Wedding Decor & Details by Rita Mouannes

As I prepare to launch myself into full time wedding photography for 2016, I'm really grateful for the delightful opportunity to hone my craft with many fantastic couples & people such as Rita T. Mouannes Weddings & Events. Here are a few pics I took of her gorgeous decor & details as she was setting up for a glamorous wedding at the YMG - York Mills Gallery back in December. I hope I get to work with her again soon!

My goal in taking/editing these shots was to use natural light to really pay tribute to the mood of the event.  It was classy in it's details, warm with candle/string light & luscious thanks to the array of flowers. I hope you feel as if you were there.

For Photographers:

I used the Nikon D750 with a combination of 105mm Macro, 50mm 1.4 Sigma & 70-200 2.8 to really compress the scene as needed.  The photos were edited in Lightroom using tweaked VSCO Film 05 presets.

Julie & Charlie's Enchanted Forest Engagement

It's a peaceful Sunday morning as I enjoy finishing up this blog.  My drink of choice: fresh made ginger & lemon tea with some wild raw honey.  Newest song in my head (& that you should check out): Adele - When We Were Young (live)

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When the beautiful Julie asked me to shoot her fall engagement pictures, I was very excited for the opportunity to tell her and Charlie's love story.  Besides being a long time friend of Julie's, I could see they were both very in love, photogenic & stylish.  I knew it would be a great opportunity to create really beautiful images if we had the right scenes and got some killer light.

Part of me was also a bit nervous as Julie's extremely talented sister Rita is awesome an wedding planner who works with a lot of excellent photographers so I knew the bar would be set high.  Since seeing these photos she's been extremely supportive and has even recommended couples my way (thanks for the support & kindness Rita, you rock!).  If you're planning an epic wedding or intimate event you definitely need to check out her elegant, lavish & perfectionist style.

Although we attended french school together over 10 years ago, we had lost touch a bit since going off to University and despite having met Charlie once before at a friend's dinner party, I really wanted to know more about how they met and fell in love.  Turns out it started as a strong friendship, which gradually progressed far far beyond.

In Her Words:

“Charlie and I met through our sisters when we were 15 years old. We were all part of a church youth group and one day we were invited over to his house which is where I met him the first time... We started out as friends and remained good friends for a very long time. As good friends, we always made sure to be part of each other’s lives and be there for each others birthdays and events. We even went to each other’s proms in grade 12. What’s great about our relationship is that we grew up together and we were best friends before anything! ”

Inspiration for the Shoot:

When asking her what makes them unique or what they love to do together she said:

“We love to go on picnics, and go for walks and explore new places. We are always up for any type of activities such as biking, exercising together, bouldering (rock climbing), cooking together, skating etc. Although we’re not pros at these things, we enjoy doing them... a lot of the things we like doing include supporting each other, whether it’s helping each other to solve a bouldering climb or a crossword.”

“Perfect”

— I thought

I knew a really cool forest nearby which was accessible and provided us lots of space and privacy to shoot.  Joker's Hill, one of my favorite places to walk Maple (my Rhodesian Ridgeback pup) has this amazing pine forest with rows and rows of trees which created a great setting for the first part of our shoot.  In my head, I imagined bringing down the already dim available light and using off camera flash to really make things seem more intimate and enchanted.

The foundation and inspiration were set, my imagination was running wild, and that's where Julie really took it to a new level with props and details for the shoot.

Blanket, Lanterns, Wine, Grapes, Cheese, Flowers, Baguette, Custom Cookies etc.  This couple really knocked it out of the park on the details side of things!

With props, lighting, camera gear, food, wardrobe change, etc. in hand we hiked 5-7 mins in where we nestled into this grassy valley surrounded by thousands of pines perfectly lined up just as they were planted years & years ago.

While Julie and Jessica (my wonderful fiancee & occasional creative director/assistant) were setting up the picnic, I took Charlie to the side for some natural and flash lit portraits.

Remember I said these guys were photogenic?!  The above looks more like a rugged GQ shoot than anything.  Charlie is an awesome guy right through & although he had never been photographed professionally before was a complete natural!

I loved this setting so I called Julie over who was equally as natural in front of the lens.

