wedding photography

Happy Anniversary Elena + Steve!

Wedding in Tuscany Italy

So this is a big one.

I was so honoured when Elena + Steve asked me to join them in Tuscany for their Italian destination wedding. I’ve known Elena for years now, she’s an amazing Oakville portrait photographer.

The wedding was held at a beautiful villa in the hills of Tuscany called La Sorgente Di Francesca. The wedding had multiple events spread over multiple days and this post is just for the wedding, we’ll get to the cocktail reception, civil ceremony and pizza dinner soon!

The wedding day began with a really nice civil ceremony at city hall… a beautiful Italian city hall… in the nearby town of Pontassieve (blog post on this to follow!)

The entire day, and the entire couple days of the wedding, was super relaxed so we had a break for a couple hours before everyone started getting ready for the second wedding ceremony and wedding reception.

One of my favourite moments of the day was when Elena’s father saw her for there first time, his reaction was so joyful and earnest. It’s was obvious to all the special connection Elena has with her parents.

The wedding ceremony was held just before sunset in the front courtyard of the villa with Elena + Steve’s kids as their wedding party. Hard to top a ceremony at sunset overlooking the hills of Tuscany!

The ceremony was an emotional and tear filled including a really touching sand ceremony involving all the children and Elena and Steve as a new combined family. Since Elena + Steve had already been legally married in that beautiful civil ceremony earlier in the day, all the children were even allowed to sign as ‘witnesses’ during this ceremony.

After being showered with confetti by guests during their recessional up the aisle, a group shot with the everyone at the wedding (including my kids!) and some family portraits in the setting sun it was time for dinner. As to be expected, the food was fantastic and everyone enjoyed a beautiful open air meal under the stars and crescent moon surrounded by the tuscan hills.

The evening continued on with a first dance, a fun sparkler cake cutting and then some intense dancing late into the night. Buy me a beer sometime and I’ll tell you a great story about the DJ. (sorry Steve!)

Check out some of my favourite wedding photographs from this Tuscany destination wedding up above as well as Elena + Steve’s full wedding slideshow below.

I can’t ever thank Elena + Steve enough for bringing me (and two of my kids!) along for the trip of a lifetime. Oh the pizza… I ate so much pizza.

Tuscany Destination Wedding

Elena + Steve

So this is a big one.

I was so honoured when Elena + Steve asked me to join them in Tuscany for their Italian destination wedding. I’ve known Elena for years now, she’s an amazing Oakville portrait photographer.

The wedding was held at a beautiful villa in the hills of Tuscany called La Sorgente Di Francesca. The wedding had multiple events spread over multiple days and this post is just for the wedding, we’ll get to the cocktail reception, civil ceremony and pizza dinner soon!

The wedding day began with a really nice civil ceremony at city hall… a beautiful Italian city hall… in the nearby town of Pontassieve (blog post on this to follow!)

The entire day, and the entire couple days of the wedding, was super relaxed so we had a break for a couple hours before everyone started getting ready for the second wedding ceremony and wedding reception.

One of my favourite moments of the day was when Elena’s father saw her for there first time, his reaction was so joyful and earnest. It’s was obvious to all the special connection Elena has with her parents.

The wedding ceremony was held just before sunset in the front courtyard of the villa with Elena + Steve’s kids as their wedding party. Hard to top a ceremony at sunset overlooking the hills of Tuscany!

The ceremony was an emotional and tear filled including a really touching sand ceremony involving all the children and Elena and Steve as a new combined family. Since Elena + Steve had already been legally married in that beautiful civil ceremony earlier in the day, all the children were even allowed to sign as ‘witnesses’ during this ceremony.

After being showered with confetti by guests during their recessional up the aisle, a group shot with the everyone at the wedding (including my kids!) and some family portraits in the setting sun it was time for dinner. As to be expected, the food was fantastic and everyone enjoyed a beautiful open air meal under the stars and crescent moon surrounded by the tuscan hills.

The evening continued on with a first dance, a fun sparkler cake cutting and then some intense dancing late into the night. Buy me a beer sometime and I’ll tell you a great story about the DJ. (sorry Steve!)

Check out some of my favourite wedding photographs from this Tuscany destination wedding up above as well as Elena + Steve’s full wedding slideshow below.

I can’t ever thank Elena + Steve enough for bringing me (and two of my kids!) along for the trip of a lifetime. Oh the pizza… I ate so much pizza.

Tuscany Wedding Details

Elena + John

And now for something a little different from me!

We’ll get back to posts about the wedding soon but I just wanted to share some little details of the villa La Sorgenta di Francesca that I loved during my 3 days there. To say I loved my time in Tuscany, and all of Italy, would be a huge understatement.

Check out my blog post for the Tuscany destination wedding and their Italian civil wedding ceremony.

Glenerin Inn Wedding in Toronto

Cheri + Chris

Cheri and Chris had a beautiful friday summer wedding at the Glenerin Inn in Mississauga surrounded by their closest friends and family!

The is a beautiful historic building located near the University of Toronto Mississauga Campus (which is also beautiful and we visited for some wedding party portraits).

Cheri started the day in a stunning suite at the Glenerin having her hair and makeup done by the girls from the onsite spa. She was joined by her sister, mom and soon to be mother in law. Chris and his family were getting ready in the suite literally next door so it took a little juggling to make sure no one accidentally ran into each other.

Once we had some family pictures done we awaited the beginning of the ceremony. The smiles on Cheri + Chris’ face as they said their vows were contagious. Once the ceremony was over we packed up for the quick drive over to the U of T Mississauga campus for some portraits of the wedding party and the bride and groom.

Cheri + Chris decided to cut their cake at the beginning of the cocktail hour, something I’ve never seen but was a brilliant idea (mmmmm…. cake). The dinner was filled with some touching speeches and real moments of laughter.

Cheri and Chris decided to do an amazing waltz for their first dance… all the practicing really paid off!

The DJ was awesome and travelled all the way in from Sudbury after meeting Cheri and Chris at a resort in the Caribbean the year before!

Thanks again to Cheri + Chris for allowing me to be a part of their wedding day

You can see some of my favourite wedding photographs from their wedding above and the full wedding slideshow below.

If you have the super secret password, you can view their entire gallery over on my wedding proofing website.

Award Winning Wedding Photography

I had a few other nice surprises in the inbox... One of my photographs placed fifth in the Kids Category  International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers Winter 2018 contest!

Another image from Sabrina + Zach's Toronto wedding was given an honourable mention by the Wedding Photojournalist Association in their latest round of winners!

As always, most of the credit goes to my amazing clients that trust me to capture moments like these for their weddings.