'Guest Blog' by Cendi Micor TASTE, TRADITIONS & TRENDS

I would like to introduce you to today's Guest Blogger... Cendi from Immortal Weddings.  Cendi is known for going against the crowd.  This attribute is perfect for those of you who really want your wedding to stand apart. She has a love for music, tattoos, concerts and movies.  She appreciates traditions, however, you cannot please everyone.  Trends are not a priority…why be like everyone else?  She can add a chic touch to your edgy style.  www.immortalweddings.ca

The 3 Ts of Planning- TASTE, TRADITIONS AND TRENDS

~written by Cendi Micor

When it comes to making decisions about your wedding, there are many things to consider. It all boils down to you and your partner's style and taste. You may also consider traditions that both of your families value. Plus, to make things a bit simpler, you should also take note of current trends, which may make certain items more accessible than obscure ones.

PICKING A DATE : You may have a date that is meaningful to both of your. For example, a dating anniversary. You may also be set on a specific time of year. As for your family, they may have superstitions regarding certain numbers and dates. Lately, it has become very popular to choose a date that is extremely easy to remember. For instance, October 10, 2010 = 10/10/10.

BRIDAL PARTY: The size is the first thing to decide. Do you want it to just be your closest family and friends or do you want to include as many people as possible? Does your family have a say as to whom you choose? Many people are no longer following traditional etiquette in terms of their bridal party. The number of bridesmaids does not have to match the number of groomsmen. There are now best women as opposed to strictly just best men.

~Photo courtesy of www.flickr.com

SHOWER: If you want all of your closest family and friends present, you can choose to have a co-ed shower. Traditionally, if you are not currently living together, you may want to have a gift registry. Traditionally, it should be the bridal party throwing the shower...you can have a potluck or luncheon. One modern trend that is occurring these days is to throw a Stag and Doe, which is essentially, to raise money for the couple.

STAG/STAGETTE: Do you want to go all out with the partying? If so, you may go clubbing, to the strip clubs, and get around in a limo. Traditionally, celebrating your last night as a "single", used to occur the night before the wedding, but this is no longer as common. Nowadays, a weekend getaway is huge...Vegas is a very popular trend.

~Photo courtesy of www.destination360.com

CEREMONY: Will you be exchanging vows in a church? Are there cultural aspects that you would like to include. Traditionally, the couple has their backs towards the guests. Throw a twist into your ceremony and ask your priest/officiant if he/she can stand off to the side on an angle or if you can face your guests. It is very common now to also have the ceremony and reception held at one venue.

FLOWERS: Are you going to include your favourite flower into your bouquet and/or decor? As it is tradition to keep your bouquet, why not have a mixture of both real and fake flowers? As for your bridesmaids and maid of honour, make it different and have them hold a single flower as opposed to a bouquet. Consider what is popular and what is in-season.

~Photo courtesy of www.womensweddingsdresses.com

ATTIRE: How traditional do you want your outfit to be? Do you want to wear a white dress...men, to wear black tuxedos? How will your family feel about it? It has become very acceptable to now add more colour to the bridal gown and the colour black is also now acceptable. The length no longer has to be full-length. Another twist could be to wear coloured pumps.

FOOD: What better time to have your favourite meal than your wedding? Traditionally, dinners are more common but it may suit you and your guests better to have a luncheon. A very popular trend right now is having food stations, giving everyone more of a chance to mingle. Also think about what type of bar you will offer. Plus, your cake...how many tiers and how much detail do you want?

MUSIC: What route are you going to take with your music? A DJ or a band? Traditionally, a receiving line occurs and an introduction to music takes place. Is this something your want? You must also consider how speeches will occur during the event. Are you going to have an MC? A great trend right is to allow guests to request songs on the back of their RSVP cards.