Julie on Charlie's Epic Proposal:

“Charlie proposed to me the day before my birthday. He was taking me out that Sunday as an “excuse” to celebrate my birthday. He planned 3-4 activities but in order to get to these activities, he kept giving me 2 hints/choices for each activity (ex: Morning hints: Temple, or Artist = Restaurant Names: Mildred’s Temple or Starving artist).

We kept doing that until the 4th activity where he didn’t let me choose. We went to ESC-IT, a room escape challenge (we have done them before). What I didn’t know was that Charlie had gone the week before to get the solution to unlock the door to the second room. These challenges are tough, I was getting really frustrated and not understanding what to do, while he kept trying to give me hints and get me to figure it out... At the time I was really reluctant.

Finally, after much frustration on my part, I unlocked the door and found the second room filled with candles and flowers. I turned behind me to find Charlie on his knees saying: This is the last decision you have to make for the day! And there it is... Simple, sweet and thoughtful!”

Hats off to ESC-IT in Markham, ON for facilitating Charlie's request to organize this awesome surprise!

Picnic Time:

The picnic setup, the late day light peeking through the trees and their outfits all came together perfectly for some really intimate and stunning picnic shots.

Next it was onto enjoying the custom cookies Julie had created for the shoot which we all happily devoured.

Picnic done, it was time to change & move to the wild fields nearby for some natural late day light.  While they were switching outfits, I took the opportunity to capture some macro shots of the the beautiful ring Charles gave to his beloved Jou Jou.  It was so much fun using available light & details of our special shoot to showcase this gorgeous oval cut stone.

Off We Go:

Before getting to the field I couldn't help but notice the perfect leading lines of the tree rows so we played, the stump providing a perfect place for Julie to stand.

Then who could resist these late fall colours?

I knew the field pics were going to be special.  My dear clients had now forgotten about the camera.  We were using natural golden light without the need for camera stands and soft boxes, so I basically just captured them interacting naturally as they walked among sumac trees and tall grasses.  Blankets & layers were key as temps were chilly!

As they often do in my shoots, piggy backs ensued.  Waist high faded grasses provided a stunning backdrop and color palette to create some of my favorite images from the day.

All in all, we had a blast of an afternoon together. 

“Reflecting back while looking at these images, I was blown away by their HUGE natural smiles, bright eyes & attention to each last detail in their props & outfits. All the more special was showcasing an amazing location so close to home & being of service to a long time friend. I’m so grateful to have been there to witness & capture their enduring love.”

A bientôt mes amis,

Jeremie

Kaley & Oli's Fall Engagement in Killarney Provincial Park

Back story:

Oliver has been a family friend of mine since we were kids.  His family used to run a legendary yoga retreat called Yoga Stock which went on for 37 consecutive years, some of those for which my mom prepared her wonderful plant-based food fare and I attended as a kid.  Since that time, I've also grown to be great friends with his brother Josh.  To make our world even smaller, I've been best friends with his cousin Kavan even before that.

The first time I met Kaley was a few years back when she was introduced as Oli's girlfriend.  I knew it must be serious as that was the first girlfriend of his I had ever met.  I loved her from the get go!  Besides being a university hockey player and triathlete like me, she was really down to earth, sweet and a truly perfect match for Oli when it came to loving the outdoors as much or more than him.

When we talked about doing their fall engagement shoot in Killarney Provincial Park I knew the potential for a great adventure & images was huge.  Previously I had hiked the 78km La Cloche Silhouette Trail in the park with my family over 5 days as we walked, ate, swam & survived in some of the most beautiful & scenic nature found in Ontario.  I hadn't been there during the Fall, but my guess was that the contrast between the white quartz rock and colorful leaves was going to be ridiculous.  That alone was enough to have me itching at the chance to shoot with such a beautiful couple, as crazy as me, willing to sleep there overnight in potentially sub-zero temperatures.

Besides being rock star physiotherapists in Barrie, these two are the definition of an adventurous couple undaunted by cold nights, snow, bugs or anything in between.  When I suggested it would be most epic to shoot at sunrise so we could get the warm golden sun on their faces, there was ZERO hesitation on anyone's part.

Due to their prior work commitments we were only able to leave Barrie by 6PM on a Friday night, meaning we would be driving, hiking and setting up our tents in the dark.  All the more fun!

