So, this post is WAY overdue. It’s sad. But I entered my busy season in May, and as such, blogging gets put on the back burner. I took last week off to get caught up only to find out that my entire site and blog went down. And when I say down, I mean DOWN! Apparently, my former hosting company said I was a “rogue” user and killed my activity. Um yeah, okay … sure! They make me sound like I’m an assassin bahaha! At any rate, it forced me to take a risk by switching hosting companies, which was a huge undertaking. I wasn’t even sure whether it would fix my issues but it did and then some! I’m still viewing error messages as I type BUT I vowed to get this post up tonight if it’s the last thing I do! So, in honour of Sondra and all the lovely things about her and her beautiful family, this is for you my dear! Before I begin, let me introduce to you the princess of the hour … Amanda :)
The day started off with rain. And more rain. But that didn’t stop us. Amanda was getting ready for her First Communion and nothing was going to stand in our way! I got to know Amanda and her little sister Erica a little better while they played in their rooms. They were about to get ready but I wanted to capture them as they were before they got dolled up. Just look at their rooms — aren’t they stunning?! I’ll get into that a bit later …
After some much needed girl time, the girls got dressed and oh, how they sparkled! You girls looked so beautiful! And check out Sondra and Robert — lookin’ good my friends! :)
As some of the guests arrived, Amanda and I ducked away to take a few portraits. I love how dreamy these shots are. Only Amanda could pull this off! And she did such a great job too! She took direction from me extremely well. Gave me a series of poses. In fact, she was the one who posed herself for these shots. Way to go kiddo!
After taking some detail shots (and before heading to the church), the family took some time to toast Amanda on her big day. Robert opened a bottle of 20 year old champagne and made sure everyone (including myself and my assistant Tess) got a glass. How cool is that?! Amazing family (and yes, the champagne was absolutely delicious)! After the toast, we took a few more family shots, including one of my favourite group shots of all the kids together. Each girl had their own American Girl doll dressed just like them. It was insane! I had no idea what American Girl was … but now, it’s forever etched into my mind! These dolls are amazing! And I’ve never heard a girl scream louder when Amanda got an American Girl gift certificate from a family member haha!
And off she goes … to her First Communion!
Now .. onto the fun stuff. The party! While Amanda was at church with her family, Tess and I made our way over to the restaurant, Piacere, where the reception occurred. It was an absolutely stunning restaurant and Sondra and her sisters pulled out all the stops to make Amanda’s communion one that goes down in the history books. Full of details, rich colour, gorgeous flowers, cosmo’s (our drink of choice) and a candy bar … hello!! It was an absolutely amazing event to be a part of, which doesn’t come as a surprise to me. Sondra and her sisters own “Ragazzi by Arti Mestieri” — specializing in gift ware, home decor, jewellery, etc. The girl’s bedrooms were furnished by Ragazzi and all the touches you see below were done by Sondra and her sisters! Amazing!
Oh … and then there was the food. Oh the food. Just a teaser of some of the most amazing appetizers I’ve ever tasted! We were so spoiled!
Looks good right? They also had a room outside but it was too wet to hang out. Still, they did a great job setting it up so I made sure to document it. I enjoyed being out there … yep, that’s me, I couldn’t resist! ;)
WOW … I just spent 2 hours (!!) writing and uploading photos to this blog post. I’m exhausted! I could go on and on (and on), but I’ll leave you with a few photos that I took before we left. Sondra, thank you SO much for asking me to capture your special day. As a fellow photographer, it really humbled me that you chose me craft your occasion into memories. I’m so glad you got to enjoy the day with your family and even more glad I got to meet you! I know this is the beginning of a very long friendship with many more occasions to come! Thank you!! From my heart to yours, Robyn xo
