the bloor family

the bloor family is adorable. and fun! i always have so much fun with them. a couple weekends ago we hung out at lake redstone.... it was great.... sand, waterfalls, streams, caterpillars...... thanks guys for such a great day and enjoy your preview! 

  

   

  

 

  

  

 

    

what goes into your wedding DVD?

since i know that i have fabulous {patient} wedding clients waiting for their DVDs, I want to explain why DVDs of your wedding pictures take as long as they do. First off, on my wedding contract it says that online galleries and DVDs take approximately 6-8 weeks. Right now, I am at 8 weeks for all weddings, so if you are wondering when your photos will be ready, that is a good estimate. So... that may seem like a long time to some, so I wanted to explain {to a certain extent} WHY it takes that long.

When I look at a wedding, I don't just slap all your photos on a DVD and out the door they go. Nope, I spend time on each wedding, going through and selecting the BEST images to represent your day and tell the story. Then I go through all those images and make them look the absolute best they can be, and work with them so that they fit you and your theme. if your wedding was vintage and rustic, I will make sure the images fit that and it comes through on your pictures. did you have a modern vibrant wedding? i want that to translate in your album. I also choose images to make black and white, etc. I look at each image you get as not just a picture, but as an artistic representation of your day.

Since it takes me longer to get through each wedding and make it into a story of the day, that is why I post a LOT of sneak peek images on my blog. So that while you wait, you have seen on an average, about 75 pictures of your day to tide you over.

That being said, I do COMPLETELY understand the excitement and anticipation in waiting to see your FULL wedding story. I have been photographed before and can empathize with the agonizing ;) wait. That is why I am working FEVERISHLY to get all my weddings out as fast as I can {without sacrificing the artistic integrity and quality of my work} to each and everyone of you.

This summer has been crazy busy, with a 16 wedding in a row stretch (which is awesome...thank you SOOOOOOOO much to my fabulous clients. you all rock), tons of travel, lots of computer problems, and having two little children....so I REALLY do appreciate all my clients being SOOOOOO wonderful, understanding, and patient.

and because no post is complete without a picture.......

bridget and seth....the wedding

bridget and seth were married in my one non family wedding in september. :) it was a fabulous wedding....gorgeous weather, super adorable little church, super modeliscous (it's a word, sure it is) bride and groom, and uber fun wedding party. i seriously couldn't ask for better clients. i have a TON of pictures (i should make this a two parter, but since i have so much to share this week i am going to stuff it all into one huge oversized post), so i am going straight to the pictures with no more babbling......

  

i was totally feeling vertical group portraits with lots of headroom last saturday, i guess

    

  

  

watching kids during ceremonies always cracks me up

the lovely miss Alice Trost second shot for me again at this wedding and the below shot is hers

when i first saw this shot, i thought that seth was showing off his new ring.....now i am pretty sure he was telling someone they owed him $5---i think he bet them he wouldn't cry during the ceremony.....

there was no shortage of absolutely adorable kids at this wedding, and both alice and i couldn't help ourselves .....

the next two are Alice's views....

  

  

next shot courtesy of THE alice trost

i think i squealed to myself when i saw this light

  

bridget was STUNNING!

alice's shot next (how can one so young have so much talent? she's only 17!!!!!!)

so, seth has this car...........................

this next one of alice's reminds me of some sort of old hollywood paparazzi shot or something

  

shot on the left is alice's....on the right is mine

  

   

so, i am going to share lots of photos of the first dance because it was rocking. it started out sweet and nice.....

and then the music changed and it evolved to THIS

have you ever seen the evolution of dance? it was kind of like that..... just one SUPER AWESOME first dance. these guys have got MOVES! i think there is a video of it somewhere, and maybe i will see if bridget and seth mind me sharing it, because it was just SUPER AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! 

and so was the rest of their dance..... too.much.fun.

alice's shot:

thanks guys for having me as your photographer! it was a never to be forgotten wedding! LOVED IT!!!!!!! 

dani + jason = baby

i am so lucky to have been able to capture dani and jason's engagement session, wedding and ttd sessions. and now they are having a baby and i am so blessed i got to share in this part of their lives too. if you aren't sure who dani is, you obviously live under a rock----just kidding, but she has been all over my blog....both in pictures AND taking them. i love it when a bride turns into a friend turns into a second shooter and our OWN family photographer. Check her out if you haven't already-----www.danistephensonphotography.blogspot.com 

 

it was a gorgeous {albeit mosquito filled} night

   

 

nicole and kyle part 3

i meant to post this third {and last} part of kyle and nicole's wedding earlier this week, but i have been crazycrazybusy trying to catch up and so am just now doing it. i also have a lot coming up on the blog---dani's maternity session, bridget and seth's wedding, the bloor family session and tanya and scott's engagement session---so be on the look out for all of those! 

