Louisa & Ellie's Wedding Brunch Celebration at The Fifth :)

In case you missed it, Louisa & Ellie had a spectacular wedding last month in a 14th century Priory in England (click here to see those photos). Now that we're all back in Toronto, it was time for their celebration on this side of the pond - at The Fifth Grill and Terrace in downtown Toronto. Not only a great venue, but - as we knew it would be - a great group of guests to help the ladies finish off their wedding celebrations :) Awesome wedding and event planner Kris Chau from Not Your Average Party organized a fun and casual brunch, made all the more fun with a fantastic live celtic fiddle/guitar duo! Here are some of my favourite images capturing the atmosphere of the day..

 I love this: Louisa & Ellie's wedding bands (made by Andrea Apa) feature each others finger prints from their ring fingers!

These tiny knit dolls of Louisa, Ellie, and their little puppy Dewi were made for them by a friend :)

Guests were greeted with champagne to sip while they waited for Louisa & Ellie to
make their entrance..

If this freight elevator isn't one of the coolest ways to arrive at your wedding, I don't know what is!

 Ellie's wee niece got to be a señorita for the day, with a great Spanish party dress and castanetas!

Answering the quiz questions about the brides proved a great challenge - hearing the correct answers was highly entertaining for everyone :)

 I love this "sit proper" series ;)

Louisa & Ellie: it's been such an adventure over the past few months! Thank you so much for having us with you in England, and again back home in Toronto - we've enjoyed every minute of it!! While your lives might calm down a bit now, I feel certain things will never be dull :) Wishing you many years of love, kisses, and inappropriate jokes!

xo
Jessica + Norman

Venue: The Fifth
Event Planner: Kristina Chau, Not Your Average Party
Cake: Le Dolci
Musicians: Aaron Solomon
DJ: James Drummond
Wedding Bands: Andrea Apa, Apa Design
Photography: Jessica + Norman, Jessica Lin Photography

Louisa & Ellie's Vintage-Inspired UK Destination Wedding :)

Louisa & Ellie first met at a bar - not just any bar, but Toronto's top drag bar - where Ellie worked and Louisa would come to make eyes at her. After a few months, Ellie relented on her "don't date customers" rule, and the rest, as they say, is history. The two of them make such a fantastic couple: one of my favourite things about Louisa & Ellie is how quickly they can switch from goofy to romantic (and back again!). They are playful and sweet together, and warm and welcoming to those around them. From the first evening we met, we got on like a house on fire, and we'd already had a blast photographing two engagement sessions together (one in Toronto and one in England), so we knew their wedding was going to be a really fun day!

Coming from somewhere as young as Toronto, the first thing that strikes you about England is of course how beautifully old and full of character the buildings are there. A few years back, Louisa had visited Butley Priory with a close friend, and said that if she ever got married she wanted to do it there. Fast forward to the present, and a fairy tale day of that and many more long awaited dreams coming true :)

Here are some of my favourite images from their stunning wedding day, capturing the atmosphere, the ancient setting, the gorgeous details, and of course all of the heart-felt moments..

Butley Priory, built in the 14th century, was a perfect setting for this vintage-inspired day!

Louisa & Ellie's rings were created by Andrea Apa, and feature each others fingerprints etched into the rings. The beautiful image of the Priory that they used on the invitations was done
by their friend Ghyl Lebentz.

I absolutely love the embroidered detailing on Louisa's dress!

 Straight out of a Jane Austen story :)

Ellie's wardrobe for the day was dashing - including fancy gold shoes and a pocket watch purchased at her first visit to Portobello Market earlier in the week :) As a fellow Canadian marrying a Brit, she and I could relate to each other about many things, including how everyone local giggled every time we talked about "pants" or "suspenders" (which mean different things there than they do here!)

Ready to go, we headed to the Great Hall for the ceremony to begin..

Louisa's long time best friend Hayley Atwell performed the lovely ceremony :)

 Champagne toast as newlyweds (shortly followed by Pimms!)

And then out to the garden, to be showered by rose petal confetti and kisses of congratulations :)

 The Priory was full of alcoves and nooks - I stole the brides for a private moment together tucked away, and I love how cosy these images feel!

The treats on the cake table were made by some of the more local guests, and didn't last long ;)

This stunning chandelier was a collaboration between Dreamwave Events and florist Gingerlily Flowers, and made for the perfect focal point in the marquee!

The speeches had everyone laughing and crying all at once..

