Dancing With the Local Stars

This past summer, I had the opportunity of volunteering my services to photograph a bone marrow transplant fund-raiser here in Windsor. The event was organized by the Better World Today Association and held at Caesar's Windsor. Please be sure to check out BWTA's website for more information on what they're doing and what events they'll be putting on next!

This event was actually a series of 13 evenings in which a local celebrity was paired with a professional dancer or dance teacher and competing against each other. Very much like the popular television series, "Dancing With the Stars!" (Go figure. ;) Each week, two couples were voted off by a judging panel.

I was only able to be there for one of the evenings, but it was so neat! I SO wish I'd been able to take part in it every week!

I started backstage where the dancers were getting ready:









Then the night began. First they introduced the judges...





Finally the dancing started!













After each couple had performed, they ushered them off-stage to an area they had set up for interviews. They played the interviews on the large screens so the rest of the audience could see them as well. It was pretty awesome!







The judges were seated center stage to have the best view of the dance floor:







Throughout the evening, they had a number of other things going on in between performances. Live entertainment, interviews with various special guests (as shown below), prize draws, and other video presentations.





During judging, the couples would stand to the side with the show's hosts while receiving their critiques and scores. At all times, there was a large screen above the judging panel so that everyone had a great view of everything happening.









One of the prize draws:







Unfortunately, the night did eventually come to an end. :( What a fun evening, though––I can't wait until next year!! :D





Also, if you have a few minutes, check out this awesome highlights video, done by Real West Vision!

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Nick & Jasmine's Hoppin' Wedding!

THIS was a fun wedding, let me tell you!! Pretty much some of the coolest people I know, and their wedding was full of some more VERY cool people! (Not to mention a number of people I already knew––w00t!)

I met with Nick and Jasmine last fall, when they were planning to have me do just their engagement photos. (Another VERY fun session!! You can see it here.) I'll admit, I was kind of bummed that I wouldn't get to do their wedding too (Jasmine's cousin was originally going to do their wedding photos), but was BEYOND excited when she contacted me again several months later and asked if I'd be willing to be their for the big day too!

The weather couldn't have been more perfect! I started at Jasmine's house, took some detail shots, admired her amazing shoes (both pairs shown below are hers––yellow heels for the ceremony, and then her dancin' shoes!), met her brother's lizard, and took a stroll through her mom's beautiful flower garden!





I loved the flowers she and her Maid of Honor had in their hair!! Gorgeous!














And how awesome are these shoes... seriously!






Once we got to the church, I had a few minutes with Nick and his Best Man before the ceremony started.


Meanwhile, the girls waited in the church basement...


I wanted to get a shot of Nick's face when he first saw his bride at the end of the aisle, but the layout of the sanctuary was going to make it very difficult... Instead of watching for her myself, I decided to take a chance and watch Nick's face only. It was completely obvious to me when he first saw her because his eyes TOTALLY lit up!












After the ceremony was over and we'd finished family pictures, we made a stop at the nursing home where Nick's grandparents are to take some pictures with them. It was a very sweet visit, and seeing how proud they were of their grandson!

We then headed off to Willistead Manor for some more portraits. We only had about 10-15 minutes before we needed to head to the reception, we these four were pretty much pros and we whipped out a ton of great shots for the amount of time we had! (Not to mention limited space––my favorite areas of the manor's exterior were taken up by a very LARGE wedding party.)




























Their reception was held at La Zingara on Erie Street––What an amazing restaurant to have your wedding reception!! I would never have thought of it. The food was incredible, the service excellent, and despite being split between three rooms, the layout was VERY cool. As the night went on, they opened up the windows/glass doors lining the front of the restaurant to allow fresh air and easy outdoor access for guests. Complimentary valet parking too, so he––I was pretty excited! :D






I know I make special mention of Silver Spoon Cakes fairly often on this blog, but I'm gonna do it again!! My sister Naomi is the founder of this awesome company, and she once again did an amazing job with Nick and Jasmine's cupcake display! I unfortunately wasn't able to get a complete shot of the entire set-up, but Naomi had used little jars of special grass to decorate around the bottom and around the extra cupcakes. It was really cute. :D She was also responsible for their sugar cookie favors, which, I have to say, were fabulous. I had like two or three and took a few extras home with me. (There were baskets full of them––I'm no wedding-favor-hoarder, don't worry!)
















How cute is little Samuel??! Seriously!! Oh, and Matt looks fairly normal in this photo too. ;) (Matt, Heidee and their two little boys, Noah and Samuel are some of the good friends that were there, if you were wondering.)




The photo on the right was taken when Glen (the DJ) surprised Jasmine by playing a voice message from her original Maid of Honor who was unable to make it to the wedding due to being too far along in her pregnancy to travel by airplane. Glen had contacted her without Jasmine knowing and arranged her message along with a song––it was way cool! The look on Jasmine's face was so worth it!!


And here's the DJ in question, along with his wife Sue, and Matt. (Sometimes they just go crazy.) In absolute seriousness, I cannot recommend Glen and Sue enough!! I recommend them to ALL of my clients––they do SO much more than just play music and make announcements... their hard work and sheer talent has made every wedding I've worked with them on completely unforgettable!
























Yeah, I took a lot of ring shots at this wedding... what of it? ;)








I like this one particularly because I'm actually in it! :D Kidding. I'd like it even if I wasn't in it. ;)


Congratulations again to Nick and Jasmine, and a HUGE thank you for allowing me to share in your day in such a special way!! I'm incredibly honored to have been there to capture the moments, as cliche as that might sound!

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Additional Credits:

DJ & Entertainment Services: Glen & Sue Bacarro, The Entertainment Factor

Cupcakes, cake, and sugar cookies: Silver Spoon Cakes

Reception Venue: La Zingara, Erie St, Windsor

Flowers: Zehrs (I know, right??)

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