this is pretty much the perfect sequence to capture their shoot- adler & beckett LOVE to run and they are so cute doing it! i can already tell i’m going to have a hard time disciplining my kids with a straight face if they are even close to as hilarious as these two!

thankfully, kristine’s sister rylie was there to entertain the boys (black eyed peas dance parties were the entertainment of choice, LOVE) while we grabbed some images of just stephen & kristine. this is a favorite of mine:

kristine brought popsicles for a treat at the end of the shoot and the silence that followed the opening of the pops was complete- adler & beckett are pretty serious when it comes to their treats! :)

a couple more of stephen & kristine before we called it a wrap; we just loved the texture of the corrugated metal:

***please click here to see the hunton family’s slideshow***

stephen & kristine, thank you so much for trusting us to capture your family. it was something totally new for us and it gave us a whole new perspective on shooting action! ;) seriously, you guys have an awesome family and we hope you enjoy the images.

also, if you’re looking for a good read, head over to seth godin’s blog and read his latest post on labor. it’s a great take on labor and is totally in the same vein as his latest book, linchpin, which i recommend to everyone, but especially to any entrepreneurs or anyone looking to change their career path.

and since we’re photographers, here’s a shot from driving through central illinois while we were visiting family. just lots and lots of corn:

as the wedding approached we grew more excited. when we arrived at their venue we were happy to have a few moments to look around- the refurbished warehouse housing Summerour & Associates Architects, is relatively new to hosting weddings and truly a treasure. no doubt it will grow in popularity as more people discover its charm; we’re so lucky alison & john snatched it up for their wedding!

i made my way to the bride’s room and after quick introductions everyone sprung into action. alison is blessed to have very talented friends who had her hair and makeup looking simply stunning in no time at all! meanwhile, alison laughed and talked with everyone around, knowing she was in good hands. it was fun for me to capture all of the interaction but also to capture the quiet moments of alison focusing on the day ahead. i love this first image, taken during one such quiet moment half way finished with hair and makeup- she just looks so peaceful and timeless:

just before the ceremony, alison’s best friends surrounded her and covered her in prayer. it was a sweet time of lifting up their marriage and reminiscing about how much watching alison & john’s relationship grow has meant to so many people. being in this room and hearing these prayers gave me such a beautiful picture of alison & john as a couple; a picture that only became more perfect as the day unfolded:

then it was time for the ceremony- i love these shots matt grabbed of the ring bearer waiting for his big moment:

alison & john have such great taste and personal style- when they brought their vision before juli vaughn designs she created nothing short of a masterpiece. i could have spent all evening oooing and ahhing over the thoughtful details juli designed and as hard as it is for me to pick a favorite touch i will. BLUEBERRIES, pure brilliance.

and then it was party time, for real:

we took a short break for some portraits before getting back to the party. i LOVE that alison & john decided to take some time for these; check the slideshow for more!

***please click here to see alison & john’s slideshow***

alison & john, thank you guys for inviting us into such a beautiful day. you are an incredible couple and we are so happy that we got to meet you and spend a whole day capturing what makes you so awesome. hope to run into you guys in edgewood! :)

taken with the iphoneroid with absolutely zero post production work other than a crop, amazing.

ellen is one of those beautiful people whose natural elegance just perfects every image taken of her. even just relaxing while sitting for her makeup she looked so graceful and glamorous. keith is such a lucky man!

and keith? oh, he’s quite dashing himself:

ellen & keith took time before the ceremony to spend some time together, reconnecting and taking a few couple photos. the rain was moving in quickly so we stayed close to their venue just in case we needed to dive back inside. luckily, the stunning biltmore hotel is surrounded by beautiful places to shoot!

the soft, early evening light perfectly illuminated their ceremony and i smiled with everyone else as the sun peaked out just as they exited as husband and wife- simply beautiful!

it was wonderful to have just a few moments to capture the elegance of their reception before the guests were invited back in to enjoy a traditional eight course chinese dinner. ellen has superb taste; all of her details perfectly complimented their already dazzling space.

ellen snuck out of the reception for just long enough to change into a striking cheongsam (is that the right word?) for the remainder of the reception:

the toasts were all great but it really got to me when all four parents got up together to express their love and excitement for their children. it was such a sweet gesture from their parents and a meaningful sign of these two families becoming one:

***please click here to see ellen & keith’s slideshow***

ellen & keith, you guys are such a vibrant couple! we had a wonderful time capturing you together and all of your friends and family as well. we hope you guys enjoyed your BEAUTIFUL honeymoon in hawaii (i may have already drooled over all of your pictures…ha) and we wish you the best!

every week i love looking through matt’s images of the guys- they give me so much inspiration for shooting the ladies at the next wedding! i’ll be trying this next one for sure- only, i guess with makeup instead of shaving cream… :)

it was so sweet to watch the mothers laugh and talk and marvel over the beautiful bride. it’s always a joy to see two families really come together as one when their children get married:

dorsett is actually a wedding photographer herself so despite the heat she knew a little extra time for images of her and preston was important. we all blotted like crazy, kept water bottles nearby and captured some of our favorite portraits ever:

my favorite. a little abstract, super shallow & romantic:

