I’ve known Andrew for about 15 years and it makes me feel old just writing that.  We went to high school together in Burlington and also played hockey against each other.  My younger brother Preston and his younger brother Cory did the same.  After high school I lost touch with most people, but I would see a few from time to time, Andrew was one of those people.  I saw him more than a lot of other people actually just because of hockey, he reffed the league I played in 3 times a week.  We also had one really good friend in common and I think the last time I saw Andrew before these photos was at Johnny’s Christmas/Birthday party something like 3 or 4 years ago.

Andrew went off to work in London (England, not Ontario) and I heard that he had met this beautiful girl while working there.  That was about all I knew for a while, so knowing only where they met, I just assumed she was English.  That was until Andrew contacted me about doing some engagement photos and mentioned that they were going to be getting married in Ireland in 2013.  Since I was going to be in town for a full week between 2 weddings, it was the perfect opportunity to meet up.

When I met Andrew and Ciara at the Distillery District in Toronto, I noticed that physically, he hadn’t changed a bit, except he had this pretty little thing standing next to him.  The rumours were correct, he had indeed met a beautiful girl and they managed to stay strong through a couple years of a long distance relationship, not an easy thing to do.

We made our way through the Distillery District encountering a security guard asking questions about a photo permit, we of course didn’t have one, but we charmed him enough to turn a blind eye.  After getting some photos there, we decided to try to get a shot with the Toronto skyline in the background.  This meant going through the traffic of downtown Toronto with the Gardiner closed (as I mentioned avoiding the previous day).  We got to Billy Bishop Airport (AKA City Centre Airport) only to discover that the parking lot no longer existed.  It took about 20 minutes to find somewhere to park and by the tine we got to the ferry we were first in line…because we missed the previous ferry by less than a minute.

We waited and chatted for 15 minutes for the next boat and when we got on the island, we quickly went to the location I had inadvertently scouted a month earlier while waiting for delayed baggage when arriving in Toronto from Halifax.  The sun was gone by this point leaving us with a lit skyline.  As we approached our location Andrew pointed out that the C.N. Tower wasn’t lit and I think my heart dropped for a moment.  Then the tower went up red and bright.  I guess it was just in between programs (for those who don’t know, a few years ago, lights were installed on the tower enabling it to be lit in an infinite number of ways).

We got a bunch of photos in and then I noticed people starting to board the returned ferry.  We literally ran to the boat and as I came up the stairs (first because Andrew was playing the role of gentleman with Ciara), the attendant was closing the door.  He saw us running and held up for us.  We were happy to have made this boat for sure.

As we got back to our cars, we discussed their wedding in Ireland and we agreed to discuss some details later.  I am happy to say that I will be there with these 2 great people and their families next September in County Dublin for their wedding.  I’m sure it will be a great time, and I hope to get some beautiful pictures.

Here are a few of their Engagement Photos:

Enjoy!!!

www.DustinHallPhotography.ca