ward's island engagement Archives

Courtney & Dan’s Ward’s Island Engagement

November 19, 2016

She moved from Nevada to be with him in Toronto.

Her smile is like sunshine and her eyes are possibly the brightest most happy eyes I’ve ever seen to be gazing at her mister.
Courtney and Dan are so sweet together. Here’s a peek at their engagement session – and don’t miss their love story, written by the couple themselves, at the bottom of the post <3

Their wedding will be at Steam Whistle Brewery, so they thought they’d bring some bottles to the session – a fun nod to their nuptuals 🙂

– THEIR LOVE STORY –

From Daniel:
One day five years ago, I was walking into a work meeting, when a colleague of mine stopped to ask me a question. He casually mentioned that the daughter of their neighbor was in town for the summer and was looking to meet people her own age. He wanted to know if I was interested in meeting her.
At this point, the boardroom was filling up with people and my colleague kept going on and on how this girl is really sweet and cute and that I need to meet her. I politely asked if we could continue the conversation after the meeting, but by then several other people had overheard and started egging me on to get her number.
I succumbed to the peer pressure and got her number. Shortly after, we connected and I had invited her to my house for a birthday BBQ. This fearless American woman travelled by public transit on her own from Oakville into a city she barely knew to meet a guy she didn’t know.
Either she was extremely bored; or it was fate, regardless I was hooked. After a few years of long distance, she graduated and decided to move to Toronto for me, that’s when I knew she was the one.

After be together for so long, we both knew it was time to get engaged; however I wasn’t going to give in so easily. When we booked our trip to Italy, I made it perfectly clear that it was NOT going to happen, as I didn’t want her thinking about it the entire trip. At the same time, I knew I was going to propose, but I had to ensure it would be a surprise.
I had it all planned out; as I wanted to propose on the Piazza de Michelangelo, which I read had a great view and sunset. However, I had no idea there would be several hundred people also in the plaza. This was not a spectacle I wanted to share with hundreds of strangers. Sure enough I didn’t have to, as another future bride was proposed to just a few meters away.
Since I wasn’t going to be the second guy to do it that evening, I decided to wait until the following morning. I woke up early and got everything ready. As we did every day, we recapped what we were going to see that day.
As I finished the recap, I quickly said “change of plans!” and got down on one knee and proposed. I would like to say it was a magical speech that completely captured my love for Courtney; however, I am pretty sure I blacked out and forget everything I said and did.
All I remembered was she said YES. We ended up buying matching wedding bands on the Ponte Vecchio (which was my plan from the start). And now we are here… cool story right?

From Courtney:
Dan and I met 5 and a half years ago on somewhat of a blind date. I lived in Nevada, but was home for the summer with my parents who had recently moved to the GTA. My Mom and Dad lived down the street from a colleague of Dan’s, who thought we would hit it off.
After exchanging some emails back and forth, Dan invited me to his house for a birthday barbecue with his friends. I left thinking we might be friends, and that we might hang out again… maybe? I like to think Dan left knowing we would be here someday:). Somehow I couldn’t shake him off after that, and I found myself packing up my life after graduation and moving to Toronto to be with him.

We reached a point where I knew we would be getting engaged someday, I just didn’t know when. So when we booked a trip to Italy in April, I thought… “Maybe?”. Dan was quick to shut me down, he told everyone not to worry, that a vacation proposal was too obvious and there was no way we would be coming home engaged. When we got to Italy, love was all around us.
By our third day we had seen 3 proposals, and assumed I would not be next. I was in shock when Dan got down on one knee early one morning in Florence and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I actually said “is this real life?”. We spent the day walking around the city and bought our wedding bands along the famous Ponte Vecchio. Now we get to come home and start our lives together!

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

Toronto Engagement Photography – Andree & Katherine

April 22, 2016

Andree got in touch with me shortly after he and Katherine got engaged with a very unique story.
They live countries apart (he in Toronto, her in Texas), and they met each other at a religious retreat a couple of years ago.
But then they didn’t talk for about 2 years.
As time passed, they were on each other’s minds and they rekindled their connection online.
Now, this may sound like a common enough story, but here’s where it’s quite different:
As they spoke, they realized very quickly that their shared views and life goals were enough for them to seal the deal.
He bought a ring. She didn’t know. But, she did think to herself that if he asked she would definitely say yes.
He booked a ticket to visit her, and he proposed to her surrounded by beautiful blooming nature at a botanical garden; The profile of the ring features a leaf design to signify their love continually growing (aaaaw!) and she said yes!
When we photographed this session they had spent a total of less than a month with each other in person, but their shared beliefs mean they feel very secure in their decision to be together.
It was pretty cool to witness a couple’s slightly careful yet definitely giddy beginnings. They were still discovering how they fit into each other, but by the end of the session they were in a constant comfortable embrace. It was heartwarming and a privilege to be a part of.
Thank you so much for inviting me to document this special time for you, Andree & Katherine! I wish you an incredible life together!