So our engagement session with Sandra and Mark this past Saturday had a new element for us–it was the first time we’ve met this awesome couple face to face! You see, Sandra and Mark live in Edmonton, Alberta and hired us through a combination of website, email, and telephone! The coolest part? We’ll be capturing their wedding memories in beautiful Montego Bay, Jamaica! Neither Brian nor I have been there yet, so that makes this amazing opportunity that much more exciting for the two of us.
Sandra grew up in the Ottawa Valley, and Mark is a fellow Nova Scotian, so that should give you any idea of how much fun these guys are! We thoroughly enjoyed meeting them, spending an afternoon with them, and are so very happy that we get to go adventuring together in new parts of the world this winter. I hope you enjoy their images as much as we enjoyed making them!

Photography by Brian & Ivanette Hargreaves

Blog post by Ivanette.

Penny and Aaron are a great, down to earth couple and we are looking forward to their wedding in Cobden this June. For a change, with Penny and Aaron we simply ventured around the neighbourhood that they live in to capture images that were meaningful to them. Here are a couple photos from the day:

As some of you may remember, approximately a month ago we posted an ad looking for a couple to photograph as part of our profile video; as creating a video of how we work is very complex and time consuming, we didn’t want to take time away from one of our actual weddings, and we figured why not help somebody out in the process? So we ran a contest asking people to tell us why they would like to have their wedding photos retaken. We were expecting a few applications, however in the first week, with a simple post on Facebook, we had over 10 couples apply. We were initially surprised at the number of people who weren’t totally happy with their photos, and it was a hard decision because many of the stories were compelling. In the end we chose Heidi and Travis, who were married in September 2009. With the excitement of the day, the photographer captured some nice images, but Heidi and Travis didn’t have any photos of them alone that they liked. We hired Leslie Ann Hook to re-create Heidi’s hair and makeup, and the video was shot and edited by Sylvain and Caroline of Reno Video Productions. We posted the video earlier this week, and would like to give you a chance to see some of the photos we captured for them.

By Emilia @ Lilac Lingerie

Comfort first

On your wedding day, lingerie style is a matter of personal preference. Plenty of options are available to be provocative and daring, conservative and stylish, or gentle and elegant under your very special dress.  The most important thing for every bride, is comfort.

Most likely your dress will require an unusual bra.  Perhaps strapless, back-less, deep plunge, add-a-size push up or maybe you would even opt out for a corset-like support. All this would mean that you will not be in your usual bra-comfort zone. To ensure success on your special day, test-drive the bra ahead of time under an everyday dress of a similar kind. You will be able to assess in a few short minutes if this is the right bra for your special day. You should feel both supported and comfortable.

The same goes for the bottom piece. Make sure it is comfortable – not too tight and not too loose.  To avoid the visible panty line, wear either a thong, seamless panties or briefs. You know yourself best; listen to your years of experience in your own body.

With confidence

Lingerie is the first thing to touch your skin and the last to leave. The confidence boost you would get from wearing a wonderful, stylish piece made from quality fabric will be powerful.  On your wedding day, extra self-confidence will be welcomed!

Your wedding day lingerie is the one thing you would buy only for yourself. No one will be seeing it at the reception or during the ceremony. It is only for you. Take the time to choose it well and wear it with confidence because you feel pretty, daring, stylish, romantic, elegant, or unique in it.

You will feel special and create a bit of a mystery for your groom.  A perfect way to start sharing your life together!

Lilac Lingerie is a new lingerie boutique coming to Ottawa. Connect with Emilia on Twitter @LilacLingerie and stay tuned for a brand new website at www.lilaclingerie.ca.

Yesterday we participated in Ottawa’s first indie wedding show, as one of only 3 official photographers who were hand selected to be part of this unique one of a kind wedding show. We were thrilled to have been able to participate. There were many great vendors present, notably papillonpress who creats invitations and other stationary on an old fashioned letterpress, For Cake’s Sake who creates amazing, one of a kind cakes, Becky Whelan who creats amazing one of a kind dresses, Little Cakes who makes amazing cupcakes, . And of course a big thanks to Wendy from Beyond Events  and Krista from Urbanite Jewelry for all of their hard work!

Big thanks to Jennie, Mary, Marie, Deborah and all of the other amazing brides who stopped to talk to us, looking forward to meeting with you to discuss your wedding plans!

Check out some photos from the show:

As promised, here are some more images from Amanda & Trevor’s gorgeous wedding at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa. I’ll start off with a few stunning images of when Amanda and her father, got to see each other for the first time on her wedding day. Murray, commonly know as little Mur since Trevor’s father shares the name, had refused to see her dress prior to the wedding. Amanda waited anxiously for her father to arrive. They got to share a little bit of time together before the ceremony:

Do you want a unique, creative wedding?

We will be at the Wed by Hand show at the Courtyard by Mariott in downtown Ottawa, 350 Dalhousie. Come check out our work along with other great vendors.

Mention you saw this post on the blog for a special discount, only available at the show

Yesterday we partnered with Chez Rose Lingerie located a short drive from Ottawa in Carleton Place. Why pay city prices? Shop from Wendy’s online collection, or drop in and she can order anything you want from her extensive catalogs. Chez Rose Lingerie has ordered a set of catalogs for us to have in studio as well for your convenience.

Stop into Chez Rose at 230 Bridge St in Carleton Place and ask about our promotion! Only available in store!

We have been looking forward to Amanda & Trevor’s wedding at one of Ottawa’s premiere hotels, the Westin Hotel and Suites. After the cold and dull winter we’ve had so far, it was great to see the sun shining for their Valentine’s Day Wedding. It was also our first wedding since travelling to Nashville for the DWF conference this past January, so we had a lot of new ideas and tricks to make their images shine.

Among the many sessions we attended at the DWF Convention this month, one of our favorites was the Dynamic Location Lighting seminar taught by Cliff Mautner. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Cliff has been a professional photographer for over 25 years, has photographed over 750 weddings, and is known as being able to create amazing images regardless of the lighting conditions.
He has been named one of the world’s top photographers, and prides himself on being able to produce photographs that are technically strong and has no need to edit them afterward to produce a beautiful product. We had the pleasure of learning from him, up close and personally…if you notice, we’re so excited about being small town Ottawa wedding photographers on stage with a big city photographer of his caliber, I’m staring at Cliff with a big goofy grin on my face!