HONEYMOON: Are you more into hot, tropical atmospheres or sight-seeing in Europe? To have a more relaxed approach to your wedding, you can have a mini-moon, which is a small trip prior to your wedding. Traditionally, couples used to depart on the night of their weddings, whereas most couples no longer do this. An extremely huge trend now is the Destination Wedding. This way, you and all your closest family and friends can vacation together.

~Photo courtesy of www.sdweddinginsider.com

No matter what you ultimately decide, make your wedding about what YOU want. Not what you think you're supposed to do based on family opinions, nor what today's society is doing. Stand apart and make it memorable! And enjoy it!!

The Civilized Bride Wedding Show in The Distilleries Friday January 21st, 2011

This past Friday evening, we had the pleasure of being a part of the Civilized Bride, a unique take on a bridal show.  Bride & Groom's to be were invited to mix and mingle with the GTA's finest Wedding Professionals while enjoying a cocktail and a canape. Here are a few pictures I took before it became too busy for pictures. 


The Bar



Wedluxe - Official Sponsor



Fantastic Fruit Platter Display



Guests Starting To Arrive

The Arta Gallery is a Fantastic & Hip Venue

Our Uplights Among the Great Art on Display



Funky Table With Promo Material

It was a great evening. Not only did I meet with some amazing couples, some of which booked us right on the spot, but I had the chance to finally meet some of the fantastic vendors that I hear about all the time while catching up with those who we work with regularly.



The Civilized Bride - January 21st, 2011

Please join us this Friday evening as Dan and I will be participating in this new concept boutique style Wedding Show.  This will be a stunning and original event that has been sponsored by our dear friends at Wedluxe. Magazine.  Like the concept of Wedluxe, all vendors have been hand picked and are by invite only.  This will make for an enjoyable experience discussing your plans and dreams amongest the industries cream of the crop  Wedding Professionals. 

Stop by and say Hi... we would love to see you!

Cheers,

Dan and Laura Forbes

Blue Six Creative | Wedding, Engagement & Lifestyle Photography

Once again we give you one of our favorite vender's... Blue Six Creative! We asked them a few questions and a bit about what makes them rock.




Blue Six Creative is a collective of photographers who are passionate at what they do and push themselves to photograph people in a different point of view and also come together to support the group and the photographers inside. Each photographer has their own unique style and technique with some overlaps with other photographers. We also have different pricing between our photographers, so we can try and cater to clients with different budgets. We welcome people to view our main website at www.bluesixcreative.com and to check out our blog where you can see our current work (www.bluesixcreative.com/blog) We would appreciate if you follow us on facebook and join our fan page to see special promotions, new work and to simply hang out with us. ( http://www.facebook.com/Blue.Six.Creative.Photographers )



1. Why do you love being a Wedding Photographer? Our wedding photographers get a buzz off shooting a wedding for a client and watching how the day unfolds. By being there and the ability to move around freely and shoot as the wedding unfolds allows for us to be "storytellers". Then when the client views the images from the wedding and shows appreciation to our work allows for the loop to close on the event and the process. Engagement photography is very interesting and rewarding also... since it allows us to get closer to the couple and show off their relationship through pictures and emotion. Therefore, by hanging around with a couple and shooting some images of them as a couple and getting to know them through the entire planning process makes us more connected with the couple on their wedding day where we can see all the planning come together as we sit back and watch as an observer trying to focus on the little details and all the interaction of the day.



2. How did you get into the Photography Business? All of our photographers got into the business for just the simple love of taking photos to freeze life and preserve it. Some of our photographers enjoy traveling the world on trips (before they have kids) and enjoy photographing different cultures and some of our photographers are at the point in their lives that family and kids are important and they spend a great amount of time photographing their own personal lives. One of our photographers is a national newspaper photojournalist and he enjoys shooting in a unique and natural way. The great things with shooting weddings is... WEDDINGS ARE A BLAST! They are all different and unique and also different cultures changes it up a bit and makes it exciting with the new traditions we learn along the way. (Who doesn't love to go to weddings?)

