much happens so fast! And it’s all important! Lol! If you’ve never seen one, imagine a western ceremony where the first kiss happens in the blink of an eye every few seconds for half an hour and that will give you some idea of the timing of it all. Of course, there aren’t actual kisses happening constantly in the tea ceremony; they exchange gifts and greetings and have other traditions.

At the end of their tea ceremony they had a surprise for their guests: traditional dragon dancers! That was so cool! There were eight of them and there was so much sound, colour and energy in the dancing! Then John and Ngan snuck off with us for some quick portraits in their traditional Vietnamese dress.

Their western wedding ceremony was outside on the Juniper’s terrace area and, although the weather had been threatening snow, the sun popped out just for their wedding. After that we visited a few locations around Banff for their portraits. They were so easy to take photos of. In fact, their whole wedding party was very easy-going. And John has to be one of the smiliest grooms we’ve ever seen! He basically didn’t stop smiling all day!

Their reception was full of laughs and there was a touching moment when Ngan gave a speech to her family in Vietnamese. I have no idea what she said, but there was so much emotion in the room that I nearly cried, too!

Thanks for having us at your wedding. Here are some of your photos.

This was such a cool wedding in so many ways! The entire day was based in the Liberty Grand complex, which is a really beautiful wedding and event venue down near the waterfront in Toronto. The combination of the bright colours of the cherry blossom theme for the wedding and the Liberty’s own classic elegance gave a great look, both timelessly classy and fun as well.

Caitlin was such a stunning bride! And her Lazaro dress and ornate veil were amazing also. The guys were a lot of fun to photograph, with Dan and the groomsmen all joking around. There was also a very touching moment when Dan received a special gift and card from Caitlin.

Their ceremony was held in the dome area of the Liberty Grand, which is a very beautiful room and they augmented it with cherry blossom decorations. After the ceremony I had only a few minutes to do all of the portraits and I took most of Dan and Caitlin’s portraits in literally two minutes! But that’s ok; it doesn’t take long to capture some great moments when a couple are really in love.

The reception was in the Liberty’s Renaissance ballroom and so much care had been taken to ensure a good time for everyone—they even had chefs cooking your food as you chose it! After the speeches everyone got out onto the dance floor and I love it when people get into the dancing! Caitlin’s bridesmaids are all professional dancers—Caitlin was actually in the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympic Games—and as well as the bridesmaids there were tons of people out on the dance floor giving it everything they had. As the dancing continued, Valerie Stanois, an amazing singer from hit Broadway musicals such as We Will Rock You, sang live for Caitlin and Dan while they danced and did the bouquet and garter tosses. She was accompanied by the lead from the current Dirty Dancing musical and as a duo they totally rocked the place.

So, thanks for having me along, Dan and Cait! All the best to you both!

Click on the play button below to see a slideshow of some highlights of the wedding day.

Jake and Julie are a great couple and so cool to work with. It would be hard to get a bad photo of them! They were so easy in front of the camera and just so relaxed with each other and in love. We hit a few locations in Calgary, starting with a car wrecking yard and then heading north to see what cool locations we could use in the city centre. We ended up at Stephen Ave, which is such a rich location for photography, especially when they have the lights up in winter. Plus, the pubs and restaurants have really nice ambiance for indoor photos.

We are looking forward to their wedding this year. Here are some of their engagement images.

We also did some quick photos in the Henotic restaurant in Lethbridge and nearby there, too.

These guys could hardly keep their hands off each other and it was really sweet. They were so obviously in love. We have so many images of them laughing, smiling, and just gazing into each others’ eyes. I love it when we have couples like that! It makes it so easy to get wonderful moments of them together. We were only with them for their ceremony and then their wedding portraits afterward, but I wish we’d had more time, just to hang out and get those moments that were happening so naturally and spontaneously.

All the best, guys.

Brad and Danielle’s reception was back at the Galt museum, where we enjoyed a home-style dinner and listened to some heartfelt and funny speeches. And kudos to Danielle’s dad for picking one of the very coolest and most original songs for the father-daughter dance that we’ve ever heard! As the sun set over the coulees we finished up with some more portraits of the married couple in and around the Galt museum, ending our day with them nicely.

Here are some images.

Thanks also to Lethbridge Limousines, who stayed an extra 20 minutes or so after they were supposed to head back, so the whole wedding party was able to ride in style to their reception at the Italian-Canadian club.

Oh, check out the photo of the two flowergirls cuddling each other.  Isn’t that the cutest photo ever?  I love how their flip-flops match their dresses.  Too cute. 

Before I go on I’m just going to quickly say that I’ve been naughty for not updating the blog regularly, but I’ll be playing catch up this week and will have more posts than usual.  Now back to the main post!

This family were a wonderful bunch, easy to work with, fun and relaxed in front of the camera.  Actually, a bit of a secret is that you don’t have to be someone who is relaxed in front of cameras.  If you are relaxed with each other, that is the main thing, and the images take themselves.  And that’s how it was with Miranda and Sean.  They clearly loved being with each other and their love and openness comes out so well in the session.

After a few quick photos in their house we went to Nicholas Sheran lake on the west side of Lethbridge for the rest of the session.  The weather was good and everything was nice and green.

Ellie was a really good-natured kid and extremely patient during the session.  Well, other than when we tried to get a shot of them lying down.  She didn’t want to lie down for anyone!  Lol!  It’s funny how different kids have such clearly differing personalities.  Obviously adults do, too, but with kids it’s so clear (adults rarely cry when you ask them to pose a certain way).  Ellie was happiest when she was doing something.  As long as she had her hands full or was reading, playing or being tossed in the air, she was bright and full of smiles.  Just don’t ask her to sit still for too long!  To be honest, I can relate to that.  ;)