Never Before Seen Behind-The-Scenes

I feel like I always start off these blog posts with, ‘what a crazy, hectic, stressful, beautiful year’. And…well…I have to agree with myself for this year as well! Zayn was due to be born in January 2019, but he came earlier than expected and decided that 2018 would be his birth year instead. It still didn’t diminish the fact that I was pumping at every single one of my weddings this year (I have to give myself a pat on the back for making it through), and coming back home to two adorable children who like waking up at 6am the very next day, sometimes 5am too! But I was very proactive this time around and ensured that the weddings we booked were spaced out in a way that would still give us plenty of down time and fun summer weekends with the family. This is the first year that I did not burn out. And I’m very proud of this accomplishment! While I was ‘busy’ shooting, editing, blogging, social media-ing, I made sure to enjoy the process and give myself time to breathe in between the peak season. I am also super proud to have had one of our weddings featured in WeddingBells Magazine, a national print wedding magazine that was in all the newsstands around the country! I know a publication like this doesn’t make a difference in the quality of how we work and serve our couples, but it does feel good to have one of our couples’ weddings highlighted for everyone to seek inspiration from. We’re also excited for another one of our couples’ stories being published in 2020, but we’ll share all the details next year when it’s on out there for the world to see. I am already super pumped for what 2020 has in store!

But before that, I wanted to put together a few fun never before seen behind-the-scenes of our escapades on a typical wedding day. If you’ve wondered what we photographers think or do behind the camera, wonder no more. It’s all here before you, that peak you’ve always dreamed of knowing (Or not? But please stay a while to see our goofiness anyway!). What I’ve done this time around too is I’ve included a bunch of my wedding vendor friends who I managed to capture in awkward and fun situations at these weddings I speak of. Scroll all the way down to witness the shenanigans that make wedding days all the more exciting, hilarious and stress-inducing at the same time! A big thanks to Ali, Jessi Lauren, Teah Lizee and Hilary Elizabeth for making many of these photos of me possible!

I started off my 2019 wedding season earlier than usual in March. Winter coat: check. Boots: check. Pump: check. Crazy cool cathedral wedding in downtown Ottawa: check.

I quickly got into a routine of corralling large bridal parties together while keeping my cool.

Just a little closer together. There!! You’re tight as glue now!

I didn’t realize how many bridal parties I shot that consisted of at least 10 bridal party members. DAMN! I did a good job.

“Please hold your bouquets as if you are holding a baby” says the new mom of two tiny creatures. Well, it works for the photo at least!

Ali shot his fair share of bridal parties too!

Wedding dress juje-ing is one of my specialities that come along with my photography skills. See here, exhibit A. My love for Thea’s dress.

It seems that I could not get enough of it.

Exhibit C, me and Thea’s dress again.

And again…

So much so, that I made her burst into tears from all the jujing! At least I had a napkin to wipe them away and make her feel all better!

I seem to enjoy physical touch with my brides.

Or at least, veil fluffing!

And another dress juje!

When I am not after your wedding dresses, I carry bouquets and run after you with them in my arms!

But don’t worry, I will always be much smaller than you in size, so no fret!

Again, my tininess is very evident. Or, are my couples just glamazons or something!?

I think Glamazons it is!

Because how is it that I am always this small in all my BTS photos?

As you scroll through these series of images, you will notice several photos that I will call ‘where’s Batoul' / Ali?’ Here is the first of many. Where’s Batoul?!

Ali and I try to disperse ourselves amidst the crowds. So, you’ll see us crouching around in between our couples’ guests….

Or in between church pews..

In the centre of all aisles…

Or amongst the shadows!

In between lit dance floors!

I wouldn’t mind going back to this very spot right now!

One shot of you…

And another of you!

I love seeing my couples’ reactions when I show them a photo or two of themselves on their wedding day!

A little something extra for this annual blog post this year! A sneak peak of the wedding industry vendors who make everything run in the background! First up, Erica Irwin, one of the most coolest, smartest, efficient wedding planners I know! She has the best laugh and finds you food when you need it.

She also floofs flower girl dresses! A huge thanks to Jessi Lauren of Jessi Lauren Photography who second shot a few weddings for me and who is responsible for many of these behind-the-scenes shots!

My team not only takes your photos, we also walk dogs and hold your champagne flutes when you need to run to the washroom! Another shout out to my incredible assistant, Zaynab, who made every wedding this year even more easy for me to manage! And another salute to Hilary Elizabeth who second shot for me as well!

Elise and Victoria from Toast Events giving me some flare during our spring wedding together! Elise is a visionary designer. She makes incredible things emerge out of nothing. I make nothing out of nothing!

The kindest and smartest human I have ever met, Marianne from Heirloom Events.

We worked with Marianne on Katie and Ryan’s wedding and she assembled quite a wonderful team of vendors. I had the privilege to finally work with Joshua of Up North Wedding Films. Learned so much from this talented bunch and my fingers are crossed for more weddings with them in 2020!

Joshua doing his thang!

I love when couples get to see their reception space beforehand! Here we are waiting for them to walk in!

Big hugs!

More hugs!

I only got one decent shot of Courtney from Courtney Elizabeth Events, but is this lady ever the funniest and most organized person ever! I loved sitting next to her during Emily and Dan’s Museum of Nature wedding. We were chuckling at every opportunity.

Zaynab, always looking away!

Now we gotta give it up to the hairstylists, florists and makeup artists! Kirsty from Topknot Hairstylist and Carla of Capital Florist did an incredible job at Val and Paul’s Evermore wedding.

Taryn makeup for the win!

Here’s Kirsty again at Hayley and Owen’s Le Belvedere wedding, doing her thang! And Klava, one of my all-time favourite makeup artists, also making Hayley look like a queen!

Not only does Kirsty make a killer hairstyle, she also went the extra mile and helped me style some of the pretty little details.

She’s always looking out for her brides and doing all the veil floofs possible!

Natalie Peachy, another one of my favourite makeup artists!

I got to meet Luxe Duo, a talented husband-wife cello-piano duo and enjoyed listening to their beautiful music at Val and Paul’s evermore wedding.

Another of Jessi, my sweet second shooter for Hayley and Owen’s Le Belvedere wedding! It was freezing cold that day, so we spent half the time bundled up in our winter gear hoping our fingers don’t fall off from the cold! Because, we need those fingers to shoot that wedding!!! haha

Here’s proof. I’m wearing my -30 degree coat with a thick scarf and rain boots. And I was freezing cold. Couldn’t imagine what these two lovebirds were feeling!

They did pretty good!

Now to our last wedding of the year! Lauren and Skylar’s Mexico wedding was one of the best and hardest wedding experiences we’ve ever had! It was the hardest because Ali got sick the day before the wedding! He had a fever throughout the whole day, but he pushed through to the very end. He ironed my clothes that morning, because God knows I hate doing that. And got me some awesome photos BTS as well. He’s the freakin’ best!

Ali’s face before he almost passed out, poor guy.

Ali’s many fever-ish faces! He’s looking pretty good for someone who feels like they will pass out any second!

And he got some awesome shots of me in action too!

To end this all off, I put together a random assortment of photos of me working it behind-the-scenes, because they didn’t really belong in any other part of this blog post. And, I thought I looked cool in them, so here we are now!

Thanks to all the sweet, wonderful couples who trusted us to capture their special days. It was an exhilarating year, getting published in WeddingBells Magazine and ending the season off with a huge bang in Mexico. Now it’s time to take it easy over the next few months and work on the backend of the business until spring is sprung in 2020. Thanks for scrolling and reading all the way down to here. I appreciate you and hope you have an incredible holiday season!

Batoul