Because of all my recent travels I am a little bit behind with my blogging, but I am working on getting up to date
This past Saturday I photographed Cayley and Ian’s wonderful wedding. I will write about this later.
When we first started discussing their wedding package, Ian suggested we took their engagement photos up in Collingwood where his parents own a gorgeous cottage. So off we went on a very cold November day. The drive up was simply magic! (in a few days I will share some of the images I took on the occasion).
Even though Cayley and Ian almost froze in the end, we had so much fun together and took full advantage of the light and the unique decor.
The photos we took that day ended up in a beautiful guest signing book at their wedding reception which marveled many of their guests.

Will be back with more on this beautiful couple’s union journey. M

I first met Reyhaneh and Will a few years ago while photographing Will’s beautiful sister’s wedding. Little did I know what this would lead to. I have to say I was super excited when Will contacted me to let me know about their decision to get married down South and asking me to be a creative part of it. Again, little did I know…Only a few short days before our departure to Los Cabos we met to take some fun engagement shots. I do not think I have seen a more excited and playful girl! I was literally not even finishing a sentence suggesting them what to do next that Reyhaneh, with a huge, infectious smile on her face, would already climb a pile of bricks or place herself appropriately against a fun backdrop. I was so taken by her playfulness and willingness to simply enjoy the experience that I knew what was waiting for me just a few days down the road. Well, that is another story I will have to reveal sometime soon, so stay tuned.

All I can say for now is that words cannot describe how I feel when I recall our adventures, thank you for becoming such fantastic friends. Love, Manuela

I know I said this before, but I love Churchill Park. It is my oasis 10 minutes away from where I live. I take walks there to clear my head and simply take in the smell of leaves and the fantastic views over downtown Toronto. I walked there a few days ago and, to my disappointment, all the graffiti was gone! Therefore, Mona & Emon were the last to get some cool vibrant engagement photos against it. That day was quite something! It started with light rain and then, all of a sudden, the clouds broke into white puffy patches just to make room for an amazing blue sky. The sun started to shine, the light became beautiful and warm, we had a blast! Even more exciting, Mona and Emon decided to get married down South. I can’t wait to join them in Punta Cana in January! M

Kathryn & Duncan are getting married this weekend, I can’t believe how fast time goes by. They wanted to get an urban feel for their engagement photos, so I figured Union Station may be a great starting point for something like this. I thought of how beautifully the light falls in between the tall columns, while also keeping the nearby buildings in mind. But again, I was surprised with the little finds along the way. As we were moving around I noticed mirrors and shiny marble surfaces that sparked the imagination and playfulness. Guys, thank you for being so great, spontaneous and relaxed, I am sure your wedding day will simply be fantastic and fun filled! See you in a bit! Hug, Manuela

I met Liz while shooting a lovely wedding a couple of years ago. She was one of the bridesmaids. I was very pleased when she contacted me asking if I would photograph her own event. I did not know exactly what to expect when she mentioned they would like to have their engagement photos taken in their own backyard. When I arrived I was blown away with the abundance of inspiring corners. We literally played around for a couple of hours. Their interaction was so dynamic, cheerful and lovely that it made it so very easy for me to capture all the images below. I think it is pretty obvious how everything went that day! I very much look forward to celebrating more with you guys! Hug, M

I live in the Annex. One of the reasons why I love my neighborhood is that it offers such a great variety of cool spots and different looks. Old beautiful churches, stone walls, lovely parks. One of my favorite ‘playgrounds’ is Churchill Park. Because it has everything: little hills, trees, colourful walls, even graffiti. I do not think I could have thought of a better place for lovely Andrea & Matt’s engagement photos. These two really fit in. The softness of the greens and yellows, the interesting structures went very well with their calm and nonchalance. I had fun watching them being themselves and I hope they enjoyed the experience as much. Looking at the images we got I like to believe this was the case.

I truly look forward to their nuptials, they are simply a joy to spend time with. Hug, M

Melissa and Mark are getting married this October at the quaint King Edward hotel. They love downtown Toronto, so do I. I am always super excited whenever I get to shoot around my favorite part of town. I am a downtown girl and I simply love it! We had so much fun with our engagement session. Melissa recommended the area around Ryerson as she has studied there and loved the look of some of the old stones. Such a nice flavor to add to our images! This, combined with some of the spring colours, made for a wonderful decor for Melissa and Mark’s sweet and romantic side to come out.

Looking forward to the wedding day! M

It is interesting how ‘explorable’ some places are. No matter how many times they get to be visited, there are still little surprises hiding around corners…this is the case with the Toronto Harbourfront. Mostly very busy, on the day of the shoot the usual crowds were somehow missing, maybe due to the rain threat. Lucky us, as the light was absolutely incredible. My very sweet ‘models’, Giselle and Anthony, were so good! Not only I diverted them from our original plan, but I got them to step on moving platforms, jump into docked boats, walk up and down little hills. I know they were tired at the end, but content with the adventure I am sure, as the colours were truly fantastic. Some of the photos even look like they could have been taken on the East Coast… Well, I guess sometimes mind travel is better than no travel at all

I look forward to your wedding this summer, dear Giselle and Anthony! Enjoy the warm weather until then and prepare yourselves for some fun! Yours truly.

High Park is not quite off the beaten path and is always a busy spot. Yet, when spring hits, I can’t think of a better location which is rich and colourful and constantly inspiring. Sadly, we missed the Japanese cherry blossoms which are always a delight to experience and would have worked so well with beautiful Kiyomi’s half Japanese descent. But we were still fortunate enough to find a lot of flowers around which made for a soft, dreamy like backdrop. Kiyomi and Jaish will get married this summer at Atlantis by the lake. Their wedding images will be quite different, so altogether the 2 collections will provide the couple with some amazing visual memories of such an exciting and important year of their lives.

Looking forward to your day! Hug, M

Laura and Greg will get married this summer. One warmer day at the beginning of April, we went down to the Harbourfront for their engagement photo shoot. As much as I love the sun, it was casting some harsh shadows on their faces that day and I felt bad to see how hard they were trying not to squint. Regardless, we ended up with a happy collection of photographs depicting who they are and how they feel for each other. I loved shooting there as the place truly felt like our own playground, generously offering inspiring elements as backdrops.

Thank you Laura and Greg for being such sports, I look forward to spending more fun time in August!