The goal is to collect 10,000 of these peaceful tokens of love by January 2011 when The Wedding Co. will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The final creation will be a visual representation of a worldwide community of engaged and newly married couples – a community that already shares so many invisible ties. Each crane will represent one couple’s leap of love, commitment and patience. The chandelier will be on display at The Wedding Show January 14-16, 2011.

For each crane we receive, we will donate ¢50 to The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

Request a pre-made crane for yourself or an engaged friend or DIY ! Just don’t forget to write your names, your wedding date and your location somewhere on the crane. Crane can be sent to:

The Wedding Co.
110 Givins Street
Toronto, ON M6J 2X9

Help us spread the word!

Just some of the cranes from Amanda and Mike

Signed crane

Along with a team of very talented of  artists, Jen Campbell, Lauryl Lane and Esther Kim of My Bride Story produced this beautiful representation. While I was scrolling through I noticed they included origami cranes as part of the decor. If you saw the movie you will remember Summer (Zooey Deschanel) had some hanging in her room. The team loved the idea and wanted to incorporate it into the wedding in their colour palette of blues, grays, and purples.

Consider taking the time to make some cranes for your wedding, whether you hang them or use on tables they are an affordable and easy way to decorate. The time you take to make them is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on your relationship and what the future holds.

For a complete look at The Green Wedding Shoes (500) Days Of Summer shoot click here.
Click for more information about The Wedding Co. Crane Chandelier Project

Photography by: Sarah Yates Photography

The Wedding Co. is building a chandelier from thousands of origami cranes which have come from engaged couples around the world.

Alice and John, September 5, 2010

The goal is to collect 10,000 of these peaceful tokens of love by January 2011 when The Wedding Co. will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The final creation will be a visual representation of a worldwide community of engaged and newly married couples – a community that already shares so many invisible ties. Each crane will represent one couple’s leap of love, commitment and patience. The chandelier will be on display at The Wedding Show January 14-16, 2011.

For each crane we receive, we will donate ¢50 to The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

Crane Kits! Request a pre-made crane for yourself or an engaged friend or DIY ! Just don’t forget to write your names, your wedding date and your location somewhere on the crane. Crane can be sent to:

The Wedding Co.
110 Givins Street
Toronto, ON M6J 2X9

Winning photo from The Great Engagement Shoot Challenge.

Read our interview with Jennifer about completing the shoot and to find out a little bit more about what makes her tick:

The Wedding Co.: What inspired the picture you submitted at The Great Engagement Shoot Challenge and what was it like to have to incorporate the couple’s dog unexpectedly into the image?

Jennifer Rowsom: Pearl (Heather and Steve’s dog) actually influenced the park location right off the bat. I am generally afraid of dogs having been chased by one but luckily I liked her personality right from the start and I wanted to incorporate her. I think an engagement portrait captures a moment in time and while it shouldn’t be too posed, it needs to be more than a snapshot — something you’d hang on your wall — and I was prepared with a few props but Heather’s comment that Pearl often sits on the park bench with them was enough for me, and the light was absolutely perfect.  Using the Polaroid image was one of my first ideas and we combined the two for our entry.

TWC: Let’s go back to your start as a photographer — how did you get into the profession and why did you pursue wedding photography?

JR: My dad got me started with photography when he created a darkroom in a bathroom at home; I loved the process of shooting a roll of black and white film and processing it in the same afternoon. My high school also started a photography class and I got into it the first year it was offered. I now use my first camera, a pink and grey Cool Cam as a prop in some of my work. I am photography obsessed and my camera collection is now at about 50.

Jennifer Rowsom Photography

TWC: What has been your most challenging shoot, in a professional capacity, since you’ve become a wedding photographer?

JR: My greatest challenge is weather — I love the light in the wedding pictures from Southern California — unfortunately we have snow, rain and cold to deal with and that can be hard. I also like to be the unseen presence when I work because that makes for more intimate and personal shots, establishing that invisibility can be hard.

TWC: Can you describe your style of photography?

JR: I love to experiment and I love to mix things up. Working with film as well as digital, and doing both fine art and commercial jobs, my work is full of pictures created by different processes. When it comes to digital, I use a light hand in Photoshop and rather than use layers and textures, I use different cameras to get different effects and a range of images throughout each job. Also, where digital photography typically speeds up work for commercial projects and weddings, my fine art work, which is entirely film, slows me down and makes me more appreciative of each frame I take.

