Northern Utah Bridal Faire

This Saturday – January 28, 2011

10am-5pm

USU Student Center

Logan, UT

http://www.bridalfaire.org/shows.html

I’ll be there, will you??

IF you will be there, and IF you mention this blog post… well, there just may be something in it for you!

Jake and Lisa are sweet and accommodating.  They had a really lovely wedding day this last October.  The weather probably couldn’t have been any more perfect and beautiful and the Riter Mansion didn’t disappoint.  Their friends & family were there to celebrate and enjoy these two and you could tell it was a mutual.  I wish these two the best in their journey and all the happinesses out there.

So the Hansens are our good friends.  It’s always fun to go out with them, we keep these things as light as possible, but not necessarily as warm.  The last family picture we did in the snow, and while the setting was gorgeous we basically had someone crying at all times, haha, lesson learned.  So we went a little warmer this year!  Don’t tell the IRS, but these guys also always get their sessions free because Jeff happens to be a VERY handy craftsman, and I always have these crazy projects that start with statements like, ‘well maybe we could get Jeff to…’  Anyway, this was a pretty area, great colors and I hope you enjoy.

And lastly a quick word of advice:  Families who want fall shoots including colorful leaves, talk to your photographer REALLY early (as in, start thinking and talking in July early), because for leaves in Utah you have to be on top of it. they often last only a very short time, and you need to have your clothes ready and be available with the first sign of color, just in case!

(This picture, is my absolute fav leaf throwing picture ever!  Little dude on the left has just the best ever facial expression!)

So before I talk about this gorgeous couple… a couple random thoughts just from observing weddings so much.  I have seen many brides make a couple of what I think are assumptions that may backfire and I’d love to help others from feeling any regret or being disappointed.  So I hope this helps someone sometime.  I never want to tell people, ‘do this’ or ‘do that’…it’s your wedding & I want it to reflect you!  But just in my experience these are two things are things I hear/see a lot and I think the first in particular could wind up in a lot of post-wedding regret!

1.  Many brides are under the impression that they can step away from receptions/events for a few minutes and get themselves a huge variety of beautiful portraits, like the ones below.  In my experience I have yet to see this happen.  In addition to the fact that a bride who is scheduled that tightly is distracted and the few minutes they thought they would have become less and less, but also beautiful portraits take time and effort to create!  They take a little trial and error with what types of things work for the couple, it takes time for the couple to get comfortable with the process and ‘settle in’, etc.  The portraits below are formals – meaning they got into their wedding clothes at an entirely different time/date from their wedding.  We spent probably just over two hours shooting, and they were scheduled to be there till we got what we wanted.  They did not achieve this in the 10 minutes they had between the temple and their luncheon.  Bottom Line: If you want a lot of beautiful shots, you have to invest the time.

2. Many brides are under the impression that a bright sunny day is the only ‘good weather’ to shoot in.  On the contrary, too bright of a day can actually limit our options for where and how we can shoot.  On top of that, check out a few of the images below -  the gray clouds and stormy feel of several of these images has stuck with me ever since I shot them (early October).  I remember these, and they stand out for me.  While sometimes the weather can be a bother to our comfort level, I say this to brides all the time, ‘it’s amazing how often what looks the best, felt the worst’.  Be it bugs, heat, cold, uncomfortable surfaces, etc.  In this case, our desire had been to shoot something a little sunsety, but what we got was very striking.  Bottom Line:  Be open to all types of weather!

Alright, on to this cute, cute couple.  These guys are actually getting hitched on black Friday!  Beat that, gianormous TV sales!  They came to do these early and it was a lot of fun.  We got rained out a little right at the end, but these guys were such good sports.  And talk about a little model!  Kristal worked it!  Some people so have that skill… and I’m so glad, cuz if everyone looked like me in front of the camera, scarey!  Check out these guys giving model face, and then you can look forward to their upcoming wedding events!  See you guys soon!

Good luck & love in your future guys!  You have the most precious daughter, she’s so beautiful!

(Their baby girl!  She has the bluest brightest eyes you’ve ever seen!)