Stephanie and Travis flew in from Boston and were married at Restaurant Ei8gteen in downtown Ottawa.  Their wedding was beautiful and elegant with Stephanie absolutely glowing as she prepared for her big day.  They celebrated in style with their closest family and friends with good food and dancing.  It was one of the hottest days, but that didn't stop them from having a great time! 

Here are some pics from their wedding.

Elizabeth from Flowers Talk did an amazing job in putting together an arrangement of white Cala Lilies for Steph's bouquet.

And we love the guys ties from Thomas Pink!

Of course,the bride had to have a 'little bit of pink' with shoes from Ann Taylor!

Kisses, anyone?

Location/Caterer: Restaurant Ei8hteen
Gown: Memories, by Maggie Sottero
Flowers: Flowers Talk
Cake: The Cake Shop
Music/DJ: Prime Time Entertainment

Congratulations, Steph & Travis!  Thank you for inviting us to be a part of your day and for treating us like one of your family and friends.  We will always remember the fun day and reception!  We hope you enjoyed your honeymoon in New Hampshire and have an amazing journey together!

Much love,
Sam and Mary

Hey, everyone!  We are so very excited to officially announce our **newly launched** Sam and Mary Photography blog and website.  It was time to update both with a fresh new look featuring larger images and a cleaner design. 

We have lots of wedding and engagements sessions which we will be posting in the coming weeks, so it will be an all new start to our blog!  As well, we will have to start over with all the comments as we were unable to move them over to this new blog along with the past year's posts.  Believe me, we tried! 

Thank you to all of you --our blog readers, friends (whether online or in person) and clients, who read and follow us here on our blog.  Thanks for the comments and words of encouragement you have left with us over the past few years.  It means a lot to us.  We are totally grateful for the chance to share our work and lives with all of you!

Thanks again for checking us out and while you're here, please let us know you've stopped in by leaving us a comment.  We'd love to hear from you, don't be shy!

Here's to happy bloggin'!
Sam and Mary

...and your one-arm-bandits crashin'

Whew what a rush.  4 days in Las Vegas at the WPPI convention and I managed to make it home alive and up $10!  The annual gathering of wedding and portrait photographers is a great place to talk shop, share ideas and just plain party.  It was awesome to meet up with old friends and make new ones.  Of course, it wasn't all wild parties, high stakes poker and go-go girls.  I did manage to do some "work" at the DQ Quikeys Booth with Dave and Quin Cheung.

Some pics from my trip!

We stayed on the 27th floor of the MGM Grand with a view of New York New York and enjoyed a splendid Japanese dinner at Shibuya right in the MGM Grand.  Beef sashimi and mushrooms laced in truffle oil.  Absolutely devine!

This was taken while goofin' off at Becker's party.  His parties are always a hit during WPPI.

Later at the Rouge, I ran into the crew from Colorati who were buying the drinks! By the end of the evening, their calling cards could be found all over the casino.

WPPI would not be complete without the much anticipated Bludomain party - featuring the Mammoth Men

On the very last day, we treated ourselves to a ride on the rollercoaster at New York New York.  This is also where I got busted for pulling out my camera!

Among the many, here are just a few of the friends and fellow photographers I ran into while in vegas: Dane Sanders, Britney Gardner and Joe Rumore, Ken and Stan and the crew from Renaissance Albums, Leon Sandoval from Colorati, of course Dave and Quin, Harold Jankowiak, Matt Sloan, Jasmine Star, The Becker, Joe Photo and Spiderman,  and Mel Barlow.  Oh, and guess who I bumped into at the Washington airport! My good friend, Barack Obama.

To all the folks I bumped into at WPPI - thanks for a fantastic time, for inspiring and for the cool friendships and connections.  I'm already looking forward to next year's show!

Big hugs all around, Sam.

Just some exciting news we wanted to share! We have been chosen and published in Weddingbells, featuring Alania and Brett's backyard "Garden State" wedding. You can read up on Alania and Brett's full wedding story online as well. Here's a glimpse of the Real Weddings feature, along with an editorial feature on our work and our ad (top left and right photos):

The magazine is now available in stores, so go pick up a copy today!
Thanks for all our brides and blog readers for your continued support and for cheering us on :)

We've been so blessed this past year, and it would be wrong for us to not thank all of our wonderful clients for inviting us into their lives and allowing us to capture their relationships, their wedding, their children, and families. We could not be where we are, as people and as artists, without your trust and friendship. It is truly our joy to do what we do and to connect with each couple we meet, each person that is touched by our work, and mutually finding meaning through each photo we take. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

2008 was a wonderful year for us and we received this email just before the new year from the father of the bride whose backyard wedding we just shot earlier in the year. The year could not have ended on a better note as these sweet words:

"Dear Sam & Mary,

I must say that Xmas morning at our home was a joyous event. We presented Brett & Alania with their wedding albums, and their engagement album, and Peggy and I opened our album. It was a first time viewing for all of us, a real white glove event.

We were all totally impressed with the quality of presentation and the professional product you put together! These will be lasting treasures to remember the events of that great day.

On behalf of all of us, I truly thank you both for all your love and devotion in creating these lasting memories.

Happy New Year, and cheers,
Sincerely, Don MacKay"

Thank you, Don, for taking the time to write us and for your heartfelt words!

Don and Peggy also had us shoot their own lifestyle session (a gift from their daughter) in the fall which we'd love to post more of. This photo, as well as the one above, was taken at their residence where their daughter got married!

I just love the calm and confident feel of this image, and how much fun they have together!