Now, onto Carla and Kevin & Co. :) These guys…well, what can I say about these guys? I can write about how much they are in love with each other, and how great they were to work with…but really, it won’t do any lick of justice to how amazing they truly truly are. I covered their day for only a few hours, (it was an intimate wedding of just over 20 people), and in those few hours there were SO many beautiful moments…the kind that we all would live and die for. One of the most vivid and memorable moments of the entire day was after the ceremony, I was standing behind Carla and Kevin at the receiving line, shooting all the hugs and congratulations, and I looked off-camera and noticed just out of frame was Carla’s dad, who was next in line. He had a little twinkle in his eye and I remember anticipating a tear or two but as I composed the shot I didn’t realize that some of those tears would be my own! I kept as composed as I could (pun-intended) but when he got to Carla I was a mess! I remember after the moment passed they looked up at me and were wiping their eyes as I was wiping my own. I remember someone saying “Hey, you just met them a few hours ago, you’re not supposed to be doing that!”. Something magical happened next…after seeing what was happening and feeling that energy in the air, some people waiting in LINE started even hugging each other and getting teary eyed! It was such a great moment to be laughing and feeling connected with this amazing group of people..they truly are the perfect definition of Family.

Every. Single. One of them.

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.

Click below to view their slideshow!

To view Candace + Joel’s Wedding Slideshow, click here.

Hair & Makeup Artist: Jag Dhahan
Venue: Grouse Mountain
Decorator: Lisa Gregory Special Events
Officiant: Kevin Fatkin

Special thanks to Nick B. for being my trusty second shooter! You rock my world!

Hey everyone! I hope things are going well! I am so excited that we are now offering online Gift Certificates and a Wedding Registry to all our clients!

Now you will be able to send and receive Gift Certificates from our Boutique which can be used for any products & services that we offer! Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries? Why not give them a gift that will make them smile? :)

Do you and your hubby/bride-to-be have a wedding website? Simply put this link onto your Gift Registry page and your friends and family can give you two the gift of a lifetime!

Michael Wachniak Photographer –  Boutique

WARNING: Please send this link to friends and family ONLY IF you would appreciate the gift of beautiful gallery wrapped canvas images and storybook albums gracing your house more than multiple toasters, wine flutes, and breadmakers. :)

If you have any questions at all regarding this new feature, please don’t hesitate to email me or call me at 778 878 4531

All the best!

Michael

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Yesterday I posted a Part 1 of my favorite wedding images of 2009. Today, I give you Part 2! I can’t decide which one I like better!

P.S. Don’t forget to leave a comment! Every comment until this Friday = One can of food I will donate to the food bank!

Hey everyone! Last year I posted several “TOP 25″ lists of my favorite images I shot in 2008, which was an absolute riot, but this year there’s a bit of a problem… I have 260 favorites. :) To fix this I have put my personal favorite images  of 2009 into the form of a slideshow!

*ahem* ok, so because of the volume of images I kinda had to split it into 2 equally cool slideshows! I selected all of my favorite images and placed them in chronological order as if it were all one wedding day (getting ready images with getting ready images, ceremony images with ceremony images etc). I have personally watched this slideshow three times already, and I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have such amazing people in my life. Every image has a story that I hold near and dear to my heart, and will remain with me forever.

Tonight I am posting Slideshow 1 of 2. I will post the other tomorrow. I literally took every second image from my list of favorites and put it into another slideshow, so both slideshows will have a full “wedding day experience” from start to finish. You will see what I mean.

The song choice for this slideshow is my little homage to the late and very great Haydain Neale of Jacksoul.

P.S. Don’t forget to leave a comment! Every comment until this Friday  = One can of food I will donate to the food bank!

Today though, I had an epiphany…I think. ;) There are so many moments from each and every wedding that believe it or not I will cherish forever….so with that, for today’s post I thought I would share with you a few of those moments from my perspective of Walt and Deadee’s wedding. After all, I can only write what I know, right? Here we go, in point form of course:

- First off, having the amazing Kyle Perison second shoot for me the whole day was enough to make my head explode (in a good way… if your head could explode in a good way, that is).
- Moments like the door games, when Walt and his crew had to dance like MC Hammer (and I of course was ‘volunteered’ to show them how).
- With the MC Hammer ‘tutorial’ came the video of me showing how (ya, thanks for that Kyle).
- The few quiet seconds in the room with Deadee just before Walt walked in to see her for the first time, and then stepping back while they embraced.
- Tea Ceremonies always get me because of the deep, sincere best wishes each family member and friend give to the bride and groom.
- Watching Deadee come down the aisle, and the look on her father’s face as he hugged Walt.
- The victorious ‘fist to the air’ Walt did as he and Deadee were announced as Husband and Wife :)
- Watching the waves crash on the beach as I snapped away.
- Climbing some really tall, weird playground-thingy to get a different perspective. (I like to climb.)
- Getting a High-Five from Walt after my dismount of the really tall, weird playground-thingy.
- Realizing Kyle shot video of me while up in the really tall, weird playground-thingy (I’m sure I’ll post it at some point).
- Entering Kirin Restaurant (starlight location) for the first time, I was in photo-location heaven ;)
- The look on Kyle’s face when one of the ladies at our table told him that the food he is putting into his mouth was beef tongue… when it was really just pork. He went white, it was awesome I’m pretty sure I high-fived her.
- The ‘Grab the Butt and guess which is my husband’s’ game :) Classic.

