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Tag: Jenn Kavanagh Photography

2026 Wedding Bookings | Harding Waterfront Estate Wedding

I’m super stoked to be sharing this Harding Waterfront Estate wedding on the blog today! I’m also slightly hijacking this wedding post to announce that I have a brand new, super gorgeous, incredibly detailed and informative Wedding Guide now available for inquiring 2026 and 2027 wedding couples. My Wedding Guide is not just for couples who have already booked with me; I actually like to offer a lot of info up front about wedding day planning and tips, on top of all the usual pricing, FAQs and general information.

Take a little peek below! Please reach out to me after you have your date and venue secured, via my contact form here. I look forward to hearing from you!

Enjoy the beauty below that is Harding Estate (one of my favourite venues!) Classic black and navy tuxes, black bridesmaid dresses, elegant black and white decor, this wedding had it all!

xo Jenn

Vendor Team:
Venue: Harding Waterfront Estate
Coordinator: N Cararah
Makeup: Vibrant Beauty
Hair: Sarah Chartren
Florals: Forest of Flowers, Trafalgar
Cake: Cupids Cupcakes

December 9, 2024
The Revel Sessions Workshop | Stationery + Flat Lay Styling

The Revel Sessions stationery and flat lay workshop was the very last project that I photographed before things really hit the fan with the COVID-19 pandemic. It was Wednesday, March 11th and things were just starting to get weird. I remember the days leading up to event date, thinking that we should probably refrain from shaking hands, hugging, etc and maybe establish some kind of other greeting. Ideas like placing your hands on your heart, or the elbow bump were floating around. Little did we know, that just five days later, we would be in full lockdown mode. Thankfully, everyone was mindful of what was going on and we were able to have an amazing day!

Laura of Laura Olsen Events and Krista of KJ & Co. launched The Revel Sessions as a series of practical and educational workshops that they saw were missing from the Canadian wedding industry. Their very first workshop focused on stationery planning and flat lay styling, featuring guest speakers Paper & Poste and Will Reid Photo.

Attendees spent the morning in the bright and beautiful atrium at Spencer’s At The Waterfront, learning from the guest speakers, and getting hands on with styling in the afternoon. Spencer’s, which is a Pearle Events venue, served up an incredible three-course lunch with wine pairing. My floral pal Quill + Oak rocked the flower bar, and my fave album company Dekora supplied some sweet styling boards! See below for a complete list of vendors.

The Revel Sessions has more incredible sounding workshops coming up, like Bubbly 101 (hello, sign me up!) with some dates TBD due to current gathering restrictions. Check out their workshop listings page to see what they have up their sleeves, and you can keep an eye on their Instagram to see when new ones are announced.

Hosts: The Revel Sessions, by KJ & Co. + Laura Olsen Events
Venue: Spencer’s at the Waterfront
Speakers: Paper & Poste and Will Reid Photo
Sponsors: Quill + Oak, Artisaire, Dekora, Simply Beautiful Decor, Stór by Margot, Locust Collection, Gather 33, The Dessert Room
Video: King of Hearts Media

September 3, 2020
Simple and Elegant Barrie Country Club Wedding

Emily and Matthew hosted the most elegant wedding last summer at the Barrie Country Club. From the moment I met them at our initial consultation, I KNEW this one would be a true highlight of my 2019 wedding season. Both Emily and Matthew have the kindest, most gentle souls and I was excited to spend the day photographing their love as well as meeting their inner circle. People with dispositions like theirs always seem to come from incredible families and friend groups, and my hunch was right! A huge bridal party moved effortlessly with us throughout the day, even when Mother Nature had us running in and out with her cheeky mix of gorgeous sunshine with spots of rain.

Their wedding day was made even more special, when a few months beforehand they found out they were expecting their first child together! With a quick switch of Emily’s dress and some arrangements for mimosas (without the bubbly) were made, their little bump was present for this huge milestone. They have since welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world and I’ve loved watching their little growing family over the past few months!