kyle and nicole planned their wedding timeline around the light....seriously! they had their ceremony and dinner during the golden hours of light....and so we had to make use of it for some more portraits. I cannot stress enough how much "good" light can make pictures totally magical....

speaking of all the DIY projects for the wedding...doesn't the pond look nice? and it because kyle (among others) were up to their armpits in it mere hours before the wedding cleaning it out!!!

a family friend painted a swing for them, and it was hung in the tree where they got married....

the dance was held in the barn...which our parents had done SO much work to 

   

so years ago, at a cousin's wedding kyle and our cousin jesse did this hilarous dance off (ala napolean dynamite)....we BEGGED them to do it again.....and it took a lot of convincing on jesse's part, but they did it. and it was epic. seriously, pictures CANNOT do it justice......i just hope kyle and jesse know that they will be made to do this forevermore at every family wedding.....

another awesome feature of kyle and nicole's wedding was their photobooth/guest book. they had a photobooth set up where guests could dress up, write them messages on a chalkboard and have their picture taken

here are a couple of the shots from it....

not sure who that odd duck in the boa is.....

  

ahhhhhh...... as if you couldn't tell, i adore kyle and nicole, and am still reeling over how much i loved it. LOVE you guys! miss you! 

kyle and nicole part 2

part two today (this will be a three, maybe four! part post)

kyle and nicole held their ceremony under a HUGE tree on our parents land. the ceremony was done by our uncle, one of our aunts did a reading, and kyle's mom and dad did a reading. there was also acoustic guitar music by a cousin in law, and an AWESOME song by family friend.... all in all, it was a gorgeous and meaningful ceremony. i can assure you my eyes didn't stay dry! 

   

  

  

a moment right after the ceremony

their dinner (catered by Jake's Northwoods in Sparta and super yummy) was held in a tent in my parent's front yard. i adored the decorations and details, most of which were DIY projects that Nicole and friends and family put together....

there were tissue pom poms

centerpieces were stems of green mums in vases that nicole had found from scouring thrift stores with her gram

their favors were apples with little "leaves" that said k+n

they had hand painted signs pointing out the ceremony, dinner, dance, restrooms, photo booth (more on that in the next post)....etc.

  

and cupcakes by Kristi's Cakes and Pastries in Wilton

 

i LOVE this one of my papa being suave and giving me a wink

you all know i can never just post ONE ring shot, and it is no different today ;)

i will finish up this post with a couple of portraits. more tomorrow!

  

kyle and nicole part 1

i really don't even know where to begin with this wedding. even if it wasn't my brother and my fabulous new sister in law's wedding, it would have been awesome. the fact that they are family and i love them to bits just helped it be THAT much more awesome. i am going to go totally overboard with pictures, but hey...this is my blog, i adore them! 

but seriously, this wedding was just my favorite sort in all kinds of ways. Full of unique details, DIY projects, and held in one of the most awesome locations ever---my parents farm---kyle and nicole totally rocked the wedding world. :)

so....on to the pictures. with more narration than i usually use on my blog, but seriously, so many unique ideas were in play, and so much went on, that i just have to gush a little. 

oh! and i have to say that kyle and nicole, with help from family and friends planned the whole wedding in four months! it CAN be done! 

first off...getting ready....at MY HOUSE! it is not often i get to shoot the bride doing her hair and make up while sitting on my own bed in my pj's snuggling my baby. :)

nicole did her own hair and make up! waaaaay talented! 

  

one of the cool things about this wedding is that kyle and nicole's true style shone through in their apparel. nicole took her shoes and totally made them her own by adding these rocking purple buttons

she did the same with her dress---she had the one strap added, totally gave the dress a completely different look. 

and i LOVED the flowers! 

kyle and nicole were both getting dressed in the upstairs of my parents house...it was so odd to have them both up there but not seeing each other. so we had to take a picture of them together......but not really together

kyle and i's grandpa helped him with his tie

see what i mean about style? LOVED the suit. my dapper brother waiting for his bride

since they saw each other before the ceremony, we had time before to do lots of couples portraits. and they were serious troopers. we went up hills, in the middle of roads, and all over the farm. nicole's dress had some bugs in the lining, but she was awesome, and knew it was all worth it, for the pictures ;)

  

  

nicole could hardly stand being stuck inside the house while all the guests arrived....

we really didn't think my papa carr would be able to come to kyle's wedding---but he was there....and i was so happy to spend some time with him, and capture some priceless photos (more to come!)

amelia totally ADORES her uncle kyle

i will end this post with a shot of kyle and our grammy carr.....more tomorrow!