This post is going to be the mother of all posts…so sit back and enjoy the read. It literally took me a month to write this.
What can I say. Holly and Matt’s wedding was absolutely beautiful…breathtaking…emotional…I could go on and on trying to describe it. It was an amazing day !
My 2009 Big Give wedding really should be renamed THE MAMMOTH GIVE. There were so many of my friends contributing to this wedding…it blew my mind ! This wedding really sets the bar HIGH for the future JW Big Gives. I can’t wait to open up the gates for 2010 submissions (details coming soon).
Ok, so let’s get started…
09.11.2009 | The Rehearsal:
I left Toronto shortly after having lunch with the family. Kissed the family and said my goodbyes as I hopped in the car for the this amazing experience. I put the top down to enjoy the ride into wine country. What a gorgeous day. It took me a little longer than normal to get into the area, but I did get in earlier and decided to check in to my hotel. I just put myself up in a standard room…nothing fancy. As I arrived to the front desk, I was told that the Presidential suite was available and they could upgrade me for no charge. Hell Ya !!! So, there I was…in this pimped out suite with a massive jacuzzi. It’s karma I tell ya.
Once I dropped off my stuff, I headed over to The Pillar and Post, where I was greeted by a very sweet group of people…those being Holly and Matt’s family and friends. It was a very warm welcome. I also met the on-site Special Events Manager, Savanna, who was amazing to work with over the two days we were there. She’s awesome ! I can’t wait to give her a copy of the album I am designing for Holly and Matt. Savanna hadn’t even seen any images yet and she was sweet enough to drop me a nice note soon after the wedding:
Savanna, thank you for that. You know who to call when it’s your turn hehe
I met Holly not too long ago, sans Matt. The rehearsal was the first day I met Matt. I’ve seen some pics of him on Facebook and from previous photos that Holly has submitted in the past. Most of the images are of him all scruffy with a beard, but he sure cleans up well ! We greeted each other with a big hug…as if we were long time buds. We totally hit it off. He says to me, “You’re taller than I thought !”. Given that I am 6’2″, I’m a good 9″ taller than the average Asian male. So, ya, I get that a lot. I also got a chance to meet the rest of the wedding party and the families.
I had a few moments to chat with Holly’s mom to congratulate her on the completion of her chemo and radiation treatment. Having finished her last treatment recently, I thought I’d take time to see how she’s feeling, as she obviously looked fantabulous (you can see her down below) ! She told me that she was feeling really well and that she’s starting to slowly getting back into the groove of things (going out with friends, etc…). That was great to hear ! She said to me, “Radiation/Chemo isn’t for wimps !”. I don’t doubt that. She’s a true champion and we are all very blessed to have her present to share Holly and Matt’s special day with everyone. As most of you know, my beautiful wife, Jeanette, is a Radiation Therapist, so I’m very familiar with this awful disease we call cancer.
As they headed off for dinner, I went back to the hotel to prepare all my gear for the big day.
09.12.2009 | The Wedding Day
Kam and Kawal, from Fusion Productions, provided cinema coverage. I can’t wait to see the final product ! Thanks, guys, for offering to do this for Holly and Matt. I’m sure they are as anxious as I am to relive their wedding in motion.
I also had a second pair of eyes in Sandy, who assisted that day. She was awesome, as usual, and had my back the entire day despite being a little tired having just got back from New York about 12 hours before. Thank you Sandy for making the trek and capturing some really sweet moments !!!
With Matt being known for his nakedness, I texted Holly the night before to let Matt know that there is a young, innocent female assisting with the photography, and to at least have his boxers on ! Like a true gent, he had pants on when we arrived.
Anyways, you can see by the sequence of images here, Matt was a little anxious to get married. Putting the suspenders on before his dress shirt kinda gave it away, in case you didn’t notice.
Not too long into our conversation, Matt looks at me and says, “Ok, let’s talk business…do I get to drive the Porsche ?!”. You see, a while back ago, Holly said Matt wanted to know if he can sit in the Porsche. I told Holly that if he knows how to drive stick and it is sunny that day, I’ll let him drive it. It’ll be part of my GIVE to them. Her reply, “I only asked if Matt could SIT in your Porsche not drive it… He just peed his pants. Ok, not literally but figuratively he peed his pants.” I’d have to say that I saw the second biggest smile of the day when I handed the keys to him. The biggest smile was during their nuptuals, of course.
