Tristan and I have been working on our new site for a while now, and are happy to say that it has finally been “launched”. We’ve been working together for 3 years, and it started to seem silly that we didn’t have a joint site. Now that we’re married ‘Jenna & Tristan’ will be our new wedding business, and after much thought i’ve changed my name to take his. You’ll notice that I’ve changed my header to Jenna Shouldice, and I will eventually change my personal website/blog to that as well. Until then my blog will remain the same address, and you can head on over to Jenna & Tristan to see our new site, and our recent work : ) http://www.jennaandtristan.com

In the beginning of July, Tristan and I flew down to Aruba to photograph Mayra and Manny’s wedding at the RIU Palace. Their wedding was host to some of the most energetic and supportive friends and family we’ve ever seen. It was beautiful to witness the emotions their guests experienced throughout the day, and the laughter that always followed. Mayra was stunning, her smile so contagious. I love being around brides when they are so happy they can barely stand it, and that was definitely Mayra. Everyone loves these two and it’s obvious why. It was a wonderful wedding to be apart of!

This morning I woke up to a nice surprise. Junebug Weddings posted their choices for the best of the best wedding photos of 2009 and one of my photos was selected. Also on this list are many photographers that I admire, including the photographers who photographed our wedding, Ben Chrisman and Erin Reed. It is truly an honour to be included on a list with such wonderful names. This shot is from Jane and Roberts wedding on vancouver island in September.

Back in June Tristan and I spent a weekend in Vancouver photographing Sonia and Jason’s lovely Indian wedding. You might remember their engagement photos earlier on the blog. I had mentioned that I was looking forward to all the good food, and I was NOT disappointed. I had my fingers crossed that there would be homemade chai tea, and there was… everywhere! SO yummy. It was such a fun weekend with them, as i’ve mentioned before they have such a great sense of humour and are incredibly easy to talk to. There is so much from this wedding that was wonderful to document, so i’ve included my favourite candids from day two in the following set of shots. Tristan has also blogged about this wedding as well, so you should check out his post as he has stunning photos from this day if you ask me! This was our first Indian wedding and it was an incredible experience. I love that we get to be apart of such important times in people’s lives, and have the opportunity to be immersed in the various rituals that come with each different culture. So thankful that we met this wonderful pair!! 

This August my buddy Ben Benvie flew me to Ontario to shoot a few weddings with him. It was a fun change to be a second shooter for a while, and it’s always fun hanging out with Ben. Our first wedding together was Andrea and Chuck’s in Toronto. They are such a lovely couple and very laid back, which made it easy to hang out with them all day! The best part though is that they were also so flirty and cute with each other! Here are a few of my favourite pics, and check out Ben’s blog to see his shots!

You’re about to look at photos from the happiest wedding ever. Ok i’ve been to a lot of happy weddings, but this is in the top 3 at least. Mariel and Jesse’s wedding this June was so much fun that I went into a bit of withdrawal from them once it was over. Their ceremony was at the beautiful Christ Church Cathedral and their reception was at The Wardroom in Esquimalt. We spent all day and all night with them, and loved absolutely every minute of it. Jesse has got to be the most excited groom i’ve ever come across… being into photography himself he was all about the photos. More importantly though, I just love the way he looks at Mariel… and the way she looks at him back! They both look so in love and so serene. And obviously they are both gorgeous. Weddings are long days for everyone, and most couples get pretty tired after their portraits.. but that was not the case here. Somehow Mariel and Jesse seemed to get more energy and more excited as the day went on, and this energy was also shared by all their guests. Their flowergirl Anika-Ocean, danced the entire night away without so much as a yawn. (also- how cute is she!!!) During family photos I barely had to say a word because everyone was laughing and smiling their heads off! On top of all this i’ve ready taken pictures of 3 of the 5 bridesmaids, so the morning was just like hanging out with old friends. That feeling continued throughout the whole night, as Tristan and I happily joined them at their lively after-party. This wedding was full of light [literally] and happiness, and i’m beyond stoked that Tris and I were chosen to document this delightful day!! 

Jen and Peter’s wedding was one of the more entertaining weddings i’ve been to. They got married this June at Saxe Point, on a sunny yet windy day. All morning the girls were checking out the window for wind, while I secretly prayed for it behind them. Well… maybe not so secretly. When you’ve got a veil like Jen’s, the more wind the better! Jen’s lovely dress was custom made for her by Alida’s Gowns in Sidney BC, and the bridesmaids had on beautiful flowy dresses that also were awesome in the wind. In the morning, I wouldn’t say the wedding party particularly loved the camera, but I can tell you they did by the night! There was lots to photograph come cocktail hour, where the shy ones made up for the morning! As I mentioned this wedding was very entertaining, and certainly lots of fun for everyone in attendance. Except for a maybe a moment right before the reception at the Laurel Point Inn, where a bird so kindly left his business on the best man’s jacket… Definitely a wedding i’ll never forget!

If you haven’t done so yet, pick it up! This is a west coast bridal magazine, so if you aren’t living out this way here is what the feature looks like:

Just this weekend Tristan and I lucked out and photographed a double wedding up island in Campbell River. Kyle, our old roommate, was one of the MC’s at the reception, and also a groomsmen for one of the grooms. I thought i’d take this opportunity to share Kyle with the world.

You might remember Dan and Savanna from their engagement session a while ago on the blog. As i’ve mentioned before they are the sweetest couple , and we photographed their wedding in may. During the reception I just about melted when the ringbearer got a hold of the microphone, and sang to the entire crowd the classics…. old mcdonald had a farm, twinkle twinkle little star etc. He didn’t just sing them like any average kid though. He started out with ” A one… a two… a one two three…. twinkle twinkle…” and so forth. Seriously I almost died. How cute is that! I’ve never seen a ringbearer like this before. He is such a little man that I forget he’s actually a toddler! I’ve got a picture of him working the crowd a few shots down.  Dan and Savanna are just as cute as him though… I loved the feeling of the reception, everyone was so happy and so proud of them, quite a few tears were leaking during the speeches. The entire wedding party was so friendly (and definitely increasingly entertaining as the night went on…) and Dan and Savanna were lovely and glowing the whole time. Here are some shots from the day. You can find more on Tristan’s blog as well.