Contest Update!!

  Just a quick update!  We've decided to move the cutoff time back 4 hours, to 10am MST, as I that is when I will get to my office and have access to my computer to count the votes.  It's been a close contest, and while we have two entries with over 100 votes each, it is still anybody's ball game.  Stop by and vote on your favorite idea!

Remember, to vote, go to our Facebook page, see the post about the contest and "like" one of the 10 (actually 11, oops!) comments below the post.  The comments start with "Idea # _, then the person's name".

This has been so fun to run.  I loved seeing all the ideas we got, and it's been great to see the support that each person has rallied.  Good luck to everyone, and we'll announce the winner after 10am tomorrow!

Joelle & Brett- The Reception

  Before the reception, we got a couple of additional newlywed photos on the grounds around Magnolia Grove.

 

 

 

...and then the party got started!

 

  

  

 

Be sure and check out the full galleries for Brett and Joelle's wedding day and reception here.

LDS Ring Ceremony at Magnolia Grove

  Joelle and Brett had a ring ceremony after the sealing at the SLC Temple at Magnolia Grove in South Jordan.  They had a bit of a break in between, so we got some "getting ready" photos in the fabulous brides room there.

 

 

  

 

Congratulations you two!

I loved the grounds at Magnolia Grove- they were way larger than I initially expected, and everything was immaculate.  It was a perfect location for the ring ceremony.

Joelle & Brett: Salt Lake Temple Wedding Day

  Ok, here's some highlights from one of the last fall weddings.

  

 

I loved Brett's choice of formal footware-  Nike Air Jordans with just a hint of tuxedo patent leather.  They were chosen well in advance- in fact, the purple-toned blue color that was one of the primary wedding colors?  -Taken directly from the shoes.

 

 

Fall gave us a great sendoff that day...  now that the days are a lot shorter and a lot more grey I look back at the unbelievable blue sky we had and just sigh a little bit...

 

Family Photos

Thank you so much for all the submission in our contest.  We have chosen the top 10, and from now until Thursday morning, you can vote on our Facebook page.

And now, today's post:  a mini session of a mother with her 4 kids at a park.  This location was dynamite!  It's the Novell Children's Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove.  Made me want to move to Pleasant Grove when I have kids.  A great place for photos, but also just a great place to play!!  Amy wanted to do these photos as a Christmas present for her husband.

 

My favorite thing about this shoot was how much they loved to laugh!  Amy is a wonderful mom and it's just awesome to see such a happy family.

See more of their photos here.

Contest for free photo session!

  Doesn't matter if you are one, two, or 5 people, wearing wedding clothes, street clothes, or halloween costumes, this contest is open to everybody.  Here's the deal though, this is not for traditional portraits, this photo session is a themed shoot.  The challenge: suggest a unique and interested idea.  Based on the outfits, the activity, the location... something's got to be unique, but it's up to you.  Here are some ideas from shoots I've done in the past:

Halloween costumes:

Career photos:

Destroying a cake:

 

Longboarding:

 

Playing in water:

 

Fireworks:

 

Baseball:

 

Finger-painting:

 

Cool cars:

Please post your idea as a comment to this blog below. We will choose the best 10 ideas, and then there will be a vote for the winner on our Facebook page.

Here're the deadlines:

Monday Dec 12 at 6am - all comments must be posted on the blog, this is the cut off time for new entries.

Monday Dec 12 at 11pm - the top 10 will be posted on Facebook.  Tell all your friends to vote for your idea (we'll have details on the facebook page on how to do that).

Thursday Dec 15 at 6am - the voting ends, we will review the number of votes for each idea and...

Thursday Dec 15 at noon - We will announce a winner.

We're excited to see what ideas you come up with!

Coming Soon!

  As promised, this week we'll be announcing a contest with a giveaway of a free photo session!  Please check back tomorrow for all the details.  You won't want to miss this.  It's going to be awesome! (If I do say so myself) :D

Be sure and spread the news...

The Grand Finale: Wedding Reception at Vineyards at Chappel Lodge

  Here are the final set of photos from the amazing wedding festivities in Austin.

The grand entrance!

The toasts!

  

Katherine sang the song she wrote for Matt.  She really is an amazing songwriter!

Katherine's brothers also sang a song for Katherine.  This family is so unbelievably talented, it's not even funny.

Ok, maybe it's a little funny.

Wedding Pie.  It's where it's at.  Tell your friends, it's like liquid cake.

The first dance.

Daddy-daughter dance!

Now it's time to party.

  

  

The grand exit.  Bubbles!

That's all folks!  Be sure to check out all the different galleries here.

Tiff's Treats, Tiny Pies, and Top-notch Planning

  Katherine has managed and organized all kinds of events and spent a lot of time directing theatre productions (we actually did a pretty impressive child's theatre camp together with a production of The Jungle Book at the end of the week.  She is an amazing director!) So she put together a reception was both well thought out and planned.  They thought of everything!  My favorite, of course, was the variety of food.  Not only was there a dinner, but also a whole table of treats.

I love this!  Instead of a wedding cake, they had a wedding pie.  And why not?  You can cut a pie just as easy as a cake.

...and extra little pies for the guests.

 

Amaaazing cookies from Tiff's Treats (where Katherine used to work).

 

A fruit bouquet.

And they had the incredible flowers done by Sherri Toler (Chelsea's mom - remember Chelsea and Dan and all their amazing flowers?)

 

It was also neat that they had so much history together (growing up together, dating as young teenagers) and they brought this into the reception.  There was a whole timeline of events and gifts given throughout the years.

And a life size chess set.  (I was hoping they'd let me take this one home... but I probably couldn't have gotten it on the plane anyway ;D)

And then the venue.  Vineyards at Chappell Lodge is just dynamite as a reception location.  So much character and beauty.  It looks good during the day, but my favorite (as usual) was when the sun started to set.  This patio was gorgeous in the blue hour!

 

It was an amazing party.