3. What has been your favorite Wedding that you have captured? Last fall we received a email from a bride asking us if we would be interested in shooting a "surprise wedding"? Sure... what do you mean surprise? It happened to be that they couple got engaged and didn't tell one sole! Not even a best friend... and not even their parents. What they planned is the groom would email everyone they knew and invite them to an Art Gallery in the Distillery District where everyone would be inside and behind a curtain in a room. Then the couple would casually walk into the gallery and he would then propose to her in the gallery and everyone would come out to have a little celebration with drinks and finger food. So without anybody knowing that they were about to attend a wedding... everyone trickled into the venue before the couple and waited until they were completely "bam-booze-ald" (if that is a word) that a wedding would break out and they were all guests to this unique wedding. It was so cool to be at the venue acting like staff of the venue with our cameras hidden right before the "reveal".

Also, if we had to pick an engagement session that was really neat to capture it would be this one that we just did: http://bluesixcreative.com/blog/julia-kyle-in-love-sneak-peek/



4. Where do you see your company going in the next 5 years? On the same path that we are going. Just building it one client after another and trying to do more for the client than they expect. We also are trying really hard to connect with wedding professionals that we love that bring a certain vibe to a wedding. Many brides come to us for advice since they connect with us early in the process.. so it's nice to help them along and offer advice and past experiences to help them shape their wedding into something unique and memorable.

5. Why do we love you? What makes you special? Photographers in Toronto are hard to find and narrow down. We all have different styles and they way we edit the pictures after. Not to mention we all have different packages that range in price-points. Then once you find one... are they free for your wedding? We have a collective of photographers and if we single one out... we know that their shooting style might not match some people that hit our website and view their images. On the other hand... it works the other way also when that photographer will get singled out by a bride planning and we hear that their stuff is different than the other photographers websites. We love to work with people who love our style. It's a hard question to answer since each of our photographers are different. One of the really cool things is that we work on a team in the collective and we come together to help out the other photographers if they are shooting a challenging event and need some help. We just like how we are together and we help each other.



Thanks alot for answering our questions! We look forward to working along with you again real soon!

Wild Orchid Creations Blog - Jack & Ye's Wedding

Wild Orchid Creations was the photographer for the wedding Dan was at a couple of weeks ago. They blogged about their experience and included some great photos.
Here is what they had to say!

Ye and Jack had a small, intimate wedding at Fantasy Farm. When we first arrived and were supposed to do family portraits on the grounds, it started to rain. It frightened us, but luckily the rain stopped just in time for the ceremony and provided Ye and Jack with gorgeous weather after all.


The bridal party performed a very funny choreographed dance for everyone:

To see pictures visit this link: http://www.wildorchidcreations.com/blog/



www.wildorchidcreations.com

NightinGail Photography - Gail Kenney

Gail is a truly gifted photographer based out of the Barrie area. She captures weddings in a phenomenal style and is wonderful to work along with. Check out her website at www.nightingailphotography.com and in the meantime, here are the questions we asked her and her responses.



1. Why do you love being a photographer?

I have the best job in the world. I love being able to photograph people and transform those fleeting moments in a life into a format that will become a timeless precious heirloom. I have always loved taking pictures and being a photographer has allowed me the opportunity to provide creative images for those special moments in peoples' lives like weddings. Because I am such a people-person, my business has specialized in photographing weddings and life-style portraits.



2. How did you get into this business?

I actually "fell" into the business. I have always loved photography and had been taking photos ever since I was a little girl. When I got married, I realized that I wanted to put my "hobby" into capturing those special events like weddings. I wanted to be the person on the other side of the camera who could get just the "right" image that makes the statement for each particular event. I was strongly encouraged by my husband to use my talent to open NightinGail Photography and that was five years ago. I have never looked back!



