On August 7th, 2010, I had the opportunity to shoot the wedding of Michael and Amy Gervasi.  They had an absolutely picture perfect day–the sun was shining, it wasn’t humid and the skies were blue!  On top of that, everyone looked amazing!!  The bride of course was radiant and you could see how happy both of them were to be saying “I do!”  This is definitely reflected in their photos! Amy and Michael, thank you for inviting me to be a part of your special day–all the best for a lifetime of happiness together!!

Here are a few teasers!

Here are a few shots we did of just our handsome couple at a quiet spot just around the corner from the church!  They both looked amazing and were great to work with–down to earth, easy-going and very fun loving!

I love this one!

The guys all looked very dapper  (purple was the colour of the day!!)

and the ladies looked stunning!  Those purple dresses were lovely!

I love this shot too–just as Amy came into the church as was about to make her way down the aisle…so sweet!

As they’re saying their vows

Another really sweet capture–I love how the people in the background are looking at them smiling

Post-ceremony, amidst the activity, Michael and Amy steal a quick kiss!

And what would a wedding be without fabulous flowers??

Amy’s bouquet was absolutely gorgeous too!!  One of the prettiest bouquets I’ve seen in a while! ( Though, I may be biased because my bouquet was actually made up of white, pink and green orchids, purple callas and cream roses too–she’s got great taste!!)

She also had this antique locket attached to her bouquet with photos of her grandmas (if I’m not mistaken)–a lovely touch and very heartfelt!

I guess you can tell I adore flowers and love photographing them even more!

Unfrotunately, there was a mishap with the cake–not sure exactly what happened, but parts were somewhat melted and some of the fondant cracked–however, we just shot the cake’s good side!  Still looks good to me!!

And last but not least (for now!) –a shot of Amy’s funky purple shoes!! Such a great splash of colour and a fun touch that matched her personality perfectly!

Thank you Amy and Mike once again–hope you had an amazing time in Italy and best wishes once again for a long and happy life together, filled with many blessings and much joy!!

I have to say, I definitely feel a little spoiled..no, a lot spoiled after having a second baby shower thrown for me this past weekend!!  This one, which was in Ottawa, was hosted by my Sister-in-law, Catherine, my Mother-in-law, Mary-Ann and also two really good friends, Daria and Charmaine.  We had the shower at my place, but I wasn’t allowed to help in any way! When the ladies arrived,  Charmaine pulled me into the basement, where I was treated to both a pedicure and a manicure!!  The pedicure especially could not have come at a better time, given that my feet have swollen and now look like mini sausages! LOL!  Got to soak my feet in a foot spa, filled with hot water and essential oils! Thanks Charmaine. it made a world of difference!!  Meanwhile, the other three ladies set up the living and dining room–they really went above and beyond and everything just looked amazing!  Of course, I had to capture the details before everyone else got there so that I’d have good memories of the day…and of course to blog and scrapbook later!!

Here are just some of the details of the day

I”ll start with the invitation because it was just so adorable and trendy!  It totally made me smile when I got it in the mail!  (She looks like me too haha!–I think Catherine customized her like that)  The theme for the shower was this trendy little mom to be

The haute mama is seen here again in the cake, plates and napkins and even the gift bag! (The cake was soooo delicious! It had that yummy sugar icing!!)  Cake was made by Artistic Cake Design

I loved all the bright, fun colours!

Nothing better than pretty packaging!

Thought this bag was cute too!!

Matching plates and napkins…

and of course there was lots of yummy food to fill these cute plates!

The ladies did a few games, though I don’t have any pictures of those to share here.  One game was to have people cut string to determine what they thought the size of my stomach was, another had me blindfolded and I had to guess all the items in a box (I got 8 out of 11 right!) and the last one was a guessing game.  You had to guess how many clothes pins were in the container.

Catherine also did up an adorable little guest book that she decorated with some of our maternity photos and stickers.  The unfortunate part is that I don’t think people saw it or knew (or maybe forgot) to sign it! I went to have a look at the comments tonight and only 2 people wrote something in it! haha!   If you were there and want to sign it, let me know! haha!  It was a sweet gesture nonetheless!! I’ll just have to fill it with more photos!!  (which is never a problem!)

Charmaine made up little favours for all the guests too! She made up little jars with bath salts and tied them all up pretty with ribbon!!  There were 2 scents!  So sweet!

I had gone out in the morning to get some flowers for the house, not knowing that they would also be bringing some gorgeous arrangements! Daria arranged green roses and white hydrangeas in pretty vases and then tied them with ribbon.  I got to keep a few and some were given as prizes!  On top of that, there was a special delivery!! My mom, who really wanted to be there with us today, had flowers ordered and sent to the house!! Thank you mom! They are gorgeous! All in all, the house was and still is full of pretty, colourful and happy flowers!!  You can never have too many flowers around you!!

Here are the ones I bought

Here are the ones Daria arranged–aren’t they lovely!?

and here are the ones my mom sent to me!! Love the combo of bright colours!

Thanks mom, we missed you too!!!  ♥

What would a celebration be without some balloons!?