Jennifer Rowsom Photography

TWC: What inspires you in your work and what do you aspire to as a professional wedding photographer?

JR: As a wedding photographer, I love that there are no compromises, my heart races through an entire wedding, I forget to eat or drink and the situation is always slightly different. The time to experiment with new cameras and ideas is over and the level of focus is so high — it’s that new style of wedding photography that drew me to document weddings in the first place, the ‘90s static shots aren’t my style at all.

Karen’s (Whylie) aesthetic inspires me a lot too, her editorial and storytelling background to the finished products she provides her couples, in working with her on weddings she gave me the freedom to explore my own style. We both like to document the moment which is something that connects my weddings to my fine art where I shoot reflections of the past in order to preserve it.

Jennifer Rowson Photography

Jennifer Rowsom Photography

Jennifer Rowsom Photography

Notes: Jennifer photographs weddings for Coyote Photos. Her answers were shortened for brevity but we endeavoured to keep her tone and meaning throughout.

For more pics from the wedding check out Luckgirl’s blog.

I am thrilled to announce a wonderful partnership between The Wedding Co. and The Paper Place. From now until December 31^st drop by The Paper Place a sign a crane for the Crane Chandelier Project. We’ll have a vase of paper cranes in the shop, all you have to to is ask and they’ll keep them safely for you and pass them on to us to add to the final project.

The Paper Place is one of the most unique and inspiring stores here in Toronto, if you are doing a DIY project for your wedding, or would like to but don’t know where to start, drop in and browse or better yet chat with one of the staff, they are all artists themselves and have many great ideas.

Not in the hood? Get us to send you a pre-folded crane and mail it back to us!

To date, we have 5,140 beautiful cranes from wonderful couples all over the world that are signed and ready to be incorporated into the chandelier.

Two more couples have recently informed us of their plans to make 1000 for their weddings and we’re keeping our fingers crossed we get a bunch from each of those. We’ve got a long way to go but this project has already done so much — connecting us to new people, giving us a reason to reach out to an international group of engaged couples, and showing us just how amazingly involved people get when it’s something that matters to them. We can’t wait to make that donation (50¢ from each crane) to The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation on behalf of all the people who so kindly contributed to the project!

Images found at Elizabeth Anne Designs blog, photography by Gwyneth Colleen.

The first crane was donated by Nadia Zuccaro over a year and a half ago.

The final result will be a massive chandelier art piece made of 10,000 individual origami cranes. Swaying on its tether to the larger group and with its wings outstretched, each paper crane will represent one couple’s leap of love and the start of their adventure while the entire chandelier: the mulicoloured cranes, strings and stabilizing support together symbolizes the importance of community, and the invisible ties we all share at life’s pivotal moments.

“In 2010 Cancer will be the single leading cause of death worldwide overtaking chronic illnesses such as heart disease and stroke,” reported Medical News Today. The shared bonds of the chandelier also represent the universal reach of cancer as well as how the fight against it has united so many individuals and communities internationally and for each crane we collect, we’re donating 50¢ to The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

To fulfill the final goal of 10,000 cranes and make a $5,000.00 contribution to the Foundation, we are asking for every engaged or newly married couple to contribute, please, send us a crane signed with your names, location and wedding date (if you know it). Not sure how to create an origami crane? Click here for instructions and here for us to send you a pre-folded crane.

Catherine first hit on the Chandelier Project idea when she learned to fold origami cranes at a local craft workshop. Always looking for a way to incorporate personal touches and fresh elements into wedding celebrations, Catherine found she loved the few short moments of quiet she achieved while folding a crane in the middle of a busy day.

A set of pre-folded origami cranes ready to be sent out to engaged couples.

Busy doesn’t begin to describe the way a couple feels when they’re in the midst of wedding planning, and yet, that is exactly a time that should be experienced to its fullest, and when moments of reflection should be incorporated into a brimming schedule so the real meaning of the wedding isn’t lost to guest lists and cake tasting: taking the time to enjoy the windup is as important as the adventure itself.

The Wedding Co. will continue to accept cranes until January 2010.

Cranes can be mailed to:
The Wedding Co.
1084 Queen Street West, Suite 3
Toronto, Ontario
M6J 1H8
Canada