{lesley + josh} st. augustine florida

filed under: White Room, weddings
Mar.04
2010

Really, i’m not a writer. It’s why i’m a photographer ;) So when I started to write this post, I was just sitting here for an hour trying to figure out what to say about this AMAZING joining of souls. For this post, I am starting something different. Instead of trying to verbalize what I feel, I decided to let the images speak for themselves. I hope you feel the same way I do after looking at them. ;)

But seriously, there aren’t many words to describe how awesome Lesley + Josh’s wedding was. Lots of laughter, joyful tears, gorgeous sunshine and drinks for the house. :)

Lesley + Josh, you have been a blast to work with from the word “go”. We enjoyed every second that we got to spend with you and we cannot wait to be a part of the many chapters of your life together.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to document your life and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your selfless service to our country. :)

{Our heartfelt thanks go out to:}

Ceremony: The Oldest House Garden, St. Augustine Florida

Reception: Shannon and the amazing team at The White Room, St. Augustine Florida

Makeup: Paulina Perez

Cake: Sweet Weddings

Florals: 57 Treasury

DJ: Bobby Spencer of ABC DJ’s

Photographers: Lauren + Michael Kinsey, Lauren Kinsey Photography

Accomodations: The Casa Monica Hotel, St. Augustine Florida

By Lauren | Posted in White Room, weddings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

{From New Jersey with Love}

filed under: engagements
Feb.09
2010

A couple weeks ago we trotted on down to Ybor City to hang out with Niki + Ryan for their awesome loveshoot! Niki + Ryan are one of our destination wedding couples for this year- originally from Jersey, they are coming to get married in June in St. Pete, and Michael + I are so excited for their wedding!

Niki + I had talked so much over the phone prior to our meeting, and we hit it off from the start. It was so cool to hear all the details about their wedding as we walked around historic Ybor!

We had planned to meet in downtown Ybor City, but when Michael + I arrived prior to meeting them, we were in a…how shall we say… NOT so savory part of town. Ok- we were in the GHETTO!

So we quickly called Niki to let her know it might not be a great idea to shoot there. As we were driving around, we realized that Gasparilla was going on and there was NO way we were going to get anywhere in town. We headed back to Ybor, and when we got there, we realized we weren’t in the historic district before. I am SO glad we decided to shoot here, Ybor City has many quirks and great little nooks to shoot in. :D

Ya’ll, (and I promise I will have you saying “ya’ll” before this is all over ;) ) we are so excited for the wedding and seeing you again soon!

Michael’s shot… *sigh* he’s so good. ;)

Ok so for all the photogs reading the blog, I know these next two aren’t in focus or technically correct, but honestly- it’s what I love about them. It was a complete split second that this happened and they are two of my favorites from this session ;)

Umm… yes. Please. :D

By Lauren | Posted in engagements | Tagged , , | 3 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

{gonna soak up the sun}

filed under: Amelia Island Plantation, weddings
Jan.29
2010

That was definitely the mantra for Megan + Wade’s sweet Sunday wedding at Amelia Island Plantation. :D

Saturday, Michael + I were PRAYING for weather as gorgeous of this day… it had been storming all day and the weather man called for more rain on Sunday… 80% chance, in fact. I tweeted about it, Facebooked hourly updates, and when we left our house on Sunday morning, it wasn’t looking too promising. We were prepared to bring out our galoshes, but when we arrived at Amelia Island, the sun was shining bright and we had some beautiful blue skies. Thank you God!

I have to admit- I was a little nervous when we arrived. Usually, we get to meet with a bride at least once before her wedding, but we had never had a chance to meet Megan before today because we were never able to coordinate our schedules! From the time I first talked to Megan, I knew we would begreat friends, but it’s always a little nerve wracking meeting someone for the first time.

When we walked in, Megan immediately gave us both a hug and her family was so warm and welcoming, we really did feel like we were a part of the family. :D

Megan + Wade, we had so much fun capturing the pure joy and love surrounding your wedding day, and thank you so much for inviting us into your lives! We had fun and we will see each other again soon! ;)

See what I mean by GORGEOUS day?

Megan was one of the calmest brides I have ever met.

Megan was so excited and joyful all day!