Dinner had a distinctly Spanish feel, to honour the Spanish side of Louisa's family - there was classical Spanish guitar to accompany the paella, and Louisa's dad carved up the jamon for everyone :)

A fantastic surprise for dessert - a vintage ice cream truck, loaded with yummy flavours of handmade gelato! After a brief lesson, Ellie was ready to scoop for the crowd, while Louisa drizzled some sweet Canadian ice wine on top :)

 An important step in Ellie's assimilation with the culture - learning to make the regionally appropriate rude gestures when needed ;) 

Once the guests had all been served, Ellie scooped one last gelato for Louisa :)

That's right: cheese. Layers of beautiful delicious cheese. Cutting the "cake" was followed by one last speech and a video of well-wishes from everyone who couldn't make it to England 

And just before getting the party kicked into full swing, first dance together as wife and wife :)

A great end to an amazing day :)

Louisa & Ellie: Your wedding day was filled with so much beauty, and most of it was the kind that could be felt rather than seen. There are clearly a lot of people who love you both very much, and who are overjoyed to see you so happy together :) May your years together be filled with the kind of laughter and joy between the two of you that we saw so much of on your wedding day! Thank you so much again for the allowing us the honour of traveling across the ocean with you to capture it all - we can't wait to celebrate with you later this month in Toronto!

xo

Jessica + Norman

Event Planner: Katrina, Katrina Otter Weddings
Venue: Butley Priory
Hair & Make Up: Samantha, Tori Harris Make Up and Hair Stylist
Wedding Bands: Andrea, Apa Design
Florist: Gingerlily Flowers
Ceremony Musicians: Ossian Green & Dan Kemshell, Encore
Catering: Events Couture
Spanish Guitarist: Morgan Buckley, Encore
Ice Cream Van: Sweet Ally Scoops
DJ/Lighting Installation: Dreamwave Events
Photography: Jessica + Norman, Jessica Lin Photography

Louisa & Ellie's Destination Engagement Session in the South of England :)

Louisa & Ellie are having a busy year.. In case you missed it, we did a pretty fantastic engagement session with them in Toronto a few months back, and then a couple of weeks ago we were all in England together for their wedding :) While we were there, we spent an evening in Warberswick photographing this gorgeous couple in the town where Louisa's grandparents had lived, and where she'd spent lots of time when she was growing up. This church is where her parents were married, so it was both a beautiful and meaningful location to start the photos..

This marsh was the view Louisa had out her bedroom window when visiting her grandparents, and it was only a short distance from there to the picturesque beach (where Louisa & Ellie took turns serenading each other) and the row of huts that lines it :)

I love the peacefulness of this next image, especially when contrasted with the goofiness
that followed!

I fell in love with these beach huts as a backdrop, and the setting sun just made them
that much better :)

While it's unusual to have someone else along for an engagement session, Ellie's awesome brother Robert came all the way from Canada to be there with his sister, and was a welcome addition to our gang as we toured this lovely seaside village, creating and capturing new memories to go along with the old ones :)

Louisa & Ellie: You two are such a joy to photograph - your sweetness and silliness with each other is so endearing, and we had such a great time in England with you!

Everyone else: if you think this location is stunning, just wait until you see the 14th century Priory where Louisa & Ellie got married! Coming soon..

xo
Jessica + Norman

special thanks to amazing Toronto wedding and event planner Kristina Chau from Not Your Average Party for introducing us to this lovely couple :)

Louisa & Ellie's Walk Down Memory Lane Engagement Session :)

Louisa & Ellie are one of the funnest and most playful couples I've ever met - I knew we were going to have a great time at their engagement session before we'd even started planning it :) And then we started discussing ideas about locations, and wanted to be sure to include all the important places in their history.. "first kiss", "first date", and best of all - where they first met: a downtown drag bar where Ellie used to tend bar!
But before all that excitement, we started off at the park where they walk their little puppy Dewey :)

 Our next two locations were The Banknote (first kiss!), and The Princess of Wales Theatre 

(first date!)

And then for the evening.. we had a lot of fun revisiting the drag bar where Louisa & Ellie first met!

 I love this image :)

Special thanks to Matt & Tommy for helping out with the shoot, and to Crews & Tangos owner Michael for allowing us to use this fabulous location!

Louisa & Ellie: we had such a blast following you down memory lane! We can't wait to see you in England for your wedding!!

xo
Jessica + Norman