Christina & Joe--The Real Post! Sun. July 6, 2008 i do
When Christina and Joe first came to me, I knew immediately that we were going to be friends. It's just a vibe you get with some people--an openness, a friendliness, and a willingness to really get to know who another person is and appreciate them for it. Joe, Christina and I have shared many meals--one of the things we have in common is a love of good food and conversation. I got to learn lots of things about the two of them as a couple, and that made their wedding all the more special.
This is a couple that has a deep, mutual respect for each other, and treat everyone with the same kindness as their closest friends and families. Joe is a character--he's a hilarious person who is always joking around and making any situation more fun! Christina is the perfect balance for him with her sweet, patient nature.
Thank you both so much for letting me be a part of your big day, and I can't wait to take you out to dinner soon! A BIG round of applause also goes to Brooke Keegan of Details Details for doing an absolutely fabulous job with this wedding
**by the way, the reception location is called Segerstrom Hall--this was the first wedding to take place there and I thought it was INCREDIBLE!!!
Christina & Joe's Wedding--A Sneak Peek Thu. July 3, 2008 i do
I feel terrible that I haven't blogged Christina & Joe's wedding from last Saturday yet! The trouble is that they are a really special couple to me, and I chose a LOT of images to blog from their wedding, but this has been a weird week and they're not quite ready to go on the blog yet. I should have them all ready to go by tonight, but for now, here's just one little photo to hold you over till then:
In other breaking news, I leave in just a couple of hours to head to Vegas!!! I am starting playing tomorrow in the World Series of Poker Main Event, and I am SO excited (and nervous). I'll be posting some updates here, but if you want the play by play on how I'm doing beginning tomorrow at about noon PST, just go ahead and FOLLOW MY TWITTER STREAM, which I will be updating at least a few times a day, as often as I can!
Keep your eyes peeled for Christina & Joe's wedding post tonight!
Thea's Bridal Experience Sun. June 29, 2008 will you
**If your name is Nilsson K., please close this blog right now. Do not scroll down, don't poke around, don't even think about looking any further than this one sentence. Thanks so much.**
Now that that's out of the way, on to the first order of business, the poker set giveaway! That one goes to DARLA DISTEFANO, so Darla, shoot me an email with your address and I'll ship it out. Thanks to everyone who played along!
On Friday, I had the opportunity to shoot something that I don't shoot very often out here in California--a bridal session! In North Carolina, where I'm from, pretty much every bride does a bridal session prior to the wedding. For those of you who don't know, it's basically a shoot of just the bride alone, all dressed up in her hair and makeup and gown (of course), where we go out and shoot some beautiful images generally for display on the wedding day. Huge portraits used to be the custom, but more girls lately are into getting a bunch of smaller prints, and even including them in the wedding album.
Oh, and for those of you whom I know will question this--the dress gets dry cleaned before the wedding, so we're not worried about a little bit of sand!
I am so SO glad I got to do this with Thea. Thea lives in NYC and her wedding is in Oklahoma in September, so it was nice to get a chance to hang out with her and her mother who came along as well. Although Thea's mom is an art director, she showed exceptional restraint letting me run around the St. Regis shooting Thea wherever I wanted. Thanks Gail!
Anyway, on to the images.
My favorite one is actually one of the first ones we shot:
Sometimes there is a piano in the St. Regis rotunda--it was there that day, so we took advantage:
I happen to love these paintings:
Isn't Thea a gorgeous bride? She's also practically a professional dancer, ivy-league educated, hilarious, and humble. Sorry boys, she's off the market:
There's something about this one that gives it a close run for my favorite as well. I also think Thea looks like Sarah Jessica Parker from just one or two angles:
Of course we headed down to the beach!
She is really just a classic beauty:
This one is just perfection to me:
You really can't beat So. Cal light on the beach...
What is it with girls from Oklahoma? Are they all so gorgeous and brilliant? Remember Lauren's Wedding one year ago this week? Yup! Another OK girl.
How did Thea's hair stay so perfect down on the beach after hours of shooting??
There were all these seagulls on the beach and I wanted to shoot Thea running through them, but they wouldn't stay put long enough for her to even get close! However, I absolutely adore this candid shot anyway:
Thea, thanks for being an amazing model, and Gail, thanks for all of your help!
**Stay tuned for part two of this shoot, Thea's boudoir photos!**
Wedding Favors that don't completely suck (and a giveaway) Thu. June 26, 2008 clients
I've been hearing from my brides more and more often these days about how they think wedding favors are silly and that guests don't really even like or take them when they leave. I personally LOVE wedding favors, particularly the edible kind, although I have more than one bottle opener in the shape of a dolphin and shot glass with a couple's name on it that don't get used very often.
Thesis Statement (hello sophomore year English class): Possibly the issue is not "guests don't like wedding favors" as much as "you picked a sucky wedding favor". Just a theory!
I came across a site that has great favors for all kinds of parties called BEAU COUP. The CEO is a friend of a friend, and through that association, I know for a fact that she is a girl with style and class. I spent a morning combing through the site and picked out a few things that I actually really liked and would be excited to get if I were a guest at a wedding or party! So going forward, once a week or every couple of weeks, I am going to give away one thing from the site that I think is awesome.
Today's item is one that ROCKS--a little Mini Travel Poker Set! Completely appropriate considering that I will be headed back to Vegas for the WSOP Main Event next Saturday. If you are a cool girl and support your man having a little fun before the wedding with his guy friends, these sets make awesome groomsmen gifts. I consider that alone to be a good enough reason to get them--you can be the girl that's cool with poker night and can beat those boys at it!!
So today, I am GIVING THIS CUTE LITTLE SET AWAY to one lucky random commenter! If you want it, leave me a comment and tell me why or who this little baby is going to! To qualify, you must leave your real name and email address. And feel free to leave a poker tip for me too!
The set is made out of red suede, it's really pretty
I like how you could play other games too--they give you a little scorepad
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