We’re in the middle of our busiest few weeks, and I know a lot of people have been anxiously awaiting this post – thanks for your patience everyone!

After Nitin called to inquire about his engagement party last year we realized that we went to high school together! Unfortunately we were booked for his engagement party photography, but were available and very excited for his wedding.

The first step was the proposal, and we were there to capture the whole thing. You can read the incredibly romantic story here.

Then came engagement photos, and finally the wedding. This wedding took place in Vancouver and Edmonton, and we had a chance to travel to Vancouver for the events.

The first was Sameera’s sangeet, at the gorgeous Dhaliwal Banquet Hall in Surrey.

I love the beautiful decor that Sameera’s family arranged for the Sangeet.

Sameera’s mehndi and Mayaan was at her family’s home in Burnaby (we did a lot of traveling around the greater Vancouver area for this wedding!).

That night, Nitin’s Mayaan and Sangeet were off the hook at the Delta hotel in Richmond. Nitin’s friends got him GOOD at the Mayaan – I’m sure he’ll deliver payback at upcoming weddings (Deepak, get ready!)

Nitin’s sister Aanchal (right) and her fiance Rajat are AMAZING dancers. I mean stunning, expressive, emotional, AMAZING. And, not without a sense of humour.

This sangeet was crazy, complete with guys donning chunnis and dancing with the jaggo. Yeah, you look pretty, dude.

Finally the wedding day arrived. Sameera looked stunning, and in true Vancouver style had to be escorted from her house with an umbrella.

Nitin got ready in a sea of blue.

I love this shot Michael got of Nitin on the horse during the barat. Awesome umbrella!

Nitin’s dad led the family in the barat around the Gurdwara.

The milni is one of my favourite ceremonies. The equivalent relatives of the two families (dads, eldest uncle, brother etc), exchange garlands and embrace (and sometimes try to lift each other up!) to symbolize the joining of the two families that is about to take place inside the Gurdwara. It’s such a joyous occasion.

Inside, Sameera and Nitin met in a sea of family and friends to exchange garlands. Where’s Michael?

The ceremony at the Gurdwara in Richmond was beautiful, and we loved being inside a new Gurdwara. Nitin was escorted in by his parents.

Michael grabbed this shot of the groomsmen waiting for family photos to be done. Totally candid, which makes it perfect. And I love how many of them are on their cell phones, so you know how real a moment this is.

Big bridal party! Thank you Vancouver for having such awesome landscapes for us to use.

And a bit of time alone with Nitin & Sameera. The rain cleared up just enough for our shoot with them, and I love the mood of the cloudy sky and the water together.

Michael rocks.

And, according to Deepak, so do I.

Our hats off to Sameera’s bridesmaids for making an incredibly funny game for the doli – Nitin had to roll a die and perform certain tasks (like dancing with Sameera’s brother while singing him an Indian love song).

Yes, Nitin, we’re all honking. You’re very cute.

At the end, while Nitin was negotiating his way into the house, he put his skills as a lawyer to the test, making sure that he got something in return for his investment. He had the bridesmaids sign a contract demanding Sameera cook his favourite dish once a month and a few other demands. If only they had read the contract more closely….we’ll come to that later.

And with a bit of thrown rice and a few tears, Sameera left Vancouver for Edmonton. I have to admit, I had tears rolling down my cheeks as I walked back to the car afterwards.

A couple of days later in Edmonton, Nitin got to throw a big party, and his friends got to make lots of fun of him.

I had a few moments with the couple before heading to the reception at the Fantasyland Hotel.

I love their cake – can anyone figure out why? That ‘S’ in particular looks amazing…

Big shout out to Danita and Kim from A Chair To Remember for the amazing linens, especially these linen flowers. I love those!

Remember how I said that Nitin’s friends got to make fun of him? Well, they completely roasted him. I think my favourite joke was about him being a 50 year old in a 12 year old’s body… Not sure exactly what the Twilight blanket is all about….

These are Sameera’s parents – I caught several moments during the wedding of them sharing loving embraces, glances etc. They were so welcoming of us in Vancouver and we want to thank them for being so gracious.

Remember that contract the bridesmaids should have read carefully? Well it turns out that Nitin had included a clause whereby Sameera must always agree to cheer for the Oilers, except in games against the Canuks where she must remain silent. She only found out about it at the reception. Sorry Sameera…

Here’s the amazing Aanchal again.

There was a hilarious skit/dance by all of Nitin’s guy friends, loosely based on Jerry Springer – check out the guest appearance by Poonam as Nitin’s mom!

The party was nothing less than I expected – spectacular and high energy. Nitin flew out DJ Code Red from Toronto for the occasion.

