toronto photographer Archives | Olive Photography

Tiny Home Lifestyle Photos | Kristen & Siya

January 27, 2018

‘Happiness is the new rich’

This quote on Kristen’s shirt when we arrived to their ‘tiny home’ struck and resonated with me.

Her and Siya have truly embodied that quote. They’ve done everything according to what feels right for them; What fills their souls with joy. Currently, that involves living in a renovated vintage (now luxury) Airstream that they drove from Toronto to California.

They’ve built a life completely unique to them. They’ve become conscientious minimalists, recognizing that you don’t need ‘stuff’ to have a rich life. Instead, their life is rich in experiences.
And when I say rich, I mean REALLY rich. (Get a peek at what I mean from their YouTube channel!)

During a week-long visit with them I was amazed at all the things they nonchalantly fit into a day, and how effortless saying ‘yes!’ is for them. I want to exercise the ‘yes’ muscle more thanks to these two. Actually, I’m getting a tattoo in part thanks to my time with them: ‘go with the flow’ waves. I’ll post about it on my Instagram when I get it!

In any case, not only is how Kristen and Siya live their lives beautiful, but so is the connection they share.

And so, I had to capture it.
I have to say these two have such openness, ability to let go and joie de vivre that they probably didn’t need any of us to say anything to create magic. Barely a word was said and it was honestly such a joy to watch how they interact together unfold and click my shutter to document that.

Then when we went outside and saw the stunning California sunset and my favourite golden light I had to get some photos commemorating the almost surreal night skies there. Including the colours! (I mean, come on!) Before getting a little silly… Cue Kristen the tumbleweed and Siya busting out his Capoeira moves! They’re awesome.

It was an honour and a privilege to spend the week with these two.
Thank you for opening up your home, and your hearts, and for these sweet, lasting memories <3

Dig in-home lifestyle sessions? You should check out Megan & Aaron‘s too 🙂

Leslieville & Balmy Beach Engagement | Mistyna & Joe

November 23, 2017

Leslieville & Balmy Beach Engagement

“We are two outgoing individuals who enjoy being social but also love our downtime. We love finding hidden gems of coffee shops, going out for delicious meals, enjoying wine, hanging out with family and friends and taking our dog for walks.”

This is an excerpt from Mistyna’s initial email to me. They sounded super lovely and I immediately dug their vibe.

For their Toronto engagement session we touched on all these things with the exception of the dog.
We ate lunch at a way cute Leslieville restaurant called The Green Wood (so delicious – check out the food we got!), shared some wine (helpful to warm us up on the brisk day), and went for a walk at nearby Balmy Beach.

Being late fall, the lighting and temperature were on the darker, cooler side, so I shot and edited their session in a way that embraced that. There’s a slightly more ‘moody’ quality than my more common Summer shoots, but I have to say I really love the cozy, intimate feeling of this approach.

Despite frozen fingers, I’d definitely be open to more grey/cool day shoots.
Have a look at some of the captures from their Balmy Beach engagement session below and I think you’ll see braving the cold was well worth it.

Mistyna and Joe, I had such a nice afternoon with you. I can’t wait for your wedding at The Farm this Summer!

Leslieville Engagement Photos The Green Wood restaurant | Olive Photography Balmy Beach Engagement Photos Toronto | Olive Photography

xo,
Anastasia

See another Leslieville Engagement, or another if ya like!
Get in touch if you’d like to take some photos of your own!

Anastasia Giaouris
Inline image 1
olivephotography.ca
416.520.1093
@OlivePhotoTO
facebook.com/olivephotographyTO

Home Engagement Session | Megan & Aaron

August 16, 2017

In-Home Engagement Session | Olive Photography Toronto

I really adore the idea of taking engagement photos in your first home together. It’s part of this whirlwind time of exciting firsts, and I think photos at that location will be something you reallly cherish when you are older & looking through these photos.
Engagement photos aren’t just a way to get comfortable in front of the camera – While it’s true that they do help with that, it also freezes you at this point in time. That’s why I always encourage couples to think of a location or activity that is reflective of them as a couple for their photos. It’s a way to celebrate where you are at this point in time.
For Megan and Aaron, we did an in-home engagement session at their first house together, and we later chased the golden glow of sunset – literally!
Here’s a peek at our really lovely time together, along with their love story at the end!

How we met:

Aaron and I met in January 2012 as interns for a media company in Toronto. It was my first day, Aaron’s second—we met in a small hallway as we waited for the elevator that took us up to our office. Aaron told me he was there as a graphic design intern; I told him I was there to write. Once we arrived in the second-floor reception area, Aaron finally introduced himself—”I’m Aaron, by the way”—shook my hand and told me he’d see me around.

