Congratulations to our top three! It was so close, we decided that ALL THREE will receive a free mini-album of their wedding. Thank you to our couples for submitted their favourite images, everyone who voted, and all of the other photographers from around the world who commented on our blog.

#1: Shauntel & Jason

#2: Ashley & Rob

#3: Amita & Abheeshek

Here’s the best part – it’s a contest!  Vote for your favourite image, and the winning couple will win a free mini-album of their wedding! The first and second runners up will also receive a $50 gift certificate for Shandro Photo or Shandro Kids (their choice).

Without further ado….the best of 2009!
David & Laura

Diana & Jeremy

Renu & Garry

“The reason I chose this picture was because it is very different and unique. It shows our reflection in the puddle of water.”

Rob & Lindsay

“So our favourite picture is (no surprises here) the one of us smooching on the first hole of Northern Bear. The day was so perfect for us and that picture encompasses that. You see the beautiful green grass, the blue sky and the excitement of being together. It was the picture you used as a preview for our blog. I remember being at the hotel on our honeymoon and excitedly looking at that picture, the first wedding photo we got to see. Haley and Michael (and Andrew of course), we love you guys and love our wedding photos. Thank-you!”

Britt & Cody

“This picture is our favorite because it totally captures the love and romance of our day!”

Nicole & Jesse

Katy & Jon

Jessica & Jeremy

“We’re so happy we did something crazy on our wedding day!”

Shauntel & Jason

Daniela & Daniel

“Daniel and I love the river photo in our album. We explained what we’d like – a shot at the river without looking like we’re in the city – and Michael definitely gave us that. (People ask us where we were for that photo and are surprised that we are still in Edmonton.) Plus to get the shot, he got down and laid in shallow water and rocks in the fetal position. Thanks for doing whatever it takes!”

Clayton & Carly

Rorik & Julia

“Out of all the photos, it’s a hard decision! There are so many we like!”

Param & Ronnie

“Ronnie and I both love this picture because simply put…its perfect. You got the canola fields surrounding us and the temple in the far distance…there were a lot of comments from other people wondering if this picture was taken in India. Everything around us is calm, peaceful and romantic.”

Esther & Nathan

Neha & Sumit

“Best engagement session ever….great pictures and Michael showed us berries we could eat.. we had a snack and a great time! Also I love how you two add Hindi/Punjabi words to get people to look or smile. The guests loved it, and everyone truly smiles!”

Rena & Uche

“Ok…well that’s the HARDEST question ever! I have so many favorites!!! How about if I list a few of them and then you can decide????”

Stephanie & David

Raman & Raja

Cheryl & James

Carrie & Nick

“This is our favourite picture because it shows an amazing moment between Nick and I. We loved working with you and Michael.”

Melissa & Sean

Dayna & Ryan

“We had so much fun on the day of our vow renewals this fall. Y’know, we did have expectations for a great day, but it was so far surpassed I can’t even explain. I have to say, you guys really were such a huge part of that. Not being people who are big fans of having our pictures taken, we were sort of dreading the photo session part of the day. Little did we know, it was going to be one of our favorite times to remember.

We’d both heard horror stories of hours of over-posing and so much forced smiling, ending in sore faces. I’ve got to say that my face was sore from smiling so much, but none of it was forced. We had such a blast. From running through the cold and kinda wet, streets of downtown all gussied up in our finest, to walking into that wine bar, welcomed by an unexpected applause from all the patrons sitting at the tables. It was too fun, and I’ve got to say those drinks were delicious to top it off!

I just want to say thank you again for your amazing work, and really having none of it feeling like work, at least for us. We had such a fantastic day with you and can’t thank you enough for capturing every moment of it.”

Amita & Abheeshek

Ashley & Rob

And here is where you vote for your favourite.  The voting closes on February 19th, 2010.

That wraps up the contest images. There are a couple of other important milestones and exciting events happened in 2009 that I want to share with you.

This year we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary, and our little guy turned one! 

Andrew is a very well travelled boy, having visited Phoenix, Mexico, Texas, Banff, Calgary, and Vancouver all in his first year. 

