Carrisa and Alex Romantic Barn Wedding // Rustic Manor 1848 //

1 Comment

Carrisa and Alex Romantic Barn Wedding // Rustic Manor 1848 //

Carrisa said, I totally understand now why you want to get to know the couple and ask questions before booking a wedding. I was nervous until you arrived and you walked right in like a friend and I thought "Ok- we're good" and we were.  Carrisa and Alex planned a beautiful wedding at an amazing venue, it was my first time at Rustic Manor 1848 and hopefully not my last.  I know Carrisa likes getting ready shots as much as I do and I must say these are probably some of my favorite getting ready shots ever.  You guys, this season has me spinning already!

1 Comment

Shane + Stacy's Darling Eau Claire Country Club Wedding

8 Comments

Shane + Stacy's Darling Eau Claire Country Club Wedding

My first wedding of the year and Shane and Stacy go and set the bar high, like way high.  It's good to have a beautifully styled wedding with gorgeous decor, a killer dress, and eyeful of bridesmaids dresses and some dapper suits but beyond that what makes a wedding day, what makes photos, what makes a marriage is the pure joy behind it. You can have the most beautiful wedding in the world but if your not full of joy and happiness, it's meaningless.  Nothing short of absolute disaster could rob Stacy and Shane of their genuine happiness and joy on this day. Stacy never stopped smiling, not even once.  I love all the decor and special touches like flying all over the world to collect Delftware ( Stacy is a flight attendant) and especially the dresses but most of all Stacy's smile just made the day so much more.  I'm trying to really zero in on what the bride and groom want most from their photos and Stacy and Shane wanted lots of couple photos to document this day so it's heavy on the couple photos and I think you will agree, there can never be enough bride and groom photos.  So here you have it,  wedding number one of 2016 and already a favorite of mine. 

8 Comments

Spring Break in San Diego

Comment

Spring Break in San Diego

Before wedding season starts this weekend and before I start posting new content of gorgeous venues and amazing couples in love. I wanted to share a little piece of our life with you that is not wedding related. 

Sometimes it feels like our life is going a mile a minute.  People say "how do you do it all"? heck, I even say it sometimes. But I never feel overwhelmed. I never feel like I don't sit down on the floor with my boys and play legos or read bedtime stories, I never feel like I don't get enough sleep or downtime.  I think we have a great balance in life. Sometimes less balance than others but with 7 + months off shooting weddings or photography in general, we have a good balance. 

Summertime is when life gets a little crazy.  Rookie Ball, My husbands softball league, soccer, yoga, WEDDINGS! I try to always come home the night of a wedding and take Sunday off to hang with my boys or I even try to take them and we make a fun weekend out of it!  Even though we do these things to achieve this unicorn of balance, we still want to take a vacation or getaway completely wedding-free where we can not only be free of work but also school, bills, dental and doctor appts, SNOW! dishes, laundry, phone calls and text messages, all those daily commitments we can't get away from...unless we jump on a plane! 

This year I chose San Diego. We did Disney a couple years back and weren't ready for a return visit. We wanted somewhere warm, with the ocean and just one or two touristy/ theme park options.  I looked at several spots including Florida, Charleston, Texas, etc.. but I kept coming back to this San Diego idea. Hello San Diego Zoo and Seaworld were great options plus California has MILES of oceans, tacos and craft beer. We're in!  It was a good for the soul kind of trip. We had a tough winter, and sometimes vacations come at the most needed time.  We spent our days eating at Woodys (pictured below) best coffee and breakfast in the world, we had no timelines or schedules.  If we weren't in the ocean we were in the pool at our awesome resort. We never ate a meal indoors and did I mention tacos? ALL WEEK LONG.  We did hit up Seaworld and the San Diego Zoo other than that, we were beach loving hippies in flip flops.  Here's a small recap in photos, I made a promise to myself not to drag a big camera around and waste away my vacation behind it. You may notice, I took the camera along on one day full of beach / our hotel. Otherwise it stayed in the room and I was fully present (other than a few Iphone snaps) and I shot some good old film on vacation and got the scans back. I can still shoot film! and of course digital too.  Can you tell which is which? 

Comment