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Yearly Archives: 2009

Abbotsford Wedding Photography | Jeannine & Glenn

I actually don’t know where to start with this post.  What a day!  What a BEAUTIFUL day!  An emotion-filled day for all of us.  You’ll remember Jeannine & Glenn from their engagement session back in May in British Columbia.  And if you remember that post, you know that Glenn is Justin’s dad… my father-in-law (although we usually like to skip the “in-law” part :)

This day couldn’t have come quicker for the two of them.  With so much hope in their future, for months they were wanting their future to be the present!!  Well now, the day has come and gone… and I’m hoping these photos will help you remember how special it was, how special you are… both individually and together!

Justin & I were so grateful as to how they intentionally made each of us kids feel so special on their day.  We were all involved and had our place.  I’d say I’m most impressed with my talented Justin who was busy officiating the wedding, being the son of the groom, and second-shooting.  I KNOW, he’s amazing right?!  Even in our “busy-ness”, we didn’t want to miss out on celebrating and ‘feeling’ the day so we tried real hard to put down the camera at times to just “be” with dad and Jeannine.

We’d love nothing more than for you to enjoy this slideshow of their wedding (with a few video segments fused into it).

I love this egg Jeannine got from the Ukraine.  She bought two… one I used in their engagement shoot and this beautiful one.

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While Justin was hanging out with his dad at the house, I was with Jeannine at the salon.

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This is Aubrey, my favourite brother-in-law… ok so he’s my only brother BUT he’s still my favourite!!

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The next two shots of Justin’s are full of amazing emotion between a dad and his daughters.

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So gorgeous and beaming with joy!

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Minutes before the ceremony started… love it!

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Let’s pause here for a funny story.

Let’s go back 5 years to when Justin and I got married.  Of course dad officiated our wedding, but when he pronounced us man and wife he said:  ”Mr & Mrs Justin and Melanie Boudreau” (Boudreau was my maiden name).  None of us noticed until someone mentioned it later and then of course we all had a big laugh about it (and we’ve never let Glenn forget it either)!

So when Glenn asked Justin to repay him the favour by officiating his wedding to Jeannine, I had my suspicions that Justin would do the same.  And of course, he did.

“Let me introduce you to Mr and Mrs Glenn and Jeannine Boyd, I mean Driedger” :)  So fun.

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Me and my two lovely twin sisters *whistles*

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Their guestbook

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Here’s another great moment when Jeannine surprised Glenn with a ‘bouquet’ of wheat.

Only a few months ago Grandpa Driedger passed away, and of course Glenn was so disappointed to not have his dad with him on his special day.

His dad was a farmer and so Jeannine really wanted to have some wheat in some of the photos to remember him by.  Special.

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What’s a wedding without your two best friends: Heidi and Gerald!

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Hmmm this looks familiar :)

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Jeannine’s niece was looking so fierce.  I loved her look!

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LOVE these two moments with Glenn’s mom on the left and Jeannine’s sister on the right.

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The Driedger family at their best!!

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You can totally sense the love and joy from these two.  bliss.

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Dad & Jeannine… much love to both of you!  Thanks for entrusting us in capturing all the special moments of your day.  It was nothing less than a joyful celebration for you and our family!

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Abbotsford Baby Photography | Baby Ethan

Only a few months ago we had the chance to fly out west to take photos of Julia’s baby bump and now the bump is gone and baby Ethan has arrived.  When Ethan was born I was so excited because we were heading back west for Jeannine & Glenn’s wedding, which meant I was gonna get to see him…  I knew we needed to take a few minutes out from the crazy wedding festivities to snap a few shots of this beautiful family of THREE!

Even though Ethan was having a little bit of a bad day and we only had a few minutes with them, we managed to capture a few great shots of this little guy!!

It’s always our delight to meet up with you Mike & Julia (and now Ethan)… next time it will have to be longer!! xox

it’s ok Ethan everythings going to be alright :)

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…and minutes later, after a few kisses and snuggles from Mike & Julia (they’re quite the team!!) Ethan is feeling better.  *sigh*

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love the ripples in his back

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love the little ears

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love love love

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Guelph Portrait Photography | The Bricknell Family

Hello from the west!  I’m writing this while sitting in a beautiful living room in Chilliwack, BC.  I’m just loving this beautiful HOT weather and looking forward to tomorrow’s wedding!  While I’m relaxing, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you a few photos from Tuesdays family shoot with the Bricknell family.