I’ve also included some photos of their printed album! I barely ever share photos of these outside of Instagram, so here we are! I absolutely love these printed albums as a way to really enjoy your wedding day memories. It’s so important to me that my couples don’t store their wedding images on a hard-drive forever, and love when they hang them on their walls and keep them within reach in these gorgeous printed albums!

With that said, here is a small little peek at Emily and Matthew’s big day at the stunning Barrie Country Club (check out the sunset photos- what a view!)
Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the list of talented vendors who helped bring this day to life.
Enjoy!
xo Jenn

Wedding Venue: Barrie Country Club
Makeup: Makeup by Carolyn
Hair: Kayla Ward 
Invitations: Bride’s sister!
Car: Lucid Limousines
Cake Artist: Cupcake Barrie 
Florist: Lavender Floral 
DJ: Keep Them Dancing 
Officiant: Beth Foster, All Seasons Weddings
 Wedding Gown: The Modern Bride, Made With Love 
Bridesmaid Dresses: Show Me Your Mumu 
Rings: Michael Smiley Jewellers
Ribbons: Stella Wolfe Co
Chairs: Elite Party Rentals
Backdrop: Art in Bloem

February 26, 2020
Honsberger Estate Wedding | Top Six Wedding Planning Tips for Newly Engaged Couples

Devin & Stuart celebrated their big day at Honsberger Estate Winery in Jordan, Ontario and it was their DREAM venue. They told me that as soon as they saw it, they knew it was the one. Devin and Stu planned a gorgeous wedding with blush pink, mauve, and gold accents. They incorporated some natural textures, which overall gave off a very simple, sophisticated and rustic vibe to the day. They had three different music vendors on board (strings, live acoustic, and a DJ!) and they really paid attention to the tiniest of details. Since the holidays are just around the corner, that means it’s engagement season folks! Because plenty of couples will soon be in the early stages of planning, I’ve asked Devin to share her top tips for newly engaged couples, so read on!

Top Six Wedding Planning Tips for Newly Engaged Couples

1. Picking the Venue
The first few days of engagement are exciting and full of celebration. Then, after a week or so, the reality sets in that if you want an engagement that is less than 2 years, you will need to start looking for a venue ASAP. Thinking back to this time, it was one of the most stressful parts about wedding planning – unless you are a couple that has decided on a venue before getting engaged. Personally, we saved all our wedding planning discussions until we were engaged. To start, we made a list of what was important to us. In our case, these were food, music, and some element of nature. Although it was exhausting to visit different venues almost every night for about 2 weeks, the moment we stepped onto the property that we eventually booked, we knew it was the one. Have patience and don’t settle for a venue that isn’t what exactly what you want.

2. Get Advice From Your Vendors
Photographers, florists, musicians, venue coordinators – they have all done this many times! If you are unsure of your itinerary, placement of flowers, when to do your first dance (the list goes on…), just ask the people you have hired to be part of your big day. Most vendors have been a part of various weddings and can give you feedback that will help shape some of your decisions.

3. Creating Ambience
Once you get into wedding planning, you will quickly realize how easy it is to spend a lot of money on flowers. Flowers make the venue personal and beautiful. That being said, be strategic about the flowers you order. If you have a ceremony space that is separate from your reception, make sure that you can re-use all the ceremony flowers in the reception area – especially since the ceremony is usually only 30 minutes. Have a plan with your florist or wedding coordinator on where you want your flowers relocated for cocktails and the reception. If you have a lot and/or large tables, a great way to save money is to have a garland or greenery on the tables instead of floral arrangements. If you decide on garlands, I highly suggest filling the tables with different sizes of candles. Candles give a nice warmth to the room and are beautiful as the sun goes down! Tip: Rent large pillar candles from your florist or decorator. Smaller votive candles can be purchased for a good price from the dollar store and can always be re-used.