3. What is your favorite wedding that you have ever captured?

That's a hard one. I have a lot of favourites but I guess the most unique weddings are the ones that really stick in my mind like Edmund & Eve's. She had one of the most unique gowns I had ever seen and she had planned such a special surprise for her husband - an antique car to drive them around after the ceremony at the haunted church - St. Columbekill in Uptergrove.



4. Where do you see your company going in the next five years?

We are growing! I now have two second shooters who work with me on a regular basis. We are also expanding our home studio and will be moving into a new location, hopefully in the fall. In five years, I want to be photographing even more special friends and clients!




5. Why do we love you? What makes you special?

I am an extremely passionate person who gives 110% of myself to each and every client's wedding day. I custom design all of our albums and make sure that my clients are 110% satisfied with the outcome of their day, their prints and canvases and their albums.

I am the "real" deal and what you see, is what you get - trustworthy, reliable and honest in all of my business and personal dealings with friends, family, clients and business associates. I also have a great laugh and do see the humour in most situations!



Thank you Gail! We are looking forward to working with you this upcoming season!

Dan and Laura Forbes

Irina Photography - Irina and Mihkel Fortey, Photographers Extraordinaire!

Irina and Mihkel are a fabulous couple and have mastered the art of photography, giving you a truly amazing package when booking a Photographer for your wedding. Take a minute to visit their website at www.irinaphotography.ca, you won't be disappointed.



1. Why do you love being a photographer?

I have a fascination with history and documenting it in photographs. This is my way of freezing moments to share with others. I also love working with people and hence, it has lead me to cater to documenting weddings and family portraits.


2. How did you get into this business?

My university degree is in Business and Economics which was my first love. While studying a friend recommended a job in a photolab, which I took at that time ... well that changed my life! I absolutely fell in love with the process and soon after began photographing everything and everyone I knew. After my graduation from Business School, I went on to study photography and 2 years later had my certification. Today, I specialize in capturing people at their most beautiful moments in life.


3. What is your favorite wedding that you have ever captured?

This is a hard question, as every wedding has a special connection to me. It's always an honor to witness a couple or a new family interact in front of my camera. I am blessed to have the best job in the world!





4. Where do you see your company going in the next five years?

I am a believer that opportunities are always around the corner. Every industry has its ups and down, as well, new technology continues to change the market. Just as film and prints has moved to digital and files I feel it is important for the industry to share its knowledge for the betterment of the consumer.


5. Why do we love you? What makes you special?

Anything less than perfect is unacceptable, that's my philosophy! My client know they will get my full attention with every wedding or portrait commission! Because I care about my work, my clients always go home happy.



Thank you Irina! We are looking forward to working with you again this upcoming season!

Dan and Laura

Jennifer Images - A Terrific Photography Experience!

Jennifer has been a longtime friend of ours in the Wedding Industry. We work with her numerous times every year and we are always amazed at the quality of her work. Check out her website at www.jenniferimages.ca



1. Why do you love being a photographer?

Photography is such a gratifying field because it allows me to express my creativity.

Being a photographer also allows me to see things, people and places that normally would be off limits to me.

It is a very exciting career.


2. How did you get into this business?

My very first job at the ripe old age of 15, was a sales position at Blacks cameras.

There were a few good benefits to that job, such as getting to demo all of the new cameras and gear.

This is were my passion for photography began, and continued for many years.

Of course it wasn't until many years later, with thoughts of choosing a different career path than the one I was on, that photography as a business entered my mind.

I guess you could say that once I realized what I didn't want, I knew what I did want.



3. What is your favorite wedding that you have ever captured?

There are a few weddings that really stand out in my mind, but honestly my favorite wedding, would be the wedding of Justin and Laura, at the Old Mill in Toronto, On April 4th, last year.

Justin and Laura were really genuine people, whose kindness and friendship have remained in the minds of Lisa (my second shooter) and myself .

The family bond they all had for one another and the way that they so readily added us to their list of friends was unforgettable.

