lisa + taylor | playful Sandy Lane Resort wedding in Minden

victoria + scott | Market Brewery wedding in Newmarket

emily + mike | charming Camp Tamarack wedding in Bracebridge

christie + aaron | Western Trent Golf Club Wedding

Christie and Aaron met in high school and in the same small town that I grew up in. This will age me a bit, but Aaron and my little brother even used to play hockey together. In 2018, Christie reached out to me about documenting their day and when she described what they were looking for in a photographer, I knew we would be a great match.

Christie and Aaron chose Western Trent Golf Club as their venue, a new venue in the Kawartha Lakes for weddings. This venue is an absolute dream and every little decor and detail has been thought of. Not too mention, everyone who works there is so kind and amazing!

In addition to the vendor dream team, Christie and Aaron hired my parents flower shop (The Flower Place in Barrie) to do all the flowers which looked gorgeous with Western Trent as a backdrop and Christie and Aaron of course!

This was a very tough blog to do as I have many many favorites from their day, but here is a little peek at their love story xo

Florist: The Flower Place, Barrie

Caterer: Chef Marcel, Western Trent Golf Club

Hair + Make up : Hair - The Hair Studio (Facebook) or Christy Girard

Makeup - a bridesmaid

Dress Maker: David's Bridal


Veil - Loved Again Bridal Boutique (Facebook)
DJ - DJ Adam John, Good Karma DJ/Venue Entertainment & Events (Facebook)
Officiant - Carmen Novosky, thereverendcarmen (Facebook)

erin + sashar | Whispering Springs Wilderness Retreat Wedding in Prince Edward County

For the last two years, I kept hearing about this venue that ties all things beautiful, outdoorsy and romantic all into one camp like setting. This venue was of course Whispering Springs Wilderness Retreat. A venue you can bring your guests glamping, unplug (there’s no cell service!) and spend a weekend together.

Last December, I got an enquiry from a couple telling me they were getting married at said venue and that one of the things they are most excited for, was having their big beautiful dog present (Finnigan!). Well, if you follow me online, you know dogs are life basically and tie in my love for outdoors, cottage, camping and basically everything these two empower, I knew it would be an incredible fit. (Thanks Matt + Monika for passing my name along!!)

Well, I was right. I spent the day laughing and crying (and dancing and eating Woody’s burgers #dreamwedding) and I couldn’t love Erin and Sashar more. Also, their friends and family treated me like one of their own which doesn’t always happen, and I truly am thankful for that too.

Erin was a planning QUEEN who just so happens to be uber creative too and a good chunk of the decor she made herself AND planned everything for the day perfectly. When I asked Erin, “any planning advice for future couples?” shes said, “Your vendors are everything! These are the people you’re working with on the most important day. If you don’t get along with them on a personal level, you won’t like their final product and you won’t enjoy your wedding day as much. Your vendors will be amongst the closest to you all day so you need to make sure everyone works well together” (Scroll to the bottom to see Erins dream team vendors!).

Erin and Sashar, THANK YOU!!! Your photos still make me cry, laugh and be in awe. Your day was a dream and I am so darn happy you found me (and are letting me share your faces all over the world LOL)

xoxo

Vendor dream team:

Florist: @quinnsblooms.greenery

Caterer: @woodysburgersto

Hair + Make up : @thecolourroomto, @amyharpstagram

Dress Maker: @je_vis_bridal

Other Vendors you are using:: @icecreamkingdomcanada

robyn + scott | rustic chic farm wedding in Hartington

As a wedding photographer, you are always hoping to find people who share your same outlook on life, who trust you and your crazy ideas, who make you laugh and just people you want to hang out with on the regular. Well I 10000000% found that in Robyn + Scott. I also have been so lucky to of documented quite a few of their friends weddings too (like Rachel + Matt at Fanshawe Pioneer Village or Rebecca and Pat at Berekley Church or Rosie + Dave at the Story’s Building or Christina and Zach in Grand Bend and Shane + Andrea’s camp wedding at Bark Lake Leadership Centre in Haliburton), all of whom are my kind of people. Nothing means more to me then a friend or client recommending me to someone dear to them, so thank you thank you THANK YOU #teammegan!

