One More Sleep
Tonight I’m excited. Only one more sleep until the wedding of two wonderful, amazing, sweet, kind, gentle people – and one very cute little dog – but we’ll get to her soon.
It does feel a little bitter sweet. Charlotte and I have chosen to life of travel… living an endless summer – half here in Toronto and half in Australia.
It’s been an incredible Summer here and we can’t thank all of our amazing clients enough for that!!
Renee & Corey began their engagement session taking a moment to slow down, close their eyes and connect with one another…. But there was one little soul that wasn’t too happy being left out of the photos!!! In steps the cutest little diva… Kayleigh!!! Literally the cutest little fur baby ever. Right?!
It’s such a pleasure to have a job where we can invite couples to be them selves… laugh, cuddle and show their love to one another. There’s not a single engagement shoot that I haven’t learnt something new about love and the amazing ways people make each other happy.
One of the traits I really like about Renee and Corey is that no matter how hard they try to be serious… they just can’t! They’re seemingly always having a laugh… enjoying making one another giggle.
I’m really excited to share their wedding images with you all soon. They’re doing their photos at this same amazing location – The Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto, and their ceremony and reception are at a favourite venue of ours – Steamwhistle!! Going to be an epic day.
Daniel + Liora’s Miller Lash Wedding
I’m so honoured to share this blog post with you. I’m so blessed to have clients like Liora & Daniel – who’s incredible wedding at Miller Lash House was literally picture perfect. Just 3 days after their wedding I received the following wonderful note from them and would like to share it with you…
Dave,
When we booked you for our wedding almost a year ago, we knew that we had just made the best decision that we would make in the entire planning process. We saw from your portfolio that you would be able to capture the details and moments that we would likely otherwise forget in the years to come.
Throughout the months leading up to Sunday, you kept us organized and on track, offering helpful advice and went above and beyond what we expected of a photographer.
You arrived ready and inspired, you were immediately liked by everyone in our bridal party and families and we happily handed you our trust.
What we both describe as the center of our day, was the moment we spent with you away from the rush of it all, eyes closed and hearts full, where you allowed us to come back to each other in a very special way.
Thank you for being a friend on the day, for your tireless work and for adding a heightened awareness of scent, touch and light.
We patiently await the photos and the moment of re-living it all again.
Liora and Daniel
The day began with amazing energy. The girls all arrived at Miller Lash House with hair and makeup done, ready to help Liora with her finishing touches.
I’m sure you’ll agree Liora looked absolutely incredible in her gown… and what a gorgeous group of bridesmaids/men 
I love catching candid moments like this one.. as well as portraits with a lot of fun and natural energy.
Outside the lads were enjoying the fresh and and a couple of swigs from their hip flasks. A bunch of cool cats eh?
In the Jewish culture the couple meet prior to the wedding ceremony to sign a katuba, receive words of advice and blessing from close friends and family and put the veil over the bride’s face. It’s always a wonderful event in the day and full of wonderful expressions of love.
After a short break the guests all arrived and the ceremony was due to begin. Miller Lash House has an incredible energy. The house sits atop a hill with a lush east facing lawn which provides the most incredible light for the wedding ceremony. It was a lovely moment to see Liora being walked down the aisle by her mum and dad.
I love the amazing angle of the sun during their ceremony under the Chuppah. Just beautiful!
The talis Daniel’s weathering here is the very same one he wore for his BarMitzvah. I love the symbolizm this represents – from Daniel becoming a man to now becoming a husband.
The space and energy on the grounds of Miller Lash House are incredible. It feels like your far out in the Muskokas somewhere even though your right in the GTA!
A cute shoe shot…
The lighting in the reception marquee at MLH is epic… So nice when the level of care is put into every detail of the day. Notice the yellow billy balls in the bride’s boquet? Those were flown in specifically from New Zealand!! Cool right?!
What a gorgeous -and delicious – cake.
More wonderful cocktail hour details… Love these straws.
A wonderful hug as Liora and Daniel entered the reception for the first time.
As is the tradition, the family and friends surrounded the newlyweds to dance the Hora and celebrate!!! Great way to kick off the party right?!
For the father & daughter dance Liora surprised her dad with a Hebrew lullaby that he used to sing to her in Israel. Very sweet.
The first dance was very romantic and a lovely start the dance floor opening.
Isn’t the ceiling of the tent just gorgeous?! I love the colours.
As family and friends danced the night away the bride and groom snuck away for a stolen moment together. What a sweet couple.
Thanks for the amazing day guys – I absolutely loved being there to celebrate with you. Dave.