I know many of you are anxious for an announcement from us that we’re adding to our family. Not yet!  When I posted on Facebook that I had exciting news in December, it was the first thing to leap to people’s minds.  However, the exciting news was that I’m now a full time photographer (yay!) after leaving my day job.  Trust me, we know Andrew is super cute and another Shandro baby would probably be super cute too.  We need to save SOME surprises for the future! For now we are a happy little stay-at-home family of three, working on our business, and enjoying some much deserved family time. 

After losing my dad in November, our life came into a better perspective.  That’s one big reason that I took the leap to leave my day job.  Life is too short, and we need to love the ones we’re with and get as much out of life as we can. Nothing is more important than family.

A bunch of exciting things are coming up for us in 2010, and you’re just going to have to stay tuned!  We started Shandro Kids this year, the baby/maternity/family side to Shandro Photo.  It’s been a great success, and Shandro Kids is going to develop in a big and exciting way in 2010. We have so many amazing couples and families that we’re looking forward to working with this year.

Happy 2010 everyone!

- Haley, Michael, & Andrew Shandro

Ashley got ready at her parents’ house. A shout out here to Ashley’s dad, who has the coolest fridge/freezer I’ve ever seen – and makes great ham sandwiches!

Ashley was very calm before the wedding. Doesn’t she look amazing?

Beautiful flowers from Flower Affairs.

Ashley and Rob were married at the Francis Winspear Centre for Music in downtown Edmonton, a great location for Edmonton wedding photographers to work in.  We’d like to thank Ashley with Nuance Occasions for helping to make the day run so smoothly. 

I was so touched to see Rob tear up when he saw Ashley coming in. It’s my favourite moment of every wedding.

They had a tradition I hadn’t seen at a wedding before (and we’ve been to our fair share of weddings!) – I love this one.  They wrote love letters to each other, and sealed them in a box with a bottle of their favourite wine.  On their 25th anniversary, or at an extremely trying time in their marriage, they will open the box, read the love letters, and remember why they married each other.  Isn’t that the most romantic thing ever?  We’ve been married for a few years, and I want to do that even now!

Another tradition I hadn’t seen at a wedding before that had the crowd in stitches – Rob updated his Facebook status to ‘Married’…DURING the ceremony!  That’s SO 2009!

The Winspear has so many incredible locations for photography – we needed an indoor location on New Year’s Eve because it was SO cold outside!

We did pop out to City Hall for a quick outdoor shoot.  And I mean QUICK!

The reception was at the Woodvale Facility at the Mill Woods Golf Course.  The food was amazing, the venue was simply beautiful.

Michael’s sister Alaina was one of the bridesmaids for this wedding, and her husband Brock was a groomsman; we’ve known Ashley & Rob for several years.  So we stayed until midnight to ring in the 2010 with them and party!!

Happy New Year!

Special thanks to Eternity Limousines for making sure everyone got home safe!

I saved this one for last – before the reception we had a few moments with Ashley & Rob to create something that they envisioned: I love the result, and I’m so happy that we worked together to make the day perfect.  As you look at this intimate moment, keep in mind that it was -27 C outside…

This is going to be a rare post without a photo because I don’t want to give too much away – just visit us at Bridal Expo on September 27th at the Shaw Conference Center, and make sure to visit our blog and/or the website on September 27th to find out what the big news is!  You’re going to love it.

- Michael & Haley

During the ceremony, the priest sang the most beautiful song to Cheryl & James.  It was really touching.

Cheryl & James make a beautiful couple – the connection between them is tangible, they share a relaxed, easy love for each other.

The Hotel MacDonald never disappoints – amazing decor, wonderful food, and an elegant atmosphere. 

People ask us all the time how we could spend our weekends associating with people we don’t know, and if we find it hard to enjoy ourselves at the reception when we don’t know anyone.  Anyone who knows us knows it actually the opposite.  We LOVE meeting new people, and we generally find we are at the most fun table at the party.  It’s awesome! Special shout-out to table 20!!  Woot!

Cheryl & James changed into traditional Indian outfits later in the reception – I don’t think the Hotel Mac has seen such a loud and vibrant dance in a long time!

Congratulations, Cheryl & James!  Thank you so much for including us in your wedding.

Jenny and Bruce have very busy careers as doctors in Vancouver. They have always loved walking around Vancouver together, especially the seawall area.

We also headed to the iconic Granville Market, another favourite spot of theirs.

This is my favourite photo of the shoot.