4. Plan Ahead
Slowly start working away on wedding details (like venue signage, seating plan drafts, etc.) as soon as possible. Your wedding day will creep up faster than you think and many of the small details take longer than you might expect – especially seating plan! Write your vows, thank you cards to wedding party /parents, and thank you speech at least a month before the wedding. The four weeks before your wedding you will be paying the balance on your vendors and finalizing last minute details. You most likely won’t have the patience or headspace to write something from the heart.

5. Sleep
Try to relax (as much as possible) the days leading up to the wedding. Minimize intense exercise and socializing. Avoid anything that will burn you out. The entire day feels like running a half marathon, so you need all the energy you can get. Most importantly try and get some sleep the night before your big day. Personally, I could not sleep and it made it very tough to stay lively near the end of the night.

6. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
This includes details leading up to your wedding, as well as on the actual day of the wedding. You may have multiple opinions from your family and friends throughout the planning process. Pick your battles. You want the day to be perfect, but there are certain elements that are less significant. On the day of the wedding, if decorations aren’t in the exact spot you mapped out or if the itinerary changes slightly, don’t stress. Your guests have no idea what you have planned. Lastly, take multiple moments throughout the day to absorb and appreciate what is going on around you – even if this means stepping away from your guests for a few minutes to breathe!

7. Bonus tip from Jenn!
I wanted to add in another tip, one that really came in handy on Devin and Stuart’s wedding day. Since they opted to not see each other before the ceremony, I knew that afterwards would be a busy time filled with family portraits, wedding party photos, and portraits of the two if then. Knowing this, I recommended to Devin that we try to wrap up hair and makeup about 2 hours before we had to leave their getting ready location, so that I could do ALL of her bridesmaids photos before heading to the ceremony. It meant we had time to get solo portraits of Devin, all the shots of her and her gals, and all the individual ‘bride with each bridesmaid’ photos. I was also able to capture her with her parents, meaning we had a few less family combinations to do post-ceremony. It also means you’ll have more time with your wedding party to pop some champagne! We did the same thing with my second photographer Allison at Stuart’s getting ready spot. All groomsmen photos were done pre-ceremony, and it saved us SO much time afterwards.

Scroll through to view Devin & Stuart’s Honsberger Estate wedding! Vendor team is below!
Enjoy!
xo Jenn

Vendors:
Photography: Jenn Kavanagh Photography A huge thank you to Allison Leigh for shooting with me!
Getting Ready Location: Vineyard Estate House at Cave Spring Vineyard
Wedding Venue: Honsberger Estate Winery
Hair & Makeup: Glow Hair
Cake Artist: Sweet Celebrations
Florist: Lush Florals
Linens: Simply Beautiful Decor
Invitations: Minted
DJ: Liquid Entertainment
Strings: Dou D’Armore
Acoustic: Michael Saracino
Officiant: Belma Vardy, Enduring Promises
Wedding Gown: The Modern Bride
Bridesmaid Dresses: Park & Fifth
Suits: Empire Customs
Rings: Avalon Fine Jewellery

December 1, 2019
Art Gallery of Hamilton Wedding Editorial

I’m so grateful that I was asked to be a part of this stunning Art Gallery of Hamilton wedding editorial, which is featured over on Weddingbells today! Creative photoshoots like this are so fun to be a part of. Sometimes ‘styled shoots’ get a bad rap, because they aren’t exactly a true representation of what weddings are like, which is true. We aren’t dealing with timeline crunches, rarely have to worry about the weather, and have full control of all lighting and setups. But the beauty in these is that they are meant to invoke inspiration for to-be-wed couples. This particular editorial highlights a new and exciting colour palette, with many layers of pinks and peaches, a bold suit colour choice for the groom (which I LOVE) and stunning tabletop ideas (I mean…velvet napkins?!)

The brains behind this whole day was Sue Gallo Designs, who actually put it together for the tasting evening for the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s wedding clients. I love getting to work with local vendors and friends and highlighting their work!

