Wedding Annabelle Agnew Wedding Annabelle Agnew

Tented Garden Wedding in Rigaud

Happy New Year!

I could not have predicted that 2021 would be the avalanche of weddings that it so became, that I have not had a moment to blog post ANY of the weddings I have had the privilege of photographing this summer. And so here we are, 2022!

Kass & Anthony had a different wedding planned for 2020 and as was the case for so many couples, they had to postpone, reschedule, and re-think their pre-pandemic ideas of what was essential to them on their wedding day.

The idea of adding a tent to the back of Cafe de L’Horloge was a stroke of genius and with Events by Cece at the helm to take care of all the beautiful details, including all of her floral arrangements and custom made ceramics, this wedding was nothing short of stunning. The ambience she created that made everyone feel ready to celebrate. And given the first half of 2021, everyone at this wedding was so so so ready to have fun. Including me!

I don’t know that I have mentioned it here before, but in 2019 I started taking improv lessons in Montreal — and what would that have to do with wedding photography and this wedding? Well, a few things: I connected with Kass as she’s a wonderfully creative (see her Wovenish shop) math teacher who is connected to the improv games.

I’m sure most of you have read about “Yes, And” but it’s so much more nuanced than this. Improv teaches me to be truly present and in the moment, to listen and observe, and to allow space for the ideas that pop in my mind and play. My point is that I feel like improv’s influence has really started to show itself in my work and when you get to the wedding party photographs, I think you will see just what “unposed wedding photography” can really be when we let go. Of course, posing still has it’s essential moments. But when we let go, that’s when the magical photos happen.

This beautiful tented wedding from July had all the kinds of summer light and I feel like it’s the perfect wedding to kick off the craziest wedding season I’ve ever had.

Thank you Kass & Anthony for all of it.

Vendors

VENUE Le Cafe de L’Horloge PLANNING & DESIGN Events by Cece DRESS DESIGNER Mariana Hardwick DRESS SHOP Union Bridal SUITING Indochino HMUA Beauty by Maryam BRIDESMAIDS Park & Fifth Co. RIBBON Maison Note FLORALS Events by Cece RINGS Ecksand DESSERT & CAKE Patisserie Montebello MUSIC Sabrina Cardi Music RENTALS Locations Chic

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Leila & Eduardo || Manoir Hovey Winter Elopement

Leila & Eduardo met one night on opposing charade teams at a party in grad school that they attended in Texas. Leila says

We quickly discovered we have very similar taste in movies and started talking more … It always fascinates us to think that E's originally from Mexico, L from the Philippines, we met in Texas, got married in Quebec and settling down in Toronto!

Eduardo says that what he loves about Leila is

that she is very thoughtful about health and she's always improving her dessert/food recipes to make them healthier and tastier (and I didn't think that could go together). She is very intelligent and always encourages me to be the best version of myself.

Leila & Eduardo reached out to me looking for a way to have a very Canadian, read: very winter & mountains, wedding on Valentine’s Day, which is a very special day to them.

Originally they had wanted to get married in Banff, Alberta, which as serendipity would have it, I had some experience with as I had lived there after I graduated from highschool for two years working as a waitress. (And incidentally worked with Naomi before she started Mountain Events ).

After some brainstorming, we landed on one of my favorite hotels and I directed them to Elyna Kudish to help them finalize all the beautiful details of their wedding day.

Ceremony and celebration wise, Elyna Kudish pretty much took care of everything. We had an initial convo of what we had in mind and it was a breeze since then. We'd video call and email regularly to iron out details. Definitely one of our most loved aspect of our wedding --- No stress.

The only hard part is not being able to have our family and friends over since they're from overseas. However, rather than fussing out about these travel details (which, admittedly we spent quite some time on), we ultimately decided just have a separate and more informal celebration later on with them.

And what a beautiful wedding day it was! It really goes to show that even with a curfew under red alert, in frigid temperatures, “love is not cancelled”.

Last little bit of info before I sign off here, Leila & Eduardo went off to Les Terrasses Cap a L’Aigle for their Honeymoon, a suggestion I gave them based on my great experience there after photographing Gabrielle & LP’s micro wedding over the summer. I really loved how open they were to suggestions and for enjoying every moment of it, which I think you can tell in these photos :)

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Grace & Toni || Cafe De L'Horloge Wedding

This wedding was featured on Junebug Weddings.

Grace & Toni met at a faith-based campus group at McGill. Grace says they connected

over the fact that we could talk for ages which we discovered while dissecting a book we had both read. We bonded also over being international students with surprisingly similar family backgrounds, in spite of having been brought up in Nigeria and Qatar. I noticed  how kind Toni was, how comfortable he was in himself, and his sense of humor and love for games;

Toni said “and I loved how compassionate Grace was (and still is), her wit, and incredible sense of style”

When I started talking to Grace & Toni, they had been planning a wedding for some time, and were struggling to find a venue that could accommodate a celebration uniting both of their large families that would be traveling from overseas.

What follows is what we all now know this year: the upheaval of the pandemic, the uncertainty built into planning anything, and then taking a chance and planning it anyway. As Grace told me,

Having to plan during the pandemic gave us the time and space to discern what mattered to us on our wedding day. It was fun (in the midst of the disappointment and stress) to be creative and  brainstorm within the restrictions and see plans take shape. It’s been hard having to miss some of the family traditions we had planned in both Nigeria and India this year. Thankfully our family has been virtually involved in the planning process, but, we have missed their physical presence and support here, and especially on the wedding day, we will miss Toni’s parents and other precious friends and family being with us in person. 

I can not stress enough just how swiftly Salar Events & Design switched gears in light of going into orange alert the week of their wedding (change of venue, disinviting more guests, adding a hotel to get ready in, pivoting and giving away decor etc.) and found a new accommodating space thanks to Yasmine at Cafe de L’Horloge in Rigaud. The vendor teams really pulled together to make this day happen so please make a note of them below! I must also give a shout out to the videographer, Plea, for pulling off technical wizardry in connecting Grace & Toni to their families attending from overseas via streaming services.

It was a beautiful day at the end of September — one of those days that did it’s best to feel like summer — and, well, I’ll let the photos do the rest of the storytelling :)

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