Wedding Morning 101

We've had the privilege of documenting over 100 weddings in the last few years and have learned quite a bit along the way. 

There's a lot about planning a wedding that you don't learn until you've done it once, and by the time you reach the enlightened perspective of hindsight, it's too late to go back and re-tweak those details for your big day.

But fear not-we're here to hold your hand and let you in on a few secrets we've learned through the years. From planning our own wedding to documenting dozens of others, there are a handful of simple things you can coordinate into your day that will keep your life sane and take your wedding photos to the next level.

So take a deep breath. Go grab a pen (maybe a cup of coffee too) and let's chat through what you can expect from us as your photographers on your wedding morning. It'll be fun-we promise.

Here's what you need to know to help us help you.

1. Scheduling:

Allow more time than you think for each item on the schedule. In our experience, the hair and make-up artists inevitably go 15-30 minutes over the time they think they will.

Uncle Ben doesn't show up with the flowers when he said he would and it takes a bit more time to get everyone out the door and into cars than it should.

That's okay, but to keep your stress levels at bay (and to make sure we have all the time we need for photos!), let's pad the schedule with an extra 30 minutes here and there. But don't tell your hair and make-up gurus or they may take full advantage of our secret plan!

2. Paper shots:

We love having a nice, clean copy of your invitation {and other important paper details!} onsite the morning of your wedding. You've spent a lot of important time choosing your colours and stationery, and we want to make sure we're able to get all these details. This is a great task for your MOH as long as she knows ahead of time!

We are Toronto and Niagara based wedding, lifestyle and portrait photographers and videographers. We love what we do and are passionate about getting The Very Best images we can from your wedding day. Your story matters!

We are Toronto + Niagara based wedding, lifestyle and portrait photographers/videographers. We love what we do and are passionate about getting The Very Best images we can from your wedding day. Your story matters!

Whether we are documenting your day with photography or videography (or both!) we are committed to excellence in all the details. We love capturing moments and shoot weddings from Toronto/Niagara to Mexico, Texas, Nashville and beyond.

3. Where:

When you're considering when, where and how you will get ready, we suggest that you find a room that is clean, bright and open. Window light makes for some stunning getting ready photos. And spending your time in a tidy space is going to go a long way in keeping your morning as worry-free as possible. Sometimes this means renting a hotel room if your home is overrun with guests. Trust us, you won't regret your oasis!

4. Keep it classy:

We love having a nice hanger for the dress shot. We don't even need an extra fancy hanger (though we love them too!), but we don't want to showcase your gorgeous dress on an old, rusty wire hanger or a cheapy plastic one either. It's surprising how much that can distract from the beauty of your choice.

We also love getting a shot of the bridesmaid dresses with your dress; so the hanger rule extends to their sassy garb as well. Matching or coordinating hangers is ideal. Again, this task can be delegated!

We are Toronto and Niagara based wedding, lifestyle and portrait photographers and videographers. We love what we do and are passionate about getting The Very Best images we can from your wedding day. Your story matters!

5. You are queen for a day:

In the swirl of wedding decisions, it's easy to put zero thought into what you'll be wearing during your getting-ready hours. But when you see the photos later you may just regret your choice of the smelly hoodie you grabbed from the bottom of your closet in a pinch.

We suggest a you treat yourself and buy a nice robe well ahead of time. You're a classy gal and this simple choice looks great in photos! This also makes a cute gift for your girls, but even if you don't go this route, you can request that they bring their own robes.

There are many other adorable options-like BRIDE shirts which are lovely too. As long as you feel pretty in your choice, both you and the photos will be happy later.

6. Gifts:

We love hearing about the thoughtful gifts the two of you traded early the morning of your big day. What we love even more is being there to see your emotion as you open your present for the first time.

If you and your beloved are exchanging gifts and letters, please make sure you wait until we're there to open them. We love capturing the surprise on your face at his/her thoughtfulness and the sweet notes too. And that way your beloved can see your reaction when you look at the photos together later.

We love capturing the details of your big day. As wedding photographers it is one of the highest honours to capture all the "behind the scenes" moments.

