Melanie and Rob eloped a couple of weeks ago. Their wedding was the first elopement that I have ever photographed. I can’t believe how romantic it was! Two of my amazing clients from 2010, Chelsea and Jon (you can check out their wedding post here) hired me to be the couples photographer as a wedding gift. It was a beautiful ceremony that only had 6 people in attendance, including the Justice of the Peace and I. Rob is in the army, so I love that he wore his uniform and Melanie looked radiant in her sweet, tea length dress and beautiful heels.
As it happens quite often, the only time to take the photographs of the bridal party and bride and groom during a wedding day falls during one of the worst times to take pictures… mid-day. Typically, a photographers nightmare. Not only is it super hot then, but the sun is directly above the couple and can cast bad light on the couple. These pictures are great examples of making use of shade for getting gorgeous and romantic photos in a sunny situation.
Now, for the pictures!

The super sweet bridal party

I just love these two!

I love lavender- the scent, the blossoms, everything! If I see a lavender field and I’m with a bride and groom, you can be sure that I will get them in there, amidst the lavender.

Their beautiful rings!

I’m writing this on the blog here because it is a day that I never want to forget. Its my little brothers birthday, its the day that for the rest of the world, is just another Monday.  But to me, its the day that you woke me up with a kiss and started the day with saying “happy anniversary, Em”, you let me sleep in and I love that you sent me beautiful roses from work. You took me to a fabulous dinner at my new favourite restaurant Bistro Le Coq, where we asked ourselves how did the time go by so quickly and we talked about or goals and dreams for the future. I love you J and cheers to many more to come.

This is us tonight, taken in a mirror we passed by in the restaurant.

This week, instead of writing a few paragraphs about random things that went on during my week, I am going to write a list of 10 random things that you probably do not know about me. So, here we go.

1. I love to sleep in- I really do not enjoy having to get up before 9 am.

2. I typically eat my pizza layer by layer, starting with the cheese and pepperoni, then the sauce, and finishing with the bread. If I am eating a specialty pizza though, like the Spicy Perogi Pizza from Boston Pizza, then I eat it bite by bite.

3. I love it when it rains (not on a day that I’m shooting though). Any excuse to wear my adorable Polo rain boots, I gladly accept.

4. I am allergic to most sunscreen. There are only 2 brands that do not make my skin feel like its on fire.

5. I am addicted to Pintrest; a website that is full of inspiration and pictures.

6. I love high heels but I almost always choose to wear flats.

7. I love cake decorating and love to fill between the layers of cake with heavenly Swiss meringue buttercream.

8. If I put veggies in the crisper department of my fridge, I forget all about them. I’ve got to keep them out in plain sight.

9. I still do not know how to use our tv. I can get it to do what I normally do but if I hit one button wrong, I can not seem to figure it out. I shut if off and wait for Justin to come home and fix it.

10. I have no sense of direction at all! I sometimes get lost following a GPS wrong….

Now onto part two of the Alice in Wonderland Styled wedding!

So pretty!

I LOVE these too!

And to end with, a few behind the scenes..

A few weeks ago in Toronto, I attended an amazing workshop where I learned so much that my head is still bursting at the seams trying to absorb it all and make valuable changes in my business (everything from what clients will see to what is behind the scenes in my office). I remember back to last summer when Justin and Mary were announcing their tour stops and I was so hoping that there would be a stop not too far from Halifax. The day that the tickets went on sale, I was patiently waiting with my laptop, continually refreshing the page, waiting for the moment for them to go on sale so I could buy mine. If you ever have the chance to see Justin and Mary do it! I know I will see them at another conference or workshop sometime, they are that awesome. I met so many other wonderful photographers from Ontario, Montreal, NFLD, and a few from Michigan. We spent the entire day (9 am – 12:30 am, yes, you read that right) learning and photographing a full wedding day from the getting ready, ceremony, portraits, reception and shooting after dark portraits with off camera flash.

Now, onto the images!

These are a couple of my favorites from the shoot

LOVE!

All the details were so thought out and fit the Alice in Wonderland theme perfectly!

The table scape was amazing- there are no other words!

All the beautiful vintage china… and the “Cheshire cat grass” as Justin dubbed the grass while we were shooting

Part two will be up in the next couple of days with even more images!

Models: Olivia and Joseph represent Alice and a groom and the white queen is Jenna and Jonathan is another groom.

Venue: Rockwood Conservation Area

Hair and Makeup: Jessica Jean Myers

Everything else by Justin, Mary and Julia