Kim and Reggie got married last recently and here are some images from their beautiful wedding!
My friend Amy of Amy Hill Photography came along to help me photograph.
Kim getting ready:
Kim, you are gorgeous.
One thing I love to do when photographing weddings is try to capture moments that my bride and groom weren't around to see. I relish the idea of the bride and groom and their family looking at the photos later on and asking each other, So what was happening here? Why were you laughing there? What were you saying in this image? That way they get to have a bigger picture of their big day. In the photo above I like that I captured Kim's dog jumping out the door at that exact second. There are lots of other images of Kim putting on her silver shoes, but this one is my favorite. In the photo below, I heard the grandson ask how to put the tie on and then Kim's father showed him how.
We met at the San Marcos Resort in Chandler for bridal party portraits.
Everyone waiting for the ceremony to start.
Kim's father walking with her down the aisle.
I love capturing the guests' reactions.
Jumping the broom.
I love this image Amy got of the kids coming into the reception after the ceremony.
Kim's father played Ave Maria at the start of the reception. It was so beautiful.
I loved the expressions of the kids watching Kim and Reggie cut and share the wedding cake with each other.
So intense! It's like they are watching the Happily Ever After part of a movie.
So I almost never pose photos. Maybe one a wedding. (I pose group shots and portraits, but otherwise I photograph what is happening.) So this right here is my one posed one. Not long after their parents sliced the wedding cake, the brother brought a slice of cake over and handed it to his sister. And I got a photo of that. But just to be sure I got a good one, I asked him to do it again, because it was soooo cute. So here's the staged-handing-his-sister a slice of wedding cake photo.
Kim has three sisters and one of her sisters caught the bouquet.
Kim and Reggie's daughter requested that the DJ play Justin Bieber's song Baby featuring Ludacris. (Warning: the song will be in your head all day if you click that link!)
And then all the girls were dancing.
See that little bell on her hand? Pretty sure it was one of the favors on the tables. :)
Thank you Kim & Reggie for having us at your beautiful wedding! I am so happy for you guys! :)
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Images from the wedding of our cousin Crystal to her fiancé Jerry!
We met Crystal and Jerry right after sunrise to get images of just the two of them before they went into the Temple. It was such a gorgeous morning and so fun to walk around with them on the beautiful grounds of the Temple.
It was a really hot day, so there were a lot of ice cold water bottles that everyone was drinking while we were taking family group portraits. Crystal's niece and nephew's tossed water bottles with their grandmother for fun. :)
Light shining through the windows in the nearby room makes me especially like these images. :)
Everyone taking photos of the cake cutting:
Congratulations Crystal and Jerry! We're so happy for you guys! :)
View Crystal and Jerry's engagement session here.
Searching for photographers for your wedding? Click HERE to contact us. Just fill out the form and Brenda or Becky will send you more information. :)
Engagement session time for my cousin Crystal and her fiancé Jerry!
We met up at the Temple in Mesa, Arizona where they are getting married next month for engagement photos of the two of them. The Temple grounds was such a beautiful location for engagement photos. There are gorgeous flowers and plants there that I have never seen growing anywhere else. Before Crystal and Jerry got there I walked around taking in all the beauty of the flowers. Our grandmother (my grandmother/Crystal's great-grandmother) would have found the flowers as enchanting as I did. There were even flowers and cat tails near the reflecting pool there were almost black in color. Pretty amazing looking! I would love to go back there to do more engagement sessions. And I would love to do bridal sessions there! It was very hot that evening, but Crystal and Jerry rocked it and made it look easy! Just as were leaving, the clouds started rolling in and not long after we left there was a summer monsoon. It was a very lovely summer evening for all of us and I can't wait for their late summer wedding!
The day after their gorgeous DIY wedding at Highlands Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, Jessica and Stan's friends and family met back at Jessica's parents' house in Phoenix for brunch and to hang out and watch Jess and Stan open up their wedding gifts. Jessica had all these awesome details for her wedding and she incorporated the same ideas into her brunch. Her color was red and the theme was Love Birds and those details were all over her parents' house for the brunch. It was cute to see how so many of the gifts that Jessica and Stan's friends and family gave them took into account that Jessica used red as her color for her wedding.
