She told me about her concept several weeks ago. I heard words like, rustic, flowers, teapots , Alice in Wonderland, and was completely hooked. I was so excited to see it come together and document her delicate teacup creations. I think they would also be very fitting for a bridal shower or a very sweet baby shower. These lovely DIY centerpieces are inexpensive, colorful, and the possibilities are endless:

I can just envision how much color they could add to a fall wedding…

I loved her vintage books & the idea to incorporate the playing cards as place settings. All of these elements would translate very well at the cake table too.

She traveled across the country, packed & mailed everything for the shoot, set it all up by 9 AM, and still looked so effortlessly beautiful!

I photographed everything at Aullwood Farm in Englewood, Ohio. The blue bells were in full bloom and so dreamy. I have an obsession with {photographing} flowers.

The fresh flower teacup centerpieces could serve as favors for guests or you could even request that someone plant them for the bride & groom while they are honeymooning to warmly welcome them home. Thank you so much for your ideas & coordinating every single aspect of this project, Sarah.
We need to make this a tradition! ♥

I will devote an entire post to the DIY paper flower making process, I can’t wait to make a bouquet for my office at home!

Brothers.

Cousins.

I could shoot with this delicious lighting every day and never tire of it {and subjects as perfect as these boys}!

Oh the temptations for three young boys climbing on this contraption… they showed a lot of restraint for this portrait!

After we “finished,” we let the boys cut loose and this perfect scene unfolded. This is why when I say I’m “done” I never put my camera up right away:

Photographing children is outrageously fun & unpredictable! You never know what you will get & they are quite entertaining.
Here are some outtakes from their vintage inspired portrait session:

I enjoyed this session so much, a big thank you to their mamas for coordinating their outfits and helping to keep everything flowing on such a hot March day! We enjoyed popsicles at the end {to my satisfaction}. My one regret is that I didn’t incorporate the women behind the scenes, but I look forward to when we will! ♥

I’m not like most girls. I never bought a wedding magazine, I never fantasized about diamond rings or white dresses… not until, that is- the day I had an engagement ring on my finger. Part of that could be attributed to my natural independence, but another part could be attributed to the minimal six months it took my husband, Joe to go from first date to proposal. He went to Israel with his Dad (all of a week after he met my parents) and came home with a custom-made ring from Tel Aviv. Despite the quick jump to a proposal, we had a fairly traditional length engagement, a little over a year. So this is when my innate need for originality and creativity sprung into action. A complete obsession with all things wedding ensued…

I always have and will always be completely driven by aesthetics. So, when planning this wedding my first priority was that it had to be beautiful, followed closely by original and affordable. The key to an original, beautiful and affordable wedding? DIY. I’ve always been a bit of an “art nerd” so there was no question- I would be hand-crafting everything I could for this wedding. Therein lies complete creative control. I cannot tell you how many hours I spent with paper, scissors, micron pens, hot glue, burlap sacks and ribbon strewn across the table in front of me. This is the beauty of a 13-month engagement though, you can invest in creative processes over a long period of time (it seems long at first, but wow, does it go by quick).

I loved her eclectic centerpieces. She used sheet music, vintage postcards, ribbon, twine, etc. to make each one unique. Her favors were burlap bags with chocolate covered coffee beans tucked inside… loved them!

Don’t be afraid to go non-traditional routes, with your location, invitations, centerpieces, anything and everything. More often than not, when you throw traditional expectations out you will end up more accurately representing yourselves as a couple and… saving money (oh, how wonderful!). Don’t believe me? Well, I have examples. Our invitations were vintage postcards with added paper decals displaying our names and the wedding date on the front and rubber-stamped wedding information (date, place etc) on the back. When it was all said and done, those invitations cost about 50 cents apiece, letter-pressed invitations (and RSVP cards) bought at retail can cost $5 or more apiece, easily. This option saved us anywhere from $500-$800. Hopefully, they came across as creative and aesthetically pleasing as well. I thought they were.

Another, traditional “must have” that can get expensive is live floral centerpieces. I knew we didn’t have the dough to cover $70 centerpieces for each table-yikes. So my solution was to make flowers from book paper, floral wire and vintage buttons. Joe even contributed “baby’s breath” made from speaker wire and crumpled paper. Explore options for centerpieces, express your personality, and as a result, very likely save money.

I loved that they wrote their own vows. It made the ceremony very personal.

She was stunning. I’ve known her for years and now she’s all grown up. {Sigh}.

They were married at The Historic Duluth Depot in Duluth, Minnesota. I love when brides have their ceremony & reception in the same venue. It gave us a lot of time for portraits, there was a lot to work with in a small vicinity. During cocktail hour, guests were able to peruse the museum and look at the train exhibits:

Location, location, location: The venue- dun dun dun. This is a big decision. But never fear, the non-traditional rules apply here too. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to make the white walls of a convention center look good? You will save yourself a lot of time and money (not to mention hours of fighting with rolls of tulle) by choosing a venue that speaks for its self. Out-door weddings are becoming increasingly popular; barns, State parks and family member’s back yards. You name it. But don’t forget that museums, concert venues and in our case, train museums also make great venues. The Historic Duluth Depot with its French château style architecture, 88-foot ceiling and two original brick fireplaces made for an easy (tulle-free) venue choice. Joe’s grandpa also worked for the railroad in Duluth, so he was able to tell guests about the trains in the railroad museum during cocktail hour. He even designed a few of them. Duluth was a perfect spot for our wedding because of familial ties, a historic charm, beautiful views of Lake Superior and most conveniently- affordability. Future brides, keep this in mind during planning- often venues outside of the city are cheaper, as are caterers etc.

