What a Wedding Day is Really About

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What is a wedding day really about? In my opinion, it should be a celebration of love. A fun filled day which you and your partner plan TOGETHER. Things, places, and people that feed BOTH of your souls should be involved. There NEEDS to be room in your "wedding schedule" to let life take over and let the day simply JUST BE. If you do that, all the unexpected moments of the day end up creating YOUR unique story that was meant for YOU. You'll look back and think, wow, that day was perfect just the way it was.

Why am I talking about this? Well, I've realized lately that I have been photographing weddings with the wrong priorities in mind; such as taking images so I can get published in blogs, and those "PERFECT" Pinterest-like images. I THOUGHT thats what my clients wanted,but after photographing so many weddings, my instinct is telling me otherwise. Your wedding day shouldn't be about the pretty pictures: it seems like this is the trend among photographers now. I can't blame them though. I realized I was falling in the same trap, and it's because I felt scared that if I did't follow the pack, I wouldn't get bookings. WRONG. Quite opposite.

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What about my client's story? What about those photos that are so perfectly imperfect that they melt the couple's heart? I'm not saying I haven't been focused on photographing moments. I definitely have! But I wasn't as focused on them as I should be. I have been a little more hands on such as "when you put on your dress stand here so I can get better light" or "Wait here. I'll go get your dad so I can get his reaction of his seeing you for the first time". That's great and all to help create a pretty picture, but you see, me stepping in and changing the natural flow of the day doesn't make sense, when in the end, the pictures that will mean the most to the couple will be those that they didn't even know I was taking!

Why has this become the norm? Why can't I just be there to document EXACTLY what, why, where, when, how it happened? If I take this photo journalistic approach to a wedding, the photos will go down in family history. They will show exactly who the people were and what ACTUALLY happened that day. They will document the different relationship dynamics between the couple and all the relationships they share, which SO rarely get captured!

Do you want your wedding to be viewed and treated like everyone else's? I know you don't. You deserve more than that. You deserve having me put in the effort to dig, find your story and unearth it for you to have it preserved for life. So you know what, I'm most likely not going to hang up your dress in a pretty spot and photograph it on a hanger like I did at every other wedding, you know why? First of all, you're going to remember the dress better by it being on you, and more importantly, because as I'm doing that, you could be sharing an emotional moment with your mom and I could be missing it. What would you rather have a picture of?

From now on I'm deciding to observe and photograph the day as it unfolds. I am definitely still up for portrait time to create some art with you two and family portraits, but only if YOU want to, and those are the only parts of the day I want you to notice me.

Before your wedding, (i.e during your engagement session) I want to sit down with you two over some food and hear stories about you, your friends and families! That way I get a better understanding of your souls and what role others plays in your life. When I show up on your wedding day, instead of being surrounded by faces I haven't seen before, I will see depth in those people and understand WHY they are there. I will be able to document your relationships and all the unconditional love surrounding them more accurately.

THIS IS WHAT I WAS MEANT TO DO. I am so happy I am finally awake. I believe in preserving the truth. I am so done with following the pack...

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Toronto Documentary Wedding Photographer for Free-Spirited, Bohemian & Adventurous Couples - GTA, Vancouver, Worldwide, International, Destination

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Any thoughts? Agree or disagree? Wouldn't it be cool to have someone follow you around for a week and just document your regular day to day life so you have a memory of how life used to be? Comment below :)