Some of my favourite experiences as a Toronto wedding photographer has been to photograph the various elopements I’ve been lucky to be a part of over the past few years.
I’ve been part of some extremely memorable city hall elopements at Toronto City Hall, including a surprise elopement , a sunrise elopement, a sunset elopement and a beautiful fall elopement to name a few of my all-time favourites.
What’s incredibly special about eloping in Toronto is that you can truly have an intimate and unique elopement since the city is so culturally rich and beautiful in many different ways.
Denisa and Adam opted for a fall elopement at Toronto City Hall, but not before spending some time together exploring the beauty around Queen Street and Riverdale Park. The surrounding neighbourhoods have some of the most character-rich and authentically Toronto locations. Combined with the being surrounded by nature at the absolute peak time of the metamorphosis of colours, Denisa and Adam’s elopement was sincerely beautiful and naturally them.
The bride’s modern yet untraditional wedding dress mimicked art as it flowed through the red leaves and those slowly turning brown as we walked through the Riverdale neighbourhood, strolling through alleys, taking in the sunset at the park and finally stopping for some coffee in a nearby Art Gallery. At times, the bride and groom reminded me of the Bob Dylan album cover for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Similar to that album art, Denisa and Adam seemingly had an entire city to themselves, strolling through the streets while enjoying the in-between moments they shared with one another. My only job was to be there and capture them as they were in that moment in time and to experience the atmosphere of our surroundings in hopes of materializing them in my images.
As the sun set we made our way over to Toronto City Hall where they officially eloped in front of their immediate families. The ceremony had a sense of calmness to it, and the handful of people present, myself included, could really feel the energy between the two high school sweethearts. As the officiant pronounced them husband and wife for the first time, Denisa and Adam, overwhelmed with emotion, hugged one another in a moment that seemed to freeze in time.
I really learned something through my experience of photographing Denisa & Adam’s City Hall elopement ; It really doesn’t matter if a wedding or elopement is happening in a familiar place, it’s truly the people who are part of the experience that shape the atmosphere and environment. Although the experience of shooting wedding photos at City Hall isn’t new to me, working with Denisa & Adam was new to me, and they really allowed me to see my very own neighbourhood and Toronto city hall in new ways through new experiences with different people.
Album of the Day
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan
- 3B
