Beautiful, awesome, and spontaneous!! we can barely keep up with the action! Thanks for welcoming us into your home with such open arms. Your lovely personalities truly radiate through your loving family. We are truly blessed to have witnessed your infectious love for each other. This is the kind of stuff that inspires us to be better photographers and to be a better couple.
Thanks again Kim and Corey!
Big hugs from your friends,
Anthony and Rina
“She pinched me!!” =P
“Baby when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I’ve never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts
I can see your dreams” ~ Amazed, by Lonestar
When we shot Irene + Peter’s e-session in Jasper we saw how much these two loved hiking and the outdoors and they were fantastic sports. When we saw the beautiful warm yellow of the bridesmaid’s dress and Irene’s bouquet, it seemed the perfect opportunity to bring in the wedding colours via canola fields. As Irene and Peter danced amongst the canola, it was a bit of dancing on sunshine.
Irene’s gown had some beautiful detail and even the baby goat wanted a closer look! Irene – thank you, for being the bride that didn’t panic because her gown got a bit muddy and stained before the reception. As you said yourself ‘I only plan on wearing this dress once.’ Good thing you had your Chinese dress to change into for the reception though 😉
After that rather unorthodox introduction, Irene & the Goat became fast friends while poor Peter’s allergy med’s had worn off! Sorry 🙁
We loved how Irene + Peter incorporated the bamboo element from their wedding invite into the reception decor. It can be quite tricky at a traditional Chinese banquet to personalize the space, but they did a wonderful job with the simplistic elegance of bamboo as the table centre-pieces. The guests received chopsticks in beautiful embroidered cases as favours with the bamboo repeated on the tag.
And what better way to toast the happy couple than with a glass of wine served from the personalized wine bottles!
It was an evening for celebration and the best man, Darren, wasn’t going to let his brother and new sister-in-law get away with not par-taking in the tradition of a first dance.
Irene + Peter – Thank you so much for your general awesomeness. We knew after Jasper that your sense of adventure and fun meant we’d be able to push the limits and get some truly memorable images of your first moments as man and wife. You didn’t dissapoint! You are both all-stars for committing to our creative vision, even though it meant getting your wedding finery messy in the process!
Your wedding was beautiful and rustic, but most of all – it was the warmth and intimacy brought by being surrounded with your closest family and friends that really made the day amazing. We are so humbled to be part of your very special day.
Much love,
~Rina + Anton
P.S. Alvin, Kristine – a BIG thank you for being our lighting bearers. (They’re so good at this, you can’t even see them!)
Words by Maureen Young
A love story that opened in the hallways of High School and developed in University avowed itself in the company of close family and friends in an intimate backyard ceremony. Irene + Peter didn’t start dating until University, but both recalled seeing each other in the hallways of High School and Irene’s friends recount gossip of a crush and a chase.
Irene awoke at 4:30am, regardless of how cute a girl naturally is, somewhere between the excitement of marrying the man you see as your one and all the preparation there is time for gorgeous hair and make up. As Amily, her sister, bonds with her upstairs, Irene’s parents are busy downstairs preparing for the arrival of family and friends.
To find good fortune, both bride and groom took part in a Chinese hair-combing ceremony;
The first combing symbolizes: from beginning till the end
The second combing symbolizes: harmony from now till old age
The third combing symbolizes: sons and grandsons all over the place
The fourth combing summaries good wealth and a long-lasting marriage.
Irene’s closest girl friends came along early to see her in her Chinese dress and prepare the door games for Peter and his groom’s man, Darren. Peter was stopped at the door and while the push ups may not have made him break a sweat, his rendition of Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden, had everyone’s ears breaking it seemed, a cat crying was a close comparison to the ‘music.’ Irene, ever thoughtful, or perhaps just eager to see her groom, called Peter to come pick her up. Those push ups were just the warm up it seems ;).
The weather even co-operated! A backyard ceremony in Edmonton may seem a gamble, but on a day where the sun shines and your yard is filled with family and friends, it is a perfect portrait of intimacy, warmth and simple at-home hospitality.
From backyard to barnyard, the bridal couple were troupers who weren’t bothered about the canola fields or baby goats! See all of that in part 2!
Where you lead
I will follow
Anywhere that you tell me to
If you need, if you need me to be with you
I will follow
Where you lead
~ Where you lead, I will follow by Carole King & Louise Goffin
Home. A concept that becomes so much more real when it’s wherever your heart is, or better yet, with the person you love.  In the midst of their wedding planning, Stephanie + Ryan are also planning for their new home together. For their engagement shoot we took them away from all the planning and out to the corn maze, much to the delight of the kids that were also visiting that day!
While they may love HGTV and the adventure of creating a home together, they also love to try new things together and this engagement shoot did just that. Although it was at the expense of Ryan’s pristine white trousers, which are now coloured with memories of sitting amidst the green corn, savouring sweet peas with his sweetheart and ripe strawberries dripping with sugary sweetness.
“Mommy! Look… a scare crow!”
While we weren’t on the yellow brick road, we were caught up in the magic of the corn maze, which to Stephanie had a bit of Stars Hollow’s magic to it. For Ryan, it was his chance to (inadvertently) become an iconic figure, the scarecrow.
From sweet peas to the pumpkin patch where we were caught in a misty shower which provided just another reason for a cuddle. Ryan’s face is priceless as Stephanie, with the sweetness that first caught Ryan’s eye, casually tosses a pumpkin over her shoulder.
Strawberries were a juicy end to a sweet day.  Just desserts for a sweet couple.
Thank you guys for the laughs that you brought to the shoot. And Ryan’s clummsiness (thank goodness you had a Tide to Go pen in the car!)
Stephanie + Ryan, we can’t wait to shoot your big wedding day and see how ballroom dance experience & practice will make your first dance amazing. Looking forward to more laughs.
Your food buddies,
A+R