Andrew’s parents purchased our car seat for us (a black Peg Perego), which is now installed in the back of our car!  All we need to do now is have it looked at to make sure it’s installed properly!!  This was the cute wrapping she did the box in!

This is the car seat  (not the best picture!)

I guess you’d like to see a few of the actual gifts we received and not just all the cute bags and wrapping!  Between the two showers, here are just a few of beautiful gifts we received from our wonderful friends and family!  I couldn’t photograph them all if I tried! We have been beyond spoiled and are so thankful for all the wonderful presents from our amazing friends and family!

We got lots of little toys like this one from Daria and Rob for our stroller

For our future little sports fan…

Baby toys are so cute! This guy plays music and the lion rattles

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We also got a tonne of receiving blankets and most of them were made by my mom’s talented quilting/sewing friends from work!  Wendy, a friend of  my mom’s and someone I’ve known for as long as I can remember, made this gorgeous baby quilt for us!!

And also, this sweet receiving blanket–so cute!  (All the blankets were adorable!!)

Another special gift came from a dear friend of the family, Mrs. Elliott, or as I’ve known her, Gramma Elliott.  While she couldn’t be present at the shower, we really appreciate her thoughtful keepsake gift.

With some generous monetary gifts, we were able to purchase our stroller–the Uppababy Vista 2010.  We love it and haven’t even used it yet!! haha! It is so lightweight and compacts so small which is perfect for our little hatch back! The toddler seat can face front or back and this can also be removed so that we can use the bassinet that came with the stroller as well.  You can also use a number of car seats that snap into the frame with an adapter, similar to the travel systems out there. Later on, you can add a rumble seat, which is essentially a toddler seat so that if you have 2 kids, they can both ride in the stroller! Comes with all the trimmings too– even a bug net and built in UV protection!   We are really excited to put this stroller to good use!  You know you’re a mom to be when you’re this excited about a stroller haha!  That basket is so big too! lol

We also got a variety of baby essentials like diapers, bath stuff, pacifiers, bottles and bibs etc…and more onesies and sleepers than I can count!

I think it’s pretty funny that we actually got 4 of these!! Must be a popular gift!

Other gifts that aren’t seen here are a high chair, the Fisher price Cradle n Swing and FP bouncer, a play mat and many other useful items! We haven’t put the swing together yet, but that’s next on our to do list!

Also, we have my mom and Chuck to thank for the beautiful crib and dresser combo that furnishes our nursery!!  It took us (read: me) a long time to decide which crib to get and then when we saw this one, we both really liked it.  We both loved the dresser too, so we decided to order them!  We are still waiting on the bedding and a gorgeous glider that we ordered from Pottery Barn Kids! Can’t wait to get them and put the finishing touches on the nusery! Here are a few recent pics–we’re pretty much ready to go!

Step one: (after painting)–curtains up, crib and dresser in!

Step 2: Andrew’s mom shortened our curtains for us! Mattress and change station in!  All we need now is a little something for the walls.  I’ll probably keep it simple with some beautiful framed photos.

Here is the bedding and the chair that we ordered–the chair will go in the corner behind the dresser–doesn’t look like  there’s room, but there is..we measured, so it better fit haha!

Well I guess that’s enough pictures for now! There are many more, but this is taking way too long!!  Thanks again for all who came out to the showers, for the beautiful gifts and for all the love and support!! We have everything ready for Baby’s debut!!  I only have 2.5 weeks of work left and then hopefully a bit of downtime before baby arrives…but if not, we’re as ready as we can be!!

Much love,

Amy, Andrew and Baby Symes 

Hello everyone!!

I realize that it’s been over a month since I last posted–shame on me, I know!! However, I’m back today after having shot the most beautiful and fun family!  I got so excited to start editing the photos that I thought, I’ll just start with a few, maybe 5–3 hrs later…by no means done, but I went though and could pick out which ones I thought would be the best of the bunch and this is what I’ve come up with so far!  This family was truly a blast to work with.  They simply were wonderful to work with and as you’ll see from the photos, they are all gorgeous!  The girls are 6 and 8 (Katarina and Isabella) and the baby, Adriana, is 5 months old! These girls were absolutely adorable and a dream to shoot because they were pure naturals in front of the camera! Even Adriana, who was a little fussy at times, was a great model! Once we put her in the basket (and took her out of her cute red dress) she was completely contented!!  The best part about today’s session was that the whole family was game for anything!  The little ones had a bubble bath, monkeyed around like silly sisters in their bedrooms and had an all around good time, which is reflected in the photos! Not to mention, Bella and Kata, as they go by were fabulous with little Adriana! They took such good care of her, held her closely in the photos and helped to make her smile and laugh when the tears came on!

Overall a fabulous shoot with even more fabulous results!  Thank you Musca family for welcoming me into your home to capture the true essence of your family!

Now you understand why I titled this post “Million Dollar Smiles” Aren’t they all so beautiful?!

I can’t resist baby toes!!

LOL the expression just kills me here!

Love this shot!

Cutest kids ever!