We’ve been so bad lately for posting blog updates but we promise it’s because we’ve been so busy. We’ve had a tonne of guests coming and going. Friends visiting from all over Canada and last week we were in Cuba photographing Jasmin’s cousins incredible destination wedding at Hotel Playa Cayo Santa Maria
We’ll make it up to you by sharing a beautiful photo of Jasmin looking out over the Atlantic in Cuba. We can’t wait to go back!
It’s hard to believe that the summer has already come and gone, although the weather doesn’t help much when you live in a tropical paradise and “every day is summer”. Obviously, this statement isn’t quite the truth, as temperatures do still fluctuate even in warmer, South of Canada climates. The fluctuations are obviously not so extreme, and there’s still no need to have entirely different wardrobes for the changing seasons, no mittens and scarves and parkas either. But, there is still definitely cooler temperatures here in the winter months (December-March). This is unlike the summer heat that has us melting while trying to conserve our electric bill with minimal air conditioning usage, plus an inability to cool the office and kitchen space on the opposite side of the condo as the split air conditioning units are located in the two bedrooms, but I digress. At night, temperatures can still dip down to 16c with a high of only 26c at the peak of the day in January, which is fairly different than July & August where it’s more like a low of 28c at night and a high of 38c during the day. There’s still variation in those temperatures, my friends. Just not -40c winter extremes to feels like +40c with the humidex summer extremes. I was born and raised in Winnipeg, and have spent a total of 6 years of my life (at two very different times in my life) in Montreal. So, when I tell you I know nearly everything there is to know about extreme temperature variations in one set place, I truly mean it. *Please note: this blog post will be sprinkled with teaser photos from our August weddings (Svetlana & Dmytro at Azul Fives Resort and Jenna & Dennis in Kinosota, Manitoba) to help navigate your eyes away from text at times*
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This long-winded, silly rant-like one-sided conversation I just had is a conversation that came up several times throughout our month long living arrangements in Winnipeg, Manitoba this summer. We were fortunate enough to travel home to photograph a wedding in rural Manitoba, and since we have our belongings, and essentially still, our lives in Winnipeg, it seemed only fitting to jump on the opportunity to spend as much time visiting with friends and family as we possibly could. There were ups, there were downs, and overall, the month back home went by far faster than I thought it would, or even could for that matter. I really thought 4+ weeks would be long enough that time would actually have a chance to stand still for a bit. But no, it just went as fast as ever. What we anticipated to be infinite time spent with those near and dear to our hearts, wound up (as always) becoming mere hours penciled in on a handmade paper calendar of events for the month. This was truly the only way to properly track our whereabouts, hangouts, and the like. We could communicate via this vital piece of paper when we would be separate and thus discuss access to borrowed vehicles, where we had opportunities to double date or visit friends jointly, and making sure we wrote a list of people to contact and connect with, in hopes of trying to squeeze in as many familiar faces as humanly possible.
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And it was exhausting. Rewarding too, but very exhausting. We had some much needed R+R time sporadically throughout the trip, with road trips to my family farm, Matt’s family’s cottage, and the rural wedding we were hired to shoot in the first place (making this whole trip entirely possible). Actually, the drive to and from Kinosota, Manitoba was spectacular. It’s easy to forget the simple pleasures in life sometimes, especially when you’re away from them for an extended period of time. Who knew I would miss driving a vehicle as much as I did? And who knew just how much we missed road trips with flat open prairie fields for kilometers, and those prairie sky clouds and endless horizon, and that unforgiving, relentless urge to be in the process of drinking a Tim Hortons coffee the entire road trip? We couldn’t have asked for a nicer and more exciting reward to photographing a stunning and beautiful Manitoba wedding than to have a month with friends we’ve missed dearly, family we’ve missed more, and common places and reinvented spaces that we had a chance to explore?