Venue: Art Gallery of Hamilton | Creative Direction, Florals & Styling: Sue Gallo Designs | Coordination & Styling: Vivian Lyttle Events | Stationery: Simply Sealed | Lounge Furniture: Warehouse 84 | Linens & | Tableware: Simply Beautiful Decor | Gown: Willow by Watters via Sash & Bustle | Veils & Accessories: Noon on the Moon | Bridal Shoes: Ted Baker | Suit: RW&CO. | Hair & Make-up: Bespoke Beauty | Cake & Treats: The Dessert Room | Artwork: Cathy Yantsis via Art Gallery of Hamilton Sales | Models: Magna Arnott & Terry Molinaro

Head on over to the Weddingbells feature and leave us some love!
Enjoy!
xo Jenn

March 19, 2019
Wedding Venue Hunting ft. Tralee Wedding Facility

I am currently wedding venue hunting for my own wedding (we’re engaged, in case you missed the announcement!) and I would book the venue in this blog post, Tralee Wedding Facility, in a heartbeat if it weren’t currently for sale. It’s my most favourite venue and it has everything we are looking for in a wedding venue! Lots of outdoor space, beautiful trees and laneways, and great food.

Of course, when Sarah and Dan inquired with me in 2017 for their fall 2018 wedding here, I was over the moon to be spending another day at this beautiful spot in the country. I have loved every wedding so much that I have photographed here, and I’m so excited to have at least one more here this coming September! Without knowing it’s fate past 2019, Nick and I are hesitant to book this property for our own date, knowing it could sell and weddings may not continue to be held here. I hear most of the updates through the grapevine, so if anyone out there has first hand info about the state of this venue, please let me know!

Now onto the good stuff: Sarah and Dan had a beautiful day at Tralee, and I am still so obsessed with the green and gold theme that they pulled off! It was a pretty toasty day but these two and their wedding party were such troopers. Sarah’s beauty team A Glow by Joan stepped in and saved the day after Sarah’s original plan fell through last minute, and they really knocked it out of the park! I love the glam look that they gave Sarah. And Dan rocked his fitted tux like a pro! The boxwood backdrop from Make Your Memories was accented by a gold Straight Laser crest designed by Plume Calligraphy. As always, Crumb & Berry served up the best sweet treats in Caledon. Cedar & Stone pulled together a stunning collection of greenery and dainty white blooms for the florals. See the bottom of the post for the rest of the team that helped Sarah & Dan pull this off!

I hope you enjoy this one!
xo Jenn

Venue: Tralee Wedding Facility, by Rural Roots Catering | Beauty: A Glow by Joan | Florals: Cedar & Stone | Cake: Crumb & Berry | Gown: Rebecca Ingram via Sophie’s Gown Shoppe Tuxedo: Tolo Clothier | Bridesmaids Gowns: Sorella Vita via Elizabeth’s Fashions |DJ: Johnny DJ Service | Boxwood Greenery Backdrop: Make Your Memories | Gold Crest: Designed by Plume Calligraphy, crafted by Straight Laser

March 1, 2019
Bronte Creek Engagement Session, Burlington

Bronte Creek ended up being the perfect spot for Sarah and Riley’s engagement session! Riley has spent time here in the past biking and exploring trails, and we got to experience all the highs and lows that nature has to offer (the highs being super cute ponies and donkeys, the lows being a HUGE spider and a squirrel dropping acorn pieces on my head). We had gorgeous sunlight all evening, and I’m so in love with these keepsakes that we created.

It’s been a while since I’ve shared an engagement session on here so thought I would throw one into the mix with all these weddings! I have been shooting so much these last few months and trying to share as much as I can. Every single session that I photograph, whether it’s a wedding or a portrait session, gets shared on Instagram, but truthfully I just don’t have the time to blog every single one. I have a few weddings waiting in line to be blogged, but I’m hoping to keep sprinkling in an engagement session between them every now and then!

Sarah’s beautiful makeup was done by Missy at Costa Chic!

