We decided to just having a nice casual day of wine tasting in the wine country. I had to pick out some spots and who better to ask than my buddy DFang. David, a wine consultant, invites me to go up to wine country a few times a year where I get hammered while he has sophisticated conversations with industry people, classy.

The weather was amazing and the light was perfect with a slightly overcast day with pockets of sun near the end of the shoot. We went around to a few spots to enjoy the afternoon and stopped whenever we saw something cool. Very relaxed and casual and it absolutely shows in the images!

Sana and Ali met in NYC so the city has a very special place in their hearts as it was clear that they LOVE the city. So naturally, we captured their engagement session in the Big Apple. The e-shoot was more like hanging out than a session as Sana and Ali played host to the city and took us around to capture little pockets of the city that was significant to them. Most memorably being a restaurant called Graffiti!! The place is the size of my room but food was the most F***ING AMAZING thing I put in my mouth!! (TWSS) My dream is to travel around and live in each city for a couple months, NYC would definitely be at the top of my list!

Sana put so much thought and attention to detail into this e-shoot, planning all the locations and the themes that they wanted. Weather was complete shit because of the record breaking snow storm we had but we totally just shoved it aside and made the best freaking images possible! Mad props to Sana and Ali for troopering through all my ridiculous requests to pose on the Brooklyn bridge in crazy winds, lay down next to snow in Central Park, etc, etc. Not to mention we shot through Sana’s fever!! That’s dedication for all my future brides!!

Couldn’t have done this shoot without Pris! Can’t say how much I thoroughly enjoyed shooting it this city, it is so amazingly photogenic that it is difficult to get bad photos of NYC! O yea..Sana and Ali was alright too..I guess

I love how the relationship has developed into a friendship! Thank you guys for this amazing opportunity to shoot in this beautiful city! SUPER EXCITED AND CANNOT WAIT FOR THE WEDDING IN MAY!!!!

Check out the slideshow here! and also a feature here at MaharniBride.com!

The wedding began with Christine’s getting ready at her friends beautiful home! The ladies were having a lot of fun since they planned the day so that nothing is cramped together and there was a lot of time to just enjoy the day!

The church is very dear to the couple as they are an active part of the community so tons of friends and family attended the beautiful ceremony.

After the ceremony was out of the way, thing became more relaxed and we moved on to Rosetta McClain Gardens for the photo session with the bride and groom and wedding party. Super energetic group and everyone was just having a lot of fun during this time! After a good time with the wedding party, we pulled Christine and James out for a few more intimate photos.

The night ended off with a reception dinner that the couple put a lot of thought into. The night was filled with funny speeches and awesome games! Even ended with some Rock Band!!

Remember to check out their crazy photobooth!!

Floral design by Ribbon Boutique Floral Designs.

All the best, Christine and James!

Dear Rocky,

Although your work speaks for itself, we just wanted to tell you that working with you goes beyond just hiring a photographer. Planning a wedding is hard work and often scary for a bride and groom because the element of disaster is always there and the last thing any bride and groom wants is to look at their wedding pictures months and years down the line and be reminded of anything but the love, emotions and glitter of that day. Needless to say, we had a lot of chaos throughout our day and it was hard to take everything in as time flew by. But when we were losing track and stressing out, you put on a smile for us, assured us that “everything is great” and insisted on capturing the moments we may not have been making the most of. At times like that is when your job was at it’s highest importance, because of your positive attitude and composure throughout the day when we saw the same day edits at the reception we knew it was all real and that it couldn’t have been more beautiful. I know it’s been said before that your photographs ooze emotion, but being the subject to some of your pictures, we can truly attest to the fact that when we look back and see ourselves in them we are transported back to that moment. You knew exactly what pictures to take, when to do it and how to because you understood how we would like to remember our wedding day. Thank you for working with us and helping us preserve the best moments of our special day. Your profesionalism with your friendship meant a lot to both of us. All the best for your future and we look forward to finding excuses and working with you again and again.

With lots of love
Arman and Sana.

Super touched by their kind comments and was a total pleasure to be a part of their day!

O! And here is their wedding featured on Toronto Wedding Blog – Sash and Satin.

A few more images from Sana and Arman’s wedding!

