This wedding should have been blogged a few weeks ago. But, being my best friends wedding, I needed a little more time to think about what to write. This blog post is going to be a little more personal (and long) and go through a bit about our history together.
Meet Stan…Stan “The Man”, as he is known.
I met Stan back in Grade 4. Polish kid with really curly hair. we became friends pretty instantly and we did everything together. We learned English together, ate lunch together, taught each other swear words in our respective languages
But where we really clicked was our interest in Athletics.
Stan and I were track stars in elementary school. This kid was fast and we always pushed each other. For 4 years straight, we earned Awards of Excellence in the Canada Fitness program. Does anyone remember that program ? It was pretty hardcore for elementary school kids. Oh…what it’d be like to be back in our prime
Stan was in a major accident when we were around 10. And by major, I’m talking he was run over by a car by some whack lady. I remember hearing this from one of our classmates that day that “Stan was run over by a car and has a hole in his head”. I had no idea what that really meant, but I was really worried for my best bud. I don’t think he had a hole in his head, but he was in pretty bad shape. I went to visit him at home after school almost every day and just remembered he looked like a mummy with all the bandages all over his head and body. It didn’t take him long to heal, though, and when he did, he came out faster and stronger ! Holy crap I couldn’t believe how much faster he was. It almost made me want to get run over !
During high school, we were Tennis stars. We were completely self-taught and hit the courts for hours almost everyday so we can learn and elevate each others game. We had a little rivalry going. Stan was Andre Agassi and I was Michael Chang. Stan was always decked out in Nike and I was in Reebok – Andre and Michael’s respective sponsors. Although Stan and I were sponsored by Wilson, we didn’t really wear them haha We were doing everything our idols were doing. We were well on our way to turning Pro – our lifelong dream to play on the ATP tour.
But a few things changed…Stan became a father to a beautiful boy, Taelor, soon after we graduated high school. I cracked some bones in the inside of my foot and couldn’t play much anymore. Dreams of going Pro…crushed ! But everything happens for a reason. So no tennis scholarships or anything like that. We went on our separate ways and spent our post secondary education in different cities. But we still always stayed in touch.
A few years ago, Stan suffered 2nd Degree burns to his face and arms in a freak fire explosion in his backyard while setting up a campfire for Taelor. I still remember Stan calling me from Sunnybrook Hospital telling me about the freak accident…smell of burnt flesh…skin hanging everywhere…running into the house to jump into a cold shower…ambulance arriving…morphine…lots of morphine ! Unbelievable ! Talk about 9 lives ! This guy is unstoppable !
And when he told me he was dating a new girl, I was pretty excited for him. He came out of a pretty bad relationship and to see him so happy with someone really put a smile on my face. Before you know it, I get a call from him to tell me he’s engaged ! Stan “The Man” was getting hitched ! And then he asked me if I’d like to photograph his wedding…or be part of the wedding party. This was a no-brainer for me – I wanted to capture all the memories for them. I wanted to have that responsibility and know that they are going to get great images. We met up for coffee and I got a chance to get to know Julia a little more. This girl is so good for him. She’s got a great sense of humor and they just have a lot of chemistry together.
So here are some teasers. I know everyone is waiting…
Sandy and I met up at Julia’s while the girls were getting ready. She opted to go with her white flats instead of her high heels, which was cute. Stan is a tad shorter than Julia, so we wanted to minimize the height differenceAnyways, Julia looked amazing. I knew Stan would be blown away when he saw her walking down the isle.
Arriving at the Church…
Here’s a cute moment of the flower girls taking a peak outside to see what’s going on…
Here are a few photos of Stan and his son, Taelor. I haven’t seen Taelor in quite a while. He wasn’t talking back then. Now he can’t stop talkingHe’s such a good kid. He didn’t remember me when I saw him at the house getting ready, but he introduced himself and we just took it from there. I really had a good time sitting with him at dinner and just getting to know him better. He’s a male social butterfly…just like his dad.
We went to the historic Parkwood Estate for some relaxed portraits:
And then over to Deer Creek G&CC where the reception was held:
Congratulations Stan and Julia. Giving me the honor to photograph your wedding meant a lot to me…more than you’ll ever know. I wish you two nothing but the best in life and we’re all looking forward to more kids !
We love you guys !
-Joee, Jeanette, Ethan
Oh ya, Stan you were always the better athlete ! Ok, I said it
By the way, Stan is one hell of a Real Estate Agent and I’m one hell of an MLS Listing photographer. Put us together and you have a dream team to sell houses..FAST ! Our average listing lasts less than 1 week. So if you know anyone who’s in the market, hit me up and let’s move your property !
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