At Last!!

Here are some pics from Amy Shipman's wedding this weekend- what an amazing event! Old and new friends of the wedding business gathered to witness and participate in the nuptuals of Amy Shipman, President of At Last Events, and Neill Hissa. For her special event, Amy included the "who's who" of Cleveland area vendors and the end result was nothing less than spectacular. Take a quick peek!

When Planners Plan Their Own

Tomorrow, Amy Shipman-President of At Last Events, finalizes plans for her ultimate event, her own wedding. Over the past couple of years, Amy and I have worked on several events together and I will have the honor of shooting this Main Event.

At Last Events is one of the premier wedding event coordinator companies in Northeast Ohio and captured the "2008 Pick of The Knot Best Of" award. (Visit them at http://www.atlasteventplanning.com/) Amy's sense of creativity and color is so captivating that walking into one of her events is like entering a whole other world.

I recently asked Amy if planning her own wedding was like planning a wedding for other brides and she just laughed and remarked, "It's different".

Here are a couple of pics from our previous work together.

Happy Wedding Eve, Amy Shipman!!

Dream A Little Dream

This week, I have had the misfortune of contracting strep throat. Of course, I have had a little trouble sleeping, so I have resorted to some of my personal sleep aid tactics. Most people, I guess count sheep, drink tea, etc,- I design things. Specifically, I design three things in my head; rooms, outfits, and wedding book pages. (OK, so I'm a little obsessive.)

Many of you have submitted your images lately for me to begin designing your books so this has given me a vast amout of material to think and dream about and I thank you- it has helped me to relax and to think about more pleasant things other than my sore throat, runny nose, etc.

This inspiration has even resulted in some actual tangable book designs- here are a few of my favorite pages from Erin and Rob's book that I worked on this week.

A True Whirlwind

Yesterday, I shot the wedding of Mariana and Alexis. Mariana and Alexis are childhood sweethearts originally from Argentina and they fullfiled their dream yesterday of an American wedding. The amazing thing about this wedding is that they planned the entire event in ONE WEEK! Mariana was able to purchase a dress off the rack and have it altered, they booked their venue (Oakwood Country Club), planned their menu, invited their guests, booked a pianist, a florist and me, and ordered their cake all within the week. They served a beautiful lunch of grilled fish, grilled vegetables, and a beautiful tropical fruit plate. A super nice touch was that during the reception, Alexis presented all of the women with a single red rose to honor International Women's Day. This wedding was an unbelievable accomplishment!

An October Surprise

I am often asked about the option of taking wedding photos prior to the ceremony. This is actually a great opportunity to assist with either a tight time table or an event where both the ceremony and reception are held in the same venue. We often make the meeting an event in itself and photograph the first time that the groom sees the bride in a special setting.

Since I worked on the wedding book of Katya and Ignacio this week, I thought it fitting to tell the story of Katya and Ignacio's plan to meet prior to the ceremony for photos and it was fabulous!

Katya and Ignacio got married on a cold October Saturday in 2007. Our plan included meeting at the Shaker Lakes Park on the stone bridge. Ignacio hid in the wooded area surrounding the bridge as he waiting for Katya to arrive. Katya approach the stone bridge in her beautiful gown and Ignacio emerged to greet his bride for the first time that day. All four parents were present to wittness the event and there wasn't a dry eye in a mile radius. A super romantic plan, huh? so worth it-

If this type of meeting interests you prior to your wedding, just ask me and we'll plan something just as amazing.

ps: Happy Wedding Eve Mariana and Alexes! I am looking forward to shooting your wedding tomorrow!

Have Studio, Will Travel

This weekend, we had the pleasure of shooting the Engagement Session of Toni and Tim. What made this session so special was that during the first part of the shoot, we transformed Toni's living room into a photography studio; Toni was then able to change into her bridal gown, and we shot a few bridal portraits. Tim was sequestered upstairs to avoid seeing Toni before their wedding day, which isn't until May. It was a family event as many of their family members were present for the occasion and even their English Bull Dog, Otis, was an active participant. A jubilent Otis wore his tuxedo and proudly posed with his "Mommy".

Here is an image from the bridal portrait portion of the shoot sans Otis.