The team then headed over to Pillar and Post to meet up with the girls. As I walked in, she had the dress ready for me hanging on the window with a beautiful golden back light. It was gorgeous and very vintage looking. It totally tied in with the entire dream theme that Matt and her wanted.
Justin, Maggie, and Vanessa were all doing their magic on the ladies. They all looked amazing…especially Holly. She did not stop smiling the entire time ! She was soooo ready for this day to come. The energy she brings is infectious. It really got everyone more pumped than we already were. As the hair and make-up team was finishing her up, I remember her saying something like, “Supermodels have it easy! You can turn any regular person into a supermodel with a professional hair and make-up team…”. I’d have to disagree. Holly was already a beautiful canvas to work with…she needed very little working on because she’s beautiful inside and out…trust me. Not to take away at the talent that Justin, Maggie, and Vanessa brought thought haha They are hella talented !!! A BIG thank you to all three of you !
It was nice to have Holly’s mom spend some time with her as she got all dolled up. You can feel the strong bond that they shared.
I love this moment between Holly and her Matron Of Honor, Andrea. There’s a sense of calmness and excitement at the same time. Andrea lost her mom to cancer about 6.5 years ago, so she’s no stranger to the effects this horrible disease has on others.
Check out this bouquet that my florist, and close friend, Sylvia Wong from Fa The Flower Shop made for Holly. Holly had no idea what she was getting. In true Sylvia style, she went all out and even added a hand-made broche to the bouquet. I <3 her designs ! Sylvia had a handful of weddings that weekend and was unable to deliver the bouquet’s and boutonierres personally. She has been long time friends of Tamara and Kevin of Fuscia Designs and they were kind enough to help deliver Sylvia’s flowers since they had packed the truck to deliver the decor for the reception (see further down). Thank you Sylvia for offering to provide these for them. I know you had an insane weekend. Thank you so much.
Here’s a few more of Holly and her mom. Honestly, for someone who has gone through many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, her mom looked fantastic — strong and full of energy !
The ceremony took place at the Rose Garden. Everyone was already warned about the potential for a flood…
… and here comes the flood. I kept this image in color so you can see how red Matt’s eyes were. Emotions were just pouring out of his body. It was such a great ceremony. Holly and Matt didn’t take their eyes off each other. I should know…I didn’t take my eyes off them the entire time. It was if they were in their own little world.
We headed off to the main corner of Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) for some relaxed portraits before the reception. They opted for a nice, intimate carriage ride to our meeting spot. It was a very busy day. There was no parking anywhere…so I had to make my own parking spot. So, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see a nice note from the parking po-po to donate some money to the city.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post this image or not of Matt and Wayne. So here it is…I guess I’ll sum it up by saying “Love is Contagious”. These two were joking around all day long and I just kinda told them that someone needed to make an executive decision and follow through. It was pure jokes !
We had a great time walking the streets. So many onlookers and well wishes for these two. Everyone knew they were so in love. There were times where Holly would randomly yell out, “He’s my husband !”, as people looked on. Too cute !
On our way back to the venue, Matt’s second wish came to fruit. I photographed them in the back of Sandy’s hatchback. I was literally squatting in the back with the hatch open hoping I would not fall out. It’s a lot tougher than it seems, but sometimes we just need to do whatever it takes. Thanks Sandy for not gassing it. It would have been a bad way to go….falling out of the trunk and getting run over by my own car lol
Holly had some touching up done and Justin gave her another hair style for the evening. So elegant. Justin rocks ! Thanks Justin for sticking around the town for a few hours to do some finishing touches.
The wedding cake was given to Holly and Matt by my friend and amazing cake designer, Diana Yoo of Papillon Cakes. She is amazingly talented and produced this work of art for them. You’ll see Holly’s reaction to cutting into the cake a few images below. She did not want to ‘ruin’ it by cutting into it. Funny, when I talked to Diana about it her response was, “My favorite part actually is seeing my cake demolished because I have spent so much time looking at it at that point…so the cake cutting is like closure for me ! “. Diana, thank you so much for slaving away for this wedding despite all your other commitments. Sadly, I never got a chance to taste it because it was devoured so fast, but I will find an excuse to get you to make something for me soon.
I saw this little box sitting alone in the cocktail area and thought it was funny. I was curious to see why there was a strict note on there…
…and here’s why.
A hilarious cake topper that resembles Holly pinching Matt’s buttocks haha I can only imagine what Diana would have thought if this was accidentaly placed on top of her masterpiece !