Enjoy!
xo Jenn

September 20, 2018
Managing Your Wedding Day Timeline + A Summer Royal Ambassador Wedding

Kyla and Phil had the perfect day for their Royal Ambassador wedding this weekend, and I’m so excited to be sharing these sweet memories today! I am also going to be sharing some tips on how to manage your wedding day timeline, and what to do when things go a little sideways!

First of all- let me just say, the love these two share is the sweetest thing (sidenote: Kyla and her Dad chose to do their Father-Daughter dance together to U2’s Sweetest Thing- cue the tears!). All day long, Kyla and Phil were side by side and Phil kept sneaking in kisses on the top of Kyla’s head, a hand on the small of her back, all those perfectly romantic movie moments come to life! And the tears, oh the tears! Handkerchiefs and Kleenex were always within reach, from the moment I turned around to see her two bridesmaids clutching their hearts and holding back tears as Kyla got ready, to the sweet moment when Kyla’s parents saw her as a bride and read her heartfelt cards to them. And then, when Kyla and Phil saw each other during their first look, when Phil’s mom was looking at her son as a handsome groom during our family photos, and when the real weight of the day was felt- the aisle walk. Phil watched Kyla descend every step at the Royal Ambassador, and greeted her with a perfectly placed kiss on the temple. A few more tears during the first dance, and plenty more during their family and friend’s touching speeches. All in all- it was one of those days where you can just feel the love in every moment. It was a pleasure to be there documenting it all!

Now, onto our little chat about wedding day timelines. Kyla and Phil made a great choice and made sure to have a wedding planner on board, which is a huge step towards making sure your day goes smoothy and all the nitty gritty details can be handled by someone else on the day of. Jackie Penner Events and her associate Alicia did a magnificent job of handling the coordination of the day, and ensured everything looked perfect. They also took my requests and suggestions prior to the wedding in stride, making sure I had enough time to capture the memories and portraits that I knew Kyla and Phil wanted. Not all of my weddings have a planner to help them out with this, so that’s where I am happy to step in and assist in the timeline management! I certainly cannot do the job of a planner, but I love helping out pre-wedding to make sure we are setting ourselves up for success with a realistic timeline and one that allows my couples to really enjoy their day. Often, this means doing a First Look and portraits all before the ceremony. Kyla and Phil opted for this structure, and it meant that they could be at their entire cocktail hour and also to avoid feeling rushed on their big day. I could go on and on about First Looks and the advantages they offer, but I feel like I talk about it all the time so I won’t say anything more on that specifically! In the morning, as hair and makeup were wrapping up, I realized that Kyla was the last gal in the makeup chair and that things were starting to look a little tight on our ‘getting ready’ timeline. She still had about 10-15 minutes left of makeup, and we were due to be leaving in 25 minutes. We had wanted to get a photo of Kyla and her girls all in their matching robes and shirts once they were all done hair and makeup, but I knew we had to prioritize. We decided together to scrap that photo so we could maximize our time, and we instead got the bridesmaids all dressed and ready so we could quickly get Kyla dressed and have those nice moments with her girls and her parents. We even had enough time to grab a few quick portraits outside of her family home, in the beautiful greenery covered archway! We ended up leaving her parents’ house 15 minutes later than planned, but in the end I knew we didn’t need to stress because we had padded the timeline for portraits a bit and we still had hours until the ceremony. I think the main takeaway from an experience like this is that it’s important for couples to recognize that even with the most careful planning, things just happen and the timeline can start to run behind schedule, but we need to be flexible and make decisions on the fly sometimes. This obviously isn’t an extreme example but I’m confident that an even greater delay still could have been managed and dealt with, with very little added stress and we still would have had a wonderful wedding day!

See below for the complete list of talented vendors!

Enjoy!
xo Jenn

A huge thank you to Jacqueline Sy for photographing along side me!