***please click here to see dorsett & preston’s slideshow***

dorsett & preston, thank you guys so much for trusting us to photograph this chapter of your lives. we had a wonderful day with you guys and we wish you a beautiful life together. hope you’ve enjoyed your adventure in spain and france, can’t wait to see pictures!

the morning started as many of my saturday mornings do- surrounded by beauty supplies (i feel like a grandma saying that, is there a hip way to say ‘beauty supplies’?), dresses hanging from every door and an unmistakable edge of excitement. kayla was calm and smiling; even as her mom grabbed a needle and thread to fix each bridesmaid’s dress after a seamstress disaster she didn’t let it stress her out. her mind was on her groom and she couldn’t wait to see him!

and finally it was time to make that happen! matt scouted out a sweet little spot behind their reception venue for them to first see one another. kayla & newton shared a private and sweet moment before we jumped in our car to explore a little of athens for portraits!

their bridal party was as vibrant as they are, totally full of energy and smiles despite the >100* heat index! they showed up toward the end of kayla & newton’s couple portraits and we grabbed a few images of everyone goofing off and enjoying the day. newton is a huge soccer fan so before we knew it the guys were forming a wall- i guess that’s the first thing a soccer fan thinks of when he sees five guys standing beside one another, totally cracked me up!

kayla & newton folded 1000 paper cranes for the wedding ceremony and i am in love with the legend of 1000 years of happiness as well as the design effect  and pattern created by the birds. now to figure out how to incorporate them into their new home!?

the reception was just down the stairs from the ceremony- so convenient for their guests! their photobooth was rockin’ nearby while dancing broke out in the main reception space. it was a night full of celebration and excitement for the future of this amazing couple- gotta love capturing that!

***please click here to see kayla & newton’s slideshow***

kayla & newton, 1000 thank yous for asking us to be part of such a beautiful day. you guys are a great couple and we wish you the very best. hope you enjoyed your honeymoon getaway- pictures soon?? :)

and in case you’d like more reasons, check out their photocart for 885 more! stay tuned for kayla & newton’s beautiful wedding coming to the blog soon!

- matt & i got married!

- a category 5 hurricane slammed our honeymoon destination.

we scrambled around to create a plan b and ended up in the mountains of north carolina in the beautiful vacation home of some friends of ours. our jamaica getaway was rescheduled for two months later. after that we started a business and vacation was a little bit of a foreign idea to us for a while… ;)

fast forward two years. we struggled to do it, but we successfully blocked off three (consecutive) precious summer weekends. we were finally planning a trip together! just matt & me, heading out west to explore a new landscape, relax & rejuvenate! but then, just before we booked airfare, we found the perfect little home for us and welcomed baby stella into our lives. it was SUCH an exciting time for us but before we knew it those three weeks were over and we were still surrounded by boxes and discovering little ‘gifts’ stella was leaving all over the house. love her.

SO THIS WAS THE YEAR! we blocked off three weekends without looking back and booked airfare as soon as we could to cement our plans. june 28th snuck up on us and before we knew it we were sipping coffee in seattle- shortly after we found ourselves surrounded by snow on mount rainier, followed by a rainy day in astoria before walking cannon beach and hitting up portland including an afternoon exploring the columbia river gorge. from there we stopped for fresh veggies in eugene, oregon on our way to crater lake where we breathed deeply before wandering down the coast to petaluma, napa and sonoma. we followed that with a couple days in san francisco before leaving for big sur and landing in orange county to catch up with old friends where we threw on hoodies for an afternoon in laguna beach before finally crashing in san diego for a couple of days and catching a flight home. oh you guys, it was AWESOME! we saw some of the most beautiful landscapes we’ve ever seen, ate some of the very best food we’ve ever had and generally vacated life in georgia for 15 days of exploration! there is no way to recap it in one blog post- it was hard enough to narrow our pictures down to 900! but here are a few of our faves:

ace hotel, seattle, washington:

we were so happy to have some of our favorite people EVER join in for the first week of the trip! erin & sean moved to california last year and we miss them so much. kerry park, seattle, washington:

gas works park, seattle, washington:

mount rainier, ashford, washington

judge if you like but i couldn’t help but be reminded of stephenie meyer’s description of the forests in the pacific northwest- everything covered in green moss and ferns- even tree trunks. i couldn’t help but fall in love with the emerald, foggy landscape as we hiked and wandered all over the area:

goonies, anyone!? cannon beach, oregon:

we stopped to smell an overwhelming number of roses at the international rose test garden, portland, oregon:

crater lake, crescent lake, oregon:

tasting wine and wild plums at bartholomew park winery, sonoma, california:

cave tour and tasting at gundlach bundschu winery, sonoma, california:

thrilled & overwhelmed at baker creek heirloom seed bank in petaluma, california:

golden gate bridge, san francisco, california:

bird rock, monterey, california:

we loved this little cottage! it reminded us of how we always pictured shell cottage in the order of the phoenix, nerdy much?

bixby bridge, big sur, california:

really i could go on for days about the amazing experience it was to see all of this but i’m cutting myself off now. i hope you enjoyed some of the images as much as we enjoyed living them! thanks so much for making it all the way through our trip ramblings- we’ll be back to regular scheduling starting NOW, so watch our for kayla & newton’s photobooth in the near future!