I went through the motions of my first day. I met my boss, toured the office, was shown my desk. Turned out, I would be seated in the same crowded office with 4 other interns, one being Aaron. I was secretly excited to see him again—and I later found out that he felt the same.

A few days later we exchanged BBM pins (ha!), a couple weeks later we had dinner at a cozy Yorkville restaurant (despite being on a student budget) and a month later we were official. To this day, I still don’t know how we pulled this off without the other interns knowing. So you can imagine the surprise, hugs and high-fives we received after they found out.

That was 2012 and we’ve been together ever since!

Leslieville Engagement Session | Julie & Gary

August 9, 2017

Julie and Gary decided to have a Leslieville engagement session because Julie used to work in the area and the two of them enjoy going there often.

We stopped by two of their favourite local spots, including Te Aro and Ed’s Real Scoop. Mmm, so much goodness!

They were originally nervous about getting their photo taken but they quickly opened up and had a really sweet date day that I got to capture.

Here are some of my faves from our evening, and you can also read their love story at the bottom of the post!

And here’s their story, from Julie & Gary themselves!

I met Gary in the fall of 2009 at our very early 8am Finance class. Owing to my *slight* obsession with Korean dramas, I naturally zeroed in on the m̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶p̶a̶s̶s̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ best (!) looking Asian guy in class. I decided he wasn’t Korean drama standard-good looking enough to distract me from the wonderful world of present and future values so I passed (in today’s online dating terms I swiped left).

Fast forward to December of 2009 when I was stuck on a Finance question, I timidly approached him before our final exams at the far end table of the cafeteria to ask for his help. I was given a curt and dismissive answer with the trademark annoyed Gary frown. On that day, he was the one who swiped left.

Fast forward again to May 2011 when we both had to take the same Advanced Finance class (see a pattern here?) and he just so happened to be stuck on a project which I have the answer to. Since I was determined to be the bigger person after the snobbing episode two years before (!) I decided to help him out and gave him my BBM pin when he asked. Thus began a year of pooling resources to make it through the fourth year of school.

In the fall of 2011, several key things happened:

– I beat him in Advanced Accounting midterms, which I found out later caused some drama on his end,

– Somehow that led us to getting more and more chummy on BBM, talking about the most random things from puppies to farming equipment to serious life matters,

– I found out he was Christian (this was huuuge) and a decent guy underneath all that rough, serious, snobby edges,

– He fell in love with me (whether I fell first or he did first depends on who’s telling the story).

He asked me out on December 16, 2011, after feeding me Korean (!) bbq and at that we came full circle. And so thanks to BBM, Mr. E for that final finance project, and Big Daddy above who gave us opportunities for second chances despite swiping left, the rest, as they say, is history.

They’d be greatly astonished

to learn that for a long time

chance had been playing with them.

Not yet wholly ready

to transform into fate for them

it approached them, then backed off,

stood in their way,

and, suppressing a giggle,

jumped to the side.

There were signs and signals,

even if they couldn’t read them yet.

(Excerpt, “Love at First Sight” by Wislawa Szymborska, translated by Walter Whipple)

Gary’s Version

See Julie‘s version.

(He said he pleads the fifth).

—

Locations: Te Aro, Ed’s Real Scoop

Toronto Ravine Engagement | Kaliroy & Jimmy

July 28, 2017

Toronto Ravine Engagement: Kaliroy & Jimmy

Kaliroy and I went to school together and I’m so honoured to photograph this happy time for her and her beau of 10 years, Jimmy.

They wanted to start their engagement session where it all started for them: Robina Ave.
They actually grew up on the same street – how convenient would that be for getting together when dating!

We then kept it simple and went to a nearby Toronto ravine, which is actually one of my favourites: Cedarvale Ravine.
(I actually grew up in the area as well and have spent a lot of time there over the years.) Bonus: We saw a bunny!

The skies threatened to rain all evening – and there were raindrops here and there – but we managed to sneak in about an hour of photos in THE MOST even light thanks to the full cloud cover.

Jimmy actually said he’s not one for PDA or getting his photo taken, but seeing these you probably wouldn’t be able to tell. They definitely look super smitten, even with my camera snapping away.

Guys, I had such a great evening with you and I can’t wait for your wedding at Steamwhistle in October!

Rattlesnake Point Engagement | Morgan & Nicolas

April 19, 2017

Morgan is my childhood elementary school friend, and Nicolas is her fiance who also happens to be an Olympian. (Seriously! He was in Rio last Summer on the Canadian rowing team!) Nicolas wasn’t originally sold on the idea of an engagement session – He joked earlier that week with a co-worker, ‘my fiance tells me I’m excited about these photos’ – Well, Morgan informed me the next day that he was the first one to bring up seeing a sneak peek!