Robyn, who is quite the crafty and creative bad-ass business woman(be sure to check out her incredible handwoven skills here), nailed it when it came to the planning and details of their wedding. Every little detail was so beautiful from the Shisha table with string lights and pillows to the black candles and vintage holders to the hand written name tags on plant paper (you plant your name tag and watch it grow!!). Scott had a part in this too I might add haha he built some of the wooden details including the Shisha table for their guests!

In addition to all the beautiful details, Robyns moms property and farm couldn’t of been a more perfect location surrounded by fall colours, long grass and beautiful gardens.

Robyn and Scott, I love you guys and cant wait to see you again. I am truly honoured to of been a part of your day. It will forever be a favorite

xo

leslie + mack: planning a wedding through hard times

Back in January Leslie reached out to me about capturing their backyard wedding and I was super excited. I had never met Mack or Leslie, but we came from the same town and siblings knew each other etc. so I knew this would not only be a fun wedding, but that they were my kind of people. 

L + M started the planning process before reaching out to me and had been searching for the perfect venue. Everything they looked at, wasn't what they wanted, then Mack's Dad came to the rescue. 

"We wanted to get married on the Sweet property because we love it there! Mack grew up there and his dad built that house so it was pretty special to get married there. We were looking around at different venues for a while (always saying the Sweet house was the dream), and we weren't finding anything we liked when one day Mack's dad offered to have the wedding there, which was kind of perfect!"

Planning a backyard wedding is not for everyone and can really test your organizational and planning skills, but L + M knocked it out of the park!

"Our advice for planning a backyard wedding is to be prepared for details! A lot of planning goes into a backyard wedding and once we got some of the big things out of the way (tent, caterer, bathrooms) we thought it would be smooth sailing from there, but a lot of last minute things we didn't think of came up in the weeks before the wedding. We had a lot of great help from our friends and family though, which is something we recommend, call in those favours! Haha"

L + M and I had exchanged a few emails leading up to the wedding day in regards to the day of schedule and shot list, but not much beyond that. When I arrived on the day of, Leslie informed me of something they had been going through, something I never expected to hear. 

Three months before the wedding, Mack was diagnosed with Leukemia. L + M had been tossed a curve ball and their lives instantly changed. 

"Mack had to be hospitalized for 30 days in a hospital in London, which is about three hours away from where we live, since there were no beds available closer to home. At first we didn't know if the wedding would still happen, and in a way it seemed like the last thing on our minds. All of our focus just shifted to getting Mack through this. The doctors told us that Mack might not be feeling the greatest, but that the wedding would be something for us to look forward to once he got out of the hospital. Which was true, it was nice having something to look forward to and visualize together. Since we were pretty far from home I did quite a bit of wedding planning from my hotel room in London, I even sent out my invites from there"

You never know what life has in store for you and to those of you who are planning a wedding, and may being going through something similar, Leslie has some advice for you.

"To anybody going through something similar...stay positive. It's unfortunate that it takes something like this to put things in perspective, but it really does. Your wedding is your day to have fun and celebrate and not worry! It's really hard not to, but don't sweat the small stuff! The small things that don't turn out or that were overlooked don't matter at the end of the day. It's not exactly ideal to plan a wedding while going through something difficult in life, but it can and does work out. And, as for Mack, he's been busy kicking cancers ass and is doing great"

I am so incredibly honoured to of been able to work with Leslie and Mack and to of captured such true emotion and candid love. We laughed together, cried together and these two will forever inspire me to push through anything life throws my way.

 

Flowers: Tottenham Foodland 

Leslie's engagement ring is by Heidi Gibson, wedding band Bluboho in Toronto.

Mack's ring: Madani, Richmond Hill

Dress: Sash and Bustle in Toronto, by Theia Couture. 

Caterer: Little Red Catering co., Newmarket

Bartenders: A Great Mix, Barrie

Bridesmaids dresses: Dessy, from best for bride in Barrie.