Alright, little side story here. Michael was out in the garage with the bridesmaids (that sounds funny, huh? ;) ) and we noticed that these pool were sitting here together… they weren’t turned exactly all the right way, but the wedding date was 1-17-10. Coincidence? ;)

LOVED Megan’s choice of colors… so beautiful! All the girls looked great!

Holy hotness Batman. Megan, have I mentioned that you are STUNNING?!?!

YAY for this!! I knew when I took it that it was going to be one of my favorites of the day! :D There was just a slight breeze… ok it was winnnnnnnnndddddddyyyyyyyy!

Drumroll please! I give you, Wade!

Wade’s one and only request was to get “spatted” up. Sounds dirty, right? :) Since Megan + Wade are HUGE Auburn fans, all the guys had to get spatted up before the big day. I even got spatted. It was pretty fantastic. I rock the spat pretty well. :D

Hey, you gotta have priorities.

Sam AKA Stevie Wonder. :)

And most importantly, make sure we zip the fly.

I think i’ve said this before, but I truly loved every detail of this wedding, the sweet simplicity of it really  was so lovely.

The church was awesome, I loved the little white chapel feel.

SHOWTIME!

Ok, I love everything about this image. Megan’s dad was very emotional and I just happened to catch this one right after he gave his daughter’s hand to Wade. I love the way he is looking at his daughter, it makes me very emotional and reminiscent of our wedding.

Megan + Wade held communion for all their guests, it was so powerful to see everyone worshiping and praising God at their union!

MARRIED!

It got dark QUICK. And I mean in-a-hurry. We did not anticipate it getting dark so quickly, but of course we had to squuueeeezzzzeee in some lovey dovey time. Hopefully we’ll be doing some more portraits of these two soon, but for now, this will just have to wet your appetite. :D

Love love love.

Walker’s Landing at Amelia Island is so beautiful and rustic and Megan decided to have very natural details, which I loved.

Congratulations Megan + Wade!! We love ya’ll!

By Lauren | Posted in Amelia Island Plantation, weddings | Tagged , , , , | 1 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

{i know the suspense is killing you.}

filed under: weddings
Jan.26
2010

So I’ll leave you with a small cliffhanger from Megan + Wade’s AMAZING Amelia Island wedding. I cannot wait to share these images. It was a great start to the New Year! :D

Isn’t Megan GORGEOUS? Wait till you see what i’ve got in store ;)
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By Lauren | Posted in weddings | Tagged , , | 1 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

{Lesley + Josh}

filed under: engagements
Jan.07
2010

Welcome back readers! Did ya’ll have a nice Christmas? I hope so!
After a nice long holiday, it’s time to resume my regular blog schedule ;)
It’s the first post of 2010! First up is Lesley + Josh, they are getting married in February and Michael + I couldn’t be more excited to shoot their wedding. You know when you first meet someone and you just “click”? That’s exactly how it was with Lesley + Josh. They are too cute for words. We must have laughed through the whole session. :D See for yourself!

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We have a lot of couples who have pugs. I’m telling you, i’m getting PUG FEVER!! I WANT ONE!!! Isn’t Chug-the-pug so cute? Love love love.
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FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!
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We found this funky shop right across the street from where we were shooting, and being the {law abiding citizen most of the time that I am} I went in to ask the shop owner if we could shoot in front of his shop! He said we could, so this is what happened…
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Yes, yes it did. :D :D
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After we finished up at the shop, we headed across the street to this alley way, and then the police showed up… we thought we were busted!
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But as it turns out, they could care less and let us play for a few minutes. :D Another favorite.
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Meanwhile, Chug was locked in the car. CHUG: FREE MY MAMA! :D
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Frisbeeeeeee!
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Lesley + Josh are both in the military so they brought their dress blues. Heck yes!
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I suggested they salute each other- to which Lesley said “i’m an officer so really it doesn’t work like that, he salutes me! :D ” YES MA’AM!!!! :D Get it girl!
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Lesley + Josh, we love ya’ll and can’t wait for the wedding! It’s sure to be a riot! :D :D
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By Lauren | Posted in engagements | Tagged , | 6 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

{for aude lang syne}

filed under: personal
Dec.30
2009

Is it December 30 already?! In the midst of getting ready to welcome 2010, i’ve had a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head- about life, business, family, friends, and so on. And then today, I was asked by a good friend of mine what my New Year’s resolutions would be.

