Janice Yi Photography
Baby Matilda is the first baby I met this year. And she’s beyond sweet. She was just 9 days old when I photographed her, her doting parents Emma & Adam and their adorable dachshund Albi.
Congratulations Emma & Adam! What a wonderful family you have!
Also, I tried what I learned from Priscilla Dunstan, I think it worked! I’ll need more practice for sure to distinguish the sounds better.
Hello darling!
Already bonding with big sister Albi.
Oh these two! I don’t usually pick favourites, but they definitely hold a very special place in my heart. So thank you to the lovely Melissa from Moments by Melissa Miller for having me along to help for this wedding!
Blake & Lindsey tied the knot on a bright and sunny May afternoon. The wedding was held at the Hamilton Waterfront Centre. I shot a wedding here in 2011 with Melissa as well, and they’ve made some updates to bring a more modern sensibility to the space. The entire day was lovely, but Blake & Lindsey were definitely the star of the show. They are just so in love with each other. He absolutely adores her, and she makes him laugh. And when he kisses her, she does this thing where she scrunches up her nose. They absolutely love each other wholeheartedly. And that love isn’t just for each other, but for their friends and families as well. You can feel it. I don’t even know what else to say about this day without making it sound clichéd, except that this is why I love what I do, to witness such heartfelt love and document it, and know that as long as such love exists, the world is still a beautiful place.
Blake & Lindsey opted for a First Look, and it was really sweet. They spent the time laughing together, chatting and just being themselves.
One of the nearby boats sounded their horn (do you still call it a horn from a boat?!) to congratulate the couple!
Their MC’s made a special video for the couple that began with: “Good Evening, I’m Peter Mansbridge, and today from Hamilton, Ontario…” Everyone was absolutely floored.
The video then continued to interviews from some of their closest friends and family. Words that had everyone laughing and tearing up. Including us photographers.
Little Olivia was just 2 weeks old when I met her. First-time parents Danielle & Scott were absolutely smitten with their little girl, so was big brother, Corson :)
Wow how time flies. I started what I thought would be a repeat feature on the same date last year about good reads I’ve had. And now a year later, I’ve written #2 in the series. Oops… Anyway, better late than never right? I can only resolve to definitely write (and read) more this year.
The Fault in Our Stars: there are books that make you laugh, and books that make you cry, and books that make you think. And once in a while, a book comes along and touches your life in a way that few other things in life can, and you will never forget it. This was one of those books for me. I feel like nothing I write would do it justice, but here is a really great review of the book that said it all for me.
Me Before You: I picked this up on a whim and could not put it down. Based on the description of the book, you’d expect it to be chick-lit, but it’s not. At least not to me, I think it’s so much more than that. For starters, it’s not about a slightly one-dimensional female protagonist whose only goal in life was to find her Prince Charming. This is a book about a girl living her life in the relative safety of her small town, with a steady boyfriend, and your average dysfunctional family, who meets a boy who had everything then lost it all in a terrible accident. I know, the set up sounds cliché, but their story isn’t. Sometimes, our lives run along just fine, until a single event/encounter changes it forever.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: this was the only book I brought on our honeymoon, and I started it on a train from Siena to the Cinque Terre. It was so enjoyable, I couldn’t even be distracted by the beautiful scenery flowing pass me outside the window (at least until we got really close to the Cinque Terre and you can see the sea from the train, but that’s another story) If you are familiar with Jonathan Safon Foer, you know his style is quirky. And this was a story that was at once so lovely, so funny, so sad, so wonderful and so heartbreaking. I felt these exact emotions when I read The History of Love as well, which is written by Jonathan’s wife, Nicole Krauss.
I wrote a short blog post in 2011 about First Look’s and what they are. Honestly I think whoever first thought of doing this was onto something. I thought I’d do a second post on it, after our own wedding 7 months ago.
What is a First Look again? Sometimes it’s also called The Reveal. Basically it’s an opportunity for the bride and groom to see each other before the ceremony and experience those first moments together. So, M and I opted for a First Look for our own wedding, and that was probably one of our favourite moments from the day. Thinking about it now, I’m actually surprised that he agreed to it, because he can be quite traditional at times. Seeing each other for the first time ahead of the ceremony, and sharing our excitement with each other was one of the only moments of the day we were able to spend together alone. (Even though our wedding was very small) When we saw each other, it was as if we were somewhere else and we were isolated from the things and the planning that sometimes had distracted us from the real meaning of the day: to commit to each other. It also helped calm down some of the butterflies before the ceremony :) Since we got the nervousness and anxiety out of the way, we were able to just focus on each other during the ceremony. And, the First Look made my walk down the aisle just as emotional and special, if not more. I still teared up as my Mom walked me down and I looked around at not just my husband-to-be, but our family and friends, and M had a huge grin on his face, waiting at the end. He was so happy, and so was I.
There really aren’t any rules when it comes to weddings I think, you don’t have to hide from each other until the ceremony, you don’t have to wear or throw a garter, you don’t have to throw your bouquet etc. I think you just have to do whatever makes you happy and what makes sense to you as a couple.
Well, here are some photos from our First Look, so see for yourself :)
All images above are from the lovely Chloé of Caught the Light photography. Below are some First Look photos from the past year that make me smile, taken by yours truly. 
“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
Mike, the best man at Maitreyi & Shane’s wedding read this quote by Dr Seuss, which I adore.
Maitreyi & Shane got married on the last weekend of 2012. Maitreyi, or affectionately known as Tree by those who know her, and Shane met at Chapters where they both worked. That’s also where I met them. So we go way back =) I was thrilled when they contacted me and told me they were getting married! They flew in a few days before the wedding from India, where they had been working and living for the past few years. The wedding ceremony was an intimate affair with just 12 guests and it was followed by a beautiful Archeo wedding reception in the Distillery District. Both days were filled with love, joy, laughter, and reunions.
Congrats you guys! Wishing you nothing but the best for the new chapter in your lives! Thank you for having me along – it was amazing to be able to document the story of your wedding days.
Patrick taking a photo of me taking a photo of him.
We had a mini Chapters reunion!
