desire of my heart: the blog of jamie delaine.

vancouver engagement session: sarah&nick

Jamie Delaine — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:39:16 +0000

sarah & nick met in ontario while attending medical school. in her first year, sarah ran a photography auction, to which nick submitted some photos. they met up in person to confirm some details and sarah was immediately drawn to him. her first thoughts included, he’s cute with a really intense gaze, that’s making me uncomfortable so i’m gonna laugh at his ridiculously long/messy hair. the next time sarah and nick crossed paths was at a “heads for cure” fundraiser, where nick shaved his “ridiculously long/messy hair” to raise money for cancer research. the conversation turned to running — a passion of both sarah and nick — as sarah had recently run a marathon and nick was training for his first. finally, nick emailed to ask sarah if they could “hang out” some time — and that hangout turned out to be a first date!

when i met up with sarah and nick at matchstick coffee last week, i loved hearing their proposal story. nick proposed ten metres from crossing the finish line at the ironman canada competition in penticton. craziness! i asked, “why before?” and nick said, “after you’ve been going for ten hours, i was confident i could go another ten metres.” fair enough! loved seeing the photos on sarah’s iphone of the proposal — nick ran over to the sea of spectators near the finish line and proposed right over the barrier to sarah. so cool. these two share such similar interests: both physicians, love being active, cycling/running, have a heart for their families, a strong work ethic and love working on projects together around their home. sarah and nick will be a joy to photograph at their september 2 wedding!

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holcombe family: portraits

Jamie Delaine — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:43:07 +0000

every year, i accept a limited number of family portrait sessions — usually for families i’ve known for a long time! lance and shara and their kids are one of those families i regularly make an exception for. lance is my cousin [and his company did my office renovation] and with his beautiful wife shara, they have three children: laney, clara and merritt. it’s pathetic, for being cousins, but the first time i met merritt was this last week at their session — and he’s 10 months old. ;) laney was my second “practice” portrait session — ever — way back when i was sixteen years old, before starting my business. crazy to me that she’s almost seven years old — myyyy how times flies. if you want to see their family over the years, check out a session of lance + shara with laney and then a few years later, with clara!

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gastown/stanley park engagement: cat&erik

Jamie Delaine — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:49:39 +0000

catherine and erik knew of one another — as sometimes friends of friends do — but until 2009, didn’t know one another personally. the first official meeting came a few years later, over drinks at a pub in abbotsford. serendipitously, their first meeting was a few short days after erik moved home from japan. since the start of their relationship, cat and erik have loved doing life side by side. they lived on a sailboat for a year in the vancouver harbour, have a huge passion for travel and love the alternative life they get to live. they’ve traveled across europe and are even taking a 10-day sailing trip for their honeymoon!

fittingly, their ocean-side brock house restaurant wedding [with a ceremony at the vancouver art gallery] will be nautical themed. i loved incorporating elements of what they love into their engagement session. from the first location, gastown, where cat and erik love hanging out after work, to third beach, where they bike and relax on the weekends. the other fun element of the shoot was erik’s car, a nissan pulsar, painstakingly imported from japan — we cruised around the city at sunset & i got to experience the myriad of craning necks as people strained to check out his ride.

it was a perfect, perfect night for photos. truly an evening where i look around and think, why would anyone not want to live here? ;) congratulations catherine and erik — i look forward to joining you in celebration on july 14th.

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new westminster engagement: nicole&dan

Jamie Delaine — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:51:06 +0000

nicole & dan met online four years ago; they enjoyed the company of one another, dated for a few months and found the timing wasn’t right. they parted ways and started to move on — until a year later, in may of 2009, they started chatting once again. they knew it was right this time and have been together ever since. i’ve loved getting to know these two at our initial meeting and now at their engagement session at new westminster. they have a ton of fun together and are very comfortable in front of my camera, which makes things fun for everyone. loved laughing with nicole & dan at their adorable [HUGE] dog named Odin, who joined us for part two of the session.

their wedding is currently my last booked for the year, the bookend to my 2012 wedding season! i am looking forward to another wedding at the capilano golf & country club — and more time with nicole and dan. unfortunately odin won’t be attending the wedding. ;) enjoy!

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jason & kelsey: expecting!