As a photographer, you always have to be on your toes – just as I was packing everything up, Nitin & Sameera donned jerseys and were hoisted into the air. My poor second shooter Raymond had me yelling at him to get the flash unit set back up ASAP and I managed to get the shot. Whew! Thanks Raymond!

Nitin & Sameera – we spent an amazing week with you, but we’ve been lucky enough to follow you throughout the past few years of your romance. You are an extraordinary couple, and we hope to be friends for many years. We look forward to seeing you at weddings in the future!

Danae is stunning, and has a wonderful gift – she is able to have tears in her eyes and still look absolutely beautiful.

The ceremony was very focused on family. Eric’s brother, Brother Colin, even helped to conduct the ceremony. Eric’s family in particular is very musical, and his sisters have incredible voices. It was a beautiful ceremony to be a part of.

We have to give all the credit to Danae for scouting out locations for photos after the wedding. She found a few favourite locations and even talked with a local farmer before the wedding to ask to use his farm. Thanks for making our job so easy Danae!

Congratulations you two!

We’ll start with the Haldi ceremony, where the skin is cleansed by a turmeric paste before the wedding. Both Nam & Roubesh allowed family to put the paste on their faces, and their family certainly took advantage of it!

Nam got ready at her sister-in-law’s house, and was styled by the awesome Sunita Sumaru.  I would recommend her for any bride who needs a makeup artist/hair stylist.

The ceremony was at the Bhartiya Cultural Society of Alberta in South Edmonton. The beautiful mandap was from Suhaag Weddings.

The ceremonies and traditions that are celebrated in a lot of the Hindu weddings that we have been a part of have been different. One that we enjoyed from this Hindu ceremony was where the priest went through a series of questions to confirm that Nam wanted to accept marriage to Roubesh. One of the ‘conditions’ that she needed to agree to was that Roubesh would provide her with silks, jewellery, and other fine things to keep her comfortable in their marriage. I think she agreed to that one the fastest…

The reception was at the Meridian Banquet Facility, which has our favourite Indian food for weddings in the city. We’ll be back there lots this year and we can’t wait!

#1: Where was this photo taken?

The answer is….Amanda & Foster’s stove top.  Yep, we will shoot anything, anywhere.  Sometimes you just have to try the unexpected to get ‘the’ shot.

#2: What makes this photo unique?  If no one gets this right then Michael has done his job perfectly.

This one’s a bit of a trick.  He actually took it like this:

And here’s a different version.

We love a good reflection, what can I say.

At every wedding, we’re always trying to improve, create something new, and push ourselves. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes it’s perfect. It doesn’t mean that all the photographers out there should start running out and taking pictures of rings on stove tops, but it is always a good idea to thoroughly examine your surroundings, and try something new.

Dave got the most amazing gifts for his groomsmen: hockey jerseys.  Anna got her girls custom Tiffany pendants.  They both have such incredible groups of friends, and have known some of them since childhood.

Dave is a complete ham, and it was hilarious editing down this wedding. There were so many bloopers and outtakes, I think I’m going to have to make them a whole other disc.

And Anna, well, she’s just incredible.  We did some boudoir pictures with her before the wedding, and I’d like to congratulate her on such an amazing body.  She works very hard, and it absolutely pays off.

The ceremony was at the Strathcona Presbyterian Church.

I really want to thank Anna & Dave’s friends for being so fun to work with.  They trusted us, weren’t afraid to make fun of us (which we always appreciate), and generally just made the whole day great.

And now, let’s get to Anna & Dave.  Amazing, incredible, hot, model-esque….I’m running out of adjectives here….

We did a few of the photos around Churchill Square, which was a really cool location considering that Dave helped design it. So awesome!

And did I mention they are hilarious?  This was the last shot, when Anna declared she was done.  Which was good, because we were all ready to party.

I’m going to be totally honest here, when Anna said that the reception was in Egge’s Barn at Fort Edmonton Park, I really didn’t know what to expect.  I’d never shot there before, and was thinking it would be, well, barn-like. When I walked into the barn, my jaw dropped.  It is a beautiful space, and Anna & Dave decorated it so well.  For weddings with a smaller guest list, it’s a beautiful venue, with the added bonus of the amazing atmosphere of Fort Edmonton Park all around you.  We took a short walk outside during the dance, and felt like we were in the middle of the country.

I barely have any pictures of Dave at the reception where he’s not killing himself laughing.

Anna has been taking Bollywood dance classes with some of her girlfriends, and they did a dance performance for the guests.

I love this shot of Dave singing the first dance song to Anna.

We can’t wait to show you two the rest of the photos, especially the bloopers!

Amanda got ready at Raw Beauty in St. Albert, a beautiful salon.

I was probably more excited than I should have been to work with twins – I kept making stupid jokes about them being twins (at one point they were on either side of Foster and I said it was like a ‘Foster Sandwich’) and they were cool with it (sorry guys!).

