This is the story of a secret proposal.

When Ashis (pronounced ‘ah-shish’) contacted me, it was because he wanted to plan the perfect proposal for his partner, Meenu, and needed my help to photograph it.

As a wedding and engagement photographer, the photos would be no problem. But the planning - well, for that, I recruited the help of Heather (of Bowtied Services).

Margaret and Vincent’s story is such a sweet one.

We met ages ago, when I was having a free giveaway for an engagement session. I think this was probably back in 2019, and definitely before the pandemic.

I chatted with the couple on Skype (back in the day this is what we used, believe it or not! I cannot imagine a time before zoom in my life, but there you have it)…

Alison and Mitchell's wedding is an awesome reminder that you can get married just about anywhere that is special and meaningful to you, and have the most memorable wedding day, even if the pandemic or other unforeseen events mess up your original wedding plans.

From the moment we started planning Maeve and MacKenzie's engagement photo session, I knew that it would be a really unique one.

The couple wanted to take me to MacKenzie's family cottage near Peterborough, on Stony Lake.

The only way to access this property, they told me, was by boat!

They were so sweet about this: Making sure I was okay with the boat ride, that my camera would be fine, and all.

Today I bring you the story of Nik and Kathlena’s surprise proposal.

What I actually mean is that it was a surprise to Kathlena, not Nik. It would be funny if it was a surprise proposal for both of them…. How would that even work?

Anyway, for this surprise proposal, Nik was the one planning everything.

He wanted to propose to the love of his life, and he wanted to keep it a complete surprise!

When we planned Andi and Tim's engagement session, there was one thing that was on the top of our minds.

We simply wanted make sure their two children could meet me and become comfortable with me before the wedding, so that they wouldn't be stressed out being photographed on their parents’ actual wedding day.

I think that's incredibly sweet: the way Andi and Tim prioritized the children, and included them in their engagement session that day.

So we did a lot of fun things, like visit their cottage in Prince Edward County. There’s a small trail behind the cottage, and just up the hill is a nice forest. We went for a walk up there for about ten minutes. Beautiful candid photographs don’t have to take a long time, you know.

Today I want to tell you about one of my favourite days in 2021.

It was the day of Bronwyn and add Andrews wedding add furnace Post Farms in Lyndhurst.

This blog is going to be swarmed with filled with photographs of Furnace Falls Farm: their barn, the property and small details around both indoors and outdoors.

Aw, Denise and Kevin. 🥰

This was such a sweet and meaningful engagement session.

When we were first planning this engagement session with Denise and Kevin, I asked them: what would make this something memorable and meaningful for you?

You know, something where we’re not just going to look for a pretty backdrop and take a bunch of awkward posed photos?

So, we chatted about recreating their first date, in downtown Kingston.

Wolfe island is a pretty magical place, and as I've learned, there is a long and rich history to it.

Another thing I've learned about Wolfe Island, is that there are the “Islanders”, and then there’s everybody else.

You might have lived on the island for 10, 20 or even to years, but unless you, your parents, and your grandparents was all born on the island, you're probably not really considered an “Islander.” (Right? Islanders, help me out here!)

That doesn't mean you can't have an absolutely amazing experience living there, mind you. Even if you move there later on in life, like Sally and Arnie - the matriarch and patriarch of this family.

I'm excited to bring you the story Leah and Kwesi, an adorable and kind-hearted couple, and their afternoon summer elopement.

(Kwesi is such an awesome name. When she first said his name, I jotted it down phonetically, as Quacey, before I asked for a correction :P Leah told me that he once had someone at Starbucks write "Weston"... haha.)

You might have first read about this wedding in our Highlights 2021 blog here.

But now I’m going to go into all the delicious details, so read on!

It’s super easy when couples choose to get ready in the same venue, either together or in different suites.

It’s easy for me, I guess, because I can run between the two places and take photographs without hiring a second shooter. Though having a second shooter is super fun, because we have so much fun on the wedding day. So… I guess what I’m saying is - don’t worry about what the photographer needs, and just schedule your wedding day the way it makes sense for you.

Anyway, Maire and Wendi were in different suites at Pangea house, but because this is an old converted and renovated Inn, there are charming passages you need to traverse to get from one suite to another.

And then the question is: which suite to go to first?

Danielle and Zach’s was a beautiful elopement right in the heart of downtown Kingston.

It was during the last post-winter restrictions in 2021, so we moved the date a couple of times. Luckily, the venue (the beautiful Rosemount Inn in Kingston) were super accommodating.

And Danielle and Zach themselves were the most wonderful, friendly, and easy-going couple. They had to deal with a lot, because of the shifting rules… but they didn’t bat an eyelid, and ended up having a simply fantastic sunny day in June for their wedding, instead of the originally scheduled date in mid-May.

The bonus was that there was so much colour & greenery.

Now let’s get to the photos!

An “Engagement Session” can be anything you want it to be.

Well… this season was certainly one for the books!

I don't even know where to begin, so I'm just going to do it in sequence, to be fair to all the beautiful couples I met and photographed this year…

…and so that I don't miss anything that was super important.

Here we go! 🤩

Does it seem like some of the BEST couples in the world meet at summer camp?

Well, these two did. And then they threw a huge bash to celebrate their love eight years later at Canvas Event venue in Toronto.

I have no idea! Honestly, I thought I already had… but then when I was trying to show these photos as an example of what kinds of things you could do on your “engagement” session (otherwise known as a day in the life session around these parts), I couldn’t find it.

So anyway, Sarah and Oliver already got married, and we were there to celebrate with them, and we even blogged it (yay us!)

So this story takes us even farther back in time, to a very warm and mosquito-y day in June of 2019, just a few months before their wedding took place.

So much fun can happen as a second shooter to a wedding - here’s one of those stories!

One of my favourite images is the first dance photo, where I used a technique called shutter drag to make the tealights in the background into little squiggly lines of light.