This sweet winter city hall wedding is also seen on The Wedding Co.
Winter weddings in Toronto probably aren’t rare given our long winters in Canada, but Prash & Val’s was the first I had photographed, and I hope won’t be my last!
Val & Prash met in university in the same student club. They got to know each other very well before dating and have managed to make long distance work. For their wedding, they wanted a very intimate & low key day with just their immediate families – which was exactly what happened. A very intimate ceremony at city hall was followed by portraits around downtown Toronto in Osgoode Hall, Union Station and the Fairmont. Then they enjoyed a private meal at Reds restaurant. Val loves snow and even though the wedding was at the end of January, it had been pretty dry up until that point. But the weather gods were kind to us; as we were walked out of city hall, it started to snow! That was the perfect finishing touch to a lovely afternoon.
Featured on La Bride | A Romantic Greek Island Elopement | Skopelos, Greece
If you’ve watched Mamma Mia, the movie, then you might have wondered (or already know) where they filmed the gorgeous Greek islands scenes (let’s not discuss Pierce Brosnan’s singing…although personally I thought he was ok!).
And you guessed right, many of the scenes were filmed in Skopelos! When Jo contacted me about photographing her and Dan’s wedding in Skopelos, I was ecstatic! Skopelos is in the Sporades group of islands, about 3 hours away from the nearest mainland port of Volos by fast ferry. After the movie was released, mass tourism really hit the island. Luckily from what I’ve seen, that has died down a little. Of the four Greek islands I’ve visited this summer (Crete, Rhodes, Samothraki, and Skopelos), this was my favourite. For me, it has just the right balance between scenery, beaches, architecture and local culture.
Jo and Dan are from Australia, they were planning a big European adventure when the idea came to get married while overseas as well. They chose Greece because it’s somewhere new for them, exciting and full of romance (I couldn’t agree more). Jo and I had already emailed each other quite extensively and talked on the phone before, so when we finally met, I felt like I had known her for a long time. I met them the night before for dinner, and it was quite apparent how genuine they are and the special connection they share. On the wedding day, I joined them on the surreal, dreamlike Amarantos Rocks with their officiant, in addition to their lovely planner Daphne and myself as witnesses. Afterwards I was lucky to join them for dinner at Korali taverna as we watched the sun dip below the horizon.
It was truly one of the most intimate weddings I’ve experienced as a photographer and I couldn’t have asked for a more lovely couple to spend that day with. Thank you Jo & Dan, for having me capture your special day in stunning Skopelos and welcoming me so warmly.
A severe storm battered Skopelos a few weeks after we were there, many areas of the island were severely damaged, including the taverna where we had dinner. These photos will always remind me that there are very few things in life we can have forever, but your memory will always be yours.
Sometimes, when you get married, there doesn’t have to be a single soul around except for you, your beloved, someone to marry you by and two witnesses (by legal requirements). That’s exactly what Lauren & Erik did on an early summer morning. There is something about getting married at the beginning of a day – both symbolize a new chapter. Their intimate elopement was at the peaceful and lovely Bluffer’s Park. This is probably one of my favourite spots in the city. You don’t even feel like you are in Toronto anymore.
There are anywhere from 189 – 196 independent countries in the world (depending on the source), and there are approximately 7.2 billion people on the planet. It’s a pretty big world. But it can also be such a small world.
When I got an email from Johan and Annika who are from Sweden, and read about their plan to travel to Canada to get married, I was quite surprised they found me. The internet is an amazing thing, you never know who will find you on the other end of it. After a few email exchanges, I mentioned I was going to Stockholm in a couple of months, so then we arranged to meet up. It was a coincidence as I had planned to attend a workshop there.
I met Johan and Annika and their adorable son Teddy in a lovely cafe in Old Town Stockholm and chatted about their plans for visiting Canada and to elope. It was all a little surreal for me – they were my first international clients! They were so lovely and I had to marvel at how good their English is compared to my non-existent Swedish (perhaps it’s time to pick up another language…although my excuse is that I already know Chinese and English). Then a few months later, I met my Swedish friends again by the lake and photographed their beautiful ceremony. Here are some of my favourite photos from their elopement!
Anna and Will eloped on an early October morning. They met in high school math class and have known since then that they’ve found the one :P True story. I think when you meet your other half so early on in life, there’s always a chance of growing apart in the years to come. That can happen at any stage in life, but it seems to be much more likely to happen when we are young. But these two have not only cultivated a relationship based on respect and friendship as well as love, they worked hard to stay connected and grow together.
They were planning a big move to California and after more than 10 years together, they finally tied the knot. With four generations of families together as witnesses, it was a really intimate ceremony. Afterwards I followed them onto a streetcar and took some very iconic streetcar photos :)