I’ve never really believed in making New Year’s resolutions, I think that when you do that, if you are not able to stick to them you end up feeling like you failed in some way. At least, I do. So I looked up “resolution” in the dictionary, and this is what it said:
1. The state or quality of being resolute- A firm determination.
2. A resolving to do something

What I take from this is- a resolution really isn’t a complete change you make in your life, but more of a finite point of trying to attain what you aspire to.
So, instead of making resolutions, I have decided to count my blessings and set forth some personal goals for myself and for business. ;)


1. Spend more time in the presence of the Lord.

Too often I have been guilty of turning to Him when things are not going my way, and then forgetting about praising Him when things are right in my life. :) It’s easy to talk the talk but not to walk the walk! I want to spend more time living a life that is obedient to the Lord; and perhaps more importantly, I hope that my life will always be a living testament to His will in both word and deed. I want those around me to know that His love is unfailing, and that is NEVER too late to turn things around in your life- God always has a plan He is doing great and marvelous things! :D

2. Take more time to appreciate my family and friends!

This morning I received an email from a friend of mine who moved to Connecticut a little over a year ago. She wrote me through my website and her email simply said how proud she was that I was doing well in life and in business.
Instantly, my heart broke for her. You see, we were really good friends, but she moved away and we lost touch. I was so sad to feel that we had completly lost touch with each other’s lives. I immediately jumped on the phone and called her- I just needed to tell her that I loved her.
My family and friends are the ones who have inspired me so deeply and continue to love and support me through it all- they are the reasons why I have come so far in life and in business, because they push me to always be a better person today than I was the day before. I don’t ever want there to come a point where I feel that I have become so involved in the MOMENT that I can’t appreciate the JOURNEY.
I’m also saying that my clients hold a very special place in my heart- because you are so much more than that. I am beyond blessed to have friends like you that I get to hang out with on a regular basis, and that help me continue to do what I love. :)

I have never been able to shoot my entire family all together, which I have been wanting to do and I finally had the opportunity to do so at our family Christmas shindig. I think we should do it again next year, what do you think ya’ll? :)
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So there you have it. I know that if I can make these a daily priority in my life, there is nothing that I cannot achieve! We have already been blessed ten fold going into next year, now we just have to hit the ground running with an open heart and open mind!

See you in 2010!
xoxo
Lauren

By Lauren | Posted in personal | no comments         No Comments | Add a Comment

{CMA: Cookie Makers Anonymous}

filed under: personal
Dec.20
2009

Every year before she passed away, my grandmother would spend the weeks leading up to Christmas making hundreds of cookies, delicately and neatly packaging them, and shipping them all over the country to our family.

Last year, my cousins Rachel + Hayley + I decided we were going to continue the tradition in her memory, making all her traditional cookies she made every year, and then adding a new recipe of our own to the mix.

We spent all day in the kitchen mixing, shaping, flouring, sugaring, rolling and baking…

…and when it was all over- we realized what a HUGE undertaking this was for our little Momo, and we were amazed by how 1 woman made this happen for our entire family year after year. It was almost too much for the 3 of us to handle!

We packaged the cookies and shipped them off with a little letter to each member of our family, signed by all of us under the self proclaimed moniker “the Christmas Cookie Ladies”. And so began a new chapter in our family.

The cookies were a huge hit- and this year, we had a little extra help in the kitchen from some seasoned cookie making veterans. Our Aunt Lori who flew in from California, my Mom, and Aunt Deedee showed us the ropes, whipped us into shape, and made sure we didn’t make the same mistake of using the wrong type of flour again (the fruitcakes don’t bounce on the floor anymore!!) :D

By Lauren | Posted in personal | Tagged | 1 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

{2 awesome and 9}

filed under: personal, weddings
Dec.19
2009

In a word, it’s the only way I can describe this year. It shaped up to be a phenomenol year.

At the beginning of 2009, to be honest, I was worried. I wondered if I was going to be able to produce the kind of work that so many people trusted me to create, I worried about how I was going to keep business going, I worried about whether or not I was going to be able to do it all, while working full time and still manage to make our house a home.

I have been reflecting on 2009 for the past few weeks, and I feel such a strange and wonderful mix of happiness, blessed, humbled, surprised, excited, flattered, and many other emotions of the positive variety. My clients this year were, in a word, wonderful. Just absolutely wonderful. I don’t know many things, but what I do know is that the people I have been so privileged to work with are the ones that put my worries at ease. It’s because they are the ones that remind me why I do what I do.

