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Thursday, June 21st, 2012

Don’t you just love getting emails that say “your order has been shipped”, especially when they’re regarding album orders. I absolutely love when a project comes to completion and countless hours of work arrive at my doorstep in the form of a gorgeous album. I do a happy dance every time. The two kinds of albums that I usually print are guest books, and of course, wedding albums.

The guest book 
If you are deciding whether or not you should have one at your wedding, the answer is “Get it!” It showcases your engagement photos beautifully, and you’ll always have a nice album to remember that time by. Your guests will absolutely love flipping through the pages and having conversations over it. They will also be more eager to write their wishes for you when they know that you’re keeping that book forever. An album full of your engagement photos and best wishes is something that you will look back at and smile, melting over all the pleasant memories.

 

The wedding album
I’m sure you can easily guess what my opinion is regarding these. I’ve written about these albums before, and I still stand firmly by my “Every couple should have a wedding album” stance. If one is completely out of your budget for now, because let’s face it they are not exactly cheap, make sure to get one at a later date. Set yourself a reminder, maybe on your first wedding anniversary, to order that album. I doubt anyone ever regretted having a beautifully designed album of their wedding photos. And I sure do enjoy receiving them in mail.

 

WedLuxe Wedding Show

Monday, January 9th, 2012

This past Sunday, the best of the best in the Canadian wedding industry came out to play at the first ever WedLuxe wedding show at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto. It was an exquisite showcase of amazing decor, cakes, florals, stationary and everything that has to do with weddings. It was jaw dropping spectacular (and I’m very hard to impress) with pages of magazines coming to life on the displays. Nothing makes me more giddy than pretty designs and amazing workmanship. The trends for this season seem to be Louis Ghost chairs (clear acrylic), light and airy chiffon linens, pink and fuchsia florals, combinations of elegant white and cream decor, whimsical cakes, colour matched macarons, and very personalized stationary. If you missed this event, don’t fret, The Wedding Co. is holding their high-end  wedding show in Carlu next weekend, with many of the same vendors in attendance. Here are some iPhone photos to get you planning, or wishing for a larger bank account.

I loved this cake with piggy sitting amongst cups, plates, and macarons and chewing on a cake.

 

Butter Avenue – New Store!

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

There is no better way to end off the year and ring in the new one than with the grand opening of the much anticipated Butter Avenue pâtisserie & café.  I’m sure that by now you all know how much I LOVE macarons.  They are bite sized little pieces of heaven.  The lovely people at Butter Avenue have got it down to perfection, and I’m not just saying that because the owners are good friends of mine.  Tina along with her brother Calvin have opened up a this little pastry shop by Yonge and Lawrence area (3467 Yonge St. Toronto ON. M4N 2N3).  I had the pleasure to attend their grand opening where macarons were flying off the shelves, especially sea salt caramel ones.  Drop by if you are in the area or if you’re looking for a different, yet classy dessert to bring to a dinner party. Oh, and they also would make perfect ‘guest favours’ for a wedding. Just saying…   In the meantime, here are some photos I took of the new café and their glorious desserts.

500px for iPad

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Last week in the midsts of the Exposure Show, the guys from 500px released their first official iPad app. It had already made rounds on the interwebs and got some great reviews from places like TechCrunch and GigaOm. It so happened that this week I also got my hands on an iPad, so yaaay! [Don't tell my dad, that I steal his birthday present when he's not looking! ] After upgrading the OS, installing all the games, and other apps that were requested, I snuck the 500px app on there as well.  Double points for it being free!

If you haven’t seen it, you SHOULD. That thing is gorgeous! It has all the photo browsing categories as on the website, but the simplicity of the design and focus that it brings to the photos makes you want to flip through them all day long. I’m not even kidding. I must have spent hours just browsing through photos and ♥ them.

The design is so slick it’s ridiculous! Adam, you did an incredible job with it. I love your attention to detail; I even noticed how a dashed arrow changed into a semi-circle one with a fade on its tail. Yes, little things make me happy, and I’m a sucker for smart design. But it’s this attention to detail that separates a good app from a great app. And this is definitely a great app! Ash, I know we haven’t personally met, but you deserve major props for the functionality of the whole thing. I love how large photos fly back into the tiled grid and how smooth the browsing is. You’re definitely making me stay on that couch longer, wasting my time looking at works of others rather than creating more of my own! Tsk tsk tsk!

