Langdon Hall Winter Wedding

Laura + Raymon

Sometimes my favourite weddings are the small intimate ones. And if you’re going to have a small wedding I can’t think of a better place than Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario.

They treat every couple, and every wedding no matter the size, like royalty. The service, food and care are simply exceptional. They also have a great setup for smaller weddings with two small dining rooms that can accommodate 15-20 people along with attached conservatories for the wedding ceremonies, cocktails and dancing.

Although they were hoping for some snow, Laura + Raymond had a beautiful wedding in the Colonel Langdon Room with their family and closest friends. We started the day with portraits all over the grounds of Langdon Hall and then into a touching little wedding ceremony officiated by Pete from Kettle Creek Weddings. This was followed by a elegant dinner featuring some of Langdon Hall’s best food and wine!

Check out some of my favourite wedding photographs from Laura + Raymond’s wedding at Langdon Hall above and you can also check out their full gallery over at the proofing section of my website!

If you’re looking for some more info on Langdon Hall, as well as some other Langdon Hall weddings, check out this page I created with all things Langdon Hall!

Archeo Toronto Winter Wedding

Emily + Aaron

Archeo is one of my favourite Toronto wedding venues… it’s got a great vibe & decor, is the perfect size for an intimate wedding and is located in Toronto’s Distillery District. Throw in the fact that it’s winter and the Christmas market is in full swing and you’ve got something magical.

But we’ll get to all that, first things first I met up with Emily and her girls at her apartment as they all got ready. They were lucky enough to be able to rent their neighbours house as an AirBnB so there was lots of room for everyone to relax and get ready. Once Emily was into her amazingly cute dress, it was off to Archeo and the Distillery District.

After a great first look and some wedding party portraits, Emily, Aaron and I went off to tour the Distillery District for some wedding portaits…. One of the highlights was when we ran into a group of Christmas carollers and they sang to Emily + Aaron!

The ceremony was chock fill of great moments: an officiant I’d never worked with before but who was great, multiple kisses before ‘the kiss’ , the rings on a little dog statue and a Stranger Things duet to finish things off.

Dinner was great (mmm… steak) and was filled with tons of laughter and some amazing speeches, capped off with an amazing wedding toast by Emily’s sister the maid of honour. Emily + Aaron’s speech finished off with Christmas crackers… one of Emily’s favourite things.

The DJ that night was DJ Nine and let me tell you he was one of the best I’ve worked with in all these years… really kept the night moving and the dance floor jumping. Aaron was part of fraternity in university and they have a great tradition where they welcome one of their brother’s new wives by serenading her on the dance floor. Garter and bouquet tosses, slide bars and a donut table rounded out the night!

You can see some of my favourite wedding photographs at the top of this blog post and Emily + Aaron’s wedding slideshow below.

If you’ve got the secret password, you can see their full wedding gallery here.

Also check out Emily + Aaron’s engagement session at Toronto’s Riverdale Farm.

Looking for a little more Archeo wedding inspiration? Check out Anne + Tim’s winter Archeo wedding and Cindy + Enrico’s autumn wedding!

Riverdale Farm Engagement

Emily + Aaron

Spent an afternoon with Emily + Aaron at Riverdale farm for a chilly late fall engagement session!

These two are actually getting married this weekend at one of my all time favourite venues, Archeo in the Distillery District.

Check back soon for what I’m sure will be some amazing wedding pictures but in the meantime check out some other weddings at Archeo.

Anne + Tim

Cindy + Enrico

Julia + Kevin

Three Bridges Waterloo Wedding

Rebecca + Matt

Rebecca + Matt had a great fall wedding at the Three Bridges event space just outside of Waterloo, Ontario.

Over 300 weddings into this I sort of think I’ve seen everything but this wedding had a new one for me… an in home barber for the guys! What a fantastic idea. Matt and his guys got a fresh trim so they were looking their best all the while getting to relax and hang out at Matt’s parents home in Waterloo. Can’t recommend this idea enough!

I joined Rebecca and her crew at a hotel in St. Jacobs as they got ready. I loved Rebecca’s Converse sneakers along with matching ones for the little flower girls.

The outdoor ceremony was held outdoors on the beautiful grounds of the Three Bridges event space. I swear the temperature dropped 15 degrees right before the autumn ceremony. We all powered through it and celebrated as Rebecca and Matt officially tied the knot. After the ceremony there was a large group photo of everyone (Most photographers hate doing these… I secretly like them!), some family photos and then we piled into the limo bus to get some more portraits in the surrounding country side taking advantage of some of the beautiful fall colours.

Being October, the reception had a really great fall/halloween vibe going all the way down to the pumpkin centrepieces filled with halloween candy…. A fact that the guests at my table didn’t discover until well into the night. :). We managed to sneak out at sunset for some golden hour wedding portraits, this time we were literally outside for less than a minute but still got some great images. Quality over quantity I always say.

One of the highlights of the night was an amazing ‘History of Dance’ number Rebecca and her dad put on during their father/daughter dance.

Some highlights from the rest of the night included a great shoe game, late night cigars and a packed dance floor!

