Couples' sessions - whether you want to call them 'engagement sessions', or 'day in the life' sessions, or whatever... they can be really fun, even if you're shy or awkward in front of the camera (like me).

There's literally never any pressure to do anything.

Check out this blog to see for yourself how something you enjoy together (e.g. a hike) can turn into a beautiful and meaningful photo occasion. :)

Denise and Kevin are awesome, and I’ve already gushed about them and how cute they are together over here on their engagement blog.

But today’s all about their wedding.

Their gorgeous, GLORIOUS, backyard wedding, right in the back of their lush property, very near to where I live.

(So close, in fact, that at the end of the wedding, when I headed home and parked my car in my driveway, I could still hear the distant pumping of the music from the tail-end of their wedding… and swallowed through a major case of FOMO haha.)

The beautiful thing that happened over the course of the pandemic is that folks realized there is no right or wrong way to be married.

Elopements, small weddings, back yard weddings…. living room weddings - it ALL works.

It really all depends on who you are and what is important to you.

If having lots of nature and greenery is important - then go for a forest or field ceremony.

On the other hand, if you just simply want to gather your nearest and dearest - parents, siblings, and a couple of friends - and you don’t really care where you do it… and the forecast calls for rain anyway….

Years ago… two years now… during the first summer after the start of the pandemic, a few of us wedding vendors got itchy to create. We had taken a hit in bookings that year, and even though things perked up a bit in the summer, we were LONGING to get immersed in community and creativity.

Moreover, Christina of KnifeySpooney (and the mastermind behind this styled shoot), really wanted to showcase an eco-friendly, sustainable approach to micro-weddings.

They weren’t looking for anything stuffy and formal, mind you.

They just wanted the folks who were near and dear to their heart to be photographed all in a group!

This is why having me, their photographer, at their rehearsal dinner made so much sense.

We could take time to get a bunch of group photos on the Friday at the rehearsal, and reduce the amount of time we would need to take group photos on the Saturday, their actual wedding day.

When I meet with folks who’re getting married, and we’re not in a rush (say, the wedding isn’t in like 3 weeks), we always get to chatting about doing a little photo-session before the wedding.

You know, documenting the ‘ordinary’ moments of life.

And the first question that comes up is: “What do you all LOVE to do together?”

Everyone has a different answer. All folks in love like to spend time together in different ways.

This is the story of a secret proposal.

When Ashis (pronounced ‘ah-shish’) contacted me, it was because he wanted to plan the perfect proposal for his partner, Meenu, and needed my help to photograph it.

As a wedding and engagement photographer, the photos would be no problem. But the planning - well, for that, I recruited the help of Heather (of Bowtied Services).

Margaret and Vincent’s story is such a sweet one.

We met ages ago, when I was having a free giveaway for an engagement session. I think this was probably back in 2019, and definitely before the pandemic.

I chatted with the couple on Skype (back in the day this is what we used, believe it or not! I cannot imagine a time before zoom in my life, but there you have it)…

Alison and Mitchell's wedding is an awesome reminder that you can get married just about anywhere that is special and meaningful to you, and have the most memorable wedding day, even if the pandemic or other unforeseen events mess up your original wedding plans.

From the moment we started planning Maeve and MacKenzie's engagement photo session, I knew that it would be a really unique one.

The couple wanted to take me to MacKenzie's family cottage near Peterborough, on Stony Lake.

The only way to access this property, they told me, was by boat!

They were so sweet about this: Making sure I was okay with the boat ride, that my camera would be fine, and all.

Today I bring you the story of Nik and Kathlena’s surprise proposal.

What I actually mean is that it was a surprise to Kathlena, not Nik. It would be funny if it was a surprise proposal for both of them…. How would that even work?

Anyway, for this surprise proposal, Nik was the one planning everything.

He wanted to propose to the love of his life, and he wanted to keep it a complete surprise!

Aw, Denise and Kevin. 🥰

This was such a sweet and meaningful engagement session.

When we were first planning this engagement session with Denise and Kevin, I asked them: what would make this something memorable and meaningful for you?

You know, something where we’re not just going to look for a pretty backdrop and take a bunch of awkward posed photos?

So, we chatted about recreating their first date, in downtown Kingston.

I have no idea! Honestly, I thought I already had… but then when I was trying to show these photos as an example of what kinds of things you could do on your “engagement” session (otherwise known as a day in the life session around these parts), I couldn’t find it.

So anyway, Sarah and Oliver already got married, and we were there to celebrate with them, and we even blogged it (yay us!)

So this story takes us even farther back in time, to a very warm and mosquito-y day in June of 2019, just a few months before their wedding took place.