My wish list includes portfolio section and ability to view all the photos from the same user, but I hear they are working on it already. Always a step ahead. From a business point of view, this app is great for showcasing your work to clients, especially once the portfolio sections will be available. For now, a modified user page can be used to do the same. This app is also a good source of inspiration and keeping in touch with other photographers. Love it!

Well done 500px!

Exposure Show

Monday, October 17th, 2011

I woke up this morning and started running through the presentations in my head, eyes closed, nose into my pillow, just to realize that it’s already Monday and the Exposure Show was over.  Wow, what a whirlwind of a weekend it was! So appreciative for the amazing opportunity to present at the Exposure Show. Was overwhelmed by all the kind feedback. Thank you! Thank you all who attended the show and listened to me speak. Never had I thought that sharing my experiences would have such an effect. Thanks to the organizers of the show for all the hard work that went into making it happen.

I’m in a bit of disbelief that the weekend is actually done. I spent a lot of time anticipating it, not only because of the show, but it was also the end of a very busy season. It was a crazy build up to this mid-October weekend, and now that it’s all done and over with, I can settle back into my regular schedule. Lots of things need catching up on. I feel horribly bad for neglecting some, but there just wasn’t enough hours in a day, and something had to give. On the second day of the show, someone asked if I was still shooting with equipment that was listed on my 500px profile. Damn! I had completely blacked out on updating everything before the presentation. How ironic, especially since one of the talks was on Benefiting from your Failures.  I have no idea how I will benefit from this one yet, but lesson learnt: Update all portfolios, photos, and roll out new website BEFORE you do a major presentation! “Head meets Palm” once again. I have a long list of tasks that will have to be done in the near future before the destination wedding season starts. Expect more frequent blog updates, new work, and a new website.

If you’re wondering what I looked like during my presentations, a very nice young lady drew a picture of me on Sunday. It made my heart melt! Also found a photo of myself in The Epoch Times review of the Exposure Show. Thanks Matthew.

Wedding Magazines

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

I must confess that I’m very guilty of overlooking Canadian Wedding Magazines, and going straight for the SoCal ones at the book stores. For many years US wedding magazines were the trend setters in business, and it seemed as Canadians were always playing catch up. Nowadays, wedding blogs have a lot more relevant articles and sometimes even deliver the news before it  hits the ‘review rooms’ of publication houses, and therefore, levelling the playing field.  I was very pleasantly surprised when I flipped through four, yes, FOUR (it was a long tea break), of the latest Canadian wedding magazines. They have outdone themselves with creative suggestions, articles, and vendor lists that are current and most of all relevant to Canadian brides.

Here is the list of Canadian magazines that I flip through on regular basis.

Wedding Planners

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

If you don’t know Jane Dayus-Hinch, then you have never watched the Slice network, and definitely haven’t seen a single episode of Wedding SOS. I can applaud you for doing better things with your life than watching TV! I, on the other hand, am addicted to all things wedding and that show just happens to be on TV during my lunch time. Yes.. juuuust happens, cause I don’t have any other channels than Slice! Nope, not a single one!

So Jane, also known as fairy God-mother, is a wedding planner, and she grants three wishes to desperate, ‘planning-challenged’ couples right before their wedding day. That woman is pure genius, plus she is hilarious in her proper British ways. This past weekend I had a chance to meet her and be a ‘crazed fan’. While taking a photo with her, I squeaked that I loved her show, which I do, and she goes “Well, which episode is your favourite?” …and I didn’t have an answer. Very classy… I probably watched every single one of them, and I couldn’t recall any on the spot. Eh, other than embarrassing myself, I learnt a few new things from her presentation. And here I thought that I was pretty good with weddings. There goes that bubble!

That brings me to a point of how important the wedding planners and coordinators are. They come armed with knowledge, experience, a book of great vendors, and all the tips and tricks that newly engaged couples just don’t have. Even if you plan the whole wedding by yourself, you still need someone on the day to coordinate the event. Last thing that you want on your wedding day is to stress about last minute decor details, think of who is supposed to bring the knife for the cake, or open doors for your grand entrance. Delegating all those tasks to the bridesmaids and relatives is one solution, and hiring a wedding coordinator, so all can enjoy the day, is another. Yes, you would have to pay for their services, but think of all the time you save and worry-free nights full of sleep. But if it’s really not in the budget, try to get a wedding planning book or an app to keep you on track. Enjoy planning your fabulous day, and stay clear of that evil word ‘stress‘.

Being a pro-photographer I only carry an iPhone camera with me. That’s how I roll! ^_^