Heather and Diptesh in Mono, Ontario

The main element of Heather and Diptesh’s country wedding wasn’t the beautiful authentic country vintage details, it wasn’t the incredible countryside views of rural Ontario, but it was the incredible unison of family and culture brought together by their love for one another.

This wasn’t their first go around as a bride and groom. With Diptesh’s family being in India, they hosted an incredible Indian wedding for Heather and Diptesh along with their families from the U.S. and Canada. After having such a large celebration back in India, they decided to host a second wedding ceremony in Mono Ontario, Heather’s hometown a short drive from Toronto and the GTA, to gather friends and family from all over North-America to come together and celebrate their union.

It was a truly incredible experience that brought together a beautiful sense of inclusiveness all the while honouring both Heather and Diptesh’s individual heritages. Heather’s understated vintage dress and look complimented her henna tattoos so eloquently Diptesh’s stylish cowboy boots was a great nod to their current lives in Houston, Texas.

The ceremony was done in Heather’s parents’ backyard beneath a large willow tree, a perfect setting to encompass Heather’s childhood and to announce their surprise pregnancy to their friends and family in attendance.  

Not far off from the home, we ventured with their wedding party to an overlook that Heather and her sisters used to climb as young children. The sight of canola fields and beautiful pine trees surrounding us created an incredible moment of tranquility, where we all stood in silence admiring the beautiful summer day and taking in the subtle breeze.

The ceremony was followed by an intimate and casual reception at the Mono Cliffs Inn, a genuinely vintage country-town pub and restaurant setting the perfect atmosphere for friends and family to mingle and celebrate. The night was topped off with fantastic food and drinks, and of course, a few traditional Punjabi dances, included one from both the bride and groom.

Weddings like this are an amazing reminder that working as a photographer here in Toronto allows me incredibly unique opportunities to meet and interact with people from very different walks of life than my own, and opportunity for me to both grow as a person and as a photographer through experience. I couldn’t have asked for more from this day - vintage aesthetic, beautiful country-town  and country side scenery, kinda hearted genuine people,  and a unique metamorphosis between two cultures. These are the moments and events that transcend time and place, and I’m always humbled to be so included in something so special and beautifully human.

 

Song of the day

Indonesia - Divorce Court

 

- 3B

VENDORS
Wedding Dress: Luxe Boutique 
Suit: Q Clothier
Jewellery: Anice Jewellery
Ceremony: Private Residence
Reception Venue/Catering: Mono Cliffs Inn
Bouquets: DIY / Costco
Second Shooter: Ryanne Hollies 
Lodging: Highview BnB
 

Rochelle and Jason at High Park

Spending your first wedding of the summer within the beautiful grounds of High Park is without a doubt a great experience. Despite being a huge urban city, Toronto has its fair share of fantastic outdoor venues. Being West-Enders who love the outdoors, Rochelle and Jason chose to hold the first part of their wedding day at Colborne Lodge, a beautiful rustic venue hidden within High Park. Another factor I’m sure that played a role in their decision was that the venue and grounds are dog friendly, so their beautiful rescue dog Betsy was allowed to be in attendance and escort the bride and groom down the aisle and watch over them throughout the entire ceremony. The beautiful pup provided more than a few amazing candid moments, outside of the stunning Bride, Betsy got her fair share of attention, hugs and kisses (and hot dog treats of course!).

It was a beautifully eclectic melange of old and new traditions. Upholding their traditional Chinese values, Rochelle and Jason started their wedding celebration with the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony inside the rustic lodge, followed by a beautiful outdoor ceremony among the trees behind the Colborne Lodge Museum. The vintage elements and aesthetics were naturally at the forefront due to the Colborne Lodge’s authentic setting. The first half of the wedding day was intentionally private and intimate, with immediate family exclusively being present to witness Jason and Rochelle commit their love to one another. It was special to be part of such an exclusive and small wedding ceremony. To be among such important people (and animal) in the couple’s lives isn’t something lost on me and it’s something that’s always really sunk on for me within the moment.

To cap things off, they had their closest friends and family unite at the George Restaurant on Queen Street East in Downtown Toronto, a well kept secret in the heart of the city. The hidden and secluded outdoor back patio made for the perfect atmosphere for Jason and Rochelle to mingle with their friends and family prior to their outstanding dinner.

I really admired how both Jason and Rochelle structured their entire wedding day. It goes to show that you can get married in Toronto and still keep things intimate and modern without completely letting go and abandoning who you are and the culture you grew up with, sometime I can personally relate to coming from a European immigrant family myself. A small intimate wedding within High Park’s forest, what more is there to say?

