Gladstone Lower West Side NYE 2016 | Small Wedding Venue Toronto

The New Year Eve countdown at the Gladstone is an unique, must-go spot for those of you who're into fun themed parties with an artistic crowd. Everybody dressed as they're in the Roaring Twenties in the Lower West Side. The Gladstone Hotel itself is a historical 19th century Victorian building with lots of characters. This night, the unique venue is dressed up in vintage and classic designs. The fun, hipster crowd come in nostalgic yet trendy costumes. Don't think this is only for party animals in their early twenties. Some of the best dressed guests are in their 50s and 60s. Who says there's an age limit for being playful. This is the work hard, play hard crowd. The living life to its fullest crowd. I enjoy a lot making documentary, candid pictures at this amazing party with photojournalistic eyes. As I'm photographing the NYE party, I fall more in love with this intimate venue. It makes an unique small wedding venue in downtown Toronto. It's a one of a kind space in the core urban area. The artist-designed hotel rooms upstairs also make the perfect space for getting ready photos. I know that the Gladstone hosts intimate weddings and I have to yet to finally photograph a wedding here. Inside out, The Gladstone has a lot of potential for photography for a wedding day. Urban brides and hipster grooms or just any couple who are throwing an intimate wedding and are looking for a local, unique wedding venue should definitely take a look at the Gladstone. If you end up choosing this venue, I wish I will be there to document it. I promise to make the most out of your special day. xoxo.

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. 

Post Wedding Photoshoot | Anna + Dave, Part 3

Click to see part 1 and part 2 of Anna and Dave's wedding day at The National Club.

I was thrilled when Anna reached out to me for a post-wedding photo shoot. In Asia, brides and grooms were accustomed to a pre-wedding photoshoot where brides and grooms put on their wedding gown and suit prior to their wedding day and have the leisure of getting their wedding portraits done in studio or outdoor without the stress of a busy wedding day. A post wedding photoshoot is the same idea but as the name suggests it takes place after wedding.  Both pre-wedding photo sessions and post-wedding photo sessions give the bride and groom more time to enjoy not just the process of taking wedding portraits but also each other's company in such an intimate time. Pre-wedding photoshoot sometimes replaces an engagement session. Personally, I find an e-session essential as it's more relax and personal. I like to call engagement sessions a lifestyle photoshoot. If possible, I prefer the wedding day photography to be dominantly photojournalistic as those moments and interactions and emotions with and in front of loved ones are so precious. It worths every effort to document. It's a luxury for a candid wedding photographer to focus on documenting a wedding day as it is. That's where the post wedding photoshoot comes in handy. On one hand it helps the bride and groom to take some stress out and focus on enjoying the wedding day and on the other hand it allows the bride and groom to feel for the intimacy as wife and husband once again soon after a busy wedding day which often goes by too quickly. From their engagement photos to their wedding day photos to these post wedding photos, I witnessed the love between Anna and Dave evolved. At least that's how I felt when I looked at their photographs. 

Lots of love,

Ally

Toronto National Club Wedding | Anna + Dave, Part 2

"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.

Click here to see part 1 of Anna and Dave's wedding and heart felt description of this Toronto urban wedding.

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