John is the CEO of Ping Golf and lives here in Phoenix (the wedding took place and his private home) and Sunny was living in Hawaii with her daughters when they were introduced by a mutual friend at John’s church. The friend had met Sunny and thought John should call her as they would be the perfect match. After lots of phone calls and a long distance relationship, it turns out this mutual friend was very right indeed, and a wonderful love blossomed, which is so plain to see. Cheers to persistence and good match-making!

Their outdoor, tented wedding was coordinated by Trisha Foster at Total Events and the flowers were provided by a family friend. My friend & photographer Cristi Owen came along to shoot the day with me and I’ve included some of her images below as well, which are noted.

Here are some favorites from the day:

Loved her fun purple shoes!

One the way down the stairs to their first look/meet. Image by Cristi Owen

I loved their first look

Especially this moment

And this one

After, we headed outside to capture some bride and groom portraits

They love cacti, so we took advantage of the huge saguaro outside of John’s home

Then we headed back for the ceremony to begin

I love this look John’s mother and Sunny shared, who was walked down the aisle by both of her adoring parents. Love it!

John’s amazing view from his backyard

Sunny’s daughter and John sharing a hug after the ceremony

Sunny and her 3 beautiful daughters

John and his handsome sons

The grandchildren & flower girls were dressed up as ballerinas. So sweet

Love this side angle Cristi captured of their silly face-making

After family portraits, we went back out front to take advantage of the setting sun and the GORGEOUS sunset

A few details from their tent. Good thing they had this heated, because it was freezing out that day! (Well, freezing for Arizona!)

Beautiful sunset shot by Cristi and love the dance shot she got below!

Thank you Sunny and John for sharing your kind and loving spirits. Congratulations to you both!

Brittney and Shawn were married in November at The Camelback Inn in Paradise Valley. We were a tad concerned when in the morning it looked like it might rain, but while Brittney got ready and put on her gown, the skies cleared up and sun came out, and it ended up being a beautiful afternoon.

You can tell that Brittney and Shawn are the best of friends. They have a very natural way about them and a strong mutual respect for one another, which is so evident when seeing them together. They also both have a ton of great friends as their wedding party consisted of 24 people including 10 bridesmaids, 10 groomsmen, their adorable flower girl and ring bearer and of course Brit & Shawn. I think it was my largest bridal party yet to photograph!

It was a wonderful wedding and here are some of my favorites from the day:

The great crew of Serendipty Videography was their to capture their day on moving film and I loved this candid of Brittney while Jeff was interviewing her about Shawn. It was very sweet to hear all the things she loves about Shawn — and to even see her get close to tears a few times while talking about him. You can check out Serendipity’s trailer of their wedding here.

I love this shot of Brittney right after she put on her gown…

All the bridesmaids wore these fantastic red shoes. Even Brittney had a pair, in addition to her other white ones!

I loved when Brittney’s Mom saw her for the first time. She was just overwhelmed and it was so sweet.

A few bridals of the gorgeous bride!

I intentionally processed this image to have a “wintery” look. Something about her eyes just popped so much and I like the way it feels processed cooler like this.

The girls

My good friend and usual second shooter Andy Andrews was on hand that day to help cover the guys. Brittney and Shawn did not see each other before the ceremony so we needed to divide and conquer and Andy did a great job, as always.

Another shot Andy caught when they first walked out towards the aisle. I love the way Brit’s dad is looking at her here.

I loved this moment too.

Married!

The party!

Now onto the other party!

Love this shot Andy got while Brittney’s best friends were toasting them.

And I loved this moment during the toasts when Shawn was checking out her ring finger. There is something so touching about that to me.

Alright, can you say party trick? This guest balanced this beer bottle on her head for nearly an entire song. She danced with up there too! Impressive.

When I saw danced, I mean boogied down. Really. Impressive.

LOVE!

Brittney and her Dad and Shawn and his Mom sharing their parent dances.

Thank you Brittney and Shawn for having me there and allowing me to photograph your wedding day. It was an honor for me and you both are amazing. Congratulations!

I have to offer a huge thanks to Jennifer Thye of Imoni Events who pulled off yet another flawless beautiful event! I also want to give a big shout out to Suzanne at Flora Europa who did an amazing job on the florals.

Other vendors of note:

Videography: Daniel Wagner Videography

Band: The Chadwicks

Gown: Monique Lhuillier

Let’s start with the details. I LOVE’d Lindy’s shoes and Monique Lhuillier gown (that she nicknamed “Mona”)

I thought this moment was so sweet when her Mom wrapped her in her pashmina because Lindy was a bit cold

Lindy and her adorable sister and maid of honor getting ready

LOVE the hair piece flower!

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A fantastic first look. Seriously, can Jim be any cuter and happier to see his bride?

More bride and groom portraits:

Shot of Jim by  Andy Andrews on the right. Andy is my regular second shooter who is just amazing and so fun to work with.

I thought  these were adorable

Beautiful details

Another great shot by Andy Andrews, my regular and second-shooter extraordinare of her parents!

