I’ll preface by saying this blog post is 100% worth scrolling all the way through until the end, even if you don’t feel like reading just scroll straight down. Although there were plenty of amazing moments and plenty of emotion, but the two brides at blue hour enjoying a quiet moment on the rooftop of the Gladstone Hotel while overlooking the city lights of downtown Toronto is one that is instilled in my memory so vividly and an all-time favourite wedding experience of mine as a wedding photographer.
There’s something extraordinary and inexplicable when life imitates art. Weddings sort of give me an unconventional opportunity to document this natural phenomenon in a multiple of ways and places. Sometimes I get lucky and work at wedding venues that aren’t wedding venues at all, but legitimate staples of downtown Toronto and the art scene within this city. Toronto is sort of an art mecca, and the Gladstone Hotel has been a pivotal supporter of the art scene here in Toronto, wearing many hats such as a concert venue, art gallery and of course, a modern and unconventional wedding venue. Of course, I was shooting some analog film and dusted off the Hasselblad to shoot some timeless 6x6 medium format portraits of the brides to echo the vibe of the Gladstone’s art galleries.
Naturally I’ve been looking forward to Steph & Julie’s wedding at the Gladstone Hotel since we first met up last winter. I got the opportunity to hangout with the two brides to be during the springtime when I shot their at-home session down in their neighbourhood at the Esplanade in downtown Toronto. But this time, it was the real deal, and I was beyond excited to document these two brides among art installations throughout the Gladstone Hotel.
To sum, Steph & Julie’s wedding at the Gladstone was modern, minimal and elegant, all while retaining the brides’ personalities throughout every detail. From their bridal looks that include bridal hers and hers KEDS, to their unique floral bouquets, they executed the laissez-faire bride attitude and look with genuine ease, but they had fun doing it and it was exactly them. I couldn’t have asked for anything more as a photographer. Shooting some Kodak film was the perfect match for the crazy retro 80’s lighting that filled one of the art rooms thanks to a clever art installation. The two brides almost looked like art pieces themselves as they melded into their surroundings and each other like puzzle pieces. For the wedding details Steph’s talents as an illustrator were on full display as she handmade all the the stationary for the wedding, including their own wedding invitations to add a unique personal touch throughout the wedding. She’s very humble about it, but she’s an amazing artist and crazy funny, maybe even crazy/funny and she’s absolutely worth looking up on Instagram ( @guoodles & @littlenotecomic ).
As Steph’s comics reflect, the two brides don’t take themselves overly seriously and can even laugh at themselves a bit in the process, even during our portraits the playful demeanour of their relationship crept through despite their concentrated effort to have an intimate moment with one another as they took in their emotions at different intervals throughout the wedding day. As the wedding photographer, it was special for me to have Steph and Julie let their guards down so evidently, wanting to take time at golden hour to playfully walk the familiar streets of Queen Street West and then taking another moment at blue hour to take advantage of the Gladstone’s rooftop suite to hold another and drink in the luminescent cityscape of downtown Toronto.
This was undoubtedly a unique wedding but the real and fleeting moments are what made it unforgettable. Although the two brides are fun and easy-going, they’re also very down-to-earth and on their wedding day they had no reservations in terms of showcasing their deeply felt emotions. Whether they were laughing or fighting back tears, Steph and Julie radiated love and it was felt throughout the room. An emotional first-look was only trumped by their wedding ceremony in which both brides were unable to contain their emotions, especially Julie.
It was powerful to see the bride experience that very vehemence when walking down the aisle with her new bride. It was that form of emotion that suddenly blooms within us with a blinding power we become encumbered by it. Her gratitude and appreciation for what was happening in that very moment was resonating with me because I know how rare it is for people to live in a moment so intently that they legitimately feel something blindingly powerful.
Another personal element to these two brides’ wedding was their first dance, beautifully performed by a close friend, just her and her acoustic guitar, serenading the brides as their guests watched on completely entranced in the beauty of the moment.
These beautiful and candid moments are what I meant when I say there’s something beguiling about the moments where life imitates art. We can often be moved by something unseen and something with an unexpected and mysterious allure. Like art, life can be difficult to understand, sometimes you have to just allowed yourself to feel what comes naturally and that’s exactly what Steph and Julie did on their wedding day.
