This image was taken during Julianne and Dan's King Edward Hotel wedding is entitled The King and Queen.
The bride and groom shown in this image got married at the hotel and the ceremony took place in the Vanity Fair hall. For the first look and the bridal party photos Julianne and Daniel picked a few spots around the hotel where they dated in the past.
After the bride and groom got ready, they went to have the first look in a place very close to King Edward Hotel accompanied by the bridal party. We took several formal shots, then we dived into the fun shots each bridal party adores. My second shooter at this wedding was a fellow wedding photographer who is a former gymnast. He performed some acrobatics that amazed the bride and groom. This was happening just steps from the hotel, not somewhere in a park where the ground was covered with a lush grass.
Once the bridal party got tired of being photographed, we took the bride and groom for a stroll in the financial district right in downtown Toronto.
We hunted for good light (an essential element in wedding photography) and arrived at the Eastern side of the hotel where we took some James Bond kind of shots.
It was then when I saw the hotel had an entrance protected by a blue awning on which it was inscribed in golden letters: King Edward Hotel under a royal crown. The hotel was acquired ago by the Omni group and functions under that umbrella brand. Long story short, the crown on the awning, the hotel name and the golden crown painted on the glass door, gave me the idea to create this image right before the bride and groom were heading inside. I might be biased but I can tell you honestly this is the best wedding photograph I saw at this venue.
The bride and groom spent a matter of seconds in this pose. Many couples getting married are so concerned about posing and they want a photojournalistic coverage of the day. While as a wedding photographer at King Edward Hotel I definitely do that, I have to admit I like controlling things. If I can place you in a beautiful light that is going to make you look even more beautiful than you are, I would absolutely love to do that. After all, I want you to have the most beautiful wedding picks at King Edward Hotel so you can show them to everybody, post them on social media so I can receive even more exposure.
After we took this photograph the couple went inside the hotel to sign the ketubah.
For the ones not familiar with the ketubah, it is a document in which the husband guarantees that he will provide for his wife. This is not a mutual agreement, but only a document whereby the husband only, according to the jewish law promises he will take care of his wife financially and humanly.
Going back to our bride and groom, he is holding the jacket on his shoulder and the bride is on a higher step. The way her head is placed in the picture she has the golden crown on the door right above her head as if she is a Queen. It is a play between the inscription above the door at King Edward and a suggestion of a Queen. In our case, Queen bride.
In terms of post processing, I increased a bit saturation, then I accentuated a bit the texture of the hotel walls, cleaned some junk from the floor, removed several exit and handicapped signs that were really distracting, placed a vignette around the bride and groom and cropped a bit the image for an even better composition. I usually crop in camera, but sometimes moments between the newlyweds happen so fast that I do not have time to compose perfectly.
To finish the photo, I softened the bride's skin a bit and dodged and burned the image to give it a bit more character.
In wedding photography no matter how much you plan, luck still plays an important role. Here we were fortunate to have perfect weather and not to have any cars parked on this side of King Edward Hotel.
When you decide to tie the knot, I hope you will consider me as your wedding photographer. I will do my absolute best to create artwork for you, beautiful images that you will be hanging on the most visible wall in your home. That is my promise to you, my future brides and grooms reading these words.
Website: King Edward Hotel
Location: The Omni King Edward Hotel, King Street East, Toronto, ON, Canada.