Some reception details

The Chadwicks, who started here locally and are now quite popular!

Thank you Lindy and Jim for sharing your gorgeous wedding day with me. You both were SO fun to photograph and spend time with!! I know you will have an amazingly happy life together!

It was a long time coming for these two. They were supposed to get married in October 2008 and had booked me all the way back in 2007. Then Tracy’s dad became very ill after a sudden and serious health accident, where it was touch and go with him for some time. Once he stabilized, where it appeared he would fully recover with time, it was then that Lee’s father was diagnosed with cancer. Suffice to say, the wedding plans were put on hold so Tracy and Lee could focus on their families and getting their fathers well again. Obviously it was very important that they could be there to celebrate – and in the best health possible.

Fast forward to October 2009. Tracy and Lee were finally able to tie the knot at her uncle’s home in North Scottsdale and have the celebration they had planned for and looked forward to for so long. Lee is a stand up comedian in Los Angeles (it’s The Improv where Tracy used to work and originally met Lee), so he was a lot of fun to photograph. I had a hard time ever getting him to be serious in the photos UNLESS he was thinking about Tracy, his love, his best friend, and then he focused pretty exclusively (and seriously) on her :-) They were both so wonderful, funny, kind and just a real pleasure to spend the day with. I want to also add that they had Emily Edwards on hand, owner of Your Heart’s Desire wedding consulting firm and she was such a pro and a real pleasure to work with.

Here are some favorites from their big day:

LOVED their cake by Let Them Eat Cake. Flowers by Your Event Florist.

The many faces of Lee

They had each married guest bring a framed wedding photo of their own and incorporated it into their decor. Pretty cool.

Yeah! Both Dad’s made it, danced and enjoyed watching their children get married. Tracy’s dad Bruce on the left and Lee’s Dad Robert on the right.

Thank you Tracy and Lee for allowing me to photograph your beautiful wedding! I have no doubt you two will spend a long and happy life together loving and laughing a lot.

She loves animals. Has a soft heart for them and loves to take them in if they need a home. He loves being there for her; taking care of her and what she needs. Together they compliment each other well.

Jason and Luisa had a colorful, funny (with some of the most hilarious wedding vows I’ve ever heard) and uniquely their-own wedding at The Hotel Valley Ho Resort in Scottsdale just a couple weeks ago. She, coming from a design background, was instrumental behind the very unique decor, from the table lamp centerpieces to the dog’s tux’s. We tried to also incorporate the motorcycle in the lobby because Luisa’s dad is a big Harley fan (and rider) and Luisa is very close with him.

Because of their love of animals, they also had their 3 dogs in the ceremony. And hopefully what shows is how amazing their dogs were! It can be a challenge to have pets join in on a wedding ceremony, but Sadie, Leo and Porter were all perfect. And mighty photogenic I might add.

Below are Leo and Porter:

Flowers: The Flower Studio
Videography: Serendipity Videography
DJ: All American
Makeup/Hair: Selena/Steven Paul Salon
Cake: Hotel Valley Ho

And Sadie (above)

Their first look:

Love this shot of Jason

They had some really, really funny vows!

Beautiful details

Luisa and her Dad on the motorcycle; a homage to his love of them

Love this!

Thank you Luisa and Jason for sharing your amazing day with me!

I must admit I am anxiously awaiting the release of the new website and image sharing service called Two Bright Lights. It is the brainchild of Rosalind Bordo and Siri Eklund, and promises to transform the way that wedding professionals market their business. I have a feeling it actually will. As a photographer, I always want to be able to quickly share images with vendors so they can in turn share them with their clients, but it can be a time consuming process. I think this site is going to make that process much quicker and more efficient, allowing vendors to quickly create storyboards of their favorite event images. I also love submitting my images to magazines and industry blogs, so I know this will make that process even easier! Im very excited about that aspect.

Industry professionals will want to be sure to check out the features behind this new site! And if you want to read more about Rosalind and Siri, and how this site came to be, hop on over to social media guru Liene Steven’s blog Splendid Communications for her in-depth interview with them.

Suzanne and Mike were married a little over a week ago at the exclusive Estancia Club in Scottsdale. I actually did not know quite how exclusive it was until 1) I mentioned that morning that I was shooting there and my golf-loving-husband raised his eyebrows and specifically commented on how beautiful the course and clubhouse were and 2) once I arrived I learned they have only hosted 3 weddings in the past 2 years because they only have a limited number of members and only members or their family members can get married there. As a photographer, I really like rarely-photographed places of course.

But far more importantly than the beauty or exclusiveness of a venue, I will say that Suzanne and Mike were a dream to photograph. Suzanne is the type of girl that I would definitely love to hang with if she lived here (they live in Texas). Aside from being photogenic (okay, bonus to me) she is smart, confident and oh-so-FUNNY. And girls who can laugh at themselves… well, they are typically fun to be around. Mike is also all those things too – maybe a tad more serious in front of me, but in the good way. Thoughtful, kind… loves his family and adores Suzanne. Salt of the earth, those two.

