arizona wedding photography ~ brenda eden photography

Natasha + Josh

Natasha and Josh are getting married this summer in Iowa. Whoever their lucky photographer is, he is going to have a fabulous time with them! I really wish I could be at the wedding---hey Natasha and Josh, can I get an invite??!! You probably think I'm kidding! But I think it would be awesome to go to a wedding in Iowa in the summer! A long summer day in a place I have always assumed is gorgeous! And I would so love to see Natasha in her wedding dress---she described it and it sounded so beautiful. :)

(I've only been to Iowa once and it was night----my friend and I were driving through on the way to Chicago and we kept on stopping at motels and every one we went to was fully occupied. There was some huge convention going on and there was no where to stay! We were exhausted but we just kept driving and the sun was coming up as we were getting into Illinois.)

Natasha wanted to get engagement photos here in Arizona and searched for a photographer. She came across our blog and website and emailed me about meeting up for photos. I'm so glad she did, because we had such a fun time with them. It was such a gorgeous day with amazing sunshine, since it had rained the day before. Thanks Natasha and Josh! I hope you guys have a wonderful wedding this summer! 

   

I used my last polaroid on these two! And was glad to do it. Someday I'll get more. :)

....Wait for it!

I've posted this one before but I wanted to see how it went along with the others. I really, really, really want to do more night photography like this. Night photography like this takes long exposures, meaning we keep the camera aperture open for a few seconds to even longer, like half a minute, so our subjects have to stay frozen still for a while. In this image, Josh moved the flashlight in a heart shape for about 8 seconds and otherwise stayed perfectly still, as did Natasha. Good job, guys! 

♥♥♥ Are you planning a wedding and searching for your photographers? Or searching for an engagement session photographer? Click HERE to contact us. Just fill out the form and Brenda or Becky will send you more information. :)  ♥♥♥

Jessica! + Stan! get married!!!

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. 

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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

♥♥♥ Are you planning a wedding and searching for photographers? Click HERE to contact us. Just fill out the form and Brenda or Becky will send you more information. :)  ♥♥♥

{Jessica + Stan's Rehearsal Dinner}

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! 

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. :)

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{amber and isaac's engagement session}

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! :-) 

Searching for photographers for your wedding? Click HERE to contact us.

Just fill out the form and we will send you more information. :)

View more WEDDINGS AND ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

amber + isaac

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.

Searching for photographers for your wedding? Click HERE to contact us.

Just fill out the form and we will send you more information. :)

View more WEDDINGS AND ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS

Annie + Nick

 

Stephanie and James {Wedding at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church and Stonecreek Golf Club}

Stephanie and James got married in a beautiful ceremony at Saint Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church and then had their reception at Stone Creek Golf Club. They are such a sweet couple and we were so excited and happy to photograph their wedding. :)