The next two images are a bit different – and if you can correctly answer the questions you’ll win something really cool! (Answers will be posted on the blog in 1 week)

#1: Where was this photo taken?

#2: What makes this photo unique?  If no one gets this right then Michael has done his job perfectly.

The ceremony was at Holy Family Parish in St. Albert, one of the most beautiful churches we have worked in.

So, the snow made us think on our feet. Luckily we were able to find some beautiful light indoors. Amanda & Foster were so easy to work with, we had such a great time finding different spots to shoot and trying new things.

I love this angle Michael saw: across 2 sets of windows, 3 stories up.  And you can really see how much it was snowing!

We had the pleasure of working with Maria from Flawless Couture Event Planning for Amanda & Foster’s wedding. Maria – thank you so much for making our jobs so easy. Your scheduling and thinking on the fly helped everything run so smoothly! We can’t wait to work with you again.  Look at the beautiful décor she planned for the reception!

The reception was very special for us – it was at the Edmonton Petroleum Club, where we were married just over 4 years ago.  I have to admit I got very emotional listening to Amanda’s dad toast to his little girl.  It reminded me of my dad, who is no longer with us, and the speech he gave to me at our wedding.  It made me appreciate my career even more: we are invited to these incredibly intimate moments in our clients’ lives, asked to celebrate and rejoice with them, and ensure that those memories are captured and safeguarded.  It’s an important responsibility, and one that we take very seriously, and enjoy tremendously.

Congratulations Amanda & Foster!  You are a perfect match for each other, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for you together.

Florist: Funky Petals
Cake: Whimsical Cake Studio

Meet Laura. In a word: stunning.

We met Laura through her friend Stephanie, who’s remarkable Trash the Dress session has graced our walls for months.

So here’s where our subplot starts.  I wasn’t actually at Laura & Joe’s wedding – Michael and our fabulous second shooter Blake did the honours.  The reason I wasn’t there, is that one of my oldest friends Queenie was getting married on the same day.  We went through awkward junior high hair styles, high school drama, and making it in Univeristy together, so there was no way I could miss her wedding.

I did go with Blake to hang out with Joe and his boys getting ready, which was SO much fun (thanks guys!) I can’t quite explain how much fun it was, but let’s just say there were omelettes, a little bit of South Park, and a guy with his own hair straightener.

While I was there, I got a phone call from Michael, who was at the salon (Beauty Lounge on Jasper Ave) with Laura.  And who was with him?  Queenie!  As fate would have it, she was getting ready at the same salon as Laura!  It was really cool for me because I got a chance to talk with Queenie before her wedding, and Michael (who was going to miss it) got to wish her well for us.

Here are the two gorgeous brides getting ready, and the amazing downtown salon.

You can see Queenie’s wedding photos on Perspective Eye’s website (great to meet you Gabe!)

I love this snap Michael got of Laura stepping out of the car.

Laura & Joe’s ceremony and reception were at Blue Meadows, and I love the strong colour theme and decor that transformed the venue.  The bridal party strolled down the aisle to the ‘Pink Panther’ – fun!

Laura & Joe made the fabulous decision to book the Art Gallery of Alberta for their photos (a good choice because the weather was a bit sketchy) – Michael loved working in there and would recommend it to anyone looking for photos with really awesome light and cool architecture.

Major props to Blake for these next two images.  We’re so happy to have her working with us this year.

Everything about this wedding was unique – from the decal on the dance floor to the belly dance performance that wowed the guests.

Congratulations Laura & Joe!  Your wedding was beautiful, and you have been such great clients.

Florist: Kuhlmann’s Greenhouse
Cake: Flirt Cupcakes
Dress: Bridal Debut – Sherwood Park

Navneet & Kevin were married in India, and while we would have loved to be there with them, we had a great time at their Edmonton wedding reception, celebrating with friends and family at home.

Kevin’s sister Rupinder planned an incredible reception for Nav & Kevin at the Mirage, and also served as MC for the evening.

This is a pretty common sight at Indian dance parties – we usually try to pack earplugs in our camera bags since the music is so loud!

This is the gorgeous Rupinder (right) and a friend.  The best wedding planner/sister a couple could have.

Congratulations you two!  We’re so glad we got to celebrate with you.

The beautiful ceremony was at the Grand Sunset Princess in the Mayan Riviera, just outside of Playa del Carmen.

Their wedding party was all mutual childhood friends.

This little guy wanted to jump in the middle of our shoot.

A couple of days after the ceremony, Steph & Branden joined us back at the resort for a romantic, and very hot, sunset session. We were honoured for them to have chosen us to be in the wedding and wanted to something extra special for them.

Congratulations Stephanie & Branden!