It's A Wrap!

It's hard to believe, but the 2009 wedding season is fast approaching. Just a quick note to let you know that if you wish to have me personally photograph your wedding, I only have a couple of dates available for the entire 2009 season. Contact me at lisa@zphotomedia.com for more information.

Thanks so much to those who have made and will make 2009 an incredible season. I am so looking forward to capturing lifetime memories on your special day!

I Want Candy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's a given that Valentine's Day is the holiday of love. However, for a lot of us, it's a day we are allowed to indulge a driving sweet tooth!

A growing trend at weddings is the emergence of the ever popular Candy Bar. A Candy Bar/Buffet provides a creative favor for your guests to choose from an assortment of confections to satisfy anyone's craving for sweets. Often, items on the bar are personalized to the couple via wrappers and selections. It's always great when couples include nostalgic candy from the 60s and 70s; items that may be difficult to find readily available.

So, on this day of chocolate hearts and fondant cupids, celebrate by sharing your favorite candy with your favorite valentine. The gym will still be there in the morning.

I'm Ready For My Close Up, Mr. DeMille"

I love, love, love classic movies. There is just not enough Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, and Audrey Hepburn for me. With this in mind, It's always exciting when one of my brides adds an element of Old Hollywood to her wedding!

This images shows you the two most essential accessories for the "hot lights" look; long gloves, and a fabulous fur stole. (Faux is A-O.K.- I live in it!) These items are especially charming for a winter occasion.

So, cheers to TCM's "31 Days of Oscar" this month. "Fasten Your Seat Belts, It's Going to be a Bumpy Night."

An Akron Icon

Tomorrow, I will be meeting with an Akron-area bride who considered the O'Neil House as her wedding venue. The O'Neil House is a 1920's built bed and breakfast located in the heart of Akron, Ohio. It is a magnificent tudor mansion, with rich Akron roots, that can accomodate up to 90 guests.

Gayle Johnson is the innkeeper/owner and she has single handedly refurbished the home bit by bit. The archetectural details are astonishing and true to the original layout. Gayle has done much of the hand work herself and the craftmanship is remarkable. (She also provides amazing catering for events held at the O'Neil House!)

Here is an image I shot of the backyard area during a wedding last summer. You can see a virtual tour at Gayle's website listed in the links area.

If you really want the inside scoup on venues and vendors, make sure you ask us about our "Red Carpet" service at Z Media. There you can access a data base of all types of wedding vendors which have been rated by our past brides. You will also spend 1 hour with professional wedding planner who can also assist you with making vendor decisions.

Speaking of Akron icons, I heard a rumor (ssh!) that a particular well known Akron female singer who fronted a band that rhymes with The Surrenders stays at The O'Neil House while in town!

A Song of Solon

Yesterday, I attended a meeting in Solon, Ohio. I love Solon, Ohio and can attribute my good feelings toward the city with my positive experiences at their premiere venue, Signatures of Solon. Signatures of Solon is a country club where I have shot weddings and my personal experience has always been the same- an impeccable attention to detail. I have definately been impressed. (see link)

Every wedding I have shot at Signatures of Solon was headed up my their event director, Mark Kroner and he has proven to be an exceptional find. (He is rumored to have coordinated events for Elton John) Anyway, his hands-on direction and genuine investment of each event has always, in my experience, resulted in amazing weddings. The brides I have worked with at Signatures of Solon love him and let me also add that the food is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!

So, thank you Solon, Ohio for Signatures- it was good to see you again!

A Craving for Sushi

This evening, I have two things planned. One is to attend a consultation and the second item on my agenda is to pick up sushi for dinner. I could stop at the grocery store for a pre-packaged sushi tray, but I have decided to go all out and to order from one of our premiere Cleveland east side restaurants.

The last time I had great sushi was late last fall at the rehearsal dinner of Paige and Ben. Their rehearsal dinner was held at the Brothers Lounge in Lakewood Ohio and not only did we have a fantastic time shooting the event with some fantastic people, but the food was fantastic as well- great sushi.

The highlight of the evening was when Ben, reunited with his band for the evening, played a wonderful set of music.

Here are a couple of images from that evening; one of the Brothers Lounge, one of Ben on stage, and one of Ben reaching down from the stage to kiss his bride-to-be.

Seeing these images again is making me hungry so I had better run now- sushi calls!

Ready...Set...

Wedding season is right around the corner. This time of year we are performing a lot of tasks to ensure we will be prepared when the green light signals the start of the 2009 season.

One such task is the designing of Engagment Guest Books. An Engagement Guest Book is a composite of the couples' engagement session images designed in a coffee table book. This book is then made available on a couple's wedding day for their guests to either sign in or write notes.

One couple who chose this option is Christian and Tricia. Christian and Tricia met in high school, while Tricia was a German foreign exchange student. Tricia speaks fluent German, a skill that Christian helped her with while she lived in Germany. They fell in love and are now engaged and busy planning their June wedding.

I received a note from Christian over the weekend as we plan their Engagement Guest Book - I was thrilled to get an update of their lives. One thing I learned is that the couple will soon be traveling to Berlin to prepare for a possible move after their Cleveland wedding.

Here are a couple of images of Christian and Tricia. As we complete their Engagement Guest Book in preparation for their big event, we wish them a safe and fruitful journey as they prepare for their life together.

Touchdown!

For sports fans, today is the mecca of all meccas, Superbowl Sunday. This year, the match up is between the Steelers and the Cardinals; but for those of us in Cleveland we continue to keep the faith that one day our time will come.

One such die hard football couple is pictured here; Meredyth and Jim. Jim, who has a friend in the Browns' organization, secretly arranged for all of us to be transported on their wedding day to the Cleveland Browns stadium for photos. It was such a blast, since we virtually had run of the entire stadium.

So as you are cheering on your pick for today's game, I will remember fondly our shoot with Meredyth and Jim. We certainly scored on that day!