Breaking and Entering with Lucas and Laura
This was Lucas and Laura’s second engagement shoot with us… They loved the photos from the first one so much the went for another! They were already so comfortable with us and by the second time around they were definitely professionals. We were bouncing around ideas on the phone beforehand and trying to come up with the perfect setting for such a unique and fun couple and we came up with the perfect place to get dusty and take the best engagement photos of our season here in Toronto. We were all feeling pretty adventurous and creative as we came up photography drive. We hopped through a broken window with camera gear and lights in tow and got right into the swing of things to create some of our most exciting and unique engagement photos ever!
Graffiti and rubble all over the place! Never the less, Lucas looked awesome!
This old grungy stairwell was amazing for a few interesting light paintings. Break on through!
Lucas and Laura posed up in the ashes of this blown out building.
The holes in the walls let in the perfect amount of light, the time of day was just right. Such an amazing opportunity to get to photograph this couple in here.
The old gymnasium was completely collapsing. It was dangerous but our couple had such a great sense of adventure about them. There was no stopping them from exploring every facet of this amazing old building.
Nearly everything was accessible. We even went all the way up to the rooftop! Lucas and Laura really worked for it. The result was a really excellent and rare set of photos that I think are some of the most distinctive we’ve ever shot.
Definitely the cutest light painting photograph any couple has ever taken in a burned down factory! Somebody get Guinness on the phone!
After a quick (but fashion forward) costume change, We headed down to the quiet streets and alleys of Toronto’s Liberty Village.
Laura loved the idea of our multi image. And Lucas loved the idea of 8 Lauras. We were stoked to put this one all together for them.
Thanks so much to our brave and exciting couple! Congrats guys!!!
Beachy Bohemian Chic Bridal Session
What an amazing, incredible, unbelievable few months we have had. We’ve been very busy photographing heaps of weddings and engagement shoots in Toronto and globetrotting to exotic destinations shooting some pretty unreal weddings (coming soon!) But that’s not all… We have also been photographing some fabulous styled shoots and our work has been published on such blogs as WedLuxe, Style Me Pretty and now Australia’s go to wedding blog for Aussie brides, Polka Dot Bride. Since we split our time between our Toronto, Canada and Perth, Australia studios we have the awesome opportunity to share our international work with our readers from both sides.
We loved working with Wedding Planner extraordinaire Crystal Adair-Benning from Distinct Occasions on this shoot. She is an amazing talent that dreamed up the concept for the photo shoot. Like us, Crystal divides her time between Toronto, Canada and Perth, Australia catering to the wedding seasons in both countries.
I have to say that this bridal session was a lot of hard work but equally as fun. The shoot was so inspirational! When we saw the concept come together it was some serious eye candy for us photographers.
The rugged Australian terrain was so beautiful to photograph. I love the way the trees twist and curl in the background. Perth’s landscapes are just phenomenal! We feel so blessed to get to live in such a beautiful place.
Crystal flew over to Bali and found these amazing little pieces in Ubud for the shoot. The Balinese umbrellas are so detailed and gorgeous and the little baskets and bowls were an amazing find. It makes me want to do a little shopping trip of my own
Acscents Floral’s did the wedding flowers for this bridal session. They are absolutely amazing and this is why Dave and I chose them to do our flowers for our wedding last February at Cottesloe Civic Centre!! Val, the florist, has such a creative eye. She creates interesting designs, more like floral works of art. I love the design she created for this shoot. Gorgeous floral’s trailing out of this unique nautilus shell.
Isn’t the light in Perth, W.A. out of control! I love breezy, glowing images like this.
I love this Kuste VW Kombi we had the pleasure to photograph during the bridal session. Why not get creative with you wedding and drive your crew around in style in this sweet ride.
For it’s age, it was amazing that this vintage Kombi was so immaculate. It was like new and an amazing detail for our shoot. Sooo beachy chick. Doesn’t it just make you want to load it up with friends and have a bbq on the beach.
Thanks to all of our Perth wedding vendors that took part in this day full of fun, you guys are the best. A special thanks to Rosin from Alpha Models for our stunning model Anique.
A Stunning Muskoka Bay Wedding
Charlotte and I are loving our Summer in Canada. We’re now officially living and endless Summer, hopping back and forwards between our homes in Perth, Australia and Toronto.
This year has seen so many absolutely amazing weddings, and we can’t wait to share them all with you… As a teaser we’d like to show you the recent wedding of Adam and Meghan at Muskoka Bay Club. You may remember these guys did a vintage engagement shoot at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto.. It got picked up by a couple of cool wedding blogs too (Toronto wedding Society & The Wedding Co)
What I love about Meghan & Adam’s wedding is not only are they a sweet, relaxed, easy going couple who are so obviously in love, but their also had some pretty cute vintage details and a lot of hand made elements to their day.