Planning + Coordination: Jackie Penner Events | Florals: Mint and Magnolia Floral Design Co. | Makeup: Beauty by Alana | Hair: Hair by Day Inc. | Cake: Kyla’s Mom Mara! | Signage + Invitation Suite: Safari Marketing Communications Inc. | Cocktail Hour Jazz: Frank Adriano, 12 String Music | Dinner + Dance Music: Box Social | Officiant: Kelley Potter, Celebrant | Bridal Gown: Enzoani, Promises and Lace | Bridesmaid Gowns: The Dessy Group from Promises and Lace | Suits: Moores | Rings: Ryan Daniels Jewellery Design | Venue: The Royal Ambassador Event Centre

June 11, 2018
Victoria Park Pavilion Wedding in Kitchener, Ontario

LET’S TACO BOUT A PARTY! Clo and Jon’s Victoria Park Pavilion wedding came to life exactly as they’d described. They wanted it to feel natural and relaxed, casual and authentic- but all with a bit of their style added in! They didn’t want to do anything they wouldn’t normally do, say anything they wouldn’t normally say, or eat anything they wouldn’t normally eat. A taco buffet and sangria for dinner, and a donut bar for dessert were huge hits, and really helped add to the playfulness and laid back feeling they wanted for their wedding day. But don’t let this fool you- this was still an incredibly beautiful, meaningful and well organized day. The night wrapped up with an oldies dance party, which were played live by The Keynotes. We had a special delivery during dinner (see below!) and Jon’s Dad was in charge of the dance floor with his sweet moves!

I spent the morning with the gals getting ready in Chloe and Jon’s stunning home, and focused a lot on real moments, instead of a lot of set up and motionless images. The moments when Chloe’s parents saw her as a bride for the first time are in here, and both were such sweet moments to witness. Lots of tears and hugs- the mark of a love filled day!

Hope you enjoy this one!
xo Jenn

PS See below for the list of hugely talented vendors that Chloe and Jon brought on to bring their day to life. And a huge shoutout to Allison Leigh for shooting with me!

Chloe did all of her paper goods and signage by herself! Holy talent.

Ah my heart! I love catching sweet moments like this. That’s a proud Mama right there!

My jaw dropped when I saw Clo all dressed and ready to go. Check out the back of her A la Robe dress!

Couldn’t leave without giving snuggly Penny some love.

This first look sequence is everything! One of my favourite parts of wedding days!

Mint and Magnolia just blew this one out of the water. How incredible is this boho bouquet?!

Such a fun colour palette for the bridesmaids- burgundy, forest green and taupe. These ladies rocked this!

And here we are with the cutest first look with bride and Dad. Proud parent moment #2.

Proud parent moment #3!

Holding back the tears…

Potted herbs of rosemary and basil made for simple and practical centrepieces! I love this idea!

Victoria Park Pavilion wedding creative team: Mint and Magnolia | Bride’s Makeup: Pohanka Makeup Artistry | LoversLand | Little Mushroom Catering | Victoria Park Pavilion | Debrodniks Donuts | Kettle Creek Weddings | Robins Goldsmithing Inc. |
Makeup: facesbynadeen | Hair by Britt Zavitz | Signage: Bride! | Lights: Wedding Dream Decor

September 19, 2017
Sweet Summertime Dundurn Castle Engagement Session

Dundurn Castle was the perfect backdrop for Deanne and Rob’s sweet summertime engagement session. The beautiful detailing, gorgeous arches, incredible light peaking through the trees, and white walls are a dream to shoot with. These guys are such a short drive away from here, so it’s practically in their neighbourhood (and it’s only like 10 minutes away for me too!) I popped by their place beforehand, to grab some shots of them with their adopted pup Bernie. He is my BFF and is such a gentle little soul.

Photographing these guys and their September wedding next year is something that is near and dear to my heart. Deanne is a good friend and has accompanied me on many a weddings over the last two years, so I’m pretty stoked to be able to capture these special memories for her and her sweetheart Rob. Deanne’s engagement ring is the most precious vintage looking ring, by Anouk Jewelry. Is it 2018 yet?! I can’t get over how cute these two are together and I’m so excited about how our session went- they are naturals!

Enjoy!
xo Jenn

Dundurn Castle Engagement Session: August 2017

August 10, 2017