Chris and Tara- Millennial Falls Wedding

  Ok, this post might be a wee bit longer than some others.  I have loved working with Chris and Tara through their save the date shoot, their engagement shoot, Tara's bridal shoot and now their wedding day.  They are both such awesome and easy going people that it's an absolute delight to be their photographer.

 

Chris and Tara's ceremony and reception were both at the Millennial Falls Reception Center in Draper.  It's quite possibly one of the most beautiful wedding locations that I have ever shot at.  Very sophisticated and elegant feel to the grounds and the buildings (somewhat like Sleepy Ridge in Orem).  Look for a separate details post showing off everything the place has to offer in the near future....

 

We'll start off with some of the photos of the bride and groom getting ready.  Now most reception centers have rooms for the bride to get ready in, and they are always gorgeous.  However, more often than not the groom gets the short end of the stick.  I actually did one wedding where a venue had this unbelievable suite for the bride to get ready in.  Sitting room, three full mirrors with raised pedestal to check the dress... the works.  The groom had a 6 x 15 foot room with a dented metal folding chair and a table.  The poor guy actually had to enter the room sideways to be able to clear the table and get to the chair- I kid you not!  Millennial Falls is a bit more equitable.  They not only have some gorgeous sunlit rooms for the bride, but have a nice suite for the groom as well.

 

 

I loved Tara's dress.  Clean lines, beautiful fabric, and a subtle design add up to a gorgeous and tasteful choice. The fact that Nancy, Chris' mom, made the dress is just icing on the cake of awesomeness.

 

  

  

 

It's time for the show to start!  Tara gives her mother-in-law to be a big hug and we're ready to go.

 

  

 

There are few times that a woman is more beautiful than walking down the aisle towards her sweetheart.  It's that look of happiness just beaming out for everyone to see.

 

  

 

I loved these parasols that all the girls had.  So fun!

 

  

 

I'm always a sucker for a beautiful waterfall, so we had to start out Chris and Tara's newlywed photos there.  Doesn't this photo just epitomize the summer wedding day?  Beautiful sunlight, greenery and gorgeous trees in bloom, and a kiss on a footbridge.  Summer love in a nutshell.

 

 

Not just a good-looking couple, Chris and Tara were simply fun.  Fun to talk to, fun to shoot, fun to be around.

 

  

  

 

Once it started getting a bit later, we snuck away for a couple minutes to get some more pictures of the two of them.  I love when reception centers light up the grounds and the building well.  It really can make or break the photo.

 

  

 

More posts to come soon, with details and other photos from the reception.

 

 

 

 

Heidi and Steve- Sleepy Ridge Wedding Preshoot

  So this last part of the formals shoot is proof positive that when you don't cancel the shoot because of massive impending thunderstorms, that good things can happen.  We got some gorgeous sunlit shots at the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course and the Reception Center there, and then it was time for the sunset.

 

  

 

As a photographer, I am so happy Heidi and Steve decided to go with Sleepy Ridge for their wedding, because the place is so dang elegant.  The building is absolutely gorgeous, and for bridal shoots and formal pre-wedding photos you can get some amazing skies in the evening.  The golf course and the grounds are so open and well done that you can really go crazy with pictures.

 

 

When I got the prints that we ordered for their reception last week, I felt like it was Christmas.  We did 20X30 metal print of this one above, and a 30x40 of the one below.  It went on the massive mantlepiece in the Garden Room there at Sleepy Ridge, right behind where they had the receiving line.  So awesome to have something like that, and in a size to do it justice.  Heidi's mom had to keep pointing it out to all the guests saying "do you see this amazing photo?"  Gotta say, it's one of the best feelings in the world as a wedding photographer to hear something like that over and over.  Thanks guys for an awesome shoot, and a fantastic wedding day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

  Heidi and Steve are the type of people don't don't let a rainy day get them down! When we met Heidi and Steve outside of Tahitian Noni the storm clouds were already rolling in. By the time we got to the gardens its was trickling and soon it was pouring. We were able to get a few shots in before we had to run for cover for fear of ruining Heidi's gorgeous hair and dress.

 

This awesome couple decided to not let the storm scare them away and decided to wait for it to blow over. While we waited for the storm to pass we stayed busy photographing detail shots and getting to know the couple better. It turns out that the intern, Abby, knew Steve from their home state! (Don't make me start singing "its a small world".) Eventually the rain let up and we got some amazing photographs!!! But don't take my word for granted - check them out for yourselves!!

 

  

 

It's awesome how Heidi's shorter hair works with the high collar.  So cute!!!

 

  

 

I love the Morinda Gardens... they pack a lot of variety and gorgeous landscaping into a relatively small area.

