Personal

last friday with freshly painted nails (thank you rachel) and a new party dress (thank you jon) i was more than ready to explore bloedel reserve with my camera and friends.

this beautiful place is what inspired ember and ben to finally get married. while walking around together enjoying the beauty they knew they had found their special spot. one small problem. bloedel reserve doesn’t do weddings. they actually have a rule stating no weddings allowed on the grounds. plan B, they decided to rent a house nearby and have a simple ceremony. after they would walk the grounds with their families and take photos. ember was most excited about the garden part and not as excited about the standing in front of people and exchanging vows part. so i think the fact that they had to move to plan C and bump up the ceremony a day early, actually worked out perfectly! the pressure was off and the focus on friday was on enjoying the garden and family.

em’s boys getting ready for their garden wedding walk. leo was quite proud of his bow tie. below are their precious little boutonnieres created by the fabulous laurie cinotto. get yourself something special from her etsy shop.


when i shoot i usually enjoy the photos in between "the photos" the most. the walking and
movement, the giggles and glances. their garden day was all about
shooting while walking and not posing or forcing things (just like
their wedding). since it was a wedding walk, there were of course lots
of walking shots. which was perfect since these are always my favorite!

while we were off roaming the gardens, ember and ben had arranged to have her brother’s friend william prepare a scrumptious meal back at the house. william is a wonderful chef and his food was dreamy. because of their small guest list they were able to treat everyone to delicious food and wine.

i have learned some pretty important things from ember and her mom over the years. to have style. to focus on pretty colorful things. to have a good vintage collection of dishes and tablecloths (i am working on that). to always take the time to display food on pretty plates. to be picky about what you display and only use your favorite things. to craft as much as you can. to add special touches. that fresh from the garden food has a power all of it’s own. that it’s OK to run out of food, that means it was really good. that leftovers are overrated. am thinking it’s these things that made her wedding so sweet!

the night ended with a variety of sweet toasts, well wishes and a love song. and the grand finale was a little jam session with em’s dad on guitar and jon on the slide. the next morning i heard leo asked ember "when will you and dad stop being married" she giggled. i think he thought it was like a birthday and the fun had to end sometime. em told him "never, we will be married forever and you will be ours forever too!" So here’s to forever ember, ben, leo and finn! 

(i was wondering if leo thought that meant he would have to wear his bow tie forever)

love you guys!
 

coming off a wedding marathon. had to take the day to recover and hang low after five days of weddings in a row. started out with a traditional nigerian ceremony and ended with a love parade. sandwiched in the middle was my best friend ember’s spontaneous wedding. she started to plan her wedding two weeks ago when inspiration hit after a visit to the bloedel garden reserve on bainbridge island. before i knew it, a plan was in place for a simple ceremony with just their immediate family at the garden. we were invited as the official photographers. but when you plan a wedding in such a short period of time some things can fall through the cracks. em called a few days before for a judge, but discovered that no one would be available on 8-8-08. luckily she had rented a beautiful house on the island starting thursday. the wedding had to be bumped up a day early. the plan for family remained unchanged for friday. a few friends were asked to come witness and celebrate on thursday. i pulled my birthday girl weight and insisted on being an official paper signing witness. doesn’t 8-7-08 have a nice ring to it?

 

i love shooting weddings, it’s always an extra special treat to photograph my friends getting married! it presents issues like trying to toast and shoot at the same time. or wearing a dress and hauling gear. or making sure to set the camera down and visit and giggle a bit. it’s this balancing act that makes them extra special. i am so excited for these two! in my mind they have been married since their first little one arrived in this world. i felt like this weekend was more a celebration of their sweet family and what a wonderful job these two are doing as parents. a time to toast their love and to enjoy their two beautiful boys. i miss their sweet cheeks and big eyes already. more photos to come from their special garden day with family on 8-8-08. i love extended wedding weekends!