BON WEEKEND

This week has been difficult.  As high as I was from returning home from some really marvelous memory making in California last week, I had to return to some sadness.  Tomorrow will be the memorial service for a dear childhood friend who lost his life last Friday, yes a week ago today.  I miss his sweet smile yet I am warmed that when I picture his lovely, lovely family in my mind, I will forever see Rod, Cynthia, Kailey and Derek all together with their collective warm smiles.

Please take some time this weekend to reflect on the love and joy and smiles you receive from those close to you, and too how you can return those things just the same.


bon weekend.



*hannah+nick. two very, very, very sweet people.

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY

I've never much been into the #throwbackthursday fad, until I tried it and discovered it's actually a pretty fun way to share old memories!  So today I'm sharing a snap-of-a-snap from samantha+steven's Brooklyn Botanical Gardens wedding I shot last May when I was in New York City.  I loved their wedding so, so dearly and I'm excited to have some other wedding gals via the wedding blog world just as in love and featuring it in the near future!


ps. My travels last week were for the most part very, very splendid!  If you followed my stints via Instagram you'll see all the fun things I did... or ate... :)  michelle+tyler's wedding was SUCH a relaxed, simple bbq wedding in the country and I had an absolute ball with them and their family!  Maybe tomorrow I'll post a sneak from that fun shin-dig...

SUNSHINY

So, I get to travel to sunshiny places like California and Mexico and Arizona and Las Vegas to shoot weddings... yeah it's a real rough life I know...

I'm so excited to be headed down to LA tomorrow to spend some very much needed time with my best friend/sister/twin Candis, then shoot a wedding out near Yosemite {woohoo michelle+tyler!} then road trip up to San Francisco for a day, and all with my other best friend and sister-in-law Natasha.  Oh boy it's going to be so, so fun! On top of the fact that I really LOVE getting to shoot weddings in different and new settings like michelle+tyler's ranch wedding will be.  I won't deny, getting to plan for a wedding day that has a 90% chance of being good weather/sunny is exhilarating for this Seattle girl, so anytime I book a celebration in a hot climate, I do a few leaps for joy!

Hoping everyone had a wonderful weekend and for now, I'm off!  Follow my adventures on Instagram :)



xo

*above shoe shot from ade+danny's Arizona wedding.

BON WEEKEND

BON WEEKEND!

xo



*brit+larry. they are magic. magic!

SHOWERS

Je suis désolé que j'ai été allé   OR   I am sorry I have been gone from my little blog! Typically I enjoy posting work more frequently, but I found this past month to be a bit fuller then expected with all sorts of other goodies so I went ahead and sat back and let the blog shine with o+j's wonderful wedding story as additionally shared on The Nordstrom Wedding Suite Blog.

Now that our April showers are nearly over {hoping for lots of May flowers!} I am sitting here reviewing what exactly the month was full of by by flipping through my planner. You may recall I made a goal for 2013 to really enjoy all the little things; to calm what was a rather hectic lifestyle down and enjoy even the smallest of happinesses... Well, I've found it incredibly helpful to sit down and look at my calendar at the end of each month.  I can see what was planned, what was rescheduled and why, what was done and with whom, etc.  I also like going through and seeing what fun snapshots were caught on my Instagram.  With the fourth month of 2013 nearly finished, I can see clear changes in our lifestyles lately and it is encouraging and invigorating to be meeting some of the big and small goals we set!  From running my first half marathon, to starting to finally learn German {my husband's German family came to visit}, to re-learning French, trying new Seattle restaurants {Matt Dillon's newest gem, Bar Sajor is divine!} and revisiting old favorites {Spur's new menus are killer, we actually got to sit and enjoy drinks in the library room at Bathtub Gin & Co. which was a first, The Swinery here on the west side has got amazeballs pulled pork, and of course we enjoyed a few fig and prosciutto pizzas from our hometown staple, Phoenicia} this  month has been refreshing to say the least. With the camellia flowers and cherry trees and as of the weekend the lilacs blooming, the scenery around us is really starting to perk up and with it so is all of our temperaments.

I do have lots of pretty work to share this upcoming month and I look forward to reliving a few adventures along the way {and enjoy some new ones too!} Enjoy your Monday and enjoy this tail end of April.  Here's hoping these last two days can be shower free...


*above image from tricia+nick's winter wedding.

COCO&KELLEY + WEST ELM

For those of you that know me, you know that:

a. these days, I'm pretty much mainly into black, white, grey, gold.  This applies to my 

personal style and my home.  I'm in love with neutrals. In. Love. 

b. I love, love, love to entertain.

c. I enjoy piddling around at styling my own bridal editorial shoots; 

a creative aspect to the bridal world I've really taken to {and turns out am not to shabby at!}

So, when I got an invitation for the Seattle West Elm Entertaining Made Easy event hosted by Cassandra of Seattle's Coco & Kelley I knew for sure I needed to go see what I could be inspired by!  I can start by saying that Cassandra is a doll. Enough. Said.  She is one talented lady and can style like nobodies business!  I've followed her work for years now and it finally took till last night to move from 'emailing' realm to actually finally meeting in person. 

At last night's event Cassandra designed two very, very colorful summer tabletops using some of her favorite West Elm things.  My favorite ideas were the gold flatware, the gold rimmed wine glasses, and then *gasp* the neon yellow small salad bowls!  Color I know!!!  I also loved the idea of using the glass votive candle holders as little succulent pots for thank-you gifts to guests {will for sure be using that idea in a bridal inspiration} and also the mini jars of spices.  I also know that at some point I'll be purchasing the black and white Enamelware sets since they are totally classic, indoor/outdoor friendly which also means great for camping/hiking! 

Thank you to West Elm for hosting such a wonderful, small gathering and thank you to Cassandra for your great, inspiring styling and too, new friendship!  You can view my favorite photos below and you can also see Cassandra's post over on Coco & Kelley today!

OLIVIA+JARED

So this was the wedding of my dear friends olivia+jared.  Clearly, it was a very lovely, bright sunny day in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Oh, and by 'lovely' I mean more then that it was great sunshiny weather, I mean it was 90 degrees with about 90 percent humidity, so as pretty as that sunshine was it was ridiculously hot and sticky... and really hot... and really, really sticky.  Did I mention it was really hot? And sticky???  I'll admit, I don't think I've ever sweat that much in my entire life.  Which leads me to what was therefore one of the most glorious highlights to olivia+jared's wedding, they served up the absolute best margaritas you've ever experienced. They were literally life saving I'm convinced, since everyone seemed to consume a very healthy amount of the refreshing things!

To be serious though, it really was one very special, intimate wedding celebration.  It was simple and classic.  olivia+jarred really wanted to have something very sincere and personal with their closest friends and family and that is exactly what they got.  And all complaining about the killer heat aside, it was an absolutely stunning location and the breathtaking beachside nuptials, beautiful sunset and just the refreshing change in surroundings made it all so, so worth every drop of that sweat.  Of course, can we just say that man-oh-man, olivia+jared are pretty stinking easy on the eyes!  While we're at it, why don't we throw the wedding party into that compliment too! Turns out Olivia basically made a one-stop-shop out of Nordstrom as that is where a majority of the accessories, clothes, shoes and her gown are from which leads me too... Tomorrow you can also see olivia+jared's wedding shared on the Nordstrom Wedding Suite Blog which I won't lie I'm pretty thrilled about!  

Thank you so much to olivia+jared and all your family for inviting me to photograph your special celebration.  It was an honor getting to witness and be such an integral part to your wedding and I really do cherish these photographs and my own memories of that day so, so much. Now the question is... who will be my next Mexico couple... ???