It was a wonderful year. As I watched this slideshow I am again reminded of how beautiful 2010 will be, and how much we are looking forward to meeting new people and making new lifelong friends. :)

By Lauren | Posted in personal, weddings | Tagged , , , , , | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

{drum roll please}

filed under: free wedding giveaway, personal, weddings
Dec.15
2009

First, please let me say that we had some amazing entries for the free wedding contest.
Michael + I had a tough time trying to pick between all the wonderful entries, and we came to a decision on one couple whose story really stood out to us.
We loved reading everyone’s stories and seeing all your awesome ideas for your wedding, and we would love love love to have everyone as a winner (which you already ARE! :D ) but we since we have to pick 1…

the winner is…

oh i’m so excited…

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D Christine + Matt! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

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“I get to marry my wonderful love this Summer of 2010.

How Matt and I met: We both moved to Pensacola, Florida for Bible school. I came from the San Francisco Bay Area and he came from Massachusets. We were friends forever. We have a cappuchino bar at church, and he would volunteer at it. Every time I would walk in the door of church, he would sing sooooooo abnoxiously loud, “Dun Dun Dun, everybody loves Loretz!” It didn’t take long for everybody to start singing that song anytime I walked anywhere at church or school. But we were just friends and Matt was just silly. To this day, people still sing that song… and it’s been 10 years. Anyway, to make a long story short, one day out of the blue we sat next to each other at church and then walked by each other later after church, and something just clicked out of the blue. Seriously. One moment we saw each other as purely goofy,fun-loving friends… and then the next moment… out of the blue, we saw something more. And from there, love grew. And boy did it grow!!!

I volunteer and teach art to children as a hobby at church. It’s something I love. Many of the children are bussed in from projects and it’s their only opportunity to express themselves artistically. I’m one of those people, that if I don’t get to express my creativity, I get fidgety. I love to share my love for arts and crafts and color with others. I’m confident that anything can be achieved with paper, glue, and paint! :)

Yesterday I made a 9 foot Christmas tree with bamboo garden stakes and a blanket of green tissue paper “flowers” for leaves. I like to think that my class is a little bit like “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.” The children were amazed at the big things they can create with their little hands!

I am planning on getting married in a botanical garden. I would like my wedding to be 10% vintagey, 10% shabby chic, 10% country picnic, 10% old time country fair, 10% fiesta, 10% Jane Austen, 10% whimscial and…. the rest can just be pure color and fun. Of course I’ll have a beautiful white gown and all that, but around all this wedding magic, I will build with color and creativity.

Sooo, WE’RE GETTING MARRIED IN 2010! Thank you for hearing my story. I had fun telling it. :) ”

YAY FOR CHRISTINE + MATT!!! Michael + I are excited for your wedding!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!! :D

From Christine: “Hi Lauren!! WOW!!! I am so unfathomably excited, you just can’t know!!!! That is soo cool!! Thank you so much for giving us this gift and right before Christmas! SO EXCITED!! :) Thank you again…I AM THRILLED and I might BURST! :) ”

By Lauren | Posted in free wedding giveaway, personal, weddings | Tagged , , , , | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment

{flights of fancy}

filed under: Betsy White, bragging rights, engagements, inspiration, personal, weddings
Dec.14
2009

Hello out there!
Is anyone still out there?…
I have been a horrible blogger lately. *slaps hand*
I promise I will blog more often. I promise I will blog more often.I promise I will blog more often. I promise I will blog more often.I promise I will blog more often. I promise I will blog more often.I promise I will blog more often. I promise I will blog more often.I promise I will blog more often. I promise I will blog more often.

Ok, enough of that! :)

Onward!

This week we were featured on the completely lovely blog for all things inspired, the Flights of Fancy blog! Ms. Gia Graham is the brainchild behind this awesome blog, and we are so proud to have Heather + Tyler’s beach wedding featured!

Thank you so much to Gia and to Heather + Tyler! We love all of you!

Please click the pic below to get to Gia’s amazing site and see our feature! Love love love you Gia!
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By Lauren | Posted in Betsy White, bragging rights, engagements, inspiration, personal, weddings | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 comments         Show Comments | Add a Comment
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