Family and friends play an important part in Brandy and Todd’s lives so when they were planning their September wedding  they took care to  incorporate both into their special day.  This included having me shoot their spring engagement photos during sugaring season at the family sugar shack that Todd’s grandfather built several years ago and where family and friends helped produce the maple syrup that Brandy and Todd gave to their guests on their wedding day.

Brandy and the girls got ready at Brandy and Todd’s Parry Sound home and we got some shots with Brandy and the girls and Brandy with her parents before heading off to the church.  As is the case in many churches no flash was allowed however the light from the church’s large stained glass windows added some great natural light to the ceremony.   After Brandy and Todd greeted friends and family at a receiving line outside the church we did the family shots at one of Parry Sound’s great parks, using the Sequin River as a backdrop.  Just before heading off to Brandy and Todd’s Georgian Bay Cottage for wedding party and Bride and Groom shots, Brandy’s brother Bob took a bad spill on some wet grass and had to head over to the local hospital.  We continued on the marina and made our way down the Bay to the cottage where we got some great shots of Brandy and Todd with their wedding party, and alone as a married couple.

While the skies threatened rain most of the day it held off until we got all our shots in and we making our way to the reception hall.  Brother Bob was able to rejoin us there, with the help of crutches.

I shoot a lot of receptions and one of the things  I really love about them is they almost always provide some great insight into the couple, their family and friends.  This was certainly the case with Brandy and Todd’s reception.   One example of  this was when Todd surprised Brandy with an original song “Forever Starts Tonight”,  that he and a friend professionally produced specifically for Brandy.  Todd sang the song to Brandy and convinced me and many others, both that he has a great voice and the song has good commercial potential.  A bit later another deeply meaningful guesture was when Todd presented his father with a guitar that his father had used extensively in his younger years.  Todd and Brandy had the guitar restored to its glory days condition, another demonstration of  the importance of family to these two.

Mary-Lyn and DJ have been in love with each other for many years.  Although they now live in Barrie, they have strong ties to the Parry Sound area and they had planned for their early September wedding to be on the back deck of the Stockey Center.  During our walk about a few months earlier we had selected a number of great Georgian Bay shoreline locations for post ceremony images. 

As it turned out the day of Mary-Lyn and DJ’s wedding we had one of the wildest rain and wind storms in years.   The wild weather required that the location of the wedding and the post cermony shots be changd to inside locations but it did nothing to dampen the strong feelings these two have for each other.

When I connected with the girls, while they were in the later stages of getting ready, it was clear that the strong wind and rain could not put out the sparkle in Mary-Lyn’s eyes.  The ceremony was held inside the Stockey Center’s large performance hall/reception center and then we went up to the second level and balcony area to get shots that captured some of the atmosphere and passion of the day.  Part way through the reception, the rain and wind stopped for about 15 minutes allowing us to slip out side and get some, after dark shots of DJ and Mary-Lyn with the Big Sound in the background.