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! 
Isn’t Megan GORGEOUS? Wait till you see what i’ve got in store 
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. 
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! ) but we since we have to pick 1…
the winner is…
oh i’m so excited…
Christine + Matt!
“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!!!
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! ”
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!
No, you’re not senile. Ya’ll heard it right.
After all the fun blog love we have had this week, Michael + I are just full of love right now and we have decided to offer A FREE WEDDING PACKAGE to one very lucky couple!
We have been so blessed over the past few years and we just want to take the opportunity to give something back and do something really nice for others. Your wedding day is your chance to shine, and we want to be a part of that with you.
{in order to qualify, there are a few details!}
- Tell us your story! [my favorite!]
- Include a photo of yourself + your fiance in your submission.
- The wedding must be taking place in 2010 or 2011
- The wedding may be anywhere in the whole wide world but you must be willing to cover our travel (after all, we still need a way to get there + a warm bed to sleep in after your kick booty wedding!)
- You must submit a wedding inspiration board with images of ideas that you are going to be incorporating into your wedding. It can be as elaborate as you like, and list out the colors of your wedding.
Pretty simple, huh? Yep.
Entries will be judged by both Michael + I, and we will be reading each and every one personally. We will be judging the contest based on your story, creativity of wedding concept and inspiration board submitted, and our availability on your wedding date (ex: 2010 is booking quickly, so if your date is already booked, we will notify you via email.)
We will be accepting submissions beginning today and until 12-15-09, announcing the big winner the week before Christmas (How’s THAT for a great Christmas present?! )
Ok so here’s the {fine print}:
- The wedding package will include 6 continuous hours of coverage, + a high res disc of images (YAY!) + a fun engagement session!
- Travel expenses will be determined based on the location of the wedding and will include flight and/or rental car, hotel, and meals.
- The contest only applies to submissions received beginning at noon today thru December 15, 2009. If you have already booked a wedding or inquired prior to 11-12-09, entries can not be considered in fairness.
- Entry will not be considered if all the above requirements for submissions are not sent in.
We cannot WAIT to start getting your submissions! BRING IT!
Email us through our website or call us today!
On October 17, we had a cold snap. Actually, one could say that we a had a cold AND wind snap. It was a very chilly 50 degrees (what can I say? I’m a Florida girl! That’s COLD!!!) when Michael + I left the house to shoot Heather + Tyler’s AWESOME wedding in Destin, and we kept assuring each other that “it will warm up once we are on the beach”.
Not so much. As a matter of fact, it got colder… and windy-er.
The cold was not going to put a damper on our mood or on how ridiculously cool Heather + Tyler are (no pun intended) . I cannot say enough about this wedding and how much we enjoyed being a part of it. From day one, both Heather + Tyler have made us feel like a part of their families and we felt completely comfortable and welcomed by all.
Heather + Tyler are meant for each other. It just radiates out of every part of them. We are so thrilled and honored to be a part of your lives and thank you for being our friends. WE LOVE YOU!!!
Sit back and enjoy, this is a big’un.
Renee of Two Fishes Artistry did an amazing job on Heather’s makeup, she is absolutely WONDERFUL and I adore her.
This is easily one of my favorites of the day. Aren’t they sweet?
Heather, you are STUNNING!
Meanwhile, Michael was hanging out with the guys…
One from Michael! LOVE this and the way the sun was peeking through the clouds. Lovely.
I love everything about this.
One of {our} all time favorites!
WARNING: Delicious details ahead. Proceed with haste! Shelby of Shelby Peaden Events pulled the decor together flawlessly!
Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down to-NIGHT ba-bay!
Our heartfelt thanks go out to:
Venue: Palazzo del Sol, Destin FL.
Coordinator: Shelby Peaden Events
Dress: Watters
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: J Crew
Hair/Makeup: Renee Armour, Two Fishes Artistry
Florals: Fiore
Cake: Heather’s amazing cousin Kelli Cotton!
Catering: Morrison’s Catering Division
DJ: Shawn Rowe of A DJ Connection
One from Heather + Tyler’s fabulous beach wedding in Destin this past Saturday.
To the new H+T duo: Have fun in Playa del Carmen! See you when you get back!
Oh Etsy. I don’t even know how to describe how much I love you.
The most appropriate way to describe my relationship with Etsy’s website is such: have you ever seen the movie “10 Things I Hate About You”? Well, in one part of the movie a girl is describing her love for Shakespeare, and she aptly puts it as “We’re INVOLVED”.
Yep, that’s pretty much how I feel about Etsy**.
When I have a spare moment to myself, when i’m not shooting, editing, or blogging about shooting or editing (:)), i’m surfing Etsy.
Take a look at these great finds. I love these for fall weddings! AND, if you’re interested, i’m linking the picture to the seller’s Etsy store so you can click and go right to it!
Happy shopping, and I hope to see some of these at your upcoming weddings!
These green quartz earrings are stunning, and at $48.00, are you kidding me?
HOW CUTE is this?! I love it when a groom is stylish too, and this seller has TONS of awesome bow ties and ties for guys. Ready for this? $10.00!!!!!!
I love letterpress. And this vintage letterpress invitation proves that you can have custom invitations made without the high cost associated with custom letterpress. $2.75 a piece! It kind of reminds me of one of my favorite books, “The Giving Tree”.
LOVE these. Custom ring bearer bowls, or you could have them made for any other reason under the sun. $44.00
Place cards printed on recycled paper. And at $1.65 a piece, you could definitely afford to have a cute one printed for each guest at the wedding. A nice favor.
Ok so I am HUGELY in love with headpieces right now, I love hairbands and fun little things like this that I wear all the time, and I have a lot of brides asking about where to get them. ETSY! This one is $40.00 and is ADORABLE! You can find more great ones too, just type in “headpiece” or something like that.
You know you want one. $65.00 Click there now!
I encourage you to scour Etsy, along with antique stores, yardsales, craft shops. You would be surprised at how inexpensive and absolutely lovely some of the finds you will discover!
I love DIY projects, and DIY weddings. Please, do not hesitate to contact me! I would love to help!
*all images from Etsy and each seller’s Etsy store!
It’s finally here!!!
The insanely talented Kat Small of Cinema Chic films produced and directed this new video for our website!
We are so proud of it and we think that our clients will love being able to get a little idea of what it is like to work with us before booking us for their weddings.
Thanks so much to Kat (we took her headshots for her awesome new website coming soon! Check them out HERE!) for coming out to Rosemary Beach and thank you to Elizabeth + Richard for being so awesome and being down for anything we threw at you!
We’re just a big ole pile of love today.
And now, here it is!
It’s Friday afternoon and I am at home sick with the flu (thankfully NOT of the swine variety) 
so while I am catching up on some much needed rest, movie marathons, and all the chicken soup I can hold, I found this video on YouTube and had to share.
You will love it. For brides who will be considering doing it after they watch, DO IT! Your wedding is a celebration!