 

Song of the day

Another Good Morning - Breakup Shoes

 

- 3B

VENDORS
Stylist: Karima Sumar, Bar None Beauty
Cake: Little Pebbles 
Ceremony: Colborne Lodge
Reception Venue/Catering: George
Florist: Rosehill Blooms 
Second Shooter: Ryanne Hollies
 

Clarissa and Peter at The Chase Downtown

It’s that time of year where warm weather is frustratingly close, but the longer days and frequent sunshine create this unwavering ability to help me see an intrinsic  beauty in every day life. Spring is without a doubt my favourite time of year. The congruence of the death with new life, the plain brown colour palette of the world slowly transitioning to bright greens, it all brings together a larger picture while playing close attention to finer details that are otherwise overlooked.

As a creative individual, I’m always looking to creative industries outside of my own to learn something new and find creative inspiration I can use in my own new and unique ways. Meeting Clarissa and Peter was a gift since they are both incredible architects with a beautiful creative eye for modern, minimalist design. They designed and built their home together, and were kind enough to have me over to photograph them over the course of a morning and afternoon. (Check out the beautiful in-home session we did together here)

The entire wedding had a nearly methodical planning that directly and indirectly related to their lives as architects.

Their first look location at the Bay-Adelaide was an homage to Clarissa’s career in architecture. She worked for the firm responsible for the building’s design and watching her take the long walk from end of the building to the other was truly a special moment.

It goes without saying that their venues were in themselves a love story to the art of architecture. St. Michael’s Cathedral in downtown Toronto, followed by The Chase Restaurant in the Financial District showcased an extraordinary polarity between the classic and modern takes on architecture and design.  Clarissa played on this dichotomy and had two wedding dresses for each venue. A traditional, modern and minimal gown for the church ceremony, and a more modern lace cocktail style wedding dress for the ceremony that elegantly harmonized with her urban surrounding. 

A great bonus for me, outside of the most amazing food I’ve had at a wedding, was the opportunity to shoot some 120 and 35mm film. The Hasselblad 501 c/m and Leica M4-P were fed Kodak Tri-X and Portra generously throughout the day. It was the perfect opportunity for this since I got to share in the wedding day shooting experience with my very talented friend Erich Deleeuw. His approach to art and photography is one I truly respect. His approach to fine-art documentary photography is very similar to mine, so it was a natural partnership.

Classic, vintage, modern, fine art, minimalist and urban all mixed into one. Leave it to a pair of architects to flawlessly execute such a naturally eclectic combination with unexcelled results.

Downtown Toronto vibes written all over this one.

 

Song of the day   

Kendrick Lamar - LOVE, Feat - Zacari

 

- 3B

VENDORS
Hair: Puzzle Creations 
Makeup: Karen Kim
Wedding Dress: Martina Liana 
Shoes: Malone Souliers
Suit: Armani
Reception Venue/Catering: The Chase
Florist: Bloom Plus
Second Shooter: Erich Deleeuw
Lodging: Shangri-la 
Invitations: Silverplate Press

Kyle and Marisa at The Hart House

Marisa & Kyle’s wedding was an incredible and honest reflection of who they are.

Winter weddings are a rarity with how harsh Canadian winters can get, especially in January, but Kyle & Marisa really couldn’t imagine getting married at any other time of year.  The ambiance and atmosphere of early winter evenings was the ideal setting for all of their friends and family to feel cozy and at home inside of the Gallery Grill at the Hart House - University of Toronto. 

The old historical building that the intimate wedding ceremony and reception were held in had an incredible presence. The gothic architecture and fine art oil paintings were brought to life thanks to the candlelight and understated vintage decor.  I don’t watch Game of Thrones otherwise I’m sure I could make some sort of reference here… I’m more of a movie guy so I could only compare the environment to a mix of Dracula and Eyes Wide Shut. I’m sure to some that this would seem off-putting, but there is truly something deeply beautiful from the dark and moody settings of those films, and their wedding was no different.

Most people (or photographers) tend to think that shooting in dark, sombre places for weddings is a “bad” situation, but I welcomed the change and appreciated the timelessness created by this unique atmosphere.  I naturally gravitate towards interesting dichotomies, so a wedding with a dark, gothic and almost medieval like setting was a beautiful experience for me as a photographer.

Marisa very much appreciates and enjoys this sort of aesthetic as her dark lipstick and black suede shawl showcased. The cool climate isn’t unfamiliar to her either as she has spent (and is currently spending) time in St. Petersburg, where she is expanding her knowledge and research.  