I wish I could write more of an amazing story to accompany every blog post that exemplified the uniqueness of each couple and their wedding. Because truly, each couple and therefore each wedding is unique. But I don’t know that I am that writer, than I can sum it all up in a moving portrait that paints the picture. Instead, I’m going to try and let the pictures sum it up…

Special thanks to Imoni Events, specifically Gretchen and Kate, who did a fantastic job executing the event and keeping everything running smoothly.

Her gorgeous wedding gown by Paloma Blanca and bridal bouquets by Flora Europa. Might be hard to tell from this image, but her gown is actually a very light blush pink, purchased at Destiny’s Bride in Scottsdale.

Makeup by Linda Wagner

Beautiful.

Suzanne on the way down the wine cellar for their first look.

Working her humor with her almost-brothers-in-law.

I was going to show her purple shoes alone, but figured they looked cuter here.

A few more bridals

This might be one of my favs of the day. I think it was a happy accident too, since I was supposed to be adjusting my camera (and I was) and not really photographing them.

Mike sneaking a peak during the prayer :)

During the ceremony, a roadrunner and two deer came to watch. The deer actually hung around for awhile which was cool, allowing me to capture them closer.

Another favorite

Wait, this one below might be my favorite. I just like me a tree, even if they have leaves or not!

I loved this moment of Suzanne’s mom and her friend watching Suzanne dance with her step-father

More details

Mike is one of four boys in the family (my hat is off to Mike’s mom!), so here is Suzanne dancing with her youngest brother-in-law

Suzanne and Mike – thank you, thank you for sharing your incredible day with me. It was such a honor to photograph your wedding. And a big thank you to my good friend Andy Andrews for shooting with me. I’ll get some of his images up shortly!

Last weekend (the 10th), my husband and I travelled out to Napa Valley to 1) photograph Traci and Ryan’s AMAZING wedding and 2) to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. It was the perfect place to enjoy some time together, especially considering we both love good food & wine (almost impossible to get otherwise there), great weather, and sleeping in on occasion. We enjoyed all of these things immensely.

Regarding their wedding, I don’t know how to adequately express how much I loved it. First, they are a spectacular couple, so that alone made it great, but then their families and friends had to be so great as well, the decor incredible, and the location… well, romantic, beautiful, perfect. Dee Merz, who coordinated the whole affair did a terrific job. I know I’m gushing. But for those who know me well, I don’t gush for pretense. I would love to share and post photos from their wedding, but I cannot quite yet. We are going to submit their wedding to some national bridal magazines and I don’t want to take any chances with them not being published for already been seen online. However, friends & family have access to a private slideshow and all the wedding images via Traci and Ryan. And any couples who are having a wedding in Napa Valley, California and wish to see examples from a Beaulieu Garden wedding, just send me an email and I’d be happy to share images.

In the meantime, here are some images from their engagement guest signature album that we put together. I travelled to Napa Valley back in July for their engagement session and we got some great images!

Speaking of guest signature albums and wedding albums in general, I’m happy to announce that several of my templates are available for purchase at the Photojunction Store. If you need help designing albums, Photojunction is such a great resource and tool. I was honored to be asked to be included in their new store launch and think it’s such a great resource for all those out there who want to design wedding albums quickly and beautifully.

Wedding season is here! Im officially on my way now to Napa Valley for another wedding this weekend, but I was so thrilled to kick off the fall season with Cheryl and Mike’s wedding. I first met Cheryl about a year and a half ago when she came to me wanting to learn more about photography. She said when she returned from Africa, she would sign up for one of my personal intensive training sessions, and she did just that. I took an immediate liking to her and was excited to learn about her time in Africa visiting orphanages. One of her dreams, aside from being a photographer (which she is doing now), is to adopt children from Africa and give them a loving home. I admire her desire to change the world one child at a time. Or at least change the life (or lives) of children who deserve clean water to drink, a loving environment and the opportunity to grow into whatever they dream for themselves. Mike shares this dream too, so I have no doubt they will make wonderful parents one day.

Cheryl and Mike have been together 10 years and officially tied the knot this past Saturday at The Farm at South Mountain. I absolutely love shooting there because when you are inside the groves, it feels like you are in another part of the US – reminds me of the midwest a bit — and the light can be so stunning in there, filtering through the trees. Here are some of my favorites from the day:

A moment after their first look

Cheryl looking beautiful

I dont know why, but I love this image below. Something about how it feels to me. I even like that she is partially hidden by the leaves.

Love this one below!

Cheryl had five flower girls, all in butterfly wings. They were all so adorabale!

Cheryl’s girls plus guy (her close friend Chad, who was hilarious)

Taking advantage of the full moon and 6400 ISO

Love the feel of this one too

Cheryl, it was a honor to witness your marriage to Mike and I’m so thrilled that I could be there to capture it. Congratulations to you and Mike and I can’t wait to see all you accomplish together in the years to come!

Also special thanks to my good friend Andy Andrews for shooting the wedding with me. I’ll post some of his images when I get back in town next week.