Romance at The Old Mill

Melanie and Martin hired me after many emails and a couple of phone calls. We met for the first time just a few weeks before their wedding when I toured their venue, the Old Mill in Toronto. After just a few minutes of strolling through the old windy hallways of this charming Old Inn, I knew that this couple had really put themselves rather than the latest trends into their wedding. A morning ceremony in a sunlit chapel led into a quick walk through the snow covered courtyard for a few quick formals and then into a cheery, chatty, frolicsome luncheon. Martin surprised his bride by appearing at their wedding clean-shaven (when I met him he had a full beard) and Mel was elegant in a simple gown with an exquisite bouquet of tropical flower s and peacock feathers. "Very auspicious" apparently!

Stephanie & Tim...was it cold outside?????

Who knew and who cared...it was hot inside! Fiery red bridesmaids dresses and a red-hot romantic love made this c-c-c-old February day seem like a heat wave. Stephanie and Tim were married Saturday Feb 10, just one day before their 8th anniversary and it was like they'd been dating for just a few months-they were still that google-eyed for each other.We had so much fun with this couple, from continually making the bride spit out her gum to quickly identifying the "bad-son" brother, we laughed and joked well into the reception..

Thanks to Tim, Stephanie and both of their clans for a great day!Sweet, shy Katie

"Trouble" (a.k.a Xander)

Wow Anna WOW!

When Anna first walked into my home office, I knew she'd be a beautiful bride but honestly, I was paying more attention to her wee son Brennan's chubby cheeks than to her high Russian cheekbones. So wedding day was this past Saturday and she was runway model material standing next to her new husband James, impeccable in tails. The whole day was beautiful, loving and festive. Thank you to James, Anna and all their family and friends for making our job so much fun! What a way to chase the winter blues away!

Punta Cana-Oh Yeah!

Twilight at our beach

Well, I'm just barely back into the swing of things after throwing myself onto a pool chair in the Dominican Republic and not moving for 7 days!!!!! Just kidding, we did a bit of sight seeing but seriously it was quite a shock to my system to slow down that quickly after we had been running at such a hectic pace for months on end. Though I didn't really shoot much while I was there (And I will spare you the images of me in a swimsuit), here are a few neat little shots from our time away.

Our beach, my man!

When in Rome????

Mamajuana...Apparently these herbs mixed with honey, red wine and rum are the equivalent to Viagara...

Congratulations Noah & Jenn

Well, we kicked of 2007 with a beautiful early evening wedding set amidst the equally beaming and teary-eyed families of Jenn and Noah Train yesterday at Whistlebear Golf Club. It was so much fun to work with a couple that is so completely happy with each other. It has been an honour to work with these guys right from the beginning of their stair-rail-sliding engagement shoot up to now. Thanks for inviting
me along for the ride!

Congratulations Vertical Magazine!!!

After a long (and wonderful) day yesterday shooting the first 2007 wedding , I set out this morning to capture some promo portraits of my friends and publishers of Vertical Magazine, Mike and Linda Reyno. The reason for these un-seasonable portraits was to promote the recent accolades awarded to their publication. Presented by the HAI (Helicopter Association International), they won the Excellence in Communications award. This prestigious award is no surprise to those of us who know Mike and Linda well and have seen them sweat blood and tears for the past six years as they continue to make an already excellent magazine better and better with each issue while still remaining focused on their three equally-exellent children (who I made them bring along for a few family photos too). Congrats guys!

Happy New Year!!!!

Well, it looks like it's going to be a very busy year in 2007. The spring, summer and fall are almost booked solid, we start shooting weddings this weekend and are meeting will all sorts of couple for 2008! Don't worry if you are planning a short engagement and are just calling now for your 2007 wedding, I do have a few hand-selected photographers that are shooting weddings for me this summer so we may be able to accommodate.

I'm feeling really on top of things already this year because I started on my New Years Resolutions back in the fall!!!! Here they are:

1. Get in shape! Thanks to the crew at Naturally Fit personal training and their specialized "Bootcamp" program, I am in better shape than I have been in a long time. Check them out at www.naturallyfit.net. There was actually an engaged couple in the program in line to get fit for the upcoming wedding.

2. Spend less time doing "the business of doing business"!!! (and more times shooting and providing even better customer service) So I hired a fabulous book-keeper that is keeping my accounts in line and freeing up my time to work with you!!! (Okay and spend a little more time with my family). AAU Financial (aka Laura Coughlin)is actually already working for colleagues of mine because I can't stop talking about her. You can find her contact info at www.aau-financial Tell her I sent you!

3. TRY TRY TRY to blog more regularly...Hopefully I'll be able to give you a few samples of what I've been up to each week. GULP!


That's all...I believe in making resolutions that I can keep!