Walt + Deadee, thank you so much for everything. The day was absolutely amazing, and filled with love and memories that will be cherished forever.

To view Walt + Deadee’s slideshow, please click here.

I started in the morning at the Holiday Inn in Metrotown where Rebecca and her ladies were getting ready. I absolutely LOVE photographing the ‘getting ready’ portion of the wedding day! It’s so full of what I like to call ‘fluttering stillness’. Its very hard to explain but can be best described as the feeling one might get as a child the night before Christmas. You just KNOW its going to be amazing and you want it to come right now or else your head might shatter into a million pieces!!! Everyone tries to show ‘calm and collected, zen’ on the outside, but on the inside you can just tell that everyone is bouncing off the walls! Rebecca was no exception. In fact, she was the most ‘calm and collected’ out of everyone in the room, which led me to believe not only was she bouncing off the walls on the inside, she was knocking them down!!

As for Lac, again, no exception. When I saw him at the front of the church, standing there waiting for Rebecca, he too was calm and collected (aka inner-bouncy-lovey-happy-best-day-of-his-life). Now, I want you to go down to the bottom of this post and take a look at the 2nd to last of the images, the ones with the children dancing at the reception. When those church doors opened during the ceremony and the distance down the aisle between Rebecca and Lac grew smaller and smaller, the images of the two children dancing is almost exactly what I saw in their eyes. Their love for each other gives off a sense of such pure emotion, it’s almost like they have known each other since before they were born.

I just wanted to add here that I am a wedding photographer for a variety of reasons, but most importantly I believe is because of my undying passion to show the world as much Real Love as humanly possible. There is so much real, raw, pure 100% organic love in this universe and yet there is so much more to show. It is almost an untapped resource. It is the love that couples like Rebecca and Lac have for each other that will change this world, and nothing else.

Finally, I want to thank my 2nd shooter for the day Nick Beaulieu. He’s been my go to guy this year for helping me at weddings, and never once did he disappoint! He has more skills than a blindfolded circus bear on a tightrope! :)

Namaste,

Michael

To view Rebecca and Lac’s Wedding Slideshow, please click here.

The ceremony was filled with laughter and tears, and to top it off the light shining through the stained glass behind Alana and Ante was absolutely incredible!

After the ceremony we left for Deer Lake Park for our photosession. There was some amazing light and locations, and yet again I climbed another tree for a few photos … I won’t go into that much, but hey, if you love something, work it into your daily schedule, right? Photographers: If you need a different angle, climb! :)

As the sun was coming down, it was just about time to head to Nikkei Place for the reception. The speeches were hilarious and heartwarming, the dinner was perfect, and the dancing was out of control! :) About halfway through the reception I was feeling more of a guest to the wedding than the photographer! Everyone was so great and we had an absolute ball. Thank you guys so much for letting me be a part of your big day!

If you would like to view Alana + Ante’s Wedding Slideshow, please click here.

Well actually, girls tend to high-five you and laugh, while most guys USUALLY stare blankly at you, wondering if Manolo was some kind of new reality show or fancy chocolate bar.

Truth is, its better.

Especially when its your wedding day. :)

Enter: Connie and Eric

My lovely 2nd photographer (and fiance) Grit started off at Eric’s parent’s house with the guys, while I was with the ladies at Brockhouse. Lisa and Kerri of Lisa Gregory Special Events were already working their magic with the decorations and everything was looking amazing! The ceremony was SO beautiful! I do have a bit of a confession I need to make though… I really try to do many things differently at every wedding, but there is one thing (in particular) that I keep consistant. At every single wedding ceremony I shoot I position myself at the front of the aisle so naturally I can get a photo of the bride walking up, but (and don’t take this the wrong way) I actually get more excited and emotional when I turn and photograph the groom’s reaction to seeing his bride coming towards him. Its that one moment where everything stops and the edges blur out…and right in the middle, crystal clear and glowing from the inside out, there she is. I don’t get choked up often at weddings (ok that’s a lie) but I’d have to say that watching the groom’s reaction is the one that usually does the trick. Eric was no exception to this. He’s a really awesome guy and had me laughing the entire day, but when Connie came down that aisle with her dad, Eric wore his heart on his sleeve. You could see every single moment together with Connie up until then was in itself a reason to stand there. And Connie of course, looking deeply into Eric’s eyes and smiling at the altar… those single moments with him up until then were exactly why she was there too. And every moment from then on afterwards? Well, thats just the icing on the cake. :)

Connie and Eric, thank you so much for inviting Grit and myself into your wedding day. We had an amazing time with you guys! :)

To view Connie + Eric’s wedding slideshow, please click here.

Last night was my last wedding of the ’09 season! It was very bittersweet but we had an absolute blast with Alana and Ante, and I can’t WAIT to show you all just how absolutely perfect they were!

-Michael-