happy spring!

Happy Spring, everyone! If you are anything like me, you are craving sunshine, popping Vitamin D pills, and seeking out a tanning bed to try and get into the summer spirit . . . I am getting very anxious for consistently milder weather! And the very first day of spring this year, we got a beautiful, warm day . . . mixed with a beautiful, warm young woman who is a cellist, and needed some portraits for a guest stint with the Bozeman Symphony. A short and sweet photo shoot is today's blog feature. : )

Andree and her cello . . .



I have said it before, and I'll say it again - I am a sucker for beautiful, natural light. I encourage my clients to be patient with me for an engagement or portrait session that can be photographed in an evening light such as this . . .





Genuinely and seriously sooooo beautiful!



When all is said and done, this is the type of photo Andree is looking for . . . but she was too beautiful to leave alone. :)



I LOVE shooting commercial portraits and helping people better display themselves, their personalities, businesses and main loves in life, so please don't hesitate to check in with me to schedule a shoot of your own.

Cheers!

tablescapes: fresh designs at the double t

In quite a drawn out little blog series, I am so happy to finally be able to share the tablescapes and flowers of Angela Klotz, my most beautiful friend and super mom to 10 puppies right now . . . :)

Angela and I will finally be able to work together this year, which I'm terribly excited for because her flowers are magical, take-your-breath-away, and they photograph so beautifully . . . and while she calls herself Fresh Designs, don't be too fooled. Her designs are amazingly fresh, but they are equally as timeless.

Our shoot at the Double T River Ranch , as I've blogged before here and here, was a collaboration of one amazing chef, two photographers, three event planners, and two floral designers. Angela showed two completely different themes, two tablescapes that either would be a dream to sit down to.



See? Another beautiful table I would happily sit at and sip a mojito with my girlfriends :)



Location, location, location!



I absolutely love that Angela can take the most simple, popular flower and turn it into a completely unexpected, beautiful design . . .





I don't think there is a bad square foot of land at the Double T, but this girl knows exactly where to place her masterpieces so that the people who come to them enjoy the background and the light that Mr. Sun is giving off . . . this was Angela's second tablescape, and it blew everyone away. She brought in box after box of antique plates, stemware, silverware and vases and coordinated perfect little vintage flower arrangements.





I loooove these old, antique keys Angela incorporated into this setting . . . at her own wedding last summer, she had guests write their well-wishes on little notecards that were tied to old keys, and then all put into an old glass jar. And now she has all the keys to a perfect marriage :)





So many girls want a wedding designer and dream of tables set this way inside their reception . . . and I say, if you think about attempting it yourself, think just as hard about reaching out. There is a reason they are so good at what they do . . . I am not even going to point out how many things on those tables that were purchased at Michael's or an Etsy store. It's that they take what you want, within your budget, not theirs, and make something this beautiful. And if you have no idea where to even begin, they will blow your mind away with their creativity.

A huge thank you to the Double T for having us once again!

tablescapes, the double t and the leslie lukas

A while back I blogged photos from our fabulous Assets Weekend at the Double T River Ranch in Clyde Park, Montana . . . and have had yet to blog the fabulous tablescapes of my two dear friends, floral designers and event planners. Each girl deserves their own blog post, and tonight is Leslie's turn because she's one year older than Angela :)

The most lovely Leslie Lukas . . . she created two beautiful tablescapes, one with bright, citrusy colors, and the other a more earthy, organic decor. I loved both for entirely different reasons . . .



I looooove the blue this year! Leslie created a darling centerpiece in this beautiful bowl. Here's what's nice about choosing a centerpiece such as this - you can gift it to a parent or grandparent or someone special attending your wedding . . .



We were all about the idea of eating dinner in the middle of the road :)



But we'd be just as happy to eat dinner in a field of tall grass :) You see, we just love a good meal . . .





Leslie has these lovely little wood flower holder/candle holder/doo hickey things made for her in Ennis, Montana, where she lives in a perfect little house on a hill. Here is why she is a wedding planner and I am not: I recently suggested to a client of ours that she should display them with taper candles at her outdoor reception tables. In Montana. Where it is quite windy. Leslie gracefully pointed out the struggle with keeping tapers lit in the wind . . . woops!



Something blue . . .



And my favorite of this setting . . .



We started a little late in the day and kinda sorta started running out of light, but I l.o.v.e.d Leslie's riverside table. I am a sucker for terra cotta pots and turqoise!





Bucket List: Fold a napkin this way!



One last piece of eye candy for you :)



Cheers!

second shooting

Ahhhh . . . the 2010 wedding season for yours truly is obviously over, and every wedding has been blogged . . . I am truly looking forward to 2011 for so many reasons. And maybe it's because I got to start the new year off, literally, second shooting with Ms. Lauren Brown, who is one of my very best friends, an Asset, and one of Montana's most prominent wedding photographers. I was honored that she asked me to be a part of Samantha and Russell's beautiful day in Big Sky, Montana . . . their wedding was held at the Big Sky Chapel, and their reception followed at the 320 Ranch. I can honestly tell you that working with Lauren was flawless, I think for the both of us. As primary shooters, we knew how to work around one another, and we communicated amazingly well. I have a feeling it won't be our first or last rodeo ;)

Here are a few images of this beautiful day . . . it was so much fun to focus on the artistic side of things while Lauren did an amazing job, as usual, photographing the important moments. Click here to head on over to Lauren's blog and view her blog post from that day. And tell her I said Hi! and that we're meeting downtown Friday night for some good girl time! : )















Lauren doing what she does best :)











Happy Hump Day!

jamie and bud: october 20, 2010, mayan riviera

Jamie and Bud were the most wonderful way to end my 2010 wedding season . . . on the Mayan Riviera, in Mexico, with their beautiful families and extremely fun friends :) It was a bit of a whirlwind weekend, but worth every ounce of lost sleep.

Jamie got her God-loving amazingly beautiful red locks styled at our amazing Barcelo Maya Palace Hotel . . .





And then dressed back in her room. Jamie and Bud had been planning a destination wedding for quite some time, and finally settled on Mexico . . . but not long after the engagement, it became known that Margaritas weren't going to be on Jamie's to-do list ;) She looked amazingly radiant in her wedding dress, and . . . it's a BOY! Ian Michael was born a healthy baby boy just a few days ago.













Got shots?







I can honestly tell you that every single person I met at this wedding was wonderful . . . but I felt quite a bond towards Bud's mom, Victoria, after a simple encounter I had with her during the reception. She is one of these people who extended herself towards me, and seemed genuinely happy to make me a part of the group. I approached her at her table and said, You have the most wonderful parents ever! I had been observing them because, although they'd clearly been together for quite a bit of time, they were so in love and content with one another. Vicki explained to me just how wonderful they were . . . how her Dad, although not biological, raised her and her sisters as if his own, and how good he was to her mother. I knew exactly what she was talking about, and we hugged.

Two months after Bud and Jamie's wedding, Victoria passed away unexpectedly, and I only include this in a wedding post because she deserves the recognition that not only was she an amazing woman to those who knew and loved her, but she was kind and graceful to those she just met.



Jamie and Bud, and little baby Ian . . . thank you for an amazing weekend, a beautiful story, wonderful families, and memorable friends. : ) Click here to view a slideshow!