Sarah & Joe also agreed to do a “first look” before the ceremony. It allowed them to have some special portraits taken during some peaceful & private moments. Every bride will admit that once guests have access to them, it can be hard to steal time away {especially with family traveling hundreds of miles to see you}.

These were taken during the family portraits. I love that they have non-traditional backdrops for their family & wedding party portraits.

The bridesmaids were fearless, I’m not sure how they maneuvered up the train in heels! I climbed up after this shot, and it was quite a step…

After the ceremony there is also a sense of excitement & relief. Big smiles are abundant. Adding the handcar into the scene was hilariously fun.

Again, I really liked that they were all willing to move around & let me work in some creative places for their portraits. Makes it so much  more fun to look back on…

The End. The Beginning.

I hope that this was helpful to brides planning their weddings! I would love to do a DIY post about how she made her paper flowers next time she’s in town {ok, Sarah?}. Stay tuned. Sarah, thank you so much for sharing your advice & perspective. It was an amazing honor to capture your lovely day ♥.

For a photographer {or anyone for that matter} in Ohio, Winter is a great time to be inside . This season has been valuable, because I have been able to take care of some design & organizational tasks that I hate doing when the weather is more pleasant. Slowing down has also given me time to reflect on last year & set new goals for this year… and the next five. If I only take on predictable projects, I will never mature as a photographer. I have decided that every month, I want to take on a shoot that is inspiring, artistic, collaborative, and makes me completely uncomfortable.

When I mentioned this to my friends, sisters, Ruby & Sarah, they were completely on board. Ruby Randall is a very gifted make up artist, model, and vintage lover, so she offered to do all the styling for our shoot {amazing}. You can check out more information about Ruby here, she is available for weddings!

Their lovely friend, Demi, looked incredible in one of Ruby’s vintage dresses:

I haven’t been baking very much lately, but made an exception for our Valentine shoot. It wouldn’t be the same without Red Velvet Cupcakes!

I’ve been close friends with Sarah for over thirteen years & she’s always been gorgeous, but she was perfection in this shoot.

Don’t you think she is from another time? This is one of my favorites.

Sarah brought some of her own treasures that completed her look. The sweater she is wearing is her husband’s Grandmother’s that she made herself!

It was so fun to hang out with my friends & stretch my photography muscles. We wrapped everything up by having coffee & red velvet cupcakes. Perfect.
Ruby, Sarah, & Demi, thank you so much for sharing your time, talent, & beauty!

I am hoping to squeeze in one more styled Valentine session with cookies & the lovely little Nataly!

I try to do a little research with my couples before engagement sessions to understand what backdrop will suit them best. After a few questions, I discovered that Josh & Jacqui spent childhood summers on a lake in NY. It’s a huge part of their love story. We didn’t have access to that lake, but did what we could ;]

It was really windy {& cold}, so the dress shot was so natural. This is one of my favorites!

We just got back from our “honeymoon” in Mexico this week! It was definiely the best vacation we’ve ever taken. I’ve got a lot of work to post, it’s been a very busy {but wonderful} month. I’m trying to finish my clients pictures then I’ll share a little about our trip.  Have a happy weekend!

A lot of photographers call it Trash the Dress, but I prefer to think of it as a glamorous session. I’m not against anyone ruining their dress, but a lot of people who are booking these sessions with me are really wanting “the wedding pictures they never had.” It’s an opportunity to take beautiful pictures without the stress or time constraints of the wedding. Grooms are optional, but encouraged to come.
Please contact me if you are interested, I think it’s a lovely way to remember and renew the love from your special day.

I thought it would only be appropriate to re-visit the pre-deployment pictures I took with my husband a year ago. They were taken the day before he left for his deployment to Afghanistan. It was shortly after our anniversary, and so I wanted to take them where we had our little wedding at Wegerzyn Gardens.

I would love to do more photo sessions in this style… seeing our men in uniform is just about as good as it gets!

I ruined the dress by sitting on some dark berries in an attempt to immortalize the shoes I had painted. I think it was worth it.

It was early September and a very unusually hot day. We laughed about having our winter coats on, but he was a good sport.

This was the last shot, taken after we were “done” and our way to the car. We were anxious to get back to our son, but I’m glad this one was taken.

My mother-in-law took this at Rock’s basic training graduation four years ago. When he was deployed I turned it into a vintage portrait. I didn’t mind looking at his face on pictures since they were all I had. It’s part of the reason I am so obsessed with taking pictures! I understand their value. ♫