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In a nutshell, we ate plenty of delicious food, engaged in lovely conversations with all of our favourite people in the world (and those we missed, we obviously regret!). We took some “me” time together, but separate, at Jellyfish Float Spa for a 90 minute relaxation float (our first time and boy was it fun for me!). I treated my parents to a night’s dining experience at Chew, which is certainly a delicious place to grab food. We had a few outings with my brother, Justin and his partner Christine, with everyone enjoying Ethiopian food for the first time at Massawa Restaurant. And more importantly, enjoying a true tapas evening out with the two of them at Enoteca, which had mushrooms that were on another level, and have certainly ruined mushrooms for me in everyday day-to-day living. We were treated to a Chinese food feast at North Garden Restaurant in the city’s South end of town. We brunched over sandwiches at The Yellow Deli, owned and operated by Common Sense in St Boniface. We took ourselves to brunch on some of the best burritos either of us have ever consumed (seriously, every time, they are the best) at Burrito Del Rio in the heart of the city’s eccentric hangout known as Osborne Village. We treated ourselves to a fancy lunch at Fusion Grill, despite the unfortunate torrential downpour happening all over the city as we paid our bill and were ready to head out. We had a laid back breakfast with Matt’s parents at Perkins Family Restaurant, while I made a second visit there for coffee and breakfast with a previous Winnipeg Humane Society co-worker friend of mine, Judy. We were fortunate to make two stops in at Peasant Cookery twice while home, once for their infamous Buck-a-Shuck oyster night (seriously, $1 per oyster all night?!) as well as to try their entry for Le Burger Week taking place in cities across Canada the first week of September. There were others that we did not even get a chance to check out, as we were often too busy with plans for delicious dinners at other peoples’ places, or just out and about grabbing small things here and there.
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And that was our month long stay back home! Lots of visits and lots of food. And it was glorious. As always, it’s great to be getting back into a routine and normal life down South, but I’m already starting to feel my heart strings being twanged just a wee bit to come back again, and soon. In the meantime, it’s back to photo editing and updating the site, while organizing business-related things and the new place that we moved to back at the beginning of July. And now, for the last of our teaser photos, and keep your eyes out for these weddings, and others, going up on the site in the months to come!
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Now that we’ve reached Level: Adult, it means being surrounded by same-age family members, friends, and friends of friends who are each spawning their own little ones. This is a whole new chapter in so many of our friends lives currently, and it was a real treat having the opportunity to watch these lovely ladies celebrating their first mother’s day this past May, this time on the receiving end of things. One such lucky lady is my close friend Bonnie, who we also had the pleasure of photographing for a post-wedding session two years ago, complete with wedding gown, shoes and acoustic guitar. Bonnie and Daniel just recently celebrated their 2-year anniversary, June 1st, to be exact, and we couldn’t be happier for them. Celebrating an anniversary, and welcoming the latest addition to their family at the end of April means the couple had that much more to celebrate. Living away from friends and family has it’s set of challenges for us, and one of them definitely is not being around for some pinnacle moments in our friends lives. Thankfully, the internet helps keep us connected, and conversing is still possible. This means that I was still able to witness the slow and steady growth of Bonnie’s belly, and see her swell with excitement as the final days drew near. This also means I was not aware of some of the trials and tribulations of her pregnancy, where things didn’t always go as expected or planned. Wanting to write a bit of a post about her experiences with entering motherhood, I took some time to ask some of the questions that are more often overlooked when it comes to the thrill of pregnancy. I wanted to know as much as I could. I wanted to feel like I was able to understand better what troubled her during those 9 months, and how life has been since giving birth to her beautiful, healthy baby boy Liam. And I wanted to be able to share that with others, for first time expectant mothers who may want some additional insider’s tips and knowledge.