Kyle is currently visiting her there and they were kind enough to send me this message for the blog post : 

"This photo illustrates the feeling I remember from our wedding during the night of January 14th. The wedding was small, and we were happy. For us, it was a night in the middle of winter to laugh and toast with our friends and families.

 

Из России с любовью 

(from Russian with love),

 

mkf. "

The reception wasn’t short on good conversation or good people. They both met during their post-grad studies in Chicago,Illinois, and eventually moved back to Toronto. This detail wasn’t forgotten and we took the opportunity to take a few portraits near the Chicago Emblem inside the Great Hall at the Hart House. Being alone with them inside a beautiful and almost haunting staircase was an incredible moment to cap-off the evening, it felt like we had an entire old gothic castle to ourselves, it really gave me goosebumps at one point.

Evening weddings in the winter should become more of a thing. 

Album of the day - Cloudkicker - Let Yourself Be Huge

From Canada with love,

-3B

VENDORS
Second Shooter: Ryanne Hollies
Hair Stylist: Lebel & Crowe
Wedding Dress: Lowon Pope
Jewelry: Yuliya Chorna 
Florist: Sweetpea's
Venue / Catering: Gallery Grill

Kip and Zoe At Allen's Danforth

If I had to piece together the most multifarious urban, city, downtown, vintage, indie, Toronto inspired wedding, I still probably wouldn't come up with anything as authentically beautiful and honest as Zoe & Kipling's downtown Toronto, modern-vintage wedding.  

After meeting Zoe & Kip, we discovered that Kipling is an old schoolmate or Ruby, who’s wedding we shot last January, a cool coincidence! 

They mentioned to us in our initial meeting that their wedding was going to be held at Allen’s bar, a historic irish pub on The Danforth in Toronto, was going to have hints of their favourite movie franchise, Star Wars, custom designed invitations and coasters themed after their favourite beer (Guinness of course) and that the wedding menu was going to be a series of their all-time favourite pub food from Allen’s. If I had to invite myself to a wedding, it would be one that featured all those incredible things. 

Of course, this would be too easy wouldn’t it? I was of course booked for another event that same day, and was only going to get back into the city sometime in the early evening. Luckily, Ryanne was available and willing to step-in and handle the wedding. We felt like old-friends when meeting Zoe & Kipling for the first time so they were really excited that either of us was available at all.  I made sure to get back downtown as quickly as I could and managed to make it to the reception portion of the wedding. Photographing those two dancing to live Irish Folk music, belly-dancing, Irish jigs and so on, was both funny, poignant and sentimental all at the same time. 

I was quite jealous of Ryanne for being able to hangout with these two for an entire day, and capture some their honest presence throughout the wedding. Since she had the front row seat for this one, I asked her to share her POV from the wedding :

"Kip and Zoe are two wonderful and unique people; they had their wedding in a bar, drank Guinness instead of champagne, and had burgers as their main course. To honour Kip's Irish roots they held a traditional ribbon tying ceremony right in front of the bar (I don't think it gets more Irish than that) and had Kip's mom hosted the traditional Irish dancing at the end of the night.

Zoe made the wedding cake herself and had her belly dancing friends accompany them for their grand entrance into the reception. I have never seen a grandmother belly dance before, but Zoe's grandma was killing it.

On top of all this there were custom coaster designed by their friend, a storm troopers helmet, and a Holga at the guestbook table. It was eclectic and it was beautiful, but most importantly it was so them.

Even after mentioning all these special moments from their day, I haven't even touched on my favourite part, the first look. It was all Kipling's idea, from him riding his bike to having Zoe wait for him at the mural that they love. It's hard to put into words, but seeing their love and connection in those first few moments was so real and emotional. I am grateful that Zoe and Kip brought me along for the ride, and I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do."

Ryanne’s photo of Zoe & Kip biting into their main-course meal burgers is without a doubt, one of my favourite wedding photos of all-time. Not to mention, it got featured in the “Love Actually” photo exhibition held at the Gladstone Hotel on King Street, Toronto, throughout the month of February. A well-deserved honoured, couldn’t be more proud of her. It was a special moment for us to attend the opening with Zoe & Kipling themselves, seeing that image printed and hung on display was a unique opportunity for us to share in a collective moment of happiness directly with the couple we worked with.  We owe them a huge thank you for trusting us and letting us capture their authentic vintage vibe on their most special day.

This wedding has to be seen to be believed.

Album of the day - The Cranberries- Everyone Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?

- 3B