Let the Adventure Begin...

All packed up we headed into the wilderness for a short 2km hike, before finding a grassy beach off the path to camp on.  This was a good spot as it would only leave us with 2-3km the next morning to get to the Crack which overlooks crystal clear lakes and all the colourful forests.

Isn't it nice to see things that are made in Canada and not the other C word?!

Despite the millions of stars shining brightly, we used our headlamps and these old railroad lanterns for light as we set up camp and Lucy (their loving Springer Spaniel puppy) ran around energetically interested in everything that moved.

It was a cold night sleep in -4 degrees Celsius as I pushed my marmot Always Summer bag to it's maximum.  Despite wearing 2 pairs of wool socks wrapped in a North Face fleece, wool long underwear, hiking pants, a very warm Patagonia down jacket, gloves & balaclava, I tossed and turned for the last few hours as my toes struggled to stay warm & get blood circulation.  When the alarms went off at 6am, I woke up to frost on the inside of my tent, nothing was more appealing than staying in the bag for one more 10 minute snooze.

Before leaving the tent, I remembered to take my phone, camera batteries and contact lenses out of my sleeping bag which had been put there to ensure a good charge the next morning.  Cold is the enemy of batteries.

Sunrise was at 730AM and we had 2km to hike to our destination so we didn't waste much time before getting back on the trail.

Despite some leaves having fallen, the trail was dark under the canopy of trees and we had to pay attention to the non-reflective trail markers, especially as it became more technical during our climb up the quartz mountains.  At some point we made a wrong turn on the bare exposed white rock and despite retracing our footsteps multiple times to the last blazer we couldn't find our way for a good 15 minutes.  We found our way when we went back even further to discover we'd gone off track by following a commonly walked path leading to a lookout versus the main trail which continued in the forest below.

Back on track (but behind schedule) we all knew we'd be hard pressed to make it all the way to the top of the crack but no one panicked, blamed each other or got remotely stressed by the situation.  I reminded them, as much as myself, that whatever was happening was meant to be and that we'd get whatever wonderful pics we were meant to.

As we started the climb towards the Crack, above the dense treeline, the sun was close to rising so we made the executive decision to start shooting on this beautiful area about half way up towards the crack.  It had all the colours, vantage & white rock I was looking for so we got to work!

Let's Do This:

Stripping off their many layers of stylish and functional adventure clothing, neither complained about being cold and they held each other as the radiant sun rose in the distance.  Our view perfect.

Normally extremely interested in everything we're doing, Lucy did such a wonderful job of keeping herself busy with the exception of showing up for the odd perfect pic with her parents.

Lucy's perfect pose:

There were so many background and lighting options on the various levels of the mountain, so we played...

They jumped...

They savored...

They snuggled...

We explored...

Lucy made a few more appearances...

Kaley could only hold off so long & leg wrapping ensued...

It was cold, time to get closer...

By this point our hands were frozen (so cold that Kaley couldn't even take her ring off to let me take macro shots) so we took a break to change outfits and warm up a bit.  This was a good opportunity to take some portraits of each.

The handsome Oliver...

Now the beautiful Kaley (hats off to her lugging a dress all the way up the mountain)...

In total, we shot for about 2 hours before heading back to camp to pack up.  It was a short whirlwind of an adventure.

There's that trail marker we were looking for ;)

Closing Remarks:

The time spent with these two was not only a lot of fun but really eye opening to me.  What I find most admirable & rare about them is the level of patience and kindness when they speak to each other even in potentially stressful situations when it's easy to get short with your partner.  For me at least, it's somewhat easy to get animated and/or slightly intense with a partner when it's freezing cold or you're hungry (my fiancée can vouch for that), you're setting up camp in the dark or you're lost in the middle of nowhere trying to find your way before the sun rises; but, the way Oli and Kaley speak to each other all the time is so respectful, so patient and so kind.  It's really a beautiful thing to be around and a sure sign that they're in it for the long haul.  There's just so much wisdom, maturity and sweetness among these two!

I can't wait to shoot their wedding next summer which is just a few weeks after Jess & I's.

Much love and gratitude for the opportunity to combine a great adventure with my passion for making art of people's love stories,

J