Stan:
Jessica:
It was fun to catch guest's reactions to the gifts that Jess and Stan were getting. It didn't hurt that Jessica's parents' house has a skylight and I was shooting with the Canon 135 mm 2.0 lens. Filtered sunlight + a super sweet lens = happiness for me. :)
I love DIY details at weddings. Jessica's style and talent was really on display in the details of her wedding.
I think Stan took these dreamy photos of Jessica. I left the room and I think Stan got one of the cameras and took these. Am I right, you guys? Or was it Becky? Not sure! But anyways, I love the idea of seeing what kind of photos the bride or groom would take of each other, so that might be a little project of mine in the future. These are totally dreamy and I love them.
Good job, Stan!
After brunch and after they opened their gifts, Jessica and Stan and Becky and I went out in the front yard and back yard for more images of the newlyweds. Becky shot for a while and then I shot for a while and then I disappeared to get some of the leftover red velvet cupcakes and iced tea that was available for everyone. It was such a lovely relaxed atmosphere all over the house and in the backyard. There were babies and kids all over the place and one of the guests had a guitar and was playing music. His siblings were joining in singing and they all had beautiful voices.
See Stan's Mini Cooper? See how it's red? Yep, Jessica helped him pick out that one. :)
Jessica and her niece. Emotional-baby photos are the best! :)
The day after this, Jessica and Stan went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. And after that, they moved to Nashville!
Jessica getting ready for the Wedding
Jessica and Stan's Engagement Session Photos
Jessica and Stan's Save the Dates
Once upon a time, there was a freshman-in-high-school boy named Mike who had a crush on a senior-in-high-school girl named Lara. Since he was just a freshman, the girl barely even noticed that he existed. But the boy knew that she was the one.
As Lara explains it:When Mike, my fiance, visited Ireland at 14 years old, a cousin plucked a shamrock from the grounds around Bunratty Castle and told him to give it to the love of his life. We met in high school while doing the play The Diary of Anne Frank, he was a freshman and I was senior. He gave me that shamrock and told me the story behind it. I didn't want to take it. He was so young and I had no interest in him at all, but he wouldn't take it back. About 20 years later, we reconnected and we fell in love with each other. How he knew at 14 that I was the one, I will never know.
Lara and Mike, who live in New York, decided to fly out to Arizona and have their wedding at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. Mike's family lives out here in Arizona and Lara's family and friends made the trip out here for the wedding. Lara and Mike are still involved in theatre, just like they were when they were teenagers, and so the Renaissance Festival fit them so well.
The Renaissance Festival takes place near the Superstitions.
Lara's mother-in-law found this gorgeous peacock shawl that she wore to the wedding.
Lara getting ready for her wedding.
Lara herself does belly dancing. So it was very cool that there were belly dancers at the Wedding Feast.
I loved how intent Lara's dad was on straightening out this flowery headband for his granddaughter. He definitely kept at it until it was perfect for her.
Perhaps you heard a rumor that the Queen dropped by Lara and Mike's Wedding Feast. I am here to tell you that Yes, it's absolutely true! The Queen herself was in attendance!
After the Wedding Feast, we wondered around the Renaissance Festival creating images of Lara and Mike.
Tina of Live Love Photography helped me photograph Lara and Mike's wedding. Tina saw this gypsie family traveling through while we were making portraits of the bride and groom. At Tina's request, the gypsie momma and her kids were more than happy to encircle and dance around our beautiful bride and groom.
I love this one that Christine (who also helped me photograph this wedding) took of Tina and me at the outer edges of the frame photographing Lara and Mike and the gypsie family.
Beware of Dragons, Brides and Grooms. For you are probably very tasty!
Lara and Mike. Plus a little Lara and Mike in the background??? :)
See the boy with the sword in the background? When I was editing Lara and Mike's photos I kept noticing him showing up in the background of images, even though we went all over the place to get photos. He always had his sword up like that. Kind of funny!