Cheers!

Kiwi is a Shetland Sheepdog. She is the second of a litter of 5. The eldest being a male and the rest female. She’s super sweet and energetic as all puppies are! She learns so quickly and is eager to please. My mom, who is not much of a dog person, it now totally in love with her!

Pris and I often go to a local dog park because we both love dogs! It’s so weird because we would talk to all the friendly people at the park and when the topic comes up to “which one is your’s?”, we would always awkwardly say….”O..we don’t own a dog, we just came here to look other people’s!”. Make us look like dog-nappers! Now we can bring Kiwi there and wouldn’t be weirdos!

Prepare for an onslaught of photos of Kiwi on the blog!!

The wedding day was a very casual and light day, the couple had spent a lot of time doing their own decors and it fit right into the beautiful, rustic environment that Berkeley Field House has to offer! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place!! This wedding had Etsy written all over it!

Here are a few of my favourite images of the day!

Click here for the slideshow!

Enjoy

They had a traditional Vietnamese engagement ceremony which is considered very important in the Vietnamese culture. Back in the day, this is essentially when both families would meet for an arranged marriage. Safe to say this is probably not the first time Thanh and Henry met!

The ceremony was hosted at Thanh’s place, everyone pitched in to prepare for the Henry’s arrival with his family. The groom’s side arrives bearing gifts as a tradition. These gifts include betel leaves and areca nut fruits (trau cau), wine, tea, husband-wife cake (banh phu the), sticky rice, other foods, and jewelry. They are placed in red trays as red will bring good luck, very similar to Chinese culture! In addition to the other foods, a whole pig is roasted is to be carried in by two of Henry’s buddies. The bride’s family graciously accept the gifts and the families meet inside. The groom’s side representative asks the bride’s family for her hand to be united with the groom. Thanh appears and you can tell Henry’s anticipation by his smile! The couple offer a prayer to the ancestors asking for approval of the marriage. Then Henry drop a knee and for a traditional proposal in front of the families! The families formally introduce each other and everything is official! Then it’s on to the amazing feast that Thanh’s family prepared!

I’m amazed at the similarities of the Vietnamese culture and rituals with the Chinese culture! I’m so thankful to be able to be a part of this ceremony and seeing so many different cultures all the time!

Can’t wait for Thanh and Henry’s wedding next year in July! Stay tuned for their upcoming engagement session!

Enjoy!

Pris designed it because apparently I have no design senses…

Click here for the slideshow of the layout!

Cheers!

Simat and JT are truly awesome clients! They spent a great deal of time and effort into every detail to make sure the wedding ran smoothly. We had many conversations prior to make sure we had plenty of time to include everything, an important key in planning every wedding! Best of all, EVERYTHING WAS ON TIME!! For all future brides, if you cram the rundown of your wedding without allowing for things like travel time, traffic and people being late, you’re setting yourself up to be late!

The festivities started out with Sangeet parties for both sides of the family. These guys are all party animals! Family and friends showered Simat and JT their best wishes and blessings in the pre-wedding ceremonies.

The wedding day was eventful yet not jammed packed. We started out with the both sides getting ready. Like every wedding, everyone was running around trying to get everything ready for various rituals but at the same time, everyone was having a great time! The ceremony at the gurdwara was simple yet beautiful. JT’s family is in the textile business and own a factory with lots of cool machines! While this is very unique and I thought it was totally awesome, we figured that the factory is a bit too grungy for the wedding day. Having said that, I couldn’t give up the opportunity and we snuck in half an hour there to get some kick-ass shots! Finally, the reception was pretty crazy, close to 1000 people!! After a few speeches and performances, the party got started and the dances did not stop once it started! They even got me to dance!! I was terrible… Guests were having a blast with our photobooth too!

Simat and JT, you two deserve nothing but the best! We wish you a life time of joy and happiness together!

For the full slideshow, go here:

Enjoy!

Big thanks to my friend Chris and Preston for helping me out for the day!

Photography: ROKChoi Photography
Make up: Ruchika @ Le Sonne Bridal
Sangeet Venue: Chandni Convention Center
Gurdwara: Mississauga Dixie Gurdwara
Wedding Venue: Versailles Banquet Hall