Thank you so much Jenny & Bruce, we hope you are having a lovely holiday, and we hope you can find an internet cafe somewhere to view these images. We had a great time visiting Vancouver, and enjoyed our afternoon with you.

PS: Thank you for recommending Sand Bar on Granville, we had a great lunch there!

We had never been to a wedding at the Holiday Inn Express Downtown, but it was a beautiful venue. The penthouse of the hotel has windows on three sides, letting natural light spill in. Especially with Edmonton’s long days, the beautiful light streamed in long into the reception.

Here is our take on Daniela coming up the aisle. Changing your perspective can make some pretty powerful images.

We enjoyed working with Comissioner William Medak again.

We were lucky to be heading to the Legislature on a Sunday – we had the whole place to ourselves!

This bridal party was awesome. Jason and Jeptha (2 Js), Chloe and Chelsea (2 Cs) and Daniela and Daniel (2 Ds). How cool! They loved getting their pictures taken, and taking pictures themselves.

Daniela & Daniel love nature, and a theme throughout the wedding and the speeches was respecting and remarking in the world that God has created around us. We took all of their photos in nature, and I especially love the photo of their rings, symbolizing their love of nature and each other.

As we were taking these photos, we made a comment about the family canoeing nearby and that we would wait for them to pass – Daniel and Daniela told us they were actually given a canoe as a wedding present, so we changed our plan and made sure to get the canoe in the frame!

Daniela & Daniel, we hope you have a wonderful time on the West Coast, and we look forward to sharing these photos with you when you return.

Sunil concocted a very elaborate story to get Venita to go with him to the Devonian Botanical Gardens for the afternoon. It had to do with delivering biological samples to the researchers at the gardens, and he even went so far as to fill an empty box with freezer packs and put stickers on it. The staff at the gardens were in on everything. After delivering the ‘sample’, Sunil and Venita went for a romantic stroll in the Japanese Gardens.

Michael and I thought we were being very inconspicuous, simply taking photos of the scenery, flowers, etc. As Venita passed me, she commented to Sunil “I think that’s Shandro Photo – why are they taking photos of flowers, don’t they do weddings?” Fortunately, Sunil has good powers of distraction, and quickly changed the subject to the beautiful streams in the garden.

At a beautiful bend in the path, Sunil dropped to one knee, and asked the love of his life to marry him.

Of course, she said yes! He was very excited that his plan had worked.  We came out of the bushes – “Smile! You’re on Shandro Camera!”

We spent a few minutes with them taking photos to mark the occasion, and they were all smiles. They couldn’t stop saying “That was awesome!”

Under the bell at the Japanese Garden.

Little did Venita know there was more in store for her.  Sunil had planned a beautiful Mela (meaning ‘gathering’ in Sanskrit) to bring their families together and announce their engagement.  None of the guests knew why they were coming to the Oasis Conference Centre, but a beautiful garden party awaited them.

Complete with wicked fireworks!

Venita is a follower of ours, and was hoping some day to have her photos on our blog. Venita – we are so honoured to be able to grant your wish. Heartfelt congratulations to you both!

Jon and Katy were so happy to make their marriage vows to each other, and from the vows they wrote to each other you could tell they were devoting themselves completely to God and to each other, and the beauty of their marriage will extend far beyond their wedding day.

The University of Alberta is such an incredible place to shoot, we challenge ourselves at every wedding to do something new and different, and the U of A makes it easy. No matter how many times we go there, we always create unique images. These ones of Katy and Jon are easily some of my favourites.

It was free smoothie day at Orange Julius! Katy and Jon had coupons for the whole bridal party (and us!)

To celebrate Jon’s Chinese heritage, a small tea ceremony was held with his closest family members.

The reception was at Blue Meadows, a gorgeous venue available to police officers and their relatives.

We met Dan and Kat from Stone Photo in Vancouver at the wedding! They had left their gear behind (just guests at this one), but Dan couldn’t help but snag our camera for a few shots – he got a great one of us partying (as you may gather from previous blog posts, Michael is a mad dancer!).  Great to meet you two!

One last one. As I mentioned, we love to do different things, and try different shots. This is definitely not a typical wedding photo, but we absolutely love it. There’s something a bit mysterious about it.

Congratulations Katy and Jon!