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Golden Hour Family Session ~ Cassie & Family ~ Michelle A Photo

Mom and her two daughters sitting at the end of a dock looking out at the water at Fanshawe Conservation Area.

Cassie’s Golden Hour Family Session When your bestie asks you to capture family photos for them the obvious answer is HECK YES! Last May, my bestie Cassie from Hope Harbour Photography asked me to capture some updated family photos while her mom was in town. I am so excited to share all the golden hour...

Bellamere Wedding Photographer ~ T & S ~ Michelle A Photo

Bride and groom nose to nose as the brides veil flies behind her at Bellamere Winery in London Ontario

Taylor and Spencer’s Bellamere Wedding The last blog post of February, which means one more amazing wedding is on the blog today! Taylor and Spencer tied the knot last June at Bellamere Winery in London Ontario. The weather may have been less then ideal, but their day was honestly perfect and I am so excited...

Malahide Ontario Wedding ~ Erin & Patrick ~ Michelle A Photo

Couple silhouette at sunset on their wedding day in Malahide Ontario.

Erin and Patrick’s Malahide Ontario Wedding Its another February Tuesday…which means another new wedding is on the blog today! I am so excited to be sharing all about Erin and Patrick’s lovely May Malahide Ontario Wedding. I first met Erin back at a wedding I captured in 2020 as she was a bridesmaid. I was...

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Golden Hour Family Session ~ Cassie & Family ~ Michelle A Photo

Mom and her two daughters sitting at the end of a dock looking out at the water at Fanshawe Conservation Area.

Cassie’s Golden Hour Family Session When your bestie asks you to capture family photos for them the obvious answer is HECK YES! Last May, my bestie Cassie from Hope Harbour Photography asked me to capture some updated family photos while her mom was in town. I am so excited to share all the golden hour...

Bellamere Wedding Photographer ~ T & S ~ Michelle A Photo

Bride and groom nose to nose as the brides veil flies behind her at Bellamere Winery in London Ontario

Taylor and Spencer’s Bellamere Wedding The last blog post of February, which means one more amazing wedding is on the blog today! Taylor and Spencer tied the knot last June at Bellamere Winery in London Ontario. The weather may have been less then ideal, but their day was honestly perfect and I am so excited...

Malahide Ontario Wedding ~ Erin & Patrick ~ Michelle A Photo

Couple silhouette at sunset on their wedding day in Malahide Ontario.

Erin and Patrick’s Malahide Ontario Wedding Its another February Tuesday…which means another new wedding is on the blog today! I am so excited to be sharing all about Erin and Patrick’s lovely May Malahide Ontario Wedding. I first met Erin back at a wedding I captured in 2020 as she was a bridesmaid. I was...

Golden Hour Family Session ~ Cassie & Family ~ Michelle A Photo

Mom and her two daughters sitting at the end of a dock looking out at the water at Fanshawe Conservation Area.

Cassie’s Golden Hour Family Session When your bestie asks you to capture family photos for them the obvious answer is HECK YES! Last May, my bestie Cassie from Hope Harbour Photography asked me to capture some updated family photos while her mom was in town. I am so excited to share all the golden hour...

Bellamere Wedding Photographer ~ T & S ~ Michelle A Photo

Bride and groom nose to nose as the brides veil flies behind her at Bellamere Winery in London Ontario

Taylor and Spencer’s Bellamere Wedding The last blog post of February, which means one more amazing wedding is on the blog today! Taylor and Spencer tied the knot last June at Bellamere Winery in London Ontario. The weather may have been less then ideal, but their day was honestly perfect and I am so excited...

Malahide Ontario Wedding ~ Erin & Patrick ~ Michelle A Photo

Couple silhouette at sunset on their wedding day in Malahide Ontario.

Erin and Patrick’s Malahide Ontario Wedding Its another February Tuesday…which means another new wedding is on the blog today! I am so excited to be sharing all about Erin and Patrick’s lovely May Malahide Ontario Wedding. I first met Erin back at a wedding I captured in 2020 as she was a bridesmaid. I was...

Follow Along on Instagram

If you see me spinning around in a park...no you didn’t🤣

Years ago, I saw this cool lighting trick on Instagram. I can’t remember who I saw it from so apologies for not giving credit...but it has been life changing! 

And it’s super easy, even people taking cellphone photos can benefit from this simple trick. 

All you are going to do it stick your hand out in front of you and spin slowly around. As you can see in the first half of the video, you can tell how the light is going to look on your subject based on how it looks in your palm. 

This trick is especially great on overcast days because even though it looks like all the lighting is even...it’s actually not. 

PSA...you will look like a weirdo but well worth it for awesome photos!✌🏻

#michelleaphoto #londonontarioweddingphotographer #stthomasontarioweddingphotographer #lightingtrick
I asked my husband what he would tell couples wedding planning...

For context, Tylor and I have been married for almost 8 years and have been together for almost 16. We got married in May of 2017 and I made sure that the planning was a joint effort so that it was both of our day not just mine! 

This is what he said👇🏻

1. Don’t make a snap decision on your wedding venue. 

We did love our venue, but there were certain things that weren’t ideal leading up to our day and on the day of. We also didn’t look at multiple venues because I was in the industry and had seen so many venues, I liked ours because I had never photograhed there. We made a snap decision on our venue when we could have looked around more.

2. Prioritize. Spend the $$ on the things that mean the most to you. 

Obviously for me this was photography which Tylor agreed with. Of course, food, decor and cake are all lovely but at the end of your wedding all you will have left are the photos and video!

3. Get a coordinator!

She paid attention to all the little things we didn’t have time for. She kept us on time, stayed on top of every aspect of our wedding and made sure every thing we didn’t even know about was taken care of before it became an issue. 

4. Try to do it debt free. 

We managed to pay for our entire wedding debt free. This is not meant to shame anyone! But for us, it was important to be able to pay for our wedding without debt. For full transparency, we spent approx. $18,000 on our wedding almost 8 years ago.

What are your thoughts on these wedding planning points? Let me know in the comments!👇🏻

Cover photo: @rawfootagephotos 
Video: @danivallispalmateer 

#michelleaphoto #londonontarioweddingphotographer #stthomasontarioweddingphotographer #weddingadvice

Southwestern Ontario Wedding Photographer

 

London . St Thomas . Stratford . Cambridge . Hamilton