Here are a few photos of the invitations that were given by the super hot duo, Karen and Kimberly of v:space studios, who designed, printed and delivered everything within weeks ! This wedding was planned an executed within months and they worked overtime to get the invites out as soon as possible. When they sent me the proofs, I nearly died. I knew it was exactly what Holly and Matt would have wanted.
Thank you Karen and Kimberly for your dedication and hard work in kick-starting this fairy tale wedding !
Tamara and Kevin of Fuscia Designs really went above and beyond anyone’s expectations for this wedding. They transformed the reception area into a beautiful forest of branches and diamonds. I can’t remember what these branches are called, but we knew Holly was inspired by another JW+Fuscia wedding. Tamara and Kevin went all out for these two. Unfortunately, they could not make the trip up to see Holly and Matt but they sent their go-to guy, Marcus, to set everything up. He did an amazing job and worked so hard. I saw him making numerous trips up and down the elevator with centerpiece branches, flowers, linens and everything else. It was just an awesome presentation ! Thank you Tamara, Kevin and Marcus.
Look at their smiles during the 4th hour of marriage…ear to ear !
One of the most difficult tasks that evening…cutting into the Diana’s masterpiece.
It was so good not a single gram of cake could be wasted.
It was just an amazing day and everyone partied until the wee hours of the night.
I have to give a huge shout out to my girls running the show from behind the scenes: Cindy Johnson of Platinum Events Group along with her gorgeous assistant, Stephanie. These girls were like ninjas all day. I didn’t see them at all for most of the day, but they were always in contact with me. Cindy bought me some time during cocktails so I can take care of some detail shots…Ummm…I was running a little overtime with the relaxed portraits with Holly and Matt…just a tad. Thanks so much, otherwise Tamara and Kevin would have killed me haha It was my second wedding of the month with these two and I can’t thank them enough for their involvement. You gave Holly and Matt countless hours back so they could spend it with their loved ones. Thank you so, so much !
So there you have it. The inaugural JW Big Give for Holly and Matt. What an amazing experience this was. There were so many reasons to celebrate that day. Obviously, the wedding…but also the amazing fight that Holly’s mom endured over the last 6+mths leading up to their wedding. One line that really stuck with me was during Holly and Matt’s speech. Holly turned to her mother and said, “Welcome back to the world…”. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. What a way to really put things into perspective.
What did I take away from this experience ? It confirmed to me that there’s nothing more important in life than surrounding yourself with loving family and friends. The love they give you cannot be measured. We all have heard the expression, “Money can’t buy happiness…”. It get’s pretty damn close (hehe) but without a loving family and friends, your life really is meaningless.
This Big Give was not just a one way give from myself to Holly+Matt. They also gave me something without even knowing it. And that is a reminder that if you love life, don’t waste time, because time is what life is made up of. My life is my family. I sacrificed a lot this year photographing a crazy number of weddings crammed into 7 months. Next year will be very different as I have really limited my availability for weddings in the future to spend as much time with my family as possible.
And before I go, there’s one more GIVE to announce. Kevin and Shaun from KISS Wedding Books, now my exclusive album provider, are graciously upgrading your parent albums to their 10×10 albums and giving them to you for FREE ! Since they are doing that, I’m going to make you two a big ass 12×12 album ! Thank you so much Kevin and Shaun for this amazing gesture !
Thank you Holly, Matt, and your loved one’s for inviting me into your wonderful lives. I’m so very honored to be in your presence. I get asked all the time, “What photographer’s work inspires you when you create your imagery ?”. None of them. My couples inspire me — you two inspire me. I hope you had a wonderful experience with myself and the Big Give 2009 team. I wish you every ounce of happiness that you deserve. You two are extremely deserving of the 2009 Big Give and are two of the most wonderful people to ever cross anyone’s path. Your love is infectious. I’m really honored to document the most significant day of your lives and I can’t wait to be part of the next celebration.
xoxo,
-Joee
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Click here for The Big Give: Part 1
Click here for The Big Give: Part 2
Click here for The Big Give: Part 3
Click here for The Big Give: Part 4
Click here for The Big Give: Part 5
Click here for The Big Give: Part 6
Click here for The Big Give: Part 7
As one of Matt’s massage clients, I first knew Holly as “the dog walker” so I definitely laughed when I read their stories on your blog. Too cute! I couldn’t think of any more deserving recipients than them! What you and your colleagues have done for them through this giveaway is amazing! Keep up the awesome work and hopefully you will continue to make dreams come true for such special couples!
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