The slide show you’re about to watch is a Same Day Slideshow, which we put together and present during the reception.
Click here to view the embedded video.
For those of you that enjoy perusing details of the day, check out the cluster below.
Meghan had the most amazing wedding gown. Isn’t the vintage lace detailing incredible.
I absolutely love this shot of one of the flower girls in awe of Meghan looking like a princess
Adam didn’t look too shabby himself. Nothing beats a custom fitted suit.
As Meghan walked into the room, Adam’s face lit up. His expression says so much!
The ceremony room at Muskoka Bay Club has the most beautiful reflected light pouring into it. Love how soft it looks.
Meghan tells me that this next shot is her favourite from the day – I’d have to say I agree. It’s these little stolen moments together than you really remember from your wedding day.
Magic light. Awesome.
More amazing hand made details of their wedding… loving how tactile everything is… note the chalk board table placements and wild flower centre pieces.
What way to finish off the perfect day than a first dance by sparkler light. Congrats on an amazing wedding guys.
A Proposal to Remember
Today we had some of our photos featured on WedLuxe and we thought you’d all enjoy seeing it. You can check it out here.
This proposal was planned by Crystal or Distinct Occasions (who also planned our wedding!) and she’s recently launched The Engagement Planner… A custom proposal planning service. Very cool idea eh!
Also want to send out kudos to Rachel A Clingen for the decor as well as Helix Candles Luminaries.
Boxing in The Ballroom
It’s always fun being published. 5 years back I photographed a charity fund raising events for the Canadian Liver Foundation called “Boxing in the Ballroom” down at the Liberty Grand. Fast forward five years and one of the main boxers of the night, Mary Spencer, then the junior female world champion, is now in the running for Canadian Gold at the 2012 Olympics. Read the full story here.
Toronto Concept Shoot Featured on WedLuxe
With the royal wedding happening this afternoon, it’s timely that this wonderful concept photo shoot that we have the pleasure to photograph was published on WedLuxe today. This collaboration of some of Toronto’s best wedding suppliers was style by the talented Crystal Adair-Benning of Distinct Occasions. The shoot was based around the amazing gowns of Kim Ironmonger, owner and designer at Valencienne.
Florals were created by our favourite Toronto florists – Pink Twig. Linens were provided by Susan Murray International
The gorgeous invite you see above and the menu and stationary below were created by the talented Deborah Lau-Yu of Palettera
The model for this photo shoot was the ever talented and elegant Ada Adams. Always willing to go the extra mile to get the shots we need. Thanks Ada.
A highlight of the photos is the amazing Cake created by Lori Hutchinson, otherwise known as The Caketress
Finally, I’d like to share with you all this gorgeous video filmed by Honey & Dear.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Suppliers for this concept photo shoot were:
Styled by: Distinct Occasions
Photographed by: Dave & Charlotte
Video by: Honey & Dear
Invites/Favors: Palettera
Cake: The Caketress
Florals: Pink Twig
Linens: Susan Murray International
Dress: Valencienne
Model: Ada Adams
Our New Aussie Studio is Open!
Hi everyone,
I’m very excited to announce the official opening of our new studio in Perth, Western Australia. From this point on, Charlotte and I will be living and endless Summer – half in Perth, Western Australia and half in Toronto, Canada… Needless to say, we will still always be available by phone and email no matter which country we’re in. The ideal time to catch us if you’re calling from Toronto is 9pm till midnight any day of the week. Of course, email is still our preferred method of communication for effective correspondence. Here are a few pics for your enjoyment.
Warm wishes from us both here in Perth. Can’t wait to be back in Toronto soon
Dave & Charlotte
Toronto Wedding Planner, Crystal’s New Head Shots
Recently, we had the pleasure to photograph Toronto Wedding Planner, Crystal Adair-Benning of Distinct Occasions. She is an amazing woman and such an inspiration to so many wedding professionals world-wide. Crystal works across the globe but is most well known for her wedding work in in Perth, Australia; Toronto, Canada and Glasgow, Scotland. She is responsible for planning some of the most elaborate and stunning weddings these cities have seen. Crystals’ recent international work has also included Iceland and India.
We were thrilled when she asked us to put our portrait photography skills to use and take some head shots of her for her newly revamped website. Crystal looked so fabulous it was easy to get some great captures for her website!
I love this one too. This adorable shot was taken at Kings Park in Perth. We took a quick drive down to see the sunset and the city scape at night. I love the playfulness of this shot. Very cute!
Thanks so much for choosing us to do your new Wedding Planner head shots Crystal! We had so much fun and look forward to working with you on many more weddings in Toronto & Perth!