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Being that my motherhood experience is limited to fur babies and being “that cat lady”, I have to admit I had no idea what else was going on inside that blossoming body of hers. I could read excerpts on Facebook about the growth, the expanding of her belly, of the need for some new clothing, and some minor discomfort. What I didn’t realize is that during her pregnancy, Bonnie felt hiccups from within whenever she would eat anything exceptionally cold, and describes them loosely as “super cute vibrations”, and he would get super active, kicking up a storm when heavier bands like Korn and Iron Maiden were played. It’s these little things that fascinate me about pregnancies, and although I know of them, don’t know when to expect them for which expectant mother friends of mine. A major downside was Bonnie developing borderline gestational diabetes which I didn’t even know was a thing. Turns out she had to follow a fairly controlled diet, as well as test her insulin levels in her blood 4 times daily. And if you think pricking your finger four times a day to test blood is the worst of it, have I a surprise for you. Turns out the swelling of most body parts resulted in difficulty walking due to sore legs and an inability to wear her rings.
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As seems common for several of our friends lately, delivery did not go as anticipated. After three failed inductions accompanied with labour pains and some morphine, the final decision was to rely on a c-section to welcome Liam into the world. All pains and unexpected turns with the end results could not overshadow the bliss that came with officially welcoming this bundle of joy into the world. And just like that, a superstar was born. Liam has his work cut out for him in the years to come, and has some pretty big shoes to fill if he’s going to be even half the man his incredible father is! Speaking of fathers, we also have Father’s day coming up this weekend, which means Daniel gets a chance to shine in the spotlight for his first time celebrating fatherhood as well. Truth be told, both parents shed some tears when Liam was finally born, both awestruck with his beauty, with his completeness, with being a perfect wee little human being they both helped create. The mixing of their genes, their personalities, their characteristics and the uniqueness that makes Bonnie and Daniel such incredible human beings, means that Liam is one hell of a lucky boy. These two sparkle, and it is impossible to be around the two of them without a smile. Daniel, always the attractive jokester and rocker, has a keen sense of style and an impeccable way of approaching life with a smile and an open heart. Bonnie has taught me so much through our years working closely together at Starbucks, which in retrospect feels like a lifetime ago, and has always had a motherly nature about her.
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And back to the days following the pregnancy, Bonnie was fortunate enough to have a lovely experience at her hospital, with friendly staff and the ability to stay for three days following the birth as she was experiencing a fair bit of pain afterwards though within just the few short days was healed enough to head home and introduce Liam to family life in their cozy den. The word that really struck a chord in me when discussing her entire experience is that Bonnie found it to be surreal, and I think that really sums it up quite nicely. I already think of it as such, so I am happy to see I am not far from the truth. Pregnancy is surreal. Period. Oh, and magical, and exciting, and nerve-wrecking, and just feels good, it feels natural. There will always be the difficult moments, like when Liam cries for reasons unbeknownst to mom and dad, but those days get easier, once realizing that it is all just part of parenthood. Liam is currently a fan of bath time with mommy, burp time with daddy, tickle time from the both of them and has figured out tricks to get out of his burrito wrapping. I kind of like thinking of him bundled into a perfect baby burrito. And nothing makes my heart swell more than hearing Bonnie exclaim “He’s kind of awesome!” So cheers to a month and a half in this world so far, little one, and cheers to plenty more months and years ahead! Now, to meet this little baby burrito in person. Uncertain which will come first, a visit back to Montreal on our part, or baby’s first tropical adventure to Mexico to see his honourary Auntie Jazz, but either way, I’ll be ecstatic when the day comes that I get to hold this precious gem in my arms, and look at his adoring parents and say “Job well done, guys, job well done.”
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It’s that time of year that 1/3 of the population love, 1/3 of the population despise, and the remaining 1/3 just ignores completely. That’s right, Valentine’s Day is here! Or was here, rather! It’s Valentine’s night now, and today has been a day filled with tender moments and many a shared laugh with my significant other. So here’s hoping our past clients and lovers, and future couples are all able to say they’ve been able to enjoy the same. And if not today, than yesterday, or perhaps tomorrow. The day truly is irrelevant, and it’s taking the time to express your love for one another and really relish in those moments that matter most. And now, on to our fabulous Saturday.