I want to thank Kate and Andrew (married August 2006)for inviting me and my family out to their fabulous family farm this holiday...we had a blast!

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays Everyone!

It has been an incredible year. I have so much to be grateful for...my business allows me to make great new friends on a very regular basis. I am always so honoured to be allowed to be a part of the special moments in your lives.

It's not too uncommon to find me tearing up during the vows of any wedding I shoot. I think that this is because I live every day with my own wedding vows so close to my heart. I am VERY VERY grateful for my husband, Rob; gorgeous, wonderful, strong man that he is to put up with me and still make me feel like a new bride everyday.

This Christmas brings a special sort of meaning as my own two angels , Grayson, 4, and Sam, 2, have totally got into the spirit of giving (and I have to admit, getting) and are beside themselves with excitement for the big day. I think that the greatest joy for Grayson has been that she gets to dispense sticky tape with reckless abandon and is thrilled anytime someone wants to "make" a new present. Sam, well, he just keeps trying to get me to unwrap my presents.

I am also grateful for the love of our extended families as scattered across the country as they are and for all our new and old friends here who have become like family to us, especially our new neighbours. Home feels so much more like home when you have people you can count on just a few steps away. We are very grateful for the amazing Verbitskis.

Thank you to everyone who has touched our lives this year. I wish you peace, love and hope for a brilliant New Year.

Heather

I LOVE MY CLIENTS!!!

'Kay, I'm sitting here at 11:00 p.m. (again) try to get through the slew of proofs and orders and albums that I need to get out before Christmas and this little gem pops up on my email. The message was sent by Mark, one of my grooms from last year. The maid of honour at his and Fran's wedding, (Tiffani), was married to Stuart this fall in an amazing ceremony attended by only the 4 of them. It was a huge honour for me to be part of both of these special couple's weddings:

From Mark:
You and Jenn did such a great job with Tiff and Stuart's wedding. You really made the day special. Fran and I have been enjoying your new web site, especially the music. We often find ourselves listening to your site and emailing one another. You have had such a positive impact on our lives. Thanks from both of us.
















By the way, I like the music on my website, too. Interestingly, I was told that 80% of web surfers hate music on websites but I seem to get lots of positive comments on it, hmmmmmm.

Anyway, enough Blog-time...back to work!

Ciao for now!

Christmas Print Deadlines!!!!!

Welcome to the season!

MANY of you have been asking.... so here we go with this year's Christmas deadlines. If you haven't received your proofs yet, don't worry, we can make a few exceptions:

Christmas Cards/Postcards: request design by November 24th, final approval for December 1st
Prints and Enlargements: December 8th
Traditional/Scrapbook Albums: December 1st

Also, please remember that I have moved so you will be picking up orders at a new address.

Here's a sample Chrsitmas card, yup, it's mine from last year, I just like showing off my cute family!

Congratulations to my "Beautiful Brides"

I know, I know, I'm a bad blogger. It's been a while but October was, hands-down, my busiest month this year. I completed something like 24 photos shoots before the month was out! Since I haven't kept up with telling you all about the fabulous weddings I've covered in the past two months, I'll spend some of the winter talking about/showing you:

-the bride who walked down the aisle to AC/DC's, "She's Got Balls"
-the couple in New York who got married at a gorgeous turn-of-the-century mansion (a wedding that I was just on time for because we were detained at the border)
-the groom and groomsman in kilts who looked at me like I was nuts because I asked them to squat on a set of stairs (I forgot about what they wear-or don't wear- underneath)
-the amazing outdoor wedding in the rain at Rockwood Conservation area
-a surprisingly intimate and touching (I cried) service with only 4 people in attendance in a Catholic church that can hold over 600 people
-the supermodel-esque bride with the extreme passion for all thing trekky (Yup, that's Star Trek, guys), and on and on.


For now, I wanted to congratulate two of my bride's who were award honourable mentions in the 2007 Beautiful Bride Cover Search for the "Your Wedding Portfolio" wedding planner.

Martha Foulds (on the left) was married to Ryan Carey at Whistlebear Golf Course on a gorgeous day in October 2005 . This wedding oozed class and Old Hollywood style. Funny thing with her entry is that she thought that she shouldn't even bother because there was no way she's win....hmmm. Anyway congratulations to Martha and Ryan who are expecting their first baby any day now.

Colleen Haney (nee Cressman) on the right, married Craig Haney this past July on the hottest day of the year at the Millrace Park in Historic Galt, Ontario. Colleen, along with many other of my beautiful brides (and grooms) from the past year, was also featured in other locations throughout the magazine.

Though I still have more weddings before 2006 comes to an end, I'm able to take a peak back and marvel at the array of events we've covered and the amazing new friends I've made this year.

Stay turned, I'll tell you all about it through the chilly months.