4. Where do you see your company going in the next five years?

Over the next five years Jennifer Images will continue to be a personal company, that won't lose site of the importance of the relationships we form with our clients.

While our style will continue to grow, it is those personal relationships with our clients, that are the key to our definition of success.

Mutual respect, honesty and friendship are what make our clients comfortable during our sessions, and what ultimately produces the best images.

5. Why do we love you? What makes you special?

Why do you love me?

Because I'm genuine.

You love me because I believe that human relationships are so very important, even in the business world.

You love me because I'm reliable and responsible, and I do what I say I'm going to do.




Thanks Jennifer, I hope those who visit our blog will take the time to learn more about you and business. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Cheers,

Dan and Laura

Martin Kolditz MGX Productions - Videographer

This week we have decided to feature our favorite videographer and friend Martin Kolditz. His work is truly amazing and having seen him in action, he does so in such a non intrusive way. I recommend checking out his work and contacting him through his website www.mgxproductions.com

1. Why do you love being a videographer?
What I really love is seeing the couple's reactions when seeing their video for the first time. Makes all my hard work worth it.

2. How did you get into this business?
I started off by doing a friend's wedding video for free as a favor. Then I thought, "Hey, I could make some money doing this!"

3. What is your favorite wedding that you have ever captured?
I shot a friend's wedding in California in 2008. Not only was the weather amazing, but the wedding took place on a beautiful beach at sunset.

4. Where do you see your company going in the next five years?
The sky's the limit. In addition to offering HD exclusively, I'll also be offering Steadicam in the springtime. I welcome growth, however, as I've said from the start, I don't want my business to become too big as to replace quality with quantity.

5. Why do we love you? What makes you special?
From the get-go, I try to instill a foundation of friendship with the couples that I meet. This way, the whole process is much more relaxed, and the couples feel a level of comfort that might not be possible with a traditional "business-like" relationship.


Thanks for being a part of our blog Martin and we hope to bump into you again soon at another fantastic wedding!

Dan and Laura

James Lee, An Amazing Photographer!

Recently we asked a few of our favorite vendors a couple of questions about themselves to feature on our new blog. Over the next few months we will be featuring one a week. This week we are starting with James Lee. We work along with James frequently throughout the wedding season and always love snooping his website after a wedding that we were at to see just how amazing his photography really is. I certainly hope that you snoop around his site as well. www.jamesleephoto.com

1. Why do you love being a photographer?

I love being a photographer because I'm passionate about people, I love connecting with people especially on their wedding day; I really consider it to be the highest honour to be selected to be part of a couples' wedding day. I love being able to capture a small glimpse of the emotion between a couple that I think really resonates everything about their connection.



2. How did you get into this business?

I'm not really sure, to be honest I started shooting in the late 80's when I was finishing up high-school. Like many other photographers my professional photography career started as an interest, that turned into an avid hobby. Early on I realized that I loved the interaction I would have shooting portraits so being a people photographer was definitely for me, eventually this led me to specializing in Weddings.



3. What is your favorite wedding that you have ever captured?


I have built so many friendships with couples over the years it's hard to pick a favourite, however in 2009 I must say I was most moved by the speeches at Gillian & Dan's wedding. I was so impressed by how much love the couples' families had for each other and how much Gillian's Brothers loved her and how they showed their support for her on her wedding day.



4. Where do you see your company going in the next five years?

I don't see much change in my company over the next five years, I really just want to continue to grow as an artist, and have good fortune to build more relationships in the wedding industry. I really hope to grow my business to cater to couples who care deeply about their wedding imagery.




5. Why do we love you? What makes you special?

Ha ha, I'm not sure what makes me special, although, based on what I've learned over the past 10 years, I approach each wedding the same way and that's to show up like an old friend with a fancy camera. My business is my clients, and I feel like I'm performing at every wedding I photograph, and my commitment is to give my clients my heart and soul for their day.



Thanks so much James!

Were looking forward working with you this 2010!

Dan and Laura