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

Caffino Ristorante Wedding | Alysha + Malcolm

"Ally shot our engagement and our wedding. She did an amazing job. Her photography skills are excellent and she had a good eye for detail. She was approachable and very easy to work with."

Thank you Alysha and Malcolm for leaving me such a sweet review on Google

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. 

Toronto Island Engagement | Maha + Salman

Engagement session's not only a perfect excuse for a soon-to-be-married couple to get some lifestyle photos to document their dating slash engagement life but also a great opportunity for a wedding photographer and the couple to get to know each other before the wedding day. Speaking of which, Maha and Salman offered me rum and coke before the their engagement session started. I thought that told us something about this professionally successful yet fun couple. Maha and Salman were both strong-minded and driven. They had been dating for about a year before they're engaged and were very passionate for each other. We spent a fun afternoon on Toronto Islands and took most of the engagement photos on Centre Island. Sometimes I felt being an engagement photographer can be quite different from being a wedding photographer. An engagement's more like an elopement. While going into a wedding day, a wedding photographer got to meet and greet and photography not only the bride and groom but their wedding party and friends and families, an engagement photographer spent an intimate time with just the couple. While on a wedding day, a wedding photographer observed and documented moments and emotions, an engagement photographer although didn't necessarily create those moments and emotions, I had to facilitate and intuitively capture the fleeting moments and genuine emotions. We posed too and we tried to make those posed pictures look effortless. I've been to different parts of Toronto Islands for various occasions - engagement sessions, wedding receptions, wedding ceremonies, personal leisure trips (click here to see a wedding ceremony I shot on Ward's Island and click here to see another quieter engagement session that felt quite different from Maha and Salman's) . It's a special location that's so close to the city (10 minutes ferry from downtown Toronto) yet felt so different. I've also been to the islands in different seasons. The islands looked unique in each. I must also admit that I have some special feelings for taking a ferry. There's something nostalgic and romantic about taking a ferry (or water taxi in this case for Maha and Salman's engagement lol). 

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

Spring Engagement Photos in Toronto | Annum + Abdullah

As a documentary wedding photographer specialized in making candid, in-the-moment pictures, I used to struggled with engagement sessions. Like many of my marrying couples, posing is not my favourite thing. As time goes by, I do have a different perspective and appreciate an engagement session before the wedding day. So are most of my clients. My brides and grooms are happy with a casual portrait session that gets them used to the camera and they always find the engagement pictures come out more natural than they've expected. I also learn to have a lot of fun with alternative and creative approach to posing. This engagement session with Annum and Abdullah in Allan Gardens in downtown Toronto is no exception. We are originally planning for a Spring engagement but as unpredictable as Toronto's weather can get, there's no surprise that we have to make last minute changes to the previous engagement idea. Allan Gardens is a perfect, alternative indoor space for good quality lighting and some green which most of the other indoor locations lack. I'm certainly adding Allan Gardens, this amazingly decent greenhouse to my list of favourite unique engagement locations in Toronto. Especially in the Toronto winter or a belayed Spring, what's better than staying in the warm but still creatively getting images like those taken out in the nature. These images, some natural candids and some artistically posed portraits, truly reflect these two's fun personalities and strong connection to each other. I can't wait to photograph Annum and Abdullah's Milton wedding in May!

Saint Lawrence Market Wedding | Jina + Paul

I was happy to have done yet another urban wedding at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. As much I love photographing destination weddings and outdoor weddings in the greatest nature, I also felt that city weddings are always the core of it all. At least for myself, I started in photography with a strong interest in street photography. The people, the faces, the interactions, the movements, the culture, the decisive moments that got captured in a city, on the street always fascinated me. It never failed to give me tremendous fun to have a photo walk in a foreign city. In fact, that's what most of my travel photos were made up of. Lots of candid portraits of people in urban settings. To document love and urban weddings in Toronto's city core gave me comfort and joy. Jina and Paul were city people. They're quite hipster by my definition. I always felt that hipsters were those with a free spirit and an unique style. They're open minded and happy to have an alternative approach to things. They didn't try too hard to be different but they also didn't seem to care for fitting in. Jina and Paul were super easy going when I suggested weird ideas for creative wedding photos. It's such great fun working with these two and their young bridal party and loving friends. 

Lots of love,

Ally