After the day was done and the sun was going down, the whole wedding party left the Renaissance Festival and went back to Mike's parents' house for the wedding cakes.
Kick Ass Kakes baked up Lara and Mike's cakes. The groom's cake was a lego cake! I had a slice of this one, the one with the claddagh ring on it. Oh, it was SO good! Definitely kick-ass good, LOL ;)
Lara had asked her nephew-to-be if he would create a cake topper for one of their wedding cakes out of legos. Being a little boy, and not necessarily having ever even seen a cake topper before, this is what he came up with! I love the symmetry and artistry of it!
The artist (the boy in red) :
The artist and his little brother:
Mike's brother giving a toast.
Lara and Mike, thank you so much for having us at your beautiful and enchanting day!
Jenn and Damien got married at the The Castle at Ashley Manor in Chandler, Arizona on a beautiful spring day. Jenn started out at a nearby Marriot hotel getting ready with her bridemaids and mother. Then she headed to the Castle to get changed into her gorgeous wedding dress.
Tina Burnham of Live Love Photography and Chris Halloran of Chris Halloran Photography helped me shoot Jenn's and Damien's wedding and I was so glad to have them with me for the day.
Tina Burnham of Live Love Photography got these fab shots of details of the Castle at Ashley Manor. Thank you Tina!
Chris Halloran (of Chris Halloran Photography) got these detail images. I love them. Thank you Chris!
Heels get a little painful. Jenn had to take a break and get some help from her maid of honor.
Jenn tossing her bouquet. Her youngest bridesmaid caught it. :)
I love pulling the bride and groom aside and getting fun images like this. Jenn and Damien stood really still while some of the kids at the wedding ran around them with my video lights and a flash light.
Tina got this image of the exit with sparklers. Love it!
Thank you Jenn and Damien for having me photograph your beautiful wedding!
The Castle at Ashley Manor is located here:
1300 S. Price Rd. Chandler, AZ 85248 480-857-8030
Searching for photographers for your wedding? Click HERE to contact us.
Just fill out the form and we will send you more information. :)
Jessica and Stan got married in October at Highlands Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. They live in Nashville, Tennessee now. They started dating when they both lived in New York. And they got married in here in Arizona where Jess's family lives. Ah, I do wish Jess and Stan lived here...or that Nashville was a little closer. :)
I loved how Jessica's wedding was Jessica's vision. She took the theme of Love Birds and her love of the color red and mixed it with a glamourous 1950's vibe and created an event that was a awesome experience for her guests that totally reflected her personality and style. It was interesting hearing Jessica talk before the wedding when Becky and I went out to eat at La Grande Orange with them about how all the details of the wedding were coming together. It was a DIY wedding and Jessica and her mom put in a lot of time coming up with details. Jessica's dad and brothers pitched in too. Her dad drove up to the mountains to a burned forest and found the tree branches that Jessica used to hang red balls of flowers from. Jessica's shoes are third over (next to the baby shoes) and she got them at a flea market in New York.
We ended up in the children's nursery for some photos. At her own church, Jessica had been painting a mural for the children's nursery, so I thought it was kinda fun to take these in front of the mural in the kid's nursery where she was getting married. I also liked that there were pumpkins in the mural because it was October, the month for pumpkins!
It was really pretty hot that day, so we stayed indoors for photos of the bridemaids and after we had done photos, Jessica got out of her dress and went back to the church dressing room to enjoy some relaxing time before the ceremony and all the festivities would begin. I love this image Becky got of Jessica having something sweet to drink.
Even babies got place cards at Jessica and Stan's wedding!
Hey Stan! Here comes your gorgeous bride! :)
Love these trees that Jess created with the wood from a burned out forest.
Red velvet cupcakes for the wedding cake? Yes, please!
These images below are from after Jessica and Stan left. These kids pitched in a ton to help set the wedding up.
