The bigdayfoto team was very excited to be asked back by the organizers of the 11th Annual East Indian Charity Dinner and Auction to photograph their event.  While this is a charity event, raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society, it is also one of the hottest tickets in town.  It sells out every year and raises tens of thousands of dollars each year for the charity.  I know we all feel good when we do our part for charity, especially those charities that are very close to our hearts, but we also know that it is Mrs. Kumar’s food that keeps everyone coming back!  Once again Mrs. Kumar and her band of loyal volunteers out did themselves.  In fact I’m still daydreaming about the Meen Kozhambu and the Malaidar Unday.  So good!!   My favourite part of Dr. Kumar’s speech was when he commented on how he was pretty uneffected by the chaos at his home this year as his new grandbaby seemed to distract him from it all.  Maybe with that bit of information we can all keep our fingers crossed that there will be a 12th Annual East Indian Charity Dinner and Auction. 

Here are a few images captured by the bigdayfoto team.

I just realized I’m a little behind in my gallery posting!!  I blame Christmas and this terrible head cold I’ve had since the new year started!!  What I want you to realize as you go through this particular gallery is that our lovely bride and handsome groom are standing in the dirt, in the bay, amongst the seaweed BEFORE their ceremony!  We love when couples do a first look, but we love it even more when they trust us enough to have a lot of fun with it.  (No only did we do the couple shots, but we all did all the images with the bridal party and family before the ceremony.)  I think the images Beaver captured are spectacular.  And after the ceremony, the couple immediately went to their reception to party with their friends and family!  Enjoy this look at Jennifer and Jeremy’s beautiful St. Andrew’s wedding. 

I can’t think of the last time I went out and celebrated New Years Eve.  I’m pretty sure it was B.K. (before kids)!  But I know for sure there was one awesome party going on in the city last night.  One celebrating Katie and Andrew’s marriage.  I woke up feeling a little nervous for Katie.  I’m sure when she planned her wedding for the end of December her vision had pictures with pure white snow and sparkly Christmas lights.  For those of you not here in Saint John for this wedding it was 5ºC and pouring rain.  The grass was green.  There were no leaves on the trees.  Looked more like the end of October than the end of the year!  But I was the only one that seemed concerned.  Like many of the brides we’ve photographed before her, Katie could care less about the weather.  Nothing seemed to cause her smile to fade.  I can tell that this was the happiest day of Katie’s life and nothing else mattered but having Andrew beside her.  There was just an overwhelming feeling of calm and love.  Even Andrew, this being the first time I met him, seemed only to care for Katie’s happiness.  And when she was with him, he smiled.  Content.  Life as it should be.  Happily ever after.

Given the weather and the time frames we had, mostly Beaver shot, so you’ll have to stay tuned to facebook for a sneak peek of Beaver’s images.  So I’m going to give a sneak peek from the church.  I have to admit.  I was a little nervous…no…that’s not the right word.  I know we can shoot anywhere, in any kind of light but typically we are given a little latitude.  Where we can shoot.  How we can shoot.  Yesterday, we improvised a bit.  I took the balcony.  I have to say, I stayed there the whole time.  From the first shutter click I loved what I saw.  The warm tones, the lights in the ceiling drawing your eye right to the couple. The way they were lit on the stage – it was like being at the theatre.  I could take in the whole scene and still see the smiles on their faces. 

Katie and Andrew, thank you for sharing your big day with us.  It was a pleasure.  Your smiles and kindness make our day very enjoyable.  Enjoy your sneak peek. Best wishes for the new year!

I quick glance back to the post I did on Cynthia and Patrick’s big day put such a smile on my face.  Not only did I do a post but so did Beaver!  We both had stories from that day.  A bunch of little stories that when put together made for such a special day.  It was a wonderful day to be a part of!!  Enjoy!

I’m guessing it was raining the day of Susan and Dave’s wedding.  I say that because I feel like it rained for every wedding this year.  But if I remember correctly it held off long enough for pictures.  Most of the pictures.  We had to do some inside of the Shadow Lawn Inn.  As I recall, the rain came down in buckets by suppertime.  Of course, moving inside was great because the Inn is beautiful and as always they were very accomodating.   But the weather never did one thing to dampen the spirits of this awesome couple.  Susan looked stunning in her dress from Heavenly Gowns and Dave wore a huge smile the whole day.  I do have to mention that the flowers by Beth Jones were amazing.  They had a very soft, vintage feel to them.  Beautiful!  The highlight of this day, however, came weeks after, when I received a phone call at home from Dave’s mom.  Just to say thank you.  Made. My. Day.  Hell!  Made my whole damn summer!  :) 

Going back through Susan and Dave’s big day to put together this gallery sure did put a smile on my face.  It put me right back to the day.  Their happiness.  Their spirit.  They were so much fun to be with.  I really hope this sampling of pictures from their day puts a smile on your face too.  Enjoy!

Amanda and Andy were married in June.  I was so happy for their big day to arrive.  Not only was Amanda a bride, but over all our email exchanges I really felt like we had become friends.  It was always with great excitement that I’d read her emails wondering what was new and wonderful with the wedding plans.   This was our first wedding at the Saunders-Irving Chapel in Sussex and I’m pretty certain it won’t be our last.  What a beautiful facility. A perfect location for their perfect day!  And although it rained, we made the best out of a wet situation using a beautiful covered bridge in Sussex as our rainy day location.  Traveling with studio lights does have its advantages!!  Enjoy!!

This year I changed the way I did sneak peeks.  I made them just that – a little peek into the day.  A teaser so to speak.  But I know you want to see more.  See the story of the day.  Here is a gallery of Heather and Devin’s images.  A fun couple who didn’t let a few rain drops ruin their big day.  They were married in May at Shadow Lawn Inn in Rothesay.  I believe this was number two of our four weddings there in 2011!   The beautiful flowers were from Sandra Miller Floral Designs in Quispamsis and the cake was from Debbie Breau. 

This past weekend I was out with my camera to Rockwood Park.  I never get tired of that location.  Every season it looks different and so many spots to stop and grab a picture, each more beautiful than the one before.  We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful park right in the heart of our city and with all the recent improvements it will only get better and better.  I was supposed to do this family session the week before at Irving Nature Park.  Another fabulous location but I was so excited when they agreed to change venue to Fisher Lakes in Rockwood Park.  Here are a couple of my favourite images from the day! 

This is it.  Our last wedding of the “wedding season” and our second last wedding of the year.  (The last one is NYE.)  I think the whole bdf team headed into this weekend with mixed emotions.  I think this was our busiest season to date so we are thankful for the break, but at the same time, we do love what we do so it is a little sad to know it will be a few months before we get to spend a big day with another happy couple.  We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Our couple and their families were great to be around and so kind to us and could the weather have been any better?  24ºC in Sussex and nothing but blue skies as far as the eye could see!!  I have to say all that sunshine and fresh air has me tapped out so I’ll get to what you all come for anyways!  Some pictures!!

Thanks Sara and Ryan for having bigdayfoto be a part of your big day.  We hope you enjoyed your sneak peek.  To see a few more images, be sure to check out facebook page as well!