Award Winning Montreal Photographers For Wedding

The wedding images and photography from Montreal studio LaVimage

10 Steps for Selecting the Best Images for Your Wedding Album

Thursday, May 23, 2013 Posted in Uncategorized

A wedding album provides a chronicle of one of the most important days of your life. It is therefore important to choose only the best images that capture this exceptional day. Below are ten steps to follow when selecting the best photos for your wedding album.

Select images that tell a story

The first step to creating the wedding album of your dreams is to select images that tell a story. Viewers love a good story and by selecting the right photos, your wedding album can narrate the story of your very important wedding day.

Alternate close-ups with full shots

Be sure to also alternate the close-up images with full shots to create an appealing variety of imagery in your wedding album.

Select emotions

Another good way of choosing the right images for your wedding album is to select emotions that have been captured.

Minimum traditional family (they make albums a bit boring)

Try as much as possible to avoid traditional family shots as these tend to make wedding albums boring. If you must have these, ensure that they are done tastefully and kept to a minimum.

Lots of Details

For a great wedding album, be sure to go for images with lots of details. This way, the photographer will have more to play with when capturing your memorable moments.

A bit of images from every part of the day: getting ready, ceremony, couple together, reception

The composition of an attractive wedding album will typically comprise of bits of photos from every single portion of the big day. This may include shots of the bridal party getting ready, what goes on during the ceremony, the bridal couple alone together, as well as the reception.

Select all the images you like then gradually eliminate to keep the best ones

Another useful tip for creating the wedding album of your dreams is to first pick out all the images you like, and thereafter gradually eliminate those you don’t like, such that you are able to end up with only the best images.

Start selecting the ones you like as soon as you look at them for the first time, your eye will be fresh

For the ultimate amazing wedding album, begin by selecting the photos that appeal to you at first glance. This is important as your eye is fresh at such a time and not exhausted from looking at the same images over and over again during the selection process.

If you can’t make a choice put both (we will pick the better of the two)

When creating your wedding album, if you find yourself unable to make a choice between two images, simply include both into the album and later on, have your photographer assist you in selecting the better of the two.

Have fun. It should not be hard. If it becomes too hard let us do it for you.

The last thing to remember when creating your wedding album is to have fun. Putting your album together should not be a difficult or tiresome process. If you feel challenged during this process, consult your Montreal wedding photographer to assist you in coming up with the album of your dreams.

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Katia and Mike

Thursday, May 16, 2013 Posted in Uncategorized

It was a cold day just after the rain. We were contemplating whether the photo session would actually take place. Katia was very cold in her small BCBG dress and Mike was warming her up. That created a lot of mood and lovely natural interaction in the images.

My contact with Katia and Mike involved shooting their Engagement session in Venice, Italy. Mike is Italian and studying to be an architect, while Katia is of Russian origin and living in Canada. Katia loves to travel and has a lot of fashion sense. The delightful couple met on a cruise ship in the United States when they were both traveling with their parents. After a long distance relationship that lasted a long time, they decided to get married this summer in Italy.

What else could compare to having a gorgeous looking couple and the beautiful city of Venice as the backdrop to the photo session? Home to some of the most beautiful streets in the world, it was easy to find great spots for capturing intimate moments between the engaged couple. The photo session turned out to be so good that the image with flying pigeons won first place in both the National PWPC award and the International WPPI award.

Shooting an engagement session in Venice largely depends on good planning in advance, as well as understanding the unique environment, culture, logistics and legalities in this great city. Katia and Mike were perfect for this as they knew the city well and were really into making this photo shoot a success.

It was easy to photograph this attractive couple as Katia was a natural in front of the camera who turned out great in the un-posed lifestyle shots. Mike also seemed to enjoy being in the spotlight and was comfortable demonstrating his affection for Katia by cuddling, tickling and taking romantic walks while I took their images. The pair looked so at ease without any signs of being uncomfortable having their pictures taken. Their ability to relax enabled me to capture some great engagement shots.

I loved shooting at all the amazing locations around Venice. We especially enjoyed shooting around the canals of Venice, an amazing spot which has earned its place as one of the top destinations for pre-wedding photography. The absence of cars and presence of boats in Venice creates a picturesque background to shoot against. Wherever we looked, there were beautiful places for Katia and Mike to pose for some stunning engagement photos. It was great fun going that far to meet with this delightful couple for a mesmerizing shot in Venice. We enjoyed every minute of it. All their pictures tell a story: the wonderful love story of Katia and Mike that they can cherish for the rest of their lives.

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Covering A Traditional Chinese Tea Wedding Ceremony

Thursday, May 9, 2013 Posted in Wedding stories

The Prelude

Among the things that we love about being wedding photographers in Montreal is the amazing variety of cultures that we get to witness here, especially when we cover ethnic-themed wedding ceremonies. So imagine our delight when we were asked to lend our photographic skills to a traditional Chinese tea wedding ceremony. Even with all this background work that we did to prepare ourselves, there is no way to describe how exhilarating the entire experience of photographing the Chinese-themed wedding is! The Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony is a custom filled with generations of tradition. The whole idea behind it is a way for the Bride and Groom to thank and pay respect to their parents. The Ceremony also gives a chance for both sides to welcome the new members into their family.

Everything from the way napkins are folded to ward off bad Qi, to the Lotus Seed and Red Date tea served to symbolize sweetness for a sweet relationship and to welcome children into the couple’s lives quickly to the Symbolic Red Envelopes and sayings, everything has a place and its meaning.

Typically the bride serves tea in the morning to her family in a more intimate ceremony where the bride thanks her parents for raising her.

Later on in the day the bride and groom will serve tea to his parents and extended family. The Grooms parents will sit in chairs and the Bride will kneel in front of the Grooms father and the Groom will kneel in front of his mother.

