An Ontario Summer Camp Wedding

[ October 5, 2010 ] catherine

Katie and Oliver were married on September 5at Onondaga Camp, a summer camp that Katie’s grandparents owned back in the 60s and 70s. The camp, which is located in Minden, Ontario, couldn’t be any further away from where the couple met six years ago, in Ghana, West Africa.

A few weeks before they got engaged, Katie and Oliver attended a family reunion at the camp. Being from Belgium, this was Oliver’s first experience at an Ontario camp and he immediately fell in love with it. Katie had always dreamed of a camp wedding, having spent 15 summers at one in the same area. Needless to say, it didn’t take them long to decide that Onondaga, would be the ideal setting for their upcoming wedding.

Katie and Oliver created a weekend of activities for their guests including canoeing, kayaking, archery, sailing and high ropes. The night before the wedding, they invited their guests to a traditional campfire along with skits and songs.

In true Ontario fashion, the weather was a bit of a factor during the ceremony — not only did it rain but the wind picked up tremendously. So everyone dashed inside and, as Oliver said, they had the best of both worlds — an indoor and outdoor ceremony.

The weather eventually cleared up and Katie and Oliver went on to have the wedding of their dreams. Photographer Emma McIntyre stole the couple away after dinner in the dining hall was cleared and the dancing had started for some amazing shots under the northern night sky.

Photography By: Emma McIntyre

Winnipeg Photographers Jake and Jess

[ September 15, 2010 ] catherine

One of my favourite photojournalists who has achieved a position in the fine art photography market is Larry Towell, When I spotted this image, below, by Jake and Kess of Kamp Photography, I was struck by how much it reminded me of Towell’s work. It has a similar sensibility, though this particular image was taken at Angie and Tyson’s July wedding in Winnipeg.

I have always believed — and preached — that wedding photographers are storytellers. They’ll never leave a wedding without capturing the complete story. In fact, their entire careers will be spent gathering unique images from each individual wedding that, once combined, complete their own story as photographers. Jake and Jess are great examples of this and, based on this image below, I cannot wait to see what their final ‘story’ looks like.

Here is the rest of Angie and Tyson’s wedding:

Heather and Steve- A Wedding Like No Other

[ September 8, 2010 ] catherine

Jewellery designer Heather Frize (Ecstatic Accessory Designs) and her husband, Steve Raper, attended a whopping 34 weddings over a five-and-a-half-year time period. So when it was their turn to tie the knot on August 21st, they were determined to host an event like no other.

What makes a wedding different are the personal touches, and I can tell you that Heather and Steve put a distinctive mark on their wedding starting with Heather’s determination to make all the jewellery for herself, her mom and mom-to-be, as well as the entre wedding party (which included seven kids). She also sewed the ties for the boys and the banners, altered her own dress (which in the end wasn’t the best idea), made all the welcome and games signs, designed her wedding invitation with help from The Paper Place, searched for vintage vases and other décor elements, and purchased the flowers the week of the wedding.

Although there doesn’t seem like there would be much more to do, Heather and Steve’s family and friends all lent a helping hand in arranging the flowers, folding the accordion fans, making the stump stools for the cakes and providing the music. Steve, a lover of sports, put his personal touch on the day by organizing the games; bocce ball, croquet and a beanbag toss all helped to create a fun, picnic-like atmosphere.

One of the highlights was the photo booth that Heather’s dad made for the event. Heather describes the process:

“The photo booth became my dad’s pet project. He framed a wall, dry-walled it with weatherproof something or other, then wallpapered it with wallpaper that I found at a vintage shop. He recycled a frame he had in his basement, mounted that to the wall and then re-wallpapered it because he wasn’t happy with the original job! He even hand-chiseled the base to go in the ground so that it wouldn’t blow over in case of wind. He kept saying he was going to start his own business renting it out after the wedding to photographers and brides, but he ended up donating it to the venue after the wedding. It was a lot of work but I think we all had a lot of fun doing it.”

With all of the personal touches made by the couple and their friends and family, this wedding was filled with love and personality. And it was definitely like no other. Photographed By: Michelle Yee