For those of you who don’t know, for the last few years my mornings have been busy with teaching French in a private school here in Guelph.  It was a very big challenge for me to plan lessons everyday and try to inspire kids to learn a language that could really help them out in the future (especially here in Canada).  For the most part my plan worked and I managed to influence and inspire a few students to take French a lot more seriously.  (And on a side note: I now have a new respect for teachers.  They really do give a lot of their time and effort to help these kids succeed in life!).  Anyway, this is when I met these two lovely “kids”.  Doug has grown up so much in the past few years, he’s definitely not a kid anymore!  Both Julia and he were some of my keenest students.  I know Julia was sad when I decided not to come back to teach this year to do photography full time.  But of course Julia I’ll be back to visit you kids at the school!

I was thrilled when Maria and Wayne invited me to their home to take photos of their lovely family.  Their beautiful backyard was a perfect place for some nice family portraits!

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Wayne & Maria

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Doug & Julia

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love this!

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Julia’s a riot… and you’ll notice those hands may be a little too large to be her own :)

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One thing that always impressed me about Doug was how good he is with his sister!

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Doug is a huge sports fan!  They even have a putting green in their yard!

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Thanks again Bricknells!  You are such a special family!!

Melanie :)

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Guelph Portrait Photography | Carter

“Our” little Carter is growing fast.  He’s 9 months now and as cute as ever!  You may remember him when he was just a few weeks old!  I love when we have the chance to journey with a family.  It’s always OUR privilege to be able to capture the growth of a life.  So thanks Aaron & Kariann… we really love and appreciate you three :)

Enjoy this short film of Carter.  Justin picked the most appropriate song for this blue-eyed boy – “Baby Blue” from the new Dave Matthews!!

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Carter’s dad Aaron is going to love the following shot.  His only “requirement” was that we show off his baby blues :)

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Carter’s first taste of a lemon.  He didn’t seem to mind it actually!

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Beautiful light and a beautiful baby… what more can I ask for?

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Windsor Wedding Photography – Tam & Huy

When Tam & Huy met up with Justin and I for their engagement shoot in London, they warned us that their wedding day may be a little (or a lot) chaotic. “There’s many parts to a Vietnamese wedding” is an understatement!  I’d say that the day was definitely beautiful chaos! With 3 different ceremonies, over 12 gift exchanges, 3 separate meals, 3 dress changes, and 300 guests… Tam & Huy’s wedding was nothing less than an amazing celebration!

Instead of doing a two part post, I’ve decided to make one long one (considering Tam leaves with Huy tomorrow on their honeymoon and she’s so anxious to see the photos!) :) So sit back and enjoy this unique wedding!

I arrived at Tam’s apartment at 7:30am.  When I walked in her sister was helping with makeup and she was already looking so stunning!

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While at the grooms house, Justin captured some of these shots!

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Huy on his iphone!

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Ready and looking quite perfect!

Windsor wedding photography - Tam&Huy   077 The traditional Vietnamese wedding begins with the groom and his family walking over to the bride’s home for the first ceremony.  Family and friends gather in the lobby to exchange gifts.

Here’s a shot of the girls in the elevator, heading down to receive the gifts.

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Huy and his family and friends walked over from his house in the rain!

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As they walked in with their gifts, an amazing aroma filled the air… I found out later it was THIS PIG!!!

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We all made our way up to Tam’s (SMALL) apartment.  At least 50 people were crammed in there for the 1st ceremony.

Here’s Tam walking out with her mom to meet Huy!

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After the 1st ceremony, we ate a little breakfast and they quickly got changed to head to Holy Name of Mary church for their 2nd ceremony!
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Tam’s nephew is the cutest little guy!

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Love Huy’s strong look here

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We managed to take 10 minutes to snap a few formals
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After another quick change, we headed to Huy’s house for the 3rd and final ceremony!

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I wonder what the neighbours thought of this entourage of people walking back and forth down the street!

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Then it was off to The Ciociaro Club in Windsor.  I was so impressed with this beautiful venue.

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And the decorations were gorgeous as well. A big THANKS to Diane from Designs by Diane!

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Tam had the bridesmaids dresses made in Vietnam… aren’t you loving all of these details!

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Finally, it’s time to party!!  And it began with a BANG… this traditional dance was AMAZING!  (stay tuned for more of this in their short film)

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Tam & Huy “CHEERS” to both of you and your marriage!  You are both such kind and generous people who deserve nothing but the best!!

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