Arriving in the Rain at Grace Church-on-the-Hill

A bride and her father on the steps of a Forest Hill wedding

A bride arrives with her father on the steps of Grace Church-on-the-Hill — undaunted by the rain, full of joy. Weather on a wedding day is the thing everyone worries about and almost no one ends up regretting; the rain in this frame is part of why I love it.

Grace Church-on-the-Hill is, as it happens, my own church, tucked into the heart of Forest Hill at the corner of Lonsdale Road. I've spent enough Sundays inside it to know the way the light falls through the windows, where to stand for the best vantage during a processional, and how the warm acoustics carry a hymn. That kind of familiarity matters when you only get one chance to photograph a ceremony — there's no rehearsal for the photographer.

It's also one of the reasons families in Forest Hill, Rosedale, Lawrence Park, and Leaside have continued to find their way to me over the years, whether for weddings or for the family photography I now spend most of my time doing.

Location: Grace Church-on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd, Toronto, ON M4V 1X4

Location: Grace Church on-the-Hill 300 Lonsdale Rd, Toronto, ON M4V 1X4.