This is from Travis and Melissa's sweet Dominican wedding. We love that photography keeps us busy at home in the Toronto and Niagara regions-but we love booking jobs internationally too!

7. The bling:

We love capturing all the little bits of your day-from shoes to jewelry. If you put one of your bridesmaids in charge of having all the shoes in one place, for example, we can grab those shots you'll be so happy you have when you look at your wedding album later.

Whether your wedding is big or small, intricate or so simple, it's your day and we want you to enjoy every single minute of it.

At Jono & Laynie Co., we're committed to excellence, to telling your story the way it should be told. We love capturing all the pretty particulars of your day and all the moments that make it so special. At the end of the day, it's about all about the people in the photos and the fact you get to marry your love after all.

Bridal Boudoir

It's the perfect way to make his jaw drop. Message me (Laynie) to set up your session or to see more samples of my classy, sassy boudoir style.

xo.

Advice from Past Brides, part II

Meet the gorgeous Rebeckah and settle in for a bit of her wedding wisdom. 

As the premier photographers in Guelph, Kitchener, Toronto and Niagara, we love capturing the moments from your wedding day. 

-things you would do differently

1) The main detail that I would change about our wedding is our guest favours. We spent a long time trying to figure out something that wasn't too tacky or expensive to give to our 150 guests (we ended up having a sparkler at each table place...they were inexpensive, fun, and made for great pictures.) But since our wedding, I have seen a few other couples opt for scratching the favour idea all together, and making a donation to their favourite charity. GREAT IDEA, a lot less work, and way more meaningful. So if you're still pondering the perfect take-away gifts, consider this.

2) Think long and hard about how you are going to do the family-pictures. That was the most stressful part of the day for me, since we have a lot of family. Everyone was wandering off, and wanting to take a pictures on their own cameras, and it made for a very long process. Do your photos, if you can, in a location where there is no distractions - like the bar - for your relatives to sneak off to, and also away from all other guests who end up being extremely distracting!

3) If you're planning on doing a rice throw, consider buying the actual wedding rice (you can buy it at Michaels). We bought the real-deal rice from our cheap grocery store. Turns out real-deal rice is powdery, and Steven's lovely black suit lookedpowdery-grey afterwards (it brushes off, but still...)

-best planning decisions you made

1) We skipped the traditional receiving line after the church, and instead went to each table during dinner to great our guests. This was way more personal, and gave us time to actually catch talk with friends and family without feeling rushed.

2) We had a pretty low-budget wedding so I did a lot of DIY projects. One of the projects that ended up being the best was the bouquets; I made them with artificial flowers. It was WAY cheaper, and I was able to have my bouquets done ahead of time to make sure they matched the dresses perfectly. Plus it was one less thing to pick up on the day of, and my bridesmaids and I were all able to keep the bouquets afterwards.

-favourite parts about your day

1) Our ceremony was my favourite part. It was short and sweet and done exactly how we wanted. We had my sisters sing and play the violin while Steven and I took communion together, which was so special.

2) I loved our butterfly release and the rice throw that followed. The pictures looked great, and it was a fun for us as well as the guests.

-advice to a newbie bride

1) Seriously, don't succumb to the pressure to spend a lot of money on your wedding; you can have such a lovely day without throwing away your money. And honestly, when it's all over, it doesn't matter. I remember stressing over the chairs for our reception; we borrowed them from our church, but they didn't match each other and I thought it would look terrible. We considered spending over $300.00 to rent matching CHAIRS!!! For what?! Looking back I am so glad I let that go; no one, including myself, noticed the chairs, and now we have $300 extra dollars to spend on more important things.

2) Use your wedding day to appreciate the people who have loved and supported you. We found that our parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. were just as excited about our upcoming wedding day as we were, and it was so fulfilling to find little ways to make them feel extra special. Wearing Grandma's jewelry, borrowing my moms garter, asking my grandfather to pray for the meal and opting for just our siblings to sit with us at the head table were all things that meant a lot to them and were tokens of how grateful we are for them.  

Happy Monday, y'all.

xo.

Ideal Photo Locations.

