Meet Carrie & Oreste. Grit and I have known Carrie for a few years now; we all met while working abroad on cruise ships! Ah yes, those were the days! :) Carrie happens to be an ‘ah-mazing’ photographer and has always been someone I have looked up to, so when the time came when she asked ME to shoot her wedding…the teeth went a chattering! It’s always a strange feeling when other photographers (hobbyists, pros, amateurs etc) ask you to shoot them…its an absolute great honour but at the same time you feel you are being watched and put to the test! I always get that feeling that I am being put under the microscope! Thankfully though, my inner-self (the one with the wings, not the pitchfork) whispers to me: “Well, there are a million ka-jillion other photographers out there but these guys hired YOU for a reason! Do yer thang, honey!”. (my inner-selves are cool like that!) Carrie, I love you and hope these images are EXACTLY what you were hoping for, and then some! Oreste, I’ve only met you a few times, but you are one ultra-uber cool guy. Despite the fact that you could probably take on the entire city of Vancouver in a bare knuckle fist fight, you aren’t at all held-back in showing your love for Carrie.

To all my readers, these guys are tying the knot in the Mexican Riviera in January 2011, which means you are going to have some MAJOR amazing photos to look at to kick off next year right! (oh, and it also means I have only six months to get into shape! I can’t look like my pasty-pear-shaped self on the beaches of Mexico…again… can I?)

Happy Friday everyone!

To view their slideshow, click here. :)

When Joanna emailed me saying she had access to a hazlenut orchard and wanted to use it as a backdrop for their engagement session, I was STOKED for two reasons: 1) Hazlenuts, hello?! LOVE EM. and 2) I haven’t seen it done before! Well at the very least, *I* have never shot in a hazlenut orchard before, let alone BEEN in one! I had all these amazing ideas of shooting at sunset, the rays of light peaking through the orchard…and when we got there on Sunday?…

..rain. Not just rain, actually…TONS of rain. Like, monsoon rain. Boo.

I am glad though that we both planned ahead and saw that rain was inevitable, and still the 3 of us wanted to trudge on and make the day fantastic! And we did. I think the images turned out beautifully. Besides, Joanna’s smile and Jamie’s charm and OBVIOUS love for Joanna could make any day sunny. That was pure cheese, I know, but its true. :)

Joanna and Jamie are getting married in August at Whonnock Lake, and its going to be fantastic! I can’t wait to see them again and meet their friends and family! :) Hope you like the images!

click below to watch their engagement slideshow!

On the ferry ride over I remember thinking to myself “Jeez, I come up to Rockwater so often, we may as well MOVE there!”…and seriously, if it wasn’t for my insane love for the White Rock area where I live, I would definitely consider it. Every time I blog about a wedding at Rockwater Secret Cove Resort I mention how much I love it there, so really why should this one be any different? :) I love it there.

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!

(For the slideshow – don’t forget to click on HQ for best quality!)

My first meeting with Ben and Vianne was at an awesome little restaurant called Tea Team near Metrotown.

They had me at bubbletea. :)

Their engagement story involved spelling out ‘Will You Marry Me’ in colorful fire on snow! (yup, they rock.) These guys are such a cute couple, they just love being kids (shouldn’t we all?) and I strongly believe that their July 10th wedding is going to be a par-tay!

Oh by the way, these guys at some point in their life want to own a White Lamborghini, so if any of you have one… :)

It was an absolute pleasure spending time with you guys and getting to know you! You absolutely rocked your photosession, I hope you like the images!

Cheers,

Michael

What a way to start off my 2010 wedding season in Vancouver! Candace and Joel absolutely rocked their wedding day! They live in California so for their wedding photos they really wanted a “Typical Vancouver Feel” to show through… and well, with a wedding on Grouse Mountain you can’t really get more Vancouver than that right? Right! We went to UBC, then over to Stanley Park, then up to Grouse for the Ceremony and Reception. Believe it or not it was my first time up Grouse Mountain…ever! I absolutely loved it and will definitely be going back again… I HIGHLY doubt for the Grouse Grind, but nevertheless in the words of the Governator: I’ll be back. :)

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!