Jamie Delaine — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:52:27 +0000

one of my most beauuuutiful friends is expecting a baby. a baby boy. kelsey and jason are five months pregnant and i am absolutely crazy excited for them. the first time i photographed kelsey + jason they were “trying” — and i had in the back of my mind it would the last photoshoot pre-baby. a few months later, that fact was confirmed. kelsey is due in early september and i can’t wait to meet their baby boy. we quickly took these photos a few weeks ago as a way to announce the gender to their friends and family!

don’t worry, i’ll blog their baby.
you’ll meet him soon, too. ;)
and kelsey’s maternity photos.

basically, if you follow my blog you also get to follow the lives of all my favourite people. ha!

happy tuesday!

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crescent beach engagement: ulrike&craig

Jamie Delaine — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:31:07 +0000

ulrike & craig’s first date was over six years ago — a cup of coffee and a rollerblading adventure was the plan. ulrike ambitiously decided to rollerblade to the coffee shop [why not, right?] and the distance was a little more than what she expected. she arrived forty-five minutes late, sweaty and out of breath, to find a patient craig. he later admitted he was almost about to leave but decided to hang around for a few more minutes. ulrike writes, my first impression of craig was that he was patient, tall, handsome, genuine, interesting, serious yet funny, smart, a great rollerblader and a little bit crazy… wearing shorts in the winter!

craig is an engineer, working full-time [and living part-time] in calgary and ulrike is two years into a five year medical residency in vancouver. craig flies “home” to vancouver every thursday evening and back again every monday morning — unless of course, ulrike is pulling a 80+ hour workweek and then their time apart extends until the next weekend. although life the last two years has not allowed ulrike + craig to be “together” all the time, they have managed to grow in love and relationship. they truly enjoy life together: having traveled to south africa [where ulrike was born], the philippines, turkey, syria, guatemala, nicaragua, and all over north america. craig and his family are originally from australia, so both ulrike + craig’s childhoods included regular trips back and forth between their home countries and canada. after the competition of ulrike’s residency, they hope to both be back living and enjoying life in calgary.

i am pumped for their september 2012 whistler wedding. it’s going to be exciting to celebrate with a small group of their friends and family [that have flown in from all over!] — and of course, i would love another excuse to photograph these two. enjoy!

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crescent beach engagement: carly&doug

Jamie Delaine — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:16:59 +0000

carly & doug’s very first email to me about their august 25, 2012 backyard wedding included the following three facts — “we met in high school, we are nineteen years old and we both love slurpees.” ha! i love it. carly’s first memory of doug is in a ninth grade bible class, he was confident [i was not in the least]… and he smelled good. doug’s first memory was the same year, noting that he was very talkative and carly was a little harder to draw out of her shell. by tenth grade, their groups of friends became the same, and these two started a relationship. they’ve been together ever since and despite a “rough beginning” knew they wanted to be with one another for life. one more tidbit before we move onto the pictures — doug wrote that his favourite things about carly are: the way she treats people around her, the way she treats me, her values and morals & ravishing good looks. so great. ;) excited to celebrate with these two in a few months!

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bedroom closet organization

Jamie Delaine — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:45:16 +0000

a blog reader once described me as having a zest for self improvement. i’ve never forgotten that — and it makes me giggle. it’s very true. i was home alone for two weeks [longest time i have stayed alone at home] & oh-boy, i loved the challenge of keeping this home. i calculated that it takes a minimum of four full hours of cleaning a week—this doesn’t include “tidying”—to keep a house up to snuff. that is quite overwhelming. of course, the time required would increase with more square footage and likewise, decrease with less. i caught a little glimpse into my future life [wife and mother?] and to my suprise & joy, i found “home life” more fulfilling that ever before. there’s something about having your own place. there’s a pride in it! a good pride. i got excited about the incredible value a home has & the value mothers and wives have. a clean, organized, functional home carves the path for productive lives of our own as women, as well as our families. it’s a neat truth. i like it. spring cleaning is a fun season.

keeping with this theme of home, my bedroom closet organization is ready for its reveal. i blogged about my bedroom a few weeks ago, but i kept the closet half hidden — there was some leftover painting to be done. good thing i waited. not only is the trim now painted — but my clothes are recently colour coordinated. ;) okay, are you ready for this? BEFORE. brown, ugly, gross. we took off the closet doors after we moved in [but before we took this picture] & cut a whole in the dry-wall to expand the width. pretty nasty.