They will say the traditional words: “Thank you for bringing us up. Now we are getting married, we owe it all to you” The Parents drink a small amount of tea and then hand the couple a red envelope often filled with money or jewelry to symbolize good luck.

The tea ceremony goes on to include the members of the extended family and each person is served in an order that has been preserved for generations. The younger members of the family will even serve tea to the bride and groom and in exchange they will give them small gifts.

The vibrant display of colors…

Chinese wedding ceremonies are pre-dominantly defined by the presence of a red color scheme, thought to bring good luck to the couple, as per the Chinese school of thought. Filling each moment with infinite exuberance, the red theme is followed right from the decorations to the ethnic Chinese dress that our bride donned for the wedding ceremony.

The liberal use of red as the defining theme for the décor caught our eye immediately and we found ourselves sketching a mental picture of how alluring the photo session in this ambiance will be. It was, however, the moment we saw our bride in her exotic, bright red traditional wedding outfit that affirmed our expectations of this wedding coverage turning out to be the most unforgettable photo shoots.

Let’s talk about our couple…

Paul and Queci are so in love with each other! couple! Queci’s beautifully designed bridal outfit was indeed a sight to behold! She had accessorized it with an elegantly embroidered black headwear that perfectly complemented her look. With minimalist makeup, she allowed her dress to shine through the entire wedding photography session and as wedding photographers, that was a treat for us to capture.

The presence of Chinese decorative items around the place provided a perfect balance to the pictures and made us look forward to how the rest of the day would turn out to be! But since that is another detailed story, we will be dedicating a whole new post to it. Stay tuned!

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Best Make-Up Tips for the Wedding Day

Monday, May 6, 2013 Posted in Questions & Answers

Very important preparations go into making a wedding day a success. You must get the music, cake, food and décor just right in order to have the wedding of your dreams. On your wedding day, you want to look your best possible. This is important as you do not want to get outdone by the décor, the guests, and the bridal party and – heaven forbid – your very own maid of honor. To do this, be sure to put some time and effort into getting yourself the perfect face. Here’s how.

The first point to consider when it comes to your wedding make up is opting for a classy look and not a trendy, fashion look. Discard all your glitter, orange eye shadow and purple lipstick, at least for your wedding day. Remember that this is the most important day of your life and you will want to remember yourself as a classic beauty and not the laughing stock of people flipping through your wedding album years on.

Your foundation must match your skin tone. Check to see how it blends both in the daylight and at night in the glare of artificial lighting. A good foundation will make all the difference in enabling your Montreal wedding photographer to capture your beautiful moments. Nothing says classy better than the neutral toned makeup. Accent the neutral colored eye makeup with a touch of brown and gold that will make your eyes pop. Also ensure that your makeup is waterproof just in case you become overwhelmed and begin to cry at your wedding. And steer clear of the eyeliner on the top of the eyelid as this is rather passé.

For your cheeks, be sure to remember to put on some blush, in either peach or a warm pink shade; and have your lips in a light colored shade that’s similar to the color of your lips, and then apply a little gloss to finish. Your lips will look natural and attractive for when “it’s time to kiss the bride”. Apply the color once at the beginning of the day, then moisturize a few times to ensure your lips remain luscious and picture-perfect during your wedding. There’s a variety of long-lasting lipsticks available in the market for you to choose from.

Have someone on hand to act as your makeup checker. This could either be your maid of honor or even your mom, who will always keep their eye out for when you need to retouch your makeup. They could even carry around your makeup in their purse for easier access whenever you need to reapply. Before you use a product, ensure that you have tested it days before your wedding day. The last thing you want is the new foundation you bought the day before resulting in a skin reaction on your wedding day. Do not use products you haven’t tested prior to your big day. Make sure you have an emergency makeup kit on hand for easy access in case of anything. This should contain lipstick, hairspray, a hairbrush and clear nail varnish to repair ladders in your stockings as well as a small sewing kit for those god-awful rips.

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2013 Wedding dress trends

Thursday, April 25, 2013 Posted in Wedding vendors

It is a brand new season and the runway has seen a vast array of wedding dresses with designs that will set the trend for the year. So what are the reigning trends for this year?

Peplums

Although we’ve seen peplums around for a few years, Charlize Theron’s 2013 Oscar gown is sure to revitalize the trend. The white Dior Gown had a sparkly peplum.

Long Sheer Sleeves

This trend made the headlines when Kate Middleton graced the aisle in an exquisite long lace sleeved wedding dress by Sarah Burton, creative designer of Alexander McQueen. Two years later, it is still going strong!

Off Shoulder Necklines

What do Walt Disney’s princesses like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Jasmine and so forth have in common? An off shoulder neckline ball dress! This look is very romantic. Choose from modest necklines that reveal the tiniest bit of shoulder to those that defy gravity by hanging low off the shoulder.

Dresses with Sheer Overlay

You can create shape and structure with multiple sheer overlays. Sheer overlays give the dress a magical and dreamy appearance.

Corset bodies

Corset backs or lace up backs not only give dresses a sense of Old World glamour but also help create a sensual hourglass shape. Although most traditionally associated with big ball gowns, corset bodies with sheath and mermaid gowns create a lean and modern silhouette.

Backless

Brides to be, get ready to pamper that back of yours. Exfoliate, tone, moisturize your back appropriately to ensure your back is aisle ready. Wedding dress designs this season features sexy ways to expose the back region, whether it’s a cut out back or fully bared back.

Although keeping up with new trends and getting the most fashionable wedding dress seems like a dream come true, it is important that the wedding dress you picked flatters your body shape too. Other than that, just have fun with it!

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