Stefanie & David's Big Day

Stef's Big Day was a good one. I was with her when she got her hair done and we had a lull so we went to Dairy Queen before the ceremony! When we arrived at the temple, there was a crazy sight- some half naked woman in some sort of swimsuit prancing in the fountain being photographed by another woman. I'm assuming it was a fashion photo shoot. Either way it was pretty crazy. Thankfully they left soon after we got there. Apparently they had gotten permission to take photos of the fountain, but the people at the temple didn't realize that they were going to be taking photos in the fountain! 
The sealer said some really wonderful things (of course) before pronouncing some very special blessings on them. It was wonderful. I always love going to sealings. It was also special to be in the bride's room, helping with her mom and sister in law to help Stef get ready. 
The photos you saw before were taken prior to The Big Day, here are some actual wedding photos! I wasn't her official photographer, but I snuck some shots throughout the day. 

We did group photos on the lawn and then Stef and David posed on the temple grounds. They lucked out with the weather- it was raining when they entered the temple but it had cleared for when they came out. Phew!

Here they are posing with my hand-lettered Thank You sign!

The temple is a great place!

Now on to the reception!

Her reception was held at her parents house, it was nice. 

Stef opted for cakepops instead of a traditional cake- so cute and so yum!

Yummy food, too!

Bride and Groom cakepops instead of the usual cakecutting...cute!

Guestbook- people signed the photos in the book. Nice!

 I hand-lettered the signs for the reception:

Stef and David had a "Candy Bar" comprised of their favorite sweets. Guests got to fill a tiny take-out box (labeled with the bride and groom's names and the date) with candy to enjoy. Sweet!

 I made the garland out of tissue paper! 

You can kinda see my sign there.

And I made sure the candy jars got bows.

Life is just better with bows, ya know?

 They had a nice photo display with them in the middle and family wedding photos on either side:

During a rare lull, Stef opened my present and got her apron ;)

 Closeup of Stef's bouquet:

And then it was time for cake!

They pulled the top of the Norwegian cake...and got the top ring! More rings equals more luck...and more kids!

 And the feeding of the cakepops commenced:

 Awww...

 And hey, Stef got a good haul!

It was a great day and evening!

We showered the bride and groom with rose petals as they dashed off ;)

Congrats to Stef and Dave!

Pretty Dresses

It cracks me up how much I've been tied to the wedding industry, despite my Eternally Single status. I'm a wedding photographer after all (since 2001!), and I worked for a year and a half registering couples at BB&B. An when I wasn't registering couples, I was helping people find registry gifts. I got some skillz- I can decipher those cryptic registries. I can giftwrap the oddest items. I can advise on registry etiquette (Do not register for a toilet brush! Ew!). I also worked for a good long while at Craft Outlet, often helping pick out paper for DIY invites or helping with some other kind of wedding project. I do wedding albums for my friends. I often find myself helping with receptions and pre-ceptions and whatnot. If I had an etsy store, I'd probably be selling some cake toppers and other wedding items cause they're fun to make.

I keep tabs on trends in the wedding industry because it's good for business to know what's going on out there. I buy Martha Stewart Weddings cause they're very classy. I love the photos and the color palates and ideas. I've used some of the colors/ideas when I've thrown parties.

I try not to look like I'm some desperate girl with all this wedding stuff, cause I'm not, I just have fun with it. I've always been a sucker for pretty dresses.

I've thought about being a wedding planner because it would be a good combo of my crafty/planning skillz but I don't want to be a real life J-Lo from The Wedding Planner, helping everyone else marry except her.

When I was a teenager, I had a big interest in fashion- I drew sketches of clothes all the time. I was interested in fashion school for awhile. I still think that would be fun. I have designed and sewn a lot of formal dresses and costumes over the years. I think it would be so much fun to design costumes in movies (especially over the top productions) because you're trying to tell about the character through their clothes. I order catalogs like Anthropologie because it's fun to look at the clothes. I like learning about all the different types of fabric and lace, etc.

I admit that every now and then I peek at the modest bridal wedding sites- places like Eternity Gowns and Latter Day Bride. I like to critique dresses and imagine how I'd improve them. I'm glad there are companies that cater to LDS gals like us but I do have some criticisms- the vast majority of gowns I see would be ridiculous on anyone over the age of 22. What about girls my age that get married? Who's looking out for us?

Some look like they just hacked together three different dresses into one, there is no "flow". And others would be great if you were trying to look like you were wearing curtains or if Little Bo Peep is your idol. Some of the dresses I see lately are becoming too huge and very embellished- I'd be embarrassed to wear something "worldly" like that in the temple.

I highly doubt that I'd ever find a gown that I liked in it's entirety when my day comes- I imagine I'll have to hire someone to make me a gown. There's an old wives tale that it's bad luck to sew your own dress. Sometimes I have fun and design dresses in my spare time. If I lived in Utah, I'd seriously think about trying to work for one of these companies and improve their product lines.

Here's the latest sketch I've done:

I'm not a fan of huge "marshmallow" dresses. A dress should complement you, not outshine you. I like a simple elegance. I'm totally into vintage, too. I imagine this one in a fabric that's not too shiny (like peau de soie, which is luminous instead of shiny) or perhaps with a sheerish dotted swiss overlay. I'm a fan of pretty ruffles, and those are fabric flowers on the waistline. I'm also picky about sleeves- they have to be just right or your arms look terrible.

My idea of heaven would be a place where I got to wear pretty dresses all the time. How about you?

Dan & Sissy

Way back when on December 19th I took these photos for people that I know through YSA. Dan and Sissy originally weren't going to have a photographer (First Ame, now Dan and Sissy, what gives? Why bother if you aren't going to get good photos out of it? Ha ha) but we struck a deal- they got pics, I got experience with my new DSLR (not many marry out here) and I also got to add to my portfolio. It was fun doing this since I haven't shot a wedding since '06! Now that I have a DSLR, I'd like to get back into my photography business- it kinda took a backseat cause I couldn't afford to upgrade to a nice digital camera.

I even got to attend their sealing, it was very sweet. I haven't seen one since 2006 (Yay John and Nancy!) so it was nice to be able to hear those sweet words that bind families for eternity.
I took photos after their sealing, Sissy didn't bring her gown to the temple, hence the black coat and boots. It's hard to photograph people in the snow-everything turned out really gray. Thank goodness for Photoshop! A tweak here and a tweak there does wonders.

I took over 400 photos that day, so I can't show them all, but here's a few:

Loved the nativity outside the temple, what a cute Christmas card:
They had a ring ceremony later that day at the church building two hours away in Fredonia, NY. Neither had family at the sealing, just a few friends attended that.

Yep, they had a Hummer, lol.

Sometimes long exposures can be cool:

Their cakes were pretty, the reception had (of course) a Christmas theme:

Her train:

Dancing:

The guest book:

The beautiful bride:

The reception was at The White Inn in Fredonia. Quite a lovely building:

Hope they live Happily Ever After. They are cute together.