This past weekend not only saw the dawn of warm weather for Toronto, but also the marriage of Grace and Casey - albeit on the rainiest day of the week!
The day was very low key - a small but beautiful wedding. The ceremony was at one of my favorite churches in the city - Grace On The Hill. Roughly 40 people were asked to attend both ceremony and reception, making the day both relaxed and intimate. The reception was held at Sassafraz in the Yorkville district of Toronto - the newly renovated and highly rated resto was the perfect fit for such a small occasion - the food delightful, and the combination of wonderful guests and great vendor staff made the night a special experience.
Andreas was with the bride, while I was assigned to photograph Casey and his sole groomsman Carlos. I had a partner-in-crime as well - Caylee Alzner, a recent OCAD Photography grad, eager to get some hands-on experience.
I love being around and photographing the guys at weddings! Most everyone would agree (including most grooms) that a wedding day is the brides day - most attention to detail is done for and with the bride. A lot of brides and brides-to-eventually-be have a pre-determined idea of how they want their wedding to look - the dress they grew up admiring; their favorite flowers in the bouqet; the church their parents got married in; their father or father-figure walking them down the aisle; that first kiss after the "I do's"; the venue in which to celebrate with friends and family afterwards - most, if not all, determined by the bride, albeit sometimes with a grooms opinion thrown into the mix.
Photographing a bride in the morning is full of excitement and anticipation! The bridal party getting hair and makeup done, running around with their dresses half-way on. The bride is the centre of attention, and everyone can feel the energy in the air - even us photographers, often only meeting them for the first time that morning. This is the time where the entire mood of the day is set!
Photographing the guys, in contrast, is a much more laid back experience. You arrive, typically to the groomsman and groom relaxing, talking about which team beat which the day prior, the big fight coming up, or just talking about seemingly unimportant things. Don't get me wrong - the groom is definitely nervous - usually a drink to calm his nerves is definitely in order! However, the morning for a groom is very much just another few hours of just 'hanging with the guys' - and the atmosphere definitely shows this.
Back to Casey and Carlos - these 2 have been best friends since grade 3 - this is put into perspective when you know that both are 38 years of age! Their type of friendship definitely shows - words of encouragement, along with jokes about how they met and what to do once married life was final. After getting dressed in their room, I took them to the rooftop of the Delta Chelsea for a couple quick portraits - the results which can be seen below. This was followed by one last drink at the hotel bar - rum and coke I believe!
The images posted here will be focused on the groom - hopefully the pictures give you a sense of what it is like being around the men for their morning-of. Check the website in the next couple of days for a more complete set of images, including the beautiful bride and ceremony!
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