Hart House Engagement | Shaarifa + Talha

Shaarifa was born and raised in London, U.K.. She and Talha met in Toronto. They're one of my many long distance couples. Shaarifa wanted an engagement location in Toronto that had a British flare, nineteenth century buildings that'd reminder her of British architectures. She had her eye on Hart House and University of Toronto's downtown campus during her regular visit in Toronto. These beautiful architectures brought her back to London U.K. where she chose to leave behind for her new page with Talha in Toronto. We had a sunrise engagement session at Hart House. The dusk colours made it looked like as it's romantic, cloudy day in London only with more stunning colours as the sun rose. For the entire time, Shaarifa and Talha couldn't stop smiling and chitchatting among themselves. Their approachable personalities and love for each other was evident in every engagement photo. The physical distance between them had only strengthened their relationship over the years. Now they're ready to move forward to live a married life together, I wish them a lot of happiness.

To Shaarifa, Toronto welcomes you.

xx, Ally

Auberge du Pommier Wedding | Leayen and Anthony's Intimate Celebration

"Ally did our engagement session and wedding luncheon. She is a lovely photographer with a natural talent to capture those genuine moments in a unique and stunning way. I loved how she even captured the small things going on with our guests in the background during the hectic luncheon. The photos received from both sessions were so beautiful; I'm so glad I selected Ally to capture our precious moments. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, Ally's pictures are worth a multitude more than a thousand.!"

Thank you Leayen and Anthony for leaving me such a sweet review on Google

I've been waiting for Leayen and Anthony's special day to come for two years. These two lovely reached out to me back in August 2014. I vividly remembered during our consultation, they mentioned that having a great time with close friends and family over good food and photography were the two things on the top of their wedding planning list. This couldn't go wrong. I thought in my head. Life got into the way and their wedding had to be postponed for a year to 2016 due to health issue. One year later, the same important people showed up in these two's simply luncheon reception in Auberge du Pommier and the party couldn't be better. Their choice of wedding venue reflected what's important to them. Their Auberge du Pommier wedding was intimate and minimalistic. It's a true, honest celebration that reflects Leayen and Anthony's down-to-earth personalities. I was extremely honour to be a part of this joyful day and thrilled that my bride and groom both loved how their wedding images turned out. Also on my end, the food at Auberge du Pommier was top-notch. I'm already missing that tuna steak I had...

Lots of love,
Ally

Caffino Wedding | Alysha + Malcolm

If you like this Caffino wedding and want to explore other similar venues with a cool vibe in downtown Toronto, you might enjoy seeing photos from my Berkeley Church wedding, Steamwhilstle wedding and this wedding at 99 Sudbury too.

Alysha and Malcolm are two loving souls. They are both registered nurses. When I first met these two they were a bit quiet and very sweet. As we get to know each other more, they appear to be two adventurous and down-to-earth young professionals. They chose a trip to Thailand for their honeymoon and had a lot of fun backpacking. I always adore backpackers as I'm a backpacker myself. I also find Alysha and Malcolm very charming with their professions, life experiences and personal values. In fact, these two almost eloped! It's a lot of fun photographing their wedding. Alysha and her bridesmaids had their getting ready at a cool Airbnb house in downtown Toronto. I had a few brides getting ready at Airbnb. I find that an amazing idea to have an unique space as well as to support local Toronto businesses/ residents. Then of course they picked one of the coolest small wedding venue in Toronto. Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, Caffino is a charming ex-factory space on King West, in Liberty Village. Caffino Ristorante is a cool Italian eatery with eclectic decor and rustic, urban interior design and industrial looking exterior - lots of bricks, concretes. It's a unique wedding venue for intimate wedding and for urban couples. It's a perfect fit for Alysha and Malcolm. The day was also a "when traditional meet modern" kind of wedding day when the traditional wedding ceremony and Alysha's family in those absolutely beautiful, colourful indian wedding guest outfits. Just when I thought the day was good enough, Alysha and Malcolm's guests turned out to be great dancers on the wedding dance floor, the outdoor dance floor where Alysha and Malcolm did their romantic first dance in sparklers.

Alysha, Malcolm, thank you so so much for having me on this cool, sweet, fun wedding day!

Lots of love,

Ally

Click here to see their engagement on Toronto Island. 

The National Club Toronto Wedding | Anna + Dave, Part 1

"Dave and I clicked with Ally right from the beginning! She was very open to our vision and she went above and beyond and created the most beautiful photos for our engagement and wedding. Her photos are unique, mixing vintage nostalgia with an urban flair. We had our wedding downtown in a historical venue. Ally was able to combine our love for things traditional with our love for the city life! It was such a pleasure working with you. Your calm and understand nature kept us sane through one of the most craziest and exciting moments in our lives. Thank you again!!" 

Thank you Anna and Dave for leaving me such a sweet review on Google.

Anna and Dave attracted rains. Three months before their wedding day, we drove for an hour for our first attempt to shoot their engagement photos in a lavender farm in Hamilton. Right before we arrived the farm it started pouring. We ended up turning back and rescheduling the engagement session for a better day. It was another rainy day comes their wedding in September. Many cultures believe that rain on a wedding day is good luck. As a wedding photographer, I enjoyed the texture found in rainy day wedding photos. It's moody and subtle. We started the day at the National Club where both the girls' and the boys' getting ready took place. The National Club is a great wedding venue for its classy look. Anna said it's Greek wedding traditions for the bride to return home before the wedding ceremony. So I followed her and her bridesmaids to Anna's parents' home to document some tears and laughers before we headed to Islington United Church. Islington United Church is a beautiful church in Toronto for weddings ceremonies I must say. The rustic look added more warmth to the wedding ceremony and made it a true celebration. In part 2, I will finish writing up Anna and Dave's unique wedding day (EDIT: part 2 is up now and I ended up saving Anna and Dave's post wedding photo shoot for a different entry - stay tuned for part 3). In the next post (or maybe in part 3 now that I think of it, just so I can keep each post short and sweet), you'll find their after session (EDIT: part 3, Anna and Dave's post wedding photoshoot slash more wedding portraits are here now) for that Anna and Dave wanted outdoor wedding photos on a off-location that they didn't have the time to get to on their wedding day. It's actually a great idea as it took the stress out from getting all pictures done on the wedding day when the bride and groom should really focus on enjoying the celebration. A post-wedding photoshoot or pre-wedding photoshoot for that matter can be more fun than the wedding day portrait and a good excuse to wear the wedding gown again on a different occasion. More importantly, it's about doing something that works for your unique wedding instead of worrying about getting the wedding day routines done.

Lots of love,

Ally