There's more of Jess & Stan to see, so visit again! :)
Wedding location:
Highlands Church in Scottsdale, Arizona
9050 E Pinnacle Peak Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
480-348-5988
Paris and Wes wedding got married late in the afternoon in early October at Paris's parents' beautiful home in the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, Arizona. We had taken Paris and Wes's engagement photos in Scottsdale a couple months earlier and we were touched by the incredible love they have for each other. We had laughed with them as Paris recounted how nervous Wes was when he proposed to her on the beach on a trip they had taken with her family. At the beginning of the ceremony, when Paris exited the door and stepped out onto the path that was an inch deep with red and yellow rose petals, Wes's eyes brimmed with tears and his smile was so bright! Paris's white gown and veil with beading was absolutely gorgeous.
We were so excited when we found out Paris was having yellow, along with red, as her wedding colors, because mmm yellow is sooo pretty! The colors ended up really matching the amazing sunset that evening.
Married!
We love getting portrait-type photos where the person in the image is aware they are being photographed, but there are still a ton of details that tell the story of what is happening at the wedding, like this one of the little boy holding the bouquet for his mom. So cute!
After the ceremony, we walked down the road with Paris and Wes to get some images of just the two of them before the sun completely set on the desert. The sunset was on fire and it was so much fun to be out on the street with them getting photos. Up the road you could hear music and the party getting started and so we soon walked back up to the house, but I think that was my favorite part of the wedding, being out amongst the cactus and seeing all the amazing colors sunsets in Arizona can be and just getting photos of the two of them. Thanks Paris and Wes for having us there to document your beautiful wedding!
Related post:
Paris and Wes's engagement session photography
Noelia and Bill!
Married!
I've already posted some images of Noelia and Bill and their wedding and reception in Surprise, Arizona, but I wanted to post more images that told the story of the wedding. They got married on one of the most beautiful November days I can ever remember. The sunshine was perfect. The air was perfect. The winter grass was gorgeous. Noelia had chosen an autumn theme for her flowers and colors and decorations. They were surrounded by lots of family and friends and there were lots of cute kids, including Noelia's son.
I feel like Becky and I got some really great group portrait shots at this wedding. I was so extremely happy with them! I don't really post all that many group portrait shots, but if you ever come to our studio and want to see, I will show them to you. :) Noelia arranged the timeline of her wedding so that we had plenty of sunlight to take great group photos, which is such an important thing to do for your wedding photography. If you need help figuring out the timeline for your wedding, talk to your photographer. They will have tons of helpful advice!
Thank you Noelia and Bill for having us there to document your beautiful wedding! Becky and I wish you guys tons of happiness! :)
Wedding venue and reception:
Sonoran Plaza Fountain Court and Cimarron Plaza
19726 N. Remington Drive, Surprise, AZ 85374
Searching for photographers for your wedding? Click HERE to contact us. Just fill out the form and we will send you more information. :)
Jessica and her bridesmaids, along with her mother and aunt, had planned to start out the morning of the wedding day at Pucci Salon in Scottsdale, Arizona getting their hair and make up done. I was standing in line at Cartel Coffee Lab getting an iced mocha (caffeine=good for photo-taking!) before heading to meet up with them when Jessica called to tell me that instead of going to Pucci Salon, they would be meeting at the church. A driver had hit a transformer and the salon was completely without electricity. So the makeup and hair artists from the Salon would be meeting Jessica and her party at the church to do hair and make up.
Pucci Salon location:
6204 N Scottsdale Rd Ste 111
Scottsdale, AZ 85253
(480) 443-3030
I love taking getting ready photos. I think it's usually my favorite part of the whole day.
Next up: the details! Jessica's wedding had a ton of DIY details that I will be blogging next.
♥♥♥ Are you planning a wedding and searching for photographers? Click HERE to contact us. Just fill out the form and we will send you more information. :) ♥♥♥
Related Posts:
Jenn and Damien's wedding is this spring; they are getting married at The Castle at Ashley Manor in Chander, Arizona. Earlier in the summer, Becky and I toured the place where they are getting married with them. Then in November I got together again with them in Tempe for their engagement session photography. Here are a few (just a few, there were so many) from the places we went and photos we took:
They are really good at that romantic, sailor-home-from-the-war dip and kiss thing! One thing that you can tell about these two is that they really, really like each other! Of course, right??!!