AFTER. ahhh, white makes my heart so happy.

left side of closet: organized & pretty. in the hanging bins [from ikea] i have folder skirts, casual t-shirts & “fancier” t-shirts. beside that, in the hanging space, i have all shirts/blouses colour coordinated. the hangers were purchased from ebay. the bins on the top shelf are from target — and the farthest left holds “seasonal” clothes. [bathing suits, cover-ups, sundresses, shorts] the bin to the right holds scarves + clutches.

this side of my closet has extra hangers in the middle [for new clothes, duh] jackets on the left, a row of cardigans, and my favourite: dresses. almost forty of them. the two bins on the top shelf [target, once again] hold sweatshirts and my years of journals.

shoe racks below are both from IKEA. definitely worth the $40 each.

hope you enjoyed the little tour! i wish i had more to show you. i did overhaul my bathroom today — complete reorganization but somehow it doesn’t quite feel photo-worthy. hairspray, toothpaste & q-tips aren’t that pretty. happy tuesday!!similar posts:

UBC boathouse wedding: amanda&james

Jamie Delaine — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:24:19 +0000

and so it begins.

april 27: the first wedding of my 2012 summer season. [technically, i had roxy + diego's january wedding in australia, but it was "our" winter.] amanda + james were married [for the second time] at the UBC boathouse on a sunshine-filled friday afternoon. married for the second time? you heard right. amanda is a friend of mine from way back when, and her mom & fiance got in touch with me the day before their first [surprise] wedding on christmas eve. you should hop on over to this link to check out that adorable story — as well as see it featured on green wedding shoes! amanda and james were equally excited to celebrate their vows with family and friends this time around.

amanda got ready at her mom’s house in the morning [as well as the guys in a separate part of the house] — and she looked breathtaking. absolutely amazing. from her vintage pearl necklace [found at an antique mall for $20!], blush pink BCBG shoes, a lace dress that fit her like a glove… everything was perfect. the blush pink bridesmaids dresses were completed with white sequinned sweaters from H&M, that the girls happened to pick up the day before the wedding. the ceremony took place at 3:00pm on the back dock of UBC Boathouse. the venue is located only a few minutes drive from vancouver international airport — the officiants took two 60-second pauses to let a jet fly overhead. it would have been impossible to hear anything! pretty neat to watch the planes fly so close.

after the ceremony, the bridal party quickly sped over [as best we could through friday afternoon vancouver traffic] to stanley park for portraits. the light was incredible, the park was not the least bit crowded [advantage of friday vs. saturday wedding] and i love the photos we captured. beautiful group! the UBC boathouse reception included fabulous food, a candy bar, vintage birdcage centrepieces and lots of time spent relaxing with people amanda + james love oh-so-much. it was a treat to have been there on both of your wedding days, amanda + james. blessings on your future!

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anniversary portraits: natalie & ron

Jamie Delaine — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:07:05 +0000

natalie and ron met in grade 10 on a school field trip. natalie’s father is a high school teacher [natalie also has a teaching degree!] & ron was a student in his class. natalie was homeschooled but decided to tag along. she met ron for the first time that day! they were inseparable throughout the outing, hanging out, chatting, but once the afternoon finished, that was it. they were young, it was one day, and it seemed that was the short beginning & quick end of a little friendship. their social circles didn’t collide until grade 12 when natalie decided to attend school for her last year. she walked into her drama class & there were four other students — ron was one of them! natalie remembered his face and name immediately and could hardly believe it was the field trip boy. ;) she was worried for a few moments her memory wouldn’t be shared by ron but it was! he remembered the beautiful natalie and they had the opportunity to start an awesome friendship. a relationship grew out of friendship between these two & they dated throughout university, were engaged for two years and married the summer they graduated.

natalie and ron live in ontario, but were out in BC to celebrate her brother’s graduation this week. i was thrilled that they found time to fit in a session with me “just because” — and we photographed all around fort langley, pretty much right in my own neighbourhood. natalie is a talented photographer herself so make sure to check out her blog. safe travels home today, guys!

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