Silly, then serious, then silly, then serious, then silly, then serious, etc… there were so many tears, laughter, and joy during the events, I enjoyed the emotional roller coaster of Shirley and Herb’s wedding day, and love that the pictures match the true mood of silly, then serious, then silly, then serious, then….

I had so much fun shooting the dance coverage at Allison and Ramsey’s wedding last summer, that it needs it’s own special blog entry. Allison and Ramsey chose to have an Interactive DJ for their wedding. Interactive DJs are exactly as it sounds… interactive. They listen while guests give speeches and cue up and play music when appropriate (think of the band on The Tonight Show, when they pop music in after jokes or when guests are walking up to the stage), and they also organize the dance portion of the evening and try to get nearly all guests involved in the dancing.

I have seen many interactive DJ’s this year at our weddings, but none have come close to throwing a party as perfect as Allison and Ramsey’s (held at Furry Creek Golf Club).  Half the credit goes to the amazing Jordan, founding partner of Beyond Sound, and the other half goes to Allison + Ramsey and guests for their energy and enthusiasm.  You see, if you choose to hire an interactive DJ, you have to be 100% committed to boogie on the dance floor and take part for the first hour or two of the night in order for the concept to work.  You, as a couple, cannot sit back and hope your guests will take part in the activities that the DJ has planned.  This is one reason why I have seen Interactive DJs fail at weddings- *you* have to be proactive!  Just like Allison and Ramsey were!

Sarah and Jeremy! - one of my 2010 couples:    : )  

A total blast!  Interactive DJs aren’t for everyone (especially if you don’t want to dance), and this summer had many rip roaring parties with some of my favorite and extremely talented “non interactive” DJs as well, but if you know you want a fun guided program for the first part of your dancing, consider one like this!

I know I go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about how it’s totally fun when it rains at a shoot (though my camera gear does not think it’s fun anymore)  ….  it just simply *IS* fun in the rain as long as everyone involved are cool people : )  !  I have never seen Deer Lake Park look as magical as it did on this rainy January day!

Makeup artistry: Megan McHollister
Venue: Hart House Restaurant
Ceremony: Burnaby Village Museum

This one definitely goes down in history! Remember Kristina and Brad? They had an amazing farm wedding last summer, and this was their cake cutting- the “great cake cutting of 2009″!

Things started off much too perfectly.  Look at the perfect hand placement:

So cute and innocent.

More cute play.

Oh but it’s all ok, just a cute little smoosh of the cake to keep the crowd interested.

“That was alright”, thinks the crowd.

But wait there’s more!

… and they’ll live happily ever after!    I would love to know what went through Brad’s mind just after he smashed the cake in her face!

1. We get to see Joel in his underwear not just once, but TWICE, in this blog post!
2. Lisa and Joel got married on the shortest and darkest day of the year- it rained from start to finish that day, except during the window of time they put aside for outdoor photos.  How rad is that?
3. Swan-e-set was beautifully decked out for the Christmas season, it gave us the warm fuzzies : )

This was a perfect bridesmaid bouquet for the winter.  I discussed winter wedding colors a lot with Lisa before her wedding and it all came down to this: why have dull colors on a dull day?  She kicked the winter blues in the butt with her color choices! (florals and decor were by Bobi at Radke Designs)

Ginch Sighting #1:

The first look on their wedding day:

Everything was dreamy and photo time was awesome, Joel finished it off in style by falling flat in a wet mud patch- he had mud all down his sides…

… and it washed off like a dream, bringing us Ginch sighting #2:

Wedding Venue: Swan-e-set, Pitt Meadows
Floral and decor: Bobi at Radke Designs

Wedding reception: Salt Tasting Room, Gastown
Wedding ceremony: Sun Yat Sen Gardens (in cold December!)
Rings: Green Lantern

1. She wore long underwear under her wedding dress all day : )
2. Snow was what they really wanted to experience on their wedding day, so we headed up to Mt Seymour in their car (with snow tires), where there was about 10 feet of visibility and had some fun!
3. Robert had his own wedding march to walk down the aisle to: Star Wars!

Reception: Kirin at Starlight
Ceremony: Burnaby Village Museum
Makeup artistry and hair: Margaret Lai
Gelous Nails by Jazz   www.gelousnails.net
Edible Arrangements  www.ediblearrangements.com

1. This quite possibly may have been our poorest weather at a wedding in a long time, and it wasn’t helped by the very early winter sunset- luckily the gang was rad and I even had my very own umbrella-holder-gentleman follow me around. It was a huge help!
2. Because I get this question often, this is an example of what wedding photos can look like on a dark and rainy day- I’m showcasing more than usual in this blog post because I want folks to know that weather doesn’t really matter as long as YOU have an open mind on the wedding day- just as Sharon and James did!
3. A picture perfect ceremony at Minoru Chapel, followed by the gigantic Chinese wedding reception dinner at Empire Chinese Cuisine in Richmond- Sharon and James planned everything perfectly from start to finish.  Thanks for your incredible kindness!

Laila contacted me the day before her and Ben’s intimate wedding took place (thanks partly to the urging of our beautiful bride from earlier this year, Kim- thanks Kim!).  I am so happy for them that they opted for a mini photo session near her parent’s home at Horseshoe Bay in the freezing cold (and near darkness) before having their wedding ceremony- the memories of their Christmastime wedding will last a lifetime!

PS- maybe it’s just me and my jet lag, but I keep staring at the BC Ferries photo above, and it looks like it’s moving!

Chelsea and Leroy hail from the gang of 6 couples whose weddings I have had the honor of photographing (or soon will be photographing) in recent times.  It’s now come to the point where I know who the parents, grandparents, siblings, and children of many guests are- thanks to speeches, dinner table chit chat, and friendly guests who now recognize me.  It’s so fun to see how each wedding is different, and it keeps me on my toes to make sure each have a unique experience yet still get the consistent results they are hoping for.

Chelsea and Leroy’s wedding was perfecto from start to finish.  Dark and rainy day?  No problemo!

Congrats Chelsea and Leroy!  We’ll see the gang again in January and in May!

This is the last blog post for Cans for Comments!  Thanks to your efforts, we have already had 149 comments since we announced C4C a few weeks ago!  We just learned that the food bank has 3:1 buying power, meaning if we donate $2 to the foodbank, they can purchase $6 of food.  So rather than us supporting walmart or costco by purchasing their food to donate, we’ve decided to donate $2 per comment to the food bank.  Each comment you make is going to allow the Greater Vancouver Food Bank to purchase $6 of food!  Last chance to BRING IT ON!  Cut off is midnight, Saturday Dec 19.  I know some of you are disappointed that we don’t get to make Mark carry a carload of cans to the food bank, but maybe if I exchanged the $300 cash into 30,000 pennies that might be more interesting?  If only I had more time on my hands…