First, I'll let you peruse these images and see if you can tell what all of them have in common:

"Blank" spaces, blank spaces, blank spaces, Space, and lots of shade. That's all we need to create the wedding photos of your dreams.

We are professional photographers and videographers in the Hamilton, Brantford, London, Burlington, Ancaster, Oakville, Cambridge, Toronto and Niagara regions. We bring timeless and breathtaking wedding photography to couples in the Greater Toronto Area like it's our job. Oh wait...it is.

Words of Wisdom from our past Brides, part I

She's from Idaho; he's from Germany. Caiti and Tobi met in Israel and said their "I DO's" in an old-fashioned church in Idaho last summer. 

Enjoy her thoughts now that the dust has settled.

Caiti and Tobi had a gorgeous DIY wedding in early summer of 2014. We loved flying to Idaho to document their sweet wedding and capture all their special moments.

-things you would do differently: I don't know if i would change so much my decisions over what I had as decoration or the things here and there...but I would change my view and attitude of the wedding. I would have just simply enjoyed it and lived more in the moment. It's so overwhelming and it's all so much, but I worried a lot about our schedule, etc. 

-best planning decisions you made: I don't have to impress anyone. And you can work hard and get a lot more joy out of it. I think buying everything brand new is easy and great, but to be able to create and work alongside your family and friends makes so many amazing/frustrating memories that sometimes last longer than most.

-favourite parts about your day: Favourite part about my day was definitely the party afterwards, just a time to celebrate and dance your face off. Weddings are such a place of joy and really brings the whole family together in a good way! Of course the ceremony was also incredible, I would say the reception is a place to connect and bless your guests! 

-advice to a newbie bride: Have the most amount of fun you can! Count yourself as special! Enjoy the engagement process with your fiance and don't try to wait until the wedding, just enjoy him/her, this season that you're in because you will never get it back. It is once in a lifetime!

Melissa and Travis had a dreamy destination wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic last year. We were the photographers and videographers for their amazing day.

Enjoy hearing Mel's thoughts post-wedding.

As Toronto's Top Wedding Photographers, we love traveling internationally with our work. We document weddings and engagement sessions in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Cuba and beyond.

1. If I had the day to do over again I would want to do a first look photography session before the wedding. Since we had our wedding so late in the day we could only capture so many pictures afterwards before the sun started setting. (Unfortunately it was my groom that was adamant about seeing me for the first time walking down the aisle-which was pretty perfect in itself :) ). 

I would also spend some more time on my speeches to friends and family. Being so caught up in all of the wedding planning I left my speech to the last on the to do list, thinking I could quickly whip something up a few days beforehand. So I wish I had sat down and really thought of those memories that I wanted to share well in advance. 

2. One of the best planning decisions I made was doing tons of research and finding our venue!  Once we decided to have a destination wedding we hired a travel agent to help us pick a resort and organize everyone together. After researching the options for the wedding at the resort we chose something didn't feel quite right, so I dug a little deeper and found a restaurant down the beach from where we were staying that offered wedding packages that had more options and was comparable in price. It was the most amazing place to have a wedding, everything was taken care of, nothing felt rushed and we had the whole place to ourselves the entire evening!  Always think outside of the box and do your research! 

3. So many favourite parts about my wedding day it's hard to chose! Obviously walking down the aisle was so memorable because I had not seen one detail about my wedding yet, everything had been taken care of. Talk about stress free! So it was amazing seeing all of my ideas that had come together and then looking down the beach to my family, friends and groom waiting for me. 

I loved the moment my husband and I shared our vows. We wrote our own vows and blubbering through all our tears managed to say them to each other, I just remember feeling like it was just me and him standing up there, everything else was a blur. I'm so happy Jono and Laynie got them on film because I tear up every time I watch them! 

4. My advice to a newbie bride is don't skimp on the photography/videography aspect! For me photo and video were one of the most important parts of my day and I'm so glad we chose our talented photographers! I'm always looking back at our photos and watching pieces of the wedding video because the day was such a whirlwind it's hard to take it all in at once. So it's nice knowing you always have your best memories documented to look back on!