Check out some of my favourite wedding images at the top of this post and Rebecca + Matt’s full wedding slideshow below!

Burlington Engagement Photographs

Lisa + Tyler

Here are some of my favourite pictures from Lisa + Tyler’s great fall engagement session in Lowville Park in Burlington, Ontario featuring some really beautiful fall colours.

These two are having a winter wedding at the Ancaster Mill in the new year, check back then to see their wedding pictures.

Hessenland Inn Fall Wedding

Amanda + Chad

Amanda and Chad had a fantastic fall wedding at the beautiful Hessenland Country Inn located in Southwestern, Ontario.

I spent the morning at Amanda’s parents beautiful property in Exeter for some coverage of the girls getting ready with veils being steamed (and what an amazing veil and dress!) flowers delivered and mimosas consumed. :)

Amanda and Chad decided to have a first look at her parents house (this I can be a great option to cut down on the time doing portraits after the ceremony and can also help with pre ceremony nerves!). We took full advantage Amanda’s parents beautiful property for some portraits of the family and the wedding party.

Amanda was driven to Hessenland by her father in a beautiful Dodge Prowler (don’t worry, they put the top down for the drive over) and they even pulled right up to the wedding ceremony in it!

After the ceremony all the guests gathered for a group shot from the tower and then they got to enjoy lawn games, cocktails and appetizers while we took care of some of the more formal portraits. Dinner was great with some amazingly funny speeches and great food and service provided by Liz and her dedicated crew at Hessenland.

The night finished with a packed dance floor as everyone celebrated Amanda and Chad’s wedding!

Check out some of my favourite wedding photographs from Amanda + Chad’s Hessenland Country Inn wedding below and their full wedding slideshow above!

You can also check out their Bayfield engagement pictures.

Bayfield Engagement Pictures

Amanda + Chad

Catching up on some blogging and realized I never blogged Amanda + Chad’s engagement session!

Had so much fun with this one. Amanda suggested going to Bayfield, Ontario as she spent summers there as a kid and I’m always up for a road trip and a new place to shoot! We explored the old town and the waterfront but I have to say my favourite spot was a storage yard for sailboats we found… I could have taken pictures there for hours!

Amanda and Chad just got married at Hessenland Inn so stay tuned for some great wedding photographs from their wedding in the next couple weeks on the blog (sooner if you’re following me on Instagram!)

If you’ve got the password, you can check out the full engagement session gallery here.

Argonaut Rowing Club Wedding

Huong + Aaron

People always ask me what my best wedding story is. Usually it’s the time the reception venue had a fire and we had to relocate the reception to the church basement.

Going along with a theme, this is the wedding where my car caught on fire. On the Gardiner Expressway. In the middle of the wedding. On the plus side, I’ve got a really nice new car!

But the day started really great. Honestly.

Huong + Aaron began their day getting ready at Aaron’s fathers beautiful home. I love when couples throw out traditions out the window. Once everyone was ready, they had a really lovely first look in the backyard by the pool. First looks can be a great idea to help smooth out a wedding day timeline and the nerves of the couple. :)

From there we headed off to their church ceremony at the stunning St Gabriel’s Parish in North York. I absolutely love this church, it’s so different than 99% of the churches out there. Clean, modern lines and tons of natural light… A photographers dream. The wedding ceremony featured some beautiful readings, a great singer and some great moments as Huong + Aaron exchanged their vows, rings and a kiss.

We hung out the church for a while, getting some family portraits done and then it was off to the Argonout Rowing Club for the reception… and that’s when my day went HORRIBLY WRONG. :)

Luckily Huong + Aaron’s wedding had a nice break built into the afternoon, plenty of time to wait for the firetruck, get my SUV towed to a dealership and then Uber it over to the reception. Technically, I was only 2 minutes late.

Cocktails and the wedding reception at the Argonaut Rowing Club was great. It’s a beautiful venue right on the waterfront in Toronto, a real rarity. The night featured TWO live bands, some great speeches and a beautiful sunset.

You can see some of my favourite wedding pictures up top and their full wedding slideshow below.

Before you leave make sure to check out some pictures from Huong + Aaron’s amazing Ottawa engagement session.

Tuscany Wedding Pizza Party

Elena + Steve

This is the final post for Elena + Steve’s wedding! You can check out their Tuscan destination wedding, Italian civil ceremony, Tuscan wedding details and cocktail reception.

Elena + Steve finished off their official wedding events with an amazing pizza reception the night after their Tuscan destination wedding at the villa La Sorgente di Francesca. The villa has an outdoor stone pizza oven, I was impressed but I’m guessing this is pretty standard in Italy. A professional pizza chef was brought in and there was an endless supply of pizza’s to feed everyone. And holy hell these pizzas were amazing…. I might have eaten 3. Don’t judge me.

Drinks were had, UNO was played and great conversations flowed throughout the night. It was the perfect end to a perfect couple of days in Tuscany with Elena + Steve and an amazing group of people. I will cherish my time in Italy with them until my final days.

Now, who else is getting married in Italy and wants to take me? Pretty please :)

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.