After it got dark, we walked across Salt River Bridge and went to Mojo Yogurt, where I shot this one--my favorite:
And this one, my other favorite:
Thanks Jenn and Damien for such a lovely time! Your wedding will be so much fun!
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Becky and I met up with Amber and John at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum for engagement photos. They are getting married next year! Amber and John went on one of their first dates at the Arboretum, and so they wanted to do their engagement photos here. And we are so glad they did, because Boyce Thompson is amazing. I wish I could live there. It's an arboretum that was started in 1923. It's on Highway 60 on the way to Superior (in Arizona), at the base of a 4,400 foot high mountain called Picketpost Mountain. There are over 3200 different kinds of plants there from all over the world. Since they are desert plants that had to adapt to arid conditions, some of them are sooo amazing and unusual looking. But it's at a high enough elevation that it gets a lot more rain than Phoenix, so it has lots of tall trees.
So as usual, we took about a kazillion photos and I want to post most of them here, but here are a few because it's possible that if I don't publish this soon I will keep adding photos until the end of time.
The leaves were changing colors, some trees looked like they were on fire!
I love making photographs in greenhouses--the light is always so perfect. And the greenhouses at Boyce Thompson have cactus plants from all over the world and some of them look out-of-this-world!
I was taking lots of photos with the tilt shift 45 mm lens. I like the dreamy, fairy-tale look I can get from it.It doesn't auto-focus, though, so you have to focus it yourself. Reminds me of when I was in high school and college taking photo classes and using my dad's old film camera.
Two images might give you a better idea of how massive this tree is in volume, height, etc. It's a Red Gum Eucalyptus, planted in 1926 and is more than 140 feet tall. It's registered as the biggest tree of its kind in the United States. info via I bet you owls sleep in its branches.
Thanks Amber and John for a fun afternoon! We can't wait for your wedding in the Spring!
Searching for photographers for your wedding? Click HERE to contact us. Just fill out the form and we will send you more information. :)
Jessica and Stan planned for their rehearsal dinner to take place the evening before their wedding. They had friends and family flying in from all over the country and that night the bridal party convened at Highlands Church in Scottsdale for the rehearsal. All Jessica's bridesmaids showed up in the prettiest summer dresses, because while it was October, the night air was still warm and perfect for hanging around outside and enjoying the evening. Jessica herself wore a red dress with a red flower in her hair. Becky and I had met up with Jessica and her parents to look at the venue back in June, so I kind of knew what to expect. I was just excited to get to see the friends and family that Jessica had talked about back when we first met her at a coffee shop to discuss photographing her wedding.
Jessica's pastor led the wedding party through what to expect for the wedding the next day and then in a time of prayer. After that everyone stood around laughing and catching up and then soon we headed back to her parent's house for the rehearsal dinner. Once in the summer, Jessica had invited me to an event with her church at her house and I was looking forward to going back to her house, because it is such a warm and beautiful home. Before I left to go to Jessica's parents' house though I noticed the sunset. It was amazing. Purple and orange and on fire. I drove up the road from the church into the desert and pulled over and took a few photos until the sun disappeared from the sky and you could start to see stars and the twinkling city lights below. Highlands Church is on land that is elevated and overlooks the valley with the natural desert surrounding it and Pinnacle Peak is in the background. Definitely a very lovely location!
Back at Jessica's parents' house, there was delicious Mexican food for all the guests to eat. Mmmm, it was so good. Jessica and her family had decorated with red details and candles and red and white lanterns. Jessica had created favor bags with red Love birds stamped on them. It was just such a cozy atmosphere with a fire burning and marshmallows to roast. At one point, I sat near the fire and some of the young guests (the boy pictured above and some other kids) offered to help me make s'mores since I had my hands full with my camera. Now I am pretty convinced that every rehearsal dinner should have s'mores!
Jessica and Stan, your rehearsal dinner was such a sweet start to your wedding celebration and I was so glad to be there to document it!
