Calm, cool, collected, that’s Afsheen and Nikola. Emphasis on the cool. I guess those are the characteristics you need to possess to pull-off a pop-up wedding in the middle of a Toronto Park, followed by signature cocktails and hors d’oeuvre on Pray Tell’s patio in the west-end.
To continue with the trend, Afsheen’s bridal fashion composed of a white jumpsuit with polka dot, blue suede heels and rayban sunglasses. Nikola’s groom style was the casual and classic look of a fitted blue suit, no tie and white sneakers.
The wedding day started at the U of T campus at the very location the bride and groom met, we strolled through the campus and even through the hallways where they formerly had classes. A trip through time where nostalgia fuelled their quiet moments together allowing them to relive the infancy of their love story.
The theme for their photos were based exactly on capturing that feeling. The next stop being Sneaky Dee’s bar that holds significance to their relationship followed by a walk through Kensington Market, another cool and telling location for this Toronto bride and groom. With the summer’s air fresh and the breeze cool, the bride and groom strolled through Kensington market where we made a couple of stops to take in the atmosphere along with all the character that Kensington market has to offer. The eclectic vibe contrasted beautifully with Afsheen and Nikola’s elegant downplay of the modern bride and groom.
Their wedding ceremony was literally a pop-up wedding in the middle of a Toronto City park, surrounded by trees, friends and family. They shared their vows to each other, a first kiss, and a family union through breaking and eating of blessed bread in the park. It was simple, genuine and quite frankly, beautiful.
Afsheen and Nikola are very down to earth people who never wanted to go the traditional route with their wedding, and Pray Tell’s atmosphere and aesthetic was the perfect restaurant wedding venue to hold their low-key party. Cocktails were flowing, people were laughing, hugs were shared, a perfect environment mixed with mingling and candid moments that made for great images. To make things even better, they had a literal CHEESE-CAKE, not cheesecake, but actual wheels of fine cheese stacked together in form of a wedding cake. Literally, a cake of cheese, a cheese-cake wedding cake, a cheese wedding cake. Whatever you want to call it, this should be a trend going forward for all weddings. I guess that’s what cool, modern, city brides and grooms do, set their own trends.
Ironically, there’s something highly intimate and beautiful about restaurant weddings, especially those in the Downtown Toronto scene. To make things more incredible for me as a photographer, having photographed this entire wedding on 120 film was a dream. Afsheen was keen on having me use my Hasselblad for a majority of the portraits and the process of analog film added to the calm demeanour of the wedding day.
Pop-up weddings photographed on analog film, literal cheese wedding cake, Pray Tell’s food and cocktails, good people. This is why I love being a wedding photographer in Toronto
Song of the day
Hope - Blood Orange
- 3B