We decided to take their Fall engagement photos at Rattlesnake point, a scenic location that Morgan used to visit with her family as a child.
The weather was uncharacteristically warm for Fall, which made for such an amazing, comfortable hike.
We strolled through the paths and enjoyed the surreal views offered by this mountainous setting. Such stunning lookouts!

Such an enjoyable evening with these two. Can’t wait for their wedding!
Here are some of my faves from their session.
Also, check out the bottom of the post for their engagement story!

Engagement Story

“Nick and I met over nine years ago rowing at University. I was a brand new coxie for the men’s team and he was a varsity rower. I wish I could say that I impressed him with my coxing skills, but I was legitimately terrible. I only stayed with the team for one season, but little did I know that rowing would be a huge factor in my life for the next decade! In 2013 Nick finished his masters and started rowing full time with the national team. Unfortunately that meant that although the training centre was based in London ON. where we lived together, he had to spend his winters in Vancouver where is was possible to row all winter long. That meant three weeks in Vancouver one week at home from January through April. Every time he came home I booked a day off work so we could spend some extra time together. So when he suggested we spend the day in Stratford eating delicious food and enjoying some small town life I didn’t think twice. On our way we passed through the town of St Mary’s and Nick suggested we stop and go for a walk along the amazing rail path they’ve transformed into a trail. We got half way across the main bridge and were enjoying the beautiful view when a siren that sounded like something out of WWII air raid went off and scared the pants off both of us! When we got to the other side of the bridge it was raining and I was getting impatient to get back to the car and did not understand why he was dawdling! I finally turned around to go back and he said “before you go I have a question for you” and proposed. The story is weird and silly and so perfectly us!”

—
So wonderfully sweet, no?
—
If you enjoyed this hiking engagement session, Queenie & Jason’s may also make you smile.
—
Follow me on Instagram to see behind the scenes from my shoots, and get in touch if you’d like to book your very own <3

Downtown Toronto Engagement – Alissa and Jason

February 21, 2017

Good food (thank you Caffino Ristorante!), a cutie pie puppy named Dharma, and a BEAUTIFUL Summer’s eve – Alissa & Jason’s downtown Toronto engagement session at Liberty Village was just all kinds of lovely.
Here are some of my favourite images from our awesome evening together (thanks again for the delish dinner, you two!), and check out their love story at the bottom of the post as well!

Industrial location Toronto - Liberty Village Engagement Photos - Olive Photography

intimate engagement photos - Toronto photographer Olive Photography

Intimate engagement photography - Olive Photography Toronto

Caffino wedding photography - Olive Photography

And here’s their love story!!

Jason and I met in the Spring of 2013 and we immediately had a strong connection. The first time we met was a memorable one, we were at a City and Colour concert and after ordering a few drinks, Jason realized he didn’t have money on him, leaving me to pick up the tab. Luckily, I decided to give him a chance to redeem himself and agreed to a second date. We still joke about it to this day.

While first getting to know each other, Jason was as charming as ever, always coming up with the most thoughtful gestures and planning the most romantic nights out. We have been inseparable ever since and love spending time together, whether it is embarking on new adventures, long walks in the City, travelling to new places, or simply hanging out at home having dinner together, there’s no better place than in each other’s company.

Jason proposed to me in the Fall of 2015, we were in Vancouver, which also ended up being one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to! We spent a few days there climbing mountains, going on hikes, driving around the surrounding area and sightseeing in the City. We were getting ready to go out on one of our last nights in the City, it was a Friday night, and he suggested going for a walk on the beach and then for dinner afterwards. I agreed and when we got there, the beach was SO crowded. Jason was also acting unusual, being uncharacteristically antsy with sweaty hands. I kept asking him if everything was ok. Jason made us walk up and down the boardwalk several times; I realized afterwards, it was because he was trying to find the perfect spot to propose that was away from the crowd. Once he found the perfect spot, or rather, the only spot that wasn’t surrounded by masses of people, he asked me to marry him. That moment was filled with so many emotions, I was so shocked! Looking back now I realize how nerve-wracking it must have been for him! And now, just a few months away until the big day, I can’t picture my life with anyone else but him.

We chose Liberty Village as the location for our engagement session because Jason lived in Liberty when we first met, and it was one of the first areas of the City we got to enjoy together, and also where our relationship first flourished. We had our furbaby Dharma join us for part of the session because she’s such a big part of our lives!