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posted by Becky
These are photographs of Jackie and Frank's wedding, a nice (young!) couple who I second-shot for Andrea Whittle . It was so beautiful that day! These are my memories of their beautiful wedding: red barn, yellow rose bushes, green grass and snow white clouds in a baby blue sky.
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Amber and Isaac were married in October in a beautiful house out in the desert north of Phoenix. It was a perfect October day to get married in Arizona; the day was warm enough and the evening had that wonderful October chill that everyone who lives in Arizona waits all summer long for. It was a joy to create images for Amber and Isaac, they are so in love and their families were so sweet. Thank you Amber and Isaac for having us there to document your beautiful wedding!
Amber's aunt created her gorgeous dress.
Oh Amber, you are so gorgeous!
I love this one of her grandfather giving her a hug.
And I love the sparkly-ness of this one. :)
Late night = you always spy sleeping kids at weddings. So cute.
The desert road outside the house:
To see more of Amber and Isaac, click here to see my favorite image from their engagement session.
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just a few for now. more soon. :-)
{Planning a wedding for 2010 or 2011 in Arizona and need photographers?
We're booking! Contact me, Brenda Eden, to find out more. Just email me at brenda.eden@gmail.com and I will send you a link to our wedding photography information.
If you know your date, please include that date in your email, so I can let you know right away if we have your date available. Thanks and Happy Wedding Planning!!! :)}
Amber and Isaac are getting married next month! We had so much fun taking their pictures. We met up with them at Olive and Ivy in Scottsdale and then walked around there getting pictures and after that we went to Arizona Falls. Amber's cousin Christine, who we've known since we were in high school, came with us.
It was around 110 degrees that whole weekend, which kinda freaked me out when I saw on the weather station that it was going to be that hot. The weekend before we had had a storm, so it was much more comfortable, in the lower 90s. Even when it's hot, when I start taking pictures, I am having so much fun and I am so focused on the job that I can kinda forget how hot it is. But when you are standing there modeling and just having your picture taken over and over, I can imagine it gets really hot and you feel it a lot more than I would. Amber and Isaac, wow, you guys were amazing! I'm so glad you put up with the heat. I love the pictures we got and I had so much fun!
So glad Isaac was up for jumping, I really like this pic Becky got.
Amber's eyes are so gorgeous. I think this is definitely one of my favorites.
I like how it seems like they are kind of playing hide and seek with each other. ;-)
So glad they were up for trying this polaroid idea. I've seen this done on other blogs and thought it was so cute, so of course I was looking forward to trying it and I love how Amber's eye is visible in this one....also it was kinda fun to give them polaroids to take home with them.
Sexy girl!
I've seen this done on other photographer's blogs and I thought it was so romantic. I'm glad Amber and Isaac were willing to try it and then it worked just how I hoped it would!
Thanks, Amber and Isaac, for having us take your engagement pictures. We can't wait for your wedding! :-)
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Amber and Isaac, you two are so gorgeous, inside and out, and we had so much fun taking pictures of you. :-) I really want to post more of you guys, but here is one for now; it's my favorite.
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A couple weeks ago we went with our Phoenix College photography class to the Desert Botanical Garden. I've been there a few times before, for an evening wedding and for the super-magical Noches de Luminarias they have around Christmas time. I never realized how enchanting and gorgeous the place is during the day, so I had to go back. I rented a macro lens from Tempe Camera and by the time I got there it was getting kinda late in the day. The butterfly garden was about to close but I got in (after a little pleading and begging!) In the evening, the butterflies go to bed, so I mostly got pictures of slumbering butterflies, but there were a couple little night-owls who were ready for their close-ups!
The cactus looked as tasty as cupcakes! So pretty I wanted to eat them, but I'll stick to photographing them. The icing on these cactus cupcakes would be a little photoshop to make them pop. I'll have to get around to doing that.
{Planning a wedding for 2010 or 2011 in Arizona and need photographers?
We're booking! Contact me, Brenda Eden, to find out more. Just email me at brenda.eden@gmail.com and I will send you a link to our wedding photography information.
If you know your date, please include that date in your email, so I can let you know right away if we have your date available. Thanks and Happy Wedding Planning!!! :)}