We had a chance to sleep in a bit, of course with cats disturbing that by wandering about on our pillows and meowing for breakfast in our faces. The day started with delicious coffee and a walk to the corner store for eggs and milk, reminiscing about our past, and having all sorts of lovely nostalgic moments. Talking about how we met, how long we’ve known each other, and how much we have grown together as a couple, as a working partnership, and with ourselves. The sun was out, the day was young, and we haphazardly decided to get it started right with a bike ride for some random groceries, and some clothing shopping. We let ourselves take detours, and an alternative route, because why not really? The day was gorgeous and we were in good spirits, with no need to rush for anything. Just enjoying the day for what it was. At home, we decided to clean house a bit, minor tasks like floor mopping and laundry, followed by more work on photos from the recent weddings we photographed end of January.
We made our first attempt ever at making our own egg salad for sandwiches, as it is a favourite of both of ours, but somehow we have not made it ourselves in the 6 years we’ve known each other. Madness! So, swap the mayo with some fresh avocado, mashed with perfectly boiled eggs, finely chopped onion & celery, a tablespoon of mustard and sprinkled with salt, pepper and paprika and voilà! Our delicious dinner for two for Valentine’s day! And, to follow that all up, we are going to watch a movie and pinch some gourmet perogies à la potato/cheese/pesto! Yum! So, with that, we will at least post a few of the teasers from the first wedding we photographed January 21st, with Krista & Dennis at Azul Sensatori in Puerto Morelos.
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It’s hard to believe that yet another year has passed since Kara and Vince Hill’s destination wedding here in the Mayan Riviera. The wedding that started it all for us. The wedding that gave us a taste of what it truly is like being on the beach, photographing in the sand, and in the water. The wedding that was my first official visit to Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula. My first time in Playa del Carmen. Our first time staying at Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya. It was an eye opening experience, and one that really had us taking a moment to think about our future, and what we wanted to do with ourselves. Granted, it wasn’t an immediate decision to pack up and move down, but definitely got the wheels turning in our minds. And wondering about the possibilities that could lie ahead, if we followed our hearts and our passions, rather than succumb to what was expected of a couple in their mid to late 20s living in Montreal. The expectation was to settle down ourselves, secure a job that would guarantee a steady paycheque, look into mortgages, owning a home, buying a car, etc.. but where’s the fun in that? My heart is always seeking out adventure. And there was no looking back after that first taste of salty crisp beach air, that unforgettable feeling of tiny broken shells, mixed with dried seaweed and sand, between my toes. There was no looking back after knowing what it’s like to wake up daily to the sunshine kissing my cheeks, and warming me to the core.
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So, cheers to Kara and Vince for the experience. And we are wishing them the warmest of Happy Anniversaries from down South. We had the pleasure of visiting them in their then-home of Gatineau, Quebec and taking some time to tour around Parliament Hill with them and their dog Charlie. It was a crisp and cool January, with plenty of dangerous icy patches that had to be cautiously avoided. But it was a splendid time nonetheless, photographing their anniversary in Canada. It’s wild to think that was already a year ago! Seriously, time has really just flown by. And now, here we are having relocated to the Riviera Maya, and meanwhile, Kara and Vince have since moved back home to Winnipeg too. Along with Charlie. Bigger, better job opportunities were on the horizon, and so they packed up and headed home. A visit was in order during our return to our hometown for Paula & Scott’s Wedding this past September, and it was great to talk about our individual experiences living in Quebec versus Manitoba, and about our own respective new journeys and paths in life.
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Turns out this year, for their anniversary, Kara and Vince opted to travel to Punta Cana to celebrate, and escape the snow and cold that Winnipeg winters have to offer for half the year. Having just returned from their trip a few days ago, we haven’t had the chance to really get many of the details of how everything went, BUT, looking through the photo album Kara has posted on Facebook makes it seem like they had a blast. We are very much looking forward to hearing more about the trip, perhaps through a Skype meeting, in the near future. Until then, though, we are sending our love and our well wishes to the gorgeous couple that first gave us that inkling to want to take the dive and move down South to 12 months of summer a year. Cheers to my lovely cousin, and her charming husband! May you have many more anniversary celebrations, and looking forward to one day being a part of one again!