 

 

Heidi and Steve were married yesterday; it was such an awesome day, and a beautiful reception.  We did the second half of the formals shoot at the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course in Orem, where their reception was to be.  I'll post those photos on Monday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stevie & Conrad- Engagements at Weber State and the Great Salt Lake

  I had never even been to Weber before, but since Stevie and Conrad met while going to school there, that was where we started.  And I am so glad we did!  I had no idea that the campus at Weber had so much to offer for photos, and I will definitely be back.  After running around the university for a bit, we headed over to Saltair to finish up and get some sunsets and photos with the stars (the huge balls of gas billions of miles away, not the celebrities).

 

 

Just look at how gorgeous this location was, and how perfect the light!  The sun made this gorgeous spotlight right on them, it was fantastic.  One small note of trivia- this was literally taken in the first 30 seconds of shooting.  No need for warm up or get loose for this couple; they were great right from the beginning.

 

 

We were grateful for a clear sky that night so we could see all the stars that were out.  You wouldn't know it looking at the photo, but it was essentially pitch black when I took this last one...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goin' to the temple and we're...

  Congratulations to Brittany and Scott on their wedding today at the Salt Lake City Temple.  We're headed to the Springville Art Museum for the reception but had a couple minutes to post a sneak peak!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engaged in Italy, In Love in Utah

  Andrea was in the same MBA program with Luke, and Chris and Tara, and when he contacted me about doing some pre-shoots for him I was delighted.  He and his beautiful fiancee Danielle got engaged while they were visiting Italy.  Andrea was able to show Danielle around his country, and with the home-court advantage scored himself big points in the romance column.  I mean, how many people get to go to Italy to get engaged?  (besides Italians. :D)

 

 

So we scheduled an engagement session as soon as they got back so they could have some prints for their wedding and reception in Oregon.  We shot around Lehi and Saratoga Springs in Utah County, and had some beautiful sunshine to enjoy.

 

  

 

Don't you love how golden the light can be in summer?  Makes a romantic kiss just that more special.

 

 

Now if you've been following this blog at all, you know I love night shots.  They're fun, they can be dramatic and mysterious, and it's one of the situations I get to really play around and come up with something that I feel is new.  I loved the different photos we got with Andrea and Danielle- a little bit of mystique, a little bit of silliness, and a whole lot of kaPOW!

 

  

 

This next one is currently Andrea's profile picture on Facebook.  When he added it, he got several comments (many of them in Italian).  With a little help from Google Translate, I was able to catch my favorite one.  "You two look just like actors... are you making a movie??!?"

 

Oh yeah!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Engagement Photos at Saltair

  One of my favorite things to hear is how someone found my website and decided to contact me.  Sometimes it's just a google search for something like "Utah Wedding Photographer", sometimes they picked up a card at a wedding I was shooting, and lots of times people see my work on Facebook as one friend comments on another friend's photo and I pop up in their feed.  The backstory on how Joelle and Brett found me was one of the more roundabout that I had heard.  I met with them earlier this year to book their September wedding, and Brett confessed that he and Joelle had been following my blog for the previous 6 months.  If I got the story down correctly, this is what happened.

 

Brett found some photos of an acapella group on their website who had linked to a couple of photos of another acapella group.  The photos seemed pretty cool, and Brett winded up on Noteworthy's website.  He saw the promotional photos that I had done for them last fall, as well as the photos I took of them at their November concert.  He eventually went through all the photos they had, noticed my watermark on a few of them, and wondered "hey, maybe she does wedding photos too."  They ended up on my blog, and that was that.

 

Joelle and Brett have been together for several years now, and in a state where the common courtship-to-marriage window is 6 to 9 months, it makes for some different dynamics during a photoshoot.  I loved how comfortable they were together.  No awkwardness, no hesitations, no problems.

 

 

 

Love the marina at the Great Salt Lake.  So much variety in textures, and you can photograph it every day of the week with every day being different.

 

 

It's awesome how in summer we've got these tall grasses that turn this perfect gold- it makes for the some of the warmest, happiest photos.  Perfect for an engagement session.

 

  

 

And no WLP engagement shoot would be complete without a romantic silhouette, right? :D

 

 

 

 

Kara & Chris: Formals at La Caille and Temple Square

  Kara and Chris were married today!  What a fun couple to work with.

 

 

Chris hadn't seen Kara in her dress, so we arranged a first look for the first part of the formals session at La Caille.  I love doing formals, and LOVE getting to capture moments and expressions like this.  This little footbridge was perfect for the occasion.

 

 

La Caille has this awesome private drive going up to the main buildings paved with these stones and lined with these gorgeous trees.  The whole place is full of locations that just scream out "take a photo here!  take a photo here!"

 

  

  

 

We also got a couple of night shots at Temple Square to finish out the day.

 

 

And since they were married today, here's a sneak peek from the big day itself!