This is our story and a little about us, we hope you enjoyed it!

Alissa and Jason

Estates of Sunnybrook/McLean House Wedding Open House

January 25, 2017

McLean House Wedding Photos | Olive Photography

Estates of Sunnybrook/McLean House Wedding Open House

Some of you may be aware already of the open houses that venues throw annually for engaged couples planning their wedding, and if you aren’t then let me tell you about them!

Venues across the city open their doors in the winter time – right after ‘engagement season’ (yes, that’s a thing!) – to showcase their space as a potential place to host your nuptials, and also to share some great vendors and wedding planning inspiration.

On Sunday, January 22nd the Estates of Sunnybrook hosted their open house, and I thought I’d take my camera to snap a few photos. I’m glad I did, as the photos were picked up for a feature of the event on Eventsource – fun!

There are actually 3 separate spaces at the Estates of Sunnybrook: The Vaughan Estate, the McLean House (my personal fave!), and the Coach House. Each space is unique and has different capacities (More info on their website).

I took my camera out at the McLean House when I ran into Christina of Cocoa Cakery – her cakes & desserts are works of delicious art!

The space in the McLean House is just lovely with beautiful architectural features, wonderful natural light, and the grounds beyond the walls are also beautiful – a fantastic all-in-one spot to host an intimate wedding or special event.

Here’s a little taste of what I saw there, including flowers from Fun Flower Stand and Berries & Blooms, and candle installations by Helix Candles.

P.S. If you’re planning a wedding at the Estates of Sunnybrook/McLean House and need a photographer, I really enjoyed the property and shooting there – get in touch!

xo,
Anastasia/Olive Photography

Toronto Ice Cream Engagement – Bridget & Nick

May 25, 2016

Bridget and I first connected after she tagged Nick on one of my Instagram posts that said I was almost completely booked up for 2016. She wrote to him: “ALERT, ALERT… another potential 2016 wedding issue. We NEED @OlivePhotoTO”
I loved her sense of humour! I was honoured, and couldn’t wait to meet these two!
This was before her and Nick were engaged, mind you.

A while back, I had photographed her friend’s wedding, and the next year I shot another friend’s wedding — when she learned it was me who shot them both it had sealed the deal in her mind and we got to talking about photographing their (soon-to-be officially upcoming) big day.

I am SO glad I met them.
Bridget and Nick are two of the sweetest, kindest, most fun folks you’ll come across. (You have to read their love story below the photos!!)

For their engagement session we went out for some Dutch Dreams Ice Cream with #allthesprinkles – AND cotton candy… WHAT!
Nick commented, “I think Bridget loves ice cream as much as she loves me”
One of their photos was even quickly picked up by Narcity, featuring some of Toronto’s Bucket List desserts to try. Way cool.

We then went to a park for a stroll & a picnic, enjoying the finally awesome Toronto weather.

Here are some snaps from their fun kind of quintessentially Toronto engagement session. I had a blast with you two!

And here are some words from the lovebirds themselves!

Our Love Story:

Nicholas and I met on a blind date in our last year of university. Sci Formal is a very exclusive, exciting event at Queen’s University. It is the kind of event that people don’t want to miss and anyone who knew me had listen to me talk about it since my first year of university.

In order to attend, each graduating engineer is required to complete forty hours of volunteer service toward the design and creative work of transforming the space. All other attendees are by invite only.

Luckily for me, Nicholas had an extra ticket and I had been vocally expressing my “I don’t care who takes me attitude,” to anyone who would listen and a mutual friend connected us on the day of the event. Between my six roommates and I, we managed to pull me together in record time. And my dashing date? He showed up in a kilt and offered me his sgian-dubh (aka. sock knife) to help me at our pre-event dinner and insisted that I didn’t need to carry a purse around all night because he had a sporran (aka. kilt purse). To be honest, it all started off a little weird.

We had a great time at the event together: we danced; we drank; we kissed. When it came time to head home, Nicholas insisted that since he was wearing a skirt, that is was only appropriate that I walk him home. He said he was feeling sick and didn’t invite me in (I took the hint, insisted that he take the money for the ticket and wished him well for the future). We both woke up with strep throat (yay!) and a hangover. I immediately felt bad for how our night ended and texted Nicholas.

Texts turned into run-ins, run-ins turned into planned dates, and planned dates brought us through two years of long-distance and eventually we moved in together and are where we are today. It wasn’t love at first sight, but we grow more in love each day.

