Danica & Ryan: The Wedding Day

  Danica and Ryan's wedding day was gorgeous- lots of sunny blue skies, and lots of high temperatures.  The exact kind of day when you think about the phrase "late July wedding".

Danica and Ryan both loved the Wes Anderson film "Fantastic Mr Fox."  Can you tell? :)

  

It was so warm outside we just got a few quick newlywed photos, and then it was off to the Springville Museum of Art to relax and cool off before the reception started....

  

If you are looking for a nice reception venue in Utah County near Provo, and specifically want one with an outdoor, almost-backyard feel, you might want to look at the Springville Museum of Art.

  

I am a sucker for baked goods.... cookies, cake, and especially cup cakes!  Little bite-sized ones are very dangerous, because if it's just a bite, then before you know it you've eaten about 5 or 6.

  

Best way to cool off on a hot summer day while attending a wedding reception?  Well, if that reception happens to be catered by Sam Schultz of the magnificent Sammy's Burgers and Pie Shakes, then you are set.    No matter what flavor you get, it's going to be awesome.

  

This little girl above was kind of shy, and she wasn't too sure about the camera;  however that didn't stop her finishing off her shake!

Sam and his wife Nikki are some of the coolest people around.  If you get the chance to hang out with them, you should feel lucky.

  

  

Ok, cake's been cut, pie shakes have been eaten, and hands have been shaken.  Time to get the heck out of here!

Sammy's Cafe: Pie Shakes = Heaven

  So here's a little background for this shoot:

A little over a week ago, we had to the opportunity to photograph Danica and Ryan's wedding. It was an awesome day, and one of the most relaxed wedding days I have seen as a photographer. However, it was HOT. Hot hot hot hot hot. We blazed through family group photos at the LDS Salt Lake Temple and got a few newlyweds, but then headed on down towards the Springville Art Museum for the reception. The reception was lovely, relaxed, and full of happiness- my favorite kind of event. One of the highlights for me was the catering.

As you might remember from the engagement session, Ryan and Danica spent a lot of time at Sammy's, one of the best burger places in Utah, and home of the Pie Shake. Of course, we made sure to get some fun shots showing off their favorite hang out spot.

  

With such a special place in their hearts for Sammy's they actually had the crew cater their reception.  All throughout their reception Sam, his lovely wife Nikki, and other Sammy's staff were handing out ice-cold happiness.  Thomas and I loved it!  Not only did we get some tasty treats to keep cool while we were working, but we got to chat up the big man himself (who, coincidentally, is cousin to our other favorite caterer, Ethan from Rockwell Catering).

Funny side note:  As we were driving down to the reception (and cooling off with the A/C on full blast!) and talking about what we'd do when we got there a bit early, Thomas all of a sudden says "PIE SHAKES."  I look at him confused, and said, yeah, they're going to be there (thinking about the fact that Sammy's was going to be catering it).  Thomas just replies, "We should get one."  Still confused I tell him that they won't be set up for a bit.  Turns out that Thomas had completely forgotten about who was catering- he just all of a sudden wanted a pie shake.  It was hot, we were driving south, Sammy's is in south Provo off the freeway and is sorta on the way to Springville.  It was all very logical, right? :D

But I digress....

As we were chatting, Sam and I got to working out the details for a product shoot for his food.  One thing led to another, and so the next day Thomas and I found ourselves holed up behind the counter in the restaurant busily setting up different burgers and shakes for their moment in the spotlight.  We'll likely need to do another shoot (Sammy's has too much food for just a couple hours to do it justice), and I haven't finished editing all of them, but I just had to share some of the photos from the session.

  

I literally got home about an hour ago from Provo.  I met up with my current intern Abby, and we had a business coaching session at Sammy's.  I had a burger, I split a pie shake with Thomas, and we had some of their awesome sweet potato fries.  I was full.  I am full.  But looking at these.... kinda makes me want to drive back and get another shake.

  

Stay tuned for another update with Sammy's goodness in the next month or so...

Lovin' in Provo

A baseball love story...by Emily the Intern.  

Danica and Ryan were a super cute and super fun couple. I arrived early so I had the opportunity to hang out with them for a few minutes before Whitney got to Provo and they seemed suuper shy. Danica even warned Whitney earlier in the week that she was going to have to work her magic with them and claimed that she and Ryan were going to be awkward. That couldn't have been further from the truth.

Here's the deal--if you're totally in love and could stare at each other for hours and love to laugh and have fun with each other, you're going look awesome in photographs. Having Whitney as your photographer helps, too. Not only was this a great shoot for me as a budding photographer, but it also helped me get some ideas of what poses I wanted for my own anniversary shoot that Whitney was doing for my husband and I a few weeks later.

We started off on Center St. in Provo and seriously, I love downtown. They've really improved it since I first moved here (five years ago as a freshman at BYU) and I love all the nook and cranny awesome and beautiful places you can find while walking around. It's also so fitting that we shot the engagements there, since these two met at a music show nearby.

Can I just tell you how much I love this shot shown above? One, I really love Danica's shoes... and maybe her skirt... and belt... and cardigan. Two, Whitney totally concocted this shot on a whim--this was just where Danica and Ryan made an outfit change and it was in-between locations. As they were changing Whitney scoped out the area and I could see her mind racing with ideas of poses. Three, I love the adorable-ness (yes, totally a word) of them holding hands underneath the table. It's like they were having a little moment and forgot we were even there.

And now for the finale. Little did I know, Ryan is a super devout baseball fan and a huge Boston Red Sox fan on top of that. Since my husband (whose name is also Ryan...confusing, I know) also loves baseball I asked him how big a fan he really was he said something like, 'Think of the biggest baseball fan you know. Now think of the biggest Red Sox fan. Put them together and I'm even more.' I wish I could remember his exact words, but he said something like that and he totally wasn't kidding. Even though my husband, Ryan, is at the top of his fantasy baseball team (whoop, whoop, haha) I would definitely have to agree that Danica's Ryan is the biggest baseball fan I know. And Danica's got a soft spot for the sport as well. She played softball in high school and as Whitney was suggesting poses--like, having Ryan show Danica how to hold a bat--she quickly tossed the suggestion out. She could totally hold her own and knew how to hold a bat thank-you-very-much. So they're totally a perfect matched and it showed.

Congrats on being awesome, Danica and Ryan!