Welcome to our new blog! We are wedding photographers based in Montreal, Canada and we specialize in taking a photojournalistic approach to wedding photography. This blog will help us share our fresh new work with everyone and we would love to hear what’s on your mind, so send us an email or leave a comment! Remember to keep checking back here for regular posts!

Enjoy your stay and thank you for stopping by!

 

Wow, what an exciting four days! We would have never thought we’d be photographing and experiencing a four day wedding. Ever. And now that we have…we are soooo glad we did! The happy family and friends, the singing, colours, the aaaaah-mazing food, it was all an unforgettable time for everyone. In addition to all that Ellora is Bengali and Esben is Danish, so you can only imagine the fun everyone had in this cultural mix of people. A HUGE thank you goes out to Ellora, Esben and their family and friends for welcoming us into their lives for these four days!

If you missed the first three days of celebrations here are the links to the other posts: Day1 Day2 Day3

Enough rambling and on to the photos! These are some of the best frames we’ve ever captured…

 

 

Look at all that beautiful gold jewelery!

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the handsome groom, Esben:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rockin’ a vintage pose…

 

 

For those of you who don’t read French: “Thank you for not touching” :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bengali girl calls a Danish boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had seconds to snap these next two before the sun disappeared behind the building, phew!

 

 

 

 

This might need an explanation…but as a Danish tradition when the man is wed, his socks and tie are cut! And unfortunately for Esben, a Bengali tradition is for the kids to steal his shoes too…only for him to have to pay for them. Poor thing, shoeless, sockless and tieless!

 

 

 

 

We were all floored when these two came out dressed the part, and danced a whole Bollywood choreographed routine! To a song called “Dhoom Tana” from the popular Bollywood movie “Om Shanti Om“. We almost forgot to take photos. Yep, they were THAT good.

 

 

Here are a few more photos in the slideshow below! We just HAD to use the song ;)

 

 

We’re baaaaaack! From Toronto! We had a fabulous time photographing a wedding. It was really cool because they happen to be our friends as well, so it made it that much more special for us.

It was the first time we flew with Porter, the new airline company that flies only a few major Canadian cities like Montreal and Toronto, and we are really blown away by the service. Compared some other major airlines, we had such a smooth flight which included a lounge, espresso, beer, wine, breakfast, you name it! Porter was there to make our trip as comfortable as possible. I hope they continue to be successful and it just proves that solid and unique business who listen to their customers really thrives in today’s economy.

Aaaanyways, enough blabbing about our fun flight because I gotta get back to work on photos from Ellora & Esben’s wedding day, as well as the other two weddings we shot this weekend.

 

 

 

 

The Mehndi (henna) ceremony was held at the home of the bride to be on the eve before the wedding. Only Ellora’s female relatives and friends joined in on this day and anyone could get beautiful designs applied to their hands! A professional mehndi artist (mehndiwali) did Ellora’s designs while some other relatives graciously offered to do anyone else’s hands who wanted it (Magda even got hers done!).

Everyone needed to wait for at least an hour (but it’s suggested to wait as long as possible, even overnight!) for it to dry for it to stain the skin properly. Ellora had to be fed food and drinks…aaah…what a life! ;) In the end everyone’s designs looked beautiful, and they only get more vibrant next day.

Here are some of the highlights of the evening…

 

 

 

Ellora’s hands, ready for some Mehndi action!

 

 

Isn’t that beautiful? The artist did that in about two seconds! Well, maybe not two, but you get the idea. ;)

 

 

Esben wasn’t fortunate enough to get anything pretty designed…just a big blob on his pinky and a circle! Poor guy…

 

 

Look at all the beautiful work! Everyone had so much fun, now Magda wants to do some Mehndi at home!

 

 

Then we all headed down to the decorated basement to join in on some amazing singing and dancing!

 

 

 

 

And we’re back! Yet another amazing day spent covering Ellora and Esben’s marriage celebration. This day is called Nikah. It is the Muslim equivalent of the everyday Church ceremony. Only the closest friends and family were present a this time when the couple pledged their commitment of marriage before God. Ellora’s uncle performed the ceremony and he formally and traditionally asked for their consent before the marriage could take place. And luckily, they both agreed! ;) It was a very exciting and emotional experience for everyone.

Ellora. Looked. Absolutely. Stunning!

 

 

We couldn’t get over how beautiful, colorful and intricate all the designs were on the jewelery and clothing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ellora and Esben waiting for the ceremony to begin…

 

 

Ellora consenting to the marriage…

 

 

…and Esben doing the same!

 

 

Then they put colorful flower garlands around eachother

 

 

 

 

Presenting, Ellora & Esben:

 

 

We are currently in Ottawa photographing a very unique and fun wedding. Ellora & Esben are getting married the traditional Bengali way!

There are four days of celebrations and today we are sharing with you the first day. This day is called Gaye Holud during which the couple is smeared with turmeric and other cleansing ingredients to help prevent misfortune, purify and give a golden glow to the dark Bengali skin.

Enjoy these happy and colorful images we captured that evening! And check back soon for the rest of the days :)

 

 

 

 

Ellora and Esben both had separate beautiful entrances:

 

 

 

 

While sitting in their tent, they were traditionally entertained by stunning dancing!

 

 

At one point all the women and girl got to choose a little gift!

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Mrs. Andersen being from the east and him being from the west, it was a beautiful thing when they met eight years ago right smack dab in the middle of Canada, at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

Ron, a Sergeant of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, has bravely served in Rwanda once, Bosnia twice, Honduras once, Sri Lanka once and Afghanistan twice. They now both have to face a long distance marriage for the time being until Mr. Anderson can get placed where his new wife is! But seeing as they’ve been managing perfectly fine for the past eight years, we think they’ll do juuuust fine. Good luck guys, we hope it happens fast! ;)

The lush green garden made for a stunning backdrop throughout the day, we almost didn’t need to go elsewhere for the photo session! The rain was teasing us the whole day but luckily the clouds cleared for everyone to have a blast taking the following photographs…

 

 

 

 

Here she is, introducing the bride :)

 

 

His medals, signifying his service overseas and years of service in the corps

 

 

The beautiful gift from his bride, which perfectly matched his uniform:

 

 

It was really cool that his cufflings, ring and shirt buttons all had the Medical Corps crest on them!

 

 

 

The Sergeant, in his red mess dress, taking a minute to relax before the big moment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the ceremony we headed to a reaaaaaly sweet pub nearby to snap a few photos and grab the obligatory Guinness pint ;)

 

 

 

The girls having fun at the pub:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click play below to see more photos! Thanks for visiting! :)