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

So my intention was to post after every photo shoot and discuss it a bit, show off some of my favourite shots, etc...BUT....'kay, seriously, I'd never get people their proofs or albums if I spent all my time blogging so my new commitment is to hop on here when I have 10 minutes and talk about something very recent...

This past weekend was fabulous, I had two very different weddings and loved being part of both of them. On Friday, I photographed Katie and Andrew's wedding in Tavistock (and New Hamburg, and New Dundee and EVERYWHERE in between). We had a blast on Andrew's family farm and it was apparent that his love for farming came second only to his love for the pretty little dance teacher he married (who's just as excited to become a farmer's wife!!!) Anyway, we all got a little muddy but the rain held off until Katie's mom mentioned at the reception that it was raining inside her as she said good-bye to her daughter. deep breathe...

Here's some quick peaks of the day:

On Saturday, Eric and Antoinette were married in an elegant and sentimental Catholic mass at Our lady Immaculate in Guelph by Antoinette cousin who traveled all the way from Malta to perform the ceremony.

When I arrived at Antoinette's home, the ladies were having their make-up done by Erin Carpenter , a fab local make-up artist (happens to be a pretty smokin' singer too). Check out her review on TheWedding Ring http://www.kwweddingring.ca/vendors/spas/features.html. Antoinette usually has great skin but her make-up was flawless all day....perfect for photos!

We went from one gorgeous location to the next, Springfield Golf Course was the perfect choice for the quiet elegance that was Antoinette and Eric's entire day.

More...

So upon my return from my week at the cottage I capture two beautiful back-to-back weddings.

On August 4th Devon made Ben a very lucky man by marrying him in a short and sweet service (complete with readings from Dr. Suess) at Victoria Park.
Devon answered my knock on her door at the Walper Terrace Hotel with a dazzling smile and things just got better and better from that moment on!

Elizabeth and Chris: August 5, 2006. The next morning started at a century old farmhouse. Elizabeth's childhood home provided the perfect back drop from the beginning of her wedding day. We then buzzed up the road to Chris' father's chicken farm to capture some pre-wedding jitters from our groom and his brothers. I have to mention here that Chris and Elizabeth have provided my with my most unique engagement shoot location to date as we shot their photos in the chicken barn of Chris' own chicken farm with 10,000 12-hour old chicks.

At the wedding, their ceremony music was provided in part by Michael, one of 2007 grooms. Who knew an organ could sound so good?

AHHHHH...catch up time!

The funny thing is that when I have the most to share is when I have the least amount of time to post. So I am going to sit down here and play a little catch up and give you a VERY brief overview of the past month.

First things first, new babies that I haven't mentioned:

Welcome to Baby Molly Joan Rogers, daughter of Shawn and Charlotte Rogers

Welcome to Baby Benjamin Cody Kuhner, son of Dave and Daniela Kuhner (late but lovely)

Okay, so on July 15th, I photographed the wedding of Craig and Colleen Haney (nee Cresssmen). Gorgeous couple with gorgeous and talented friends. The day was beautiful and the reception was a blast. Craig and Colleen are both athletes as are most of their friends... the place was packed with very fit people. I had the quirky pleasure (seriously, they had a blow-horn) of being seated with Craig's business partners and these people are not only fit but they are fun. Check them out at www.personaledgetraining.com

Amongst the other unique and beautiful details of Craig and Colleen's day was the cake or cakes, I should say. Yvonne at The Cake Box (www.cakebox.ca) created a masterpiece of individual cakes. Not only were they completely cool to photograph but mine was also totally delicious! I photographered the cake so often throughout the night that the man seated next to it asked me if I have a cake obsession....Okay , well maybe I do!

Babies, babies, babies!!!!!

Did I mention that many of my couples from last year are expecting this year??!?!

I'd like to welcome to the world the following lucky little creatures (all of whom have been blessed with amazing parents!)

Sophia Grace Kalka, born July 14, 2006, daughter of Chris and Becky Kalka







Tessa Marie Brydges, born Sunday July 30th, daughter of Michael Brydges and Heather Moore.







John Robert Hughes, born just this Tuesday, August 1,
son of David and Laura Hughes.




Congratulations to all the new parents.

Heather

Home from vacation

Well, we're back and right into the thick of things again. The Muskoka cottage was great again this year. One of the coolest things was that we went with another family and Bonnie, the lady of the group is a photographer....so this year, there are photos of ME from our holidays!!!

We had a blast laying on the beach, swimming, collecting frogs, eating, eating and eating. God bless Kawartha Ice Cream!!!! Bonnie and I took over 1000 photos combined. Add this to the other 6000 family photos I haven't gone thru yet and I have quite the winter project ahead of me. Anyway, here are a few of my favourites, starring, my favourite people in the whole world!