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It’s hard to believe that somehow it’s already October and we were in Winnipeg for nearly the entire month of September, but I guess that’s where the old saying of “time flies when you’re having fun.”
Winnipeg’s time was well spent with family and friends, though we still managed to miss some familiar faces and that is a shame. Some we were fortunate enough to see our first time round in July, others I suppose will just have to wait until our return visit.
We ate lots of food and shared many a laugh. Major thanks to everyone for having us over, meeting up for food or drinks or both, for picking us up when we had no vehicle to use, and being understanding when we’d show up a bit late having traveled by bicycle.
The weather fluctuated a lot while back home, chilly moments with warnings of overnight frost meant we wore finger gloves and scarves and multiple layers biking home from a friend’s annual mixer complete with outdoor bonfire and lots of vibrant conversation. And then other days that were as hot as the hottest summer days, with clear blue skies and a sweltering sun. Case in point? Paula and Scott’s wedding day, September 26th though definitely no real complaints there. Why not enjoy a few extra hot days before the onset of half a year of snow and frostbite warnings.
And on that note, the photos are being narrowed down, the editing process has begun and the results are pretty great. Paula’s unique red wedding gown with white sash and veil accents looked lovely amidst the colour changing leaves, and the always dapper Scott looked smashing in his 3 piece suit with red tie and vest accents to match. Purple flowers for the bouquet and boutonnière was the perfect touch! We are looking forward to getting some more teasers out in the near future, but this shot sizzles too much not to share right away! So, enjoy the first of many to come, and again, cheers to the lovely newlyweds!
The day has finally come, today we will be spending the day with our long time friends Paula & Scott to photograph their wedding in our hometown of Winnipeg. We have been looking forward to this for a long time, since witnessing, and photographing, the surprise engagement July 2013 at Patricia Beach in Manitoba. The weather has been hitting Summer temperatures all week, the leaves are all in the midst of changing to their Autumn colours, and there hasn’t been a better weekend in September than this one. A wedding tonight and Winnipeg’s Nuit Blanche tomorrow night, means life probably doesn’t get better than this. And, on that note, I’ll make sure to keep this short and sweet so we can get back to getting our items packed and our faces ready for what is sure to be a spectacular day!
This is going to be so much fun!
Just a quick update everyone. We’re proud to say the Moon & Andrew wedding photos are all done and up for everyone to see. Click here to see the beautiful photographs.
The season is starting to wind down but we are still booking weddings. If you are still looking for a photographer for your fall/winter wedding please send us an email or fill out a quick form on our contact us page.
We are also currently taking bookings for spring 2014, don’t hesitate to message us before we book up. It has been a great season so far and we just want to say a big thank you to all our friends, followers and family for the great support. We love you guys.
If you haven’t already added us on facebook, Google+ or twitter why not do that now, it’s worth it! We promise.
It`s been a busy busy weekend but we`re proud to say we`ve finished the Christine & Jean Seb wedding photos, please check out the gallery by clicking here or visiting the portfolio page. The photographs can of course also be seen on our Facebook & Google+ pages, if you haven`t liked us yet why not do that now.
http://www.facebook.com/jasminandmatt
https://plus.google.com/110263660120606091789
While you`re doing that why not also follow us on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/jasminandmatt
We are also busy editing the Moon & Andrew wedding photos from two weeks ago, teasers have been posted on Facebook & Google+ so check those out!
Just wanted to give everyone a heads up, the edits of the Christine & Jean Seb wedding are coming along great. We’ve posted some teasers on both Google+ & Facebook. Take some time to check out the photos and like us
http://www.facebook.com/jasminandmatt
https://plus.google.com/110263660120606091789
We should have the full set all done by the end of this weekend and we also hope to have some Moon & Andrew teasers by mid week, weekend at the latest!
