Tara's Bridals: Westminster College & Great Salt Lake

Chris and Tara's wedding was on Saturday- it was at Millennial Falls in Draper, and it was A-MAZ-ING!  Gorgeous location, and what a party!  

Of course this means that now that we've captured Chris' awestruck look as he sees his bride for the first time in her dress we can share all her bridal photos with you!  Tara is an alumnus of Westminster College, which is also where Chris proposed to her, so we started the bridal session there.  Afterwards, we drove out to Saltair and shot by the Great Salt Lake and the marina there.

Tara used to eat lunch in this area and the landscaping was a little different.  We arrived for her bridals, and decided that Westminster must have put in this pedestal just for her!

One of Tara's recent loves is sailing, so the marina was a perfect fit for her!  Sailing has a special place in my heart ever since I managed to flip my little one-man skiff on a lake during a summer storm when I was about 12.  I got it right side up and finished out my afternoon.  I loved it!

I love the fields around Saltair.  It gives that perfect, romantic-wheat-field look, especially as they sway in the wind.  It was INCREDIBLY cold by then, but you wouldn't know it by the photos.  Tara was absolutely incredible to work with, and I have to give a shout out to Nancy, Chris' mom.  She is a professional costume designer, and she actually made Tara's dress!  Not only that, but Nancy came along on the shoot and helped out with the lighting.  In some of these photos she's actually crouched down on rocks behind Tara with a flash for back light.  Nancy, you completely went above and beyond!  I now grant you the most-awesome-mother-in-law-in-the-world award.   Feel free to put "wedding lighting specialist" in your resume as well.

Tara is such a beautiful girl.  The way she did her hair, her dress... so relaxed, and yet so elegant.

Take a look at her bridal gallery here.

Thanks!

Today was windy and cold out in Saratoga Springs, and it could have been difficult and frustrating.  But instead we feel so lucky!  We had the most amazing couple willing to tough it out.  

A big thank you to

for an incredible formals shoot today.

Behind the Scenes at Sleepy Ridge

  We had a fantastic formals shoot last night that finished up at Sleepy Ridge in Orem.  Sleepy Ridge is an AMAZING reception venue, and sunset on the green outside is begging for a photo.  I'll be posting the entire shoot in a couple weeks, but wanted to give y'all a peek behind the scenes for one of the evening shots.

First, the finished product:

Now,  the setup:

The photo above illustrates one of my favorite lighting setups, and shows how important it can be to have an assistant (or two!) for the session.  A big thanks to my husband Thomas and one of my interns, Amber!  This photo wouldn't be ANYTHING without the light.

More Slideshows!

Here are a few more favorite slideshows!   Amy and Jordan had some amazing photos from their engagement and especially their formals session! Amy is gorgeous, and Jordan is one of the sweetest guys around. Their wedding was fabulous (and will be posted soon here on the blog).

  Abbey and Taylor were definitely at the top of the list of my favorite weddings last year, and so I decided to make a slideshow for them given their one-year anniversary is coming up. The song is probably one of the best love songs I have ever heard.  

  And finally, a little bit of fun with different moments from different weddings over the last year or so.  

Miriam

Hindsight is always 20-20.  The more weddings I do, the more opinions I have about what I would have done differently for my own wedding.  If I could do it again, I would totally have a birdcage veil.  I love them!
I thought Miriam looked fabulous, and we had fun shooting in downtown SLC at the library and the city & county building.  It was the best of both worlds- gorgeous modern architecture and nice warm conditions inside the library, then beautiful newly-fallen snow and classic buildings across the street.

All the world's a stage...

Anna is a junior high drama teacher, and so what better place to take her bridals?

Oh the weather outside is frightful....

Wedding photography, like life, takes place in all seasons and all kinds of weather.  I love sunshine because it gives such a bright and happy feeling and results in really vibrant colors.  I love cloudy days because it creates beautiful, soft and diffused light.  I love rainy days because it reminds me of a musical (I always feel like singing and dancing!), and because the rain clouds can make the most amazing and dramatic skies. I love snowstorms because they are just romantic.  Can't you picture going for a walk in the snow, getting twirled around by the one you love?

...ignore the fact that we couldn't feel our appendages and snow was pelting everyone in the face sideways at 40mph.  Romantic, right?

Because of the weather, we decided to start the formals session with Nicole and Josh indoors at Heritage Gardens.  Their reception would be held there the next day and we were lucky to have access to it.  It's a beautiful location, and if you are looking for a venue, I definitely recommend it.

Nicole's dress (from David's Bridal) was beautiful!  I especially loved the texture of the pink band around her waist.  It always helps to bring some more color into the photos.

After Heritage Garden we shot a little bit at the LDS Timpanogos Temple where they were getting married.  The lights on the grounds and the snow just made it a magical setting... it was AMAZING.  Nicole and Josh were such troopers with the snow.  We would jump out and shoot for a few minutes, and jump back in the cars to thaw;  the temperatures were freezing, but the Nicole and Josh were just wonderful!

Take a look at their entire formals session here.

Libraries and Lights

The Salt Lake City library is a beautiful building, and is an awesome modern look for a location.  It was especially appropriate for Leigh and Craig, as Craig is getting his Masters degree in library science, and Leigh works in the library at BYU.  So they were right at home!

This next photo just makes me so happy! I love happy people and showing that giddy happiness that comes from true love.  It's moments captured like this that make me grateful to be a photographer.

The lights around Temple Square were just fantastic, and gave some truly gorgeous backgrounds as it started to get darker....

You can see the entire gallery for Leigh and Craig's pre-wedding day formal session here.

Got their love to keep them warm....

Katie and Steven are amazing.  Really.  They jump to try anything I suggest, and manage to look fantastic in windy, windy November weather. She had to pull out a couple extra bobby pins, but wasn't fazed by what could have been a "my hair isn't completely perfect for my wedding photos" moment.  This formals session was awesome. They are comfortable with each other, and still SO CUTE.  They've been dating since they were 15, but you can still see that sparkle.