Rideau Canal Wedding//Kaitlyn and Ryan

If you didn't know them at all, here are three things you should know about Kaitlyn and Ryan (in their own words):
 

1. We went to a small rural high school together, but didn’t meet until 2 years after graduating.

2. We dated long distance for three years before finally moving in together.

3. We both grew up with flat teddy bears; Mine named Pancake Bresee and his named Pancake Patterson.

They won the last Free Wedding Photography contest we ever hosted, and they were an amazing couple to document as our last gifted wedding. We've loved learning more about them and their story. 

You can read all of their story here.

Their wedding day was sunny and gorgeousssss. Here are a few of our faves to brighten your week.

You're welcome.

xo.

J + L

Wedding Monday: Words of Wisdom from our past Brides, part I

She's from Idaho; he's from Germany. Caiti and Tobi met in Israel and said their "I DO's" in an old-fashioned church in Idaho last summer. 

Enjoy her thoughts now that the dust has settled.

Caiti and Tobi had a gorgeous DIY wedding in early summer of 2014. We loved flying to Idaho to document their sweet wedding and capture all their special moments.

- -things you would do differently: I don't know if i would change so much my decisions over what I had as decoration or the things here and there...but I would change my view and attitudte of the wedding. I would have just simply enjoyed it and lived more in the moment. It's so overwhelming and it's all so much, but I worried a lot about our schedule, etc. 

-best planning decisions you made: I don't have to impress anyone. And you can work hard and get a lot more joy out of it. I think buying everything brand new is easy and great, but to be able to create and work alongside your family and friends makes so many amazing/frustrating memories that sometimes last longer than most.

-favourite parts about your day: Favourite part about my day was definitely the party afterwards, just a time to celebrate and dance your face off. Weddings are such a place of joy and really brings the whole family together in a good way! Of course the ceremony was also incredible, I would say the reception is a place to connect and bless your guests! 

-advice to a newbie bride: Have the most amount of fun you can! Count yourself as special! Enjoy the engagement process with your fiance and don't try to wait until the wedding, just enjoy him/her, this season that you're in because you will never get it back. It is once in a lifetime!

Melissa and Travis had a dreamy destination wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic last year. We were the photographers and videographers for their amazing day.

Enjoy hearing Mel's thoughts post-wedding.

As Toronto's Top Wedding Photographers, we love traveling internationally with our work. We document weddings and engagement sessions in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba and beyond.

1. If I had the day to do over again I would want to do a first look photography session before the wedding. Since we had our wedding so late in the day we could only capture so many pictures afterwards before the sun started setting. (Unfortunately it was my groom that was adamant about seeing me for the first time walking down the aisle-which was pretty perfect in itself :) ). 

I would also spend some more time on my speeches to friends and family. Being so caught up in all of the wedding planning I left my speech to the last on the to do list, thinking I could quickly whip something up a few days beforehand. So I wish I had sat down and really thought of those memories that I wanted to share well in advance. 

2. One of the best planning decisions I made was doing tons of research and finding our venue!  Once we decided to have a destination wedding we hired a travel agent to help us pick a resort and organize everyone together. After researching the options for the wedding at the resort we chose something didn't feel quite right, so I dug a little deeper and found a restaurant down the beach from where we were staying that offered wedding packages that had more options and was comparable in price. It was the most amazing place to have a wedding, everything was taken care of, nothing felt rushed and we had the whole place to ourselves the entire evening!  Always think outside of the box and do your research! 

3. So many favourite parts about my wedding day it's hard to chose! Obviously walking down the aisle was so memorable because I had not seen one detail about my wedding yet, everything had been taken care of. Talk about stress free! So it was amazing seeing all of my ideas that had come together and then looking down the beach to my family, friends and groom waiting for me. 

I loved the moment my husband and I shared our vows. We wrote our own vows and blubbering through all our tears managed to say them to each other, I just remember feeling like it was just me and him standing up there, everything else was a blur. I'm so happy Jono and Laynie got them on film because I tear up every time I watch them! 

4. My advice to a newbie bride is don't skimp on the photography/videography aspect! For me photo and video were one of the most important parts of my day and I'm so glad we chose our talented photographers! I'm always looking back at our photos and watching pieces of the wedding video because the day was such a whirlwind it's hard to take it all in at once. So it's nice knowing you always have your best memories documented to look back on!