Our Proposal:

In February of this year, after traveling up in a crazy snowstorm (cue a pit stop at Sawdust City Brewing Co.) we romantically skated around the skate trail at Arrowhead Provincial Park surrounded by freshly fallen snow. Nicholas pulled a ring out of his pocket and in his usual “stick it to tradition” way, he asked me if I would be his best friend forever. We’re pretty cute like that. So it’s been a pretty exciting year for us!

Toronto Islands Engagement – Donna & Rob

May 12, 2016

Donna and Rob are the sweetest.

Their enthusiasm and fun-loving sensibilities were immediately apparent when we first started talking — The first photo they sent me of what they look like was of them wearing a huge curly wig, making silly faces. They also sent a photo of them with matching sweaters saying “and sometimes we go out of our way to coordinate outfits for instagram ” — They were so funny!

Leading up to their engagement session I could already feel their excitement about our shoot through their emails and Snapchat posts (add OlivePhotoTO on Snapchat for frequent behind the scenes posts!).

The day before their e-sesh Rob emailed with “So stoked and excited for this tomorrow!!! It’s going to be fun and awesome :)” — And boy, was it ever.

Donna gathered some adorable props for their photos that reflected their personalities and wedding. They love Pop Toys and will have them at their wedding, so they brought some to the shoot. We of course had to get a shot of her Cinderella kissing his Batman.

They also brought yummy salted caramel popcorn from a local shop & bag stamped with their wedding hashtag (#RDmovie – They are having their reception at the Eglinton Grand), along with some other touches that reflect their interests.

We had a tonne of fun exploring, chatting and photographing to commemorate their engagement. We even made friends with some birds! And I was so surprised when they handed me a thank you card, popcorn souvenir and a Starbucks gift card with a camera on it after the shoot. (Did I mention they are the sweetest?)

Here are some of my faves from their shoot!
(And be sure to check out the end of the post for their love story & photos from Rob’s proposal!!)

And now some words from the happy couple themselves:

Our Love Story

Finding one love, and the one, happens when you least expect it. We met on Tinder (lol).

Both of us caved into our respective coworkers’ peer pressure to join. “Put yourself out there, and give someone a chance. S/He’ll be lucky.” Neither of us supported typical tinder dates. We actually went skating outdoors, and then to church on our first date! (It really throws people off when they guess where/how we met). We were both pretty naive, Donna was looking for strictly platonic friendships, and Rob… was hoping to find the love of his life *aww*.

There was an instant spark when we first started texting – the way we chit chatted seemed like we had known each other forever. The flame only grew as time went on. It wasn’t hard to know that “this was it”. In fact, we discussed its potential pretty early on because well, as cliched as it sounds, we just knew.

Proposal Story

Rob: I was more nervous gathering the courage to ask Donna’s parents. They smiled and joked there would be no refunds! I later coordinated with her family and close friends to meet inside the Teavanna at the Shop @ Don Mills to witness le pro-posal. I honestly couldn’t contain the excitement of the proposal that I almost spill the beans to Donna on a few occasions! When you’re that excited, I wanted to tell everyone, especially to the woman I love. Luckily, I always caught myself. At work on the other hand, I couldn’t keep it in, it was the “worst kept secret,” everyone wished me good luck the day before!

I tricked Donna into thinking that we were going to my work party and had to detour at the Roots at Shops @ Don Mills beforehand. When we arrived at the parking lot, I panicked a little as the car lot was packed. Even though I knew it was a public area, I was not anticipating a big crowd (thankfully the crowds were for the Star Wars debut). While slipping out for a “bathroom break,” I confirmed that our family, friends and the hidden photographer (my co-worker @ViolettaHoll) were on site. Everything was in place, it was now time for action.

Those who know Donna know that she loves pictures, and photo props — thus, I knew she would want a selfie with the beautiful Christmas tree. While walking towards the tree, I gathered the courage to give her my heart. I told her how much I love her, how I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world, and to me, she was the most beautiful girl out there. Then, I got down to one knee and popped the question! Spoiler: she said yes!! (See pics below). Afterwards I pointed out our photographer and she took some snaps and pointed out that our close friends and family were waiting in Teavana. What I didn’t expect is when we both walked in the staff there made aisle for us and congratulated us and gave us tea and lots of cheering. Family & friends were stoked and took pictures.

Congratulations again, you two! I can’t wait for your big day in October!

Credits:

Pop Toys: Funko Pop Toys
“Let’s Go On An Adventure” Decorative Pillow: Indigo
Picnic Throw: Homesense
Gotham Beer Bottle from: Bellwoods Brewery
Popcorn: Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop
Stamp (on popcorn bag): 2712 Designs
Makeup: Mobile Makeovers
Baskets: Kijiji
Photography: Olive Photography