HOLD ON TO YOUR BRITCHES AND GET READY FOR A DROP. DEAD. GORGEOUS WEDDING. I’m so excited to blog about this wedding I shot with Ryan of You Look Nice Today Photography at Mount Hood Organic Farms. Pauline and Daniel had the epitome … Continue reading
Oh my goodness! Can we just take a moment to acknowledge how insanely AWESOME this is! Even if you don’t dig doilies as much as I apparently do, it’s still a fun idea that can hopefully get your juices flowing and get you thinking about what kind of fun DIY elements you can add to your own wedding that are perhaps not as traditional. I can totally picture these just hanging over reception tables or under a tree over a desert table under a twinkling sky! PLEASE someone make this happen! And then call me so I can come photograph it!
Find the step by step directions at DOSFAMILY
Image from: More Design Please
Jason and Devonne were married when they were just teenagers. However, they didn’t get to have a “real” wedding since they were so young and Jason was in the military. Now they finally had that chance. They came up to Portland from Georgia, where they currently reside, in order to renew their vows, have a wedding, and share their love with their friends and family. When I was told I’d be photographing a vow renewal I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. I’d never shot one so I thought it would just be simple, no decorations really, and just a handful of people. As soon I as arrived I knew I was DEAD. WRONG. They had beautiful, but simple handmade details that were not over done as if they were for wedding, but just right for a vow renewal and their casual personalities. Devonne was in a gorgeous wedding dress, and they were surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones. The house/yard they renewed their vows on was not just any house, it was a beautiful house surrounded by woods, a big open back yard, chickens, and a river. Words cannot describe how beautiful their day was. It was everything I hope every couple’s vow renewal will be. Loving, simple, beautiful, and most importantly fun. Jason and Devonne were definitely not afraid of having fun. (They arrived to the ceremony in on a four-wheeler!)
I’m still working on slowly integrating stop motions into my shoots, but still trying to figure out how to get the right schedule down. Since I was there to take photographs I focused mainly on that, but I was able to snag a little bit of stop motion at the end of the reception so be sure to check out the quick, but none the less sweet video at the end of the post! [=
Thank you guys and your family so much for being so welcoming and friendly. You all truly made my job easy.
**Please change video settings to 480p if you are able to. I’m not sure how to change this setting permanently in YouTube without it choosing automatically for me. Anyone have any ideas?!**
The photos are out! The press has been alerted!…And I miss my friends ]=
In case you didn’t catch the creativeLIVE workshop with Jasmine Star the other week she shot a real life stylized shoot LIVE. ON THE AIR. WITH EVERYONE WATCHING. And she totally ROCKED it! Watching Jasmine work was probably one of my favorite parts of the workshop. I can’t even begin to describe how wonderful and educational it was. She is so in touch with what she does, how she flows, and watching her raw files come up on the tv after every click of the camera honestly made me sick to my stomach because they were all so beautiful and perfect. I won’t go into too much detail about everything because you should definitely BUY the workshop! I was literally there when she was teaching it and I have still referenced it numerous times so I can’t even begin to tell you what a wonderful asset it has been! I didn’t take too many photos as I was obviously there to learn and I was too mesmerized by Jasmine’s beautiful photos, her smooth transitions, and her perfect, naturally blowing hair. Seriously, think 80’s bay watch running out of the water looking all fabulous and perfect. That’s what Jasmine looks like when she’s working her camera. So here’s the couple of photos I took and some fun behind the scenes shoot! Be sure to check out Jasmine’s beautiful photographs on her blog and on Grey Like’s Weddings!
For all you fabulous Brides out there…PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take inspiration in these photographs. Words cannot even describe how beautiful, original, and completely EPIC these side table florals/designs are. I cannot wait for this whole trend to hopefully take the wedding industry by storm and we all start seeing it more and more! It’s so beautiful and makes complete sense! I hope you all find some inspiration in these photos and be sure to head over and see Jasmine’s for the complete experience!
Thank you to all the fabulous creative professionals involved that made this shoot so beautiful and possible so that all of us could gain special insight and take home ideas, inspiration, and most importantly a drive and fire in our bellies to do something as beautiful ourselves!
Photography: Jasmine Star
Designer: Kelsey Eads of Sugarcomb Events
Floral: Meghan Stoller of Mum Floral Design
Cake: Kara Burfeind of The SweetSide
Paper: Todd Karam of TKTJ Design+Graphic
Hair&Makeup: Tiffany Colors
Stylist: Sherri Garcia of Styled Seattle
OH! And how totally FABULOUS were our models?!
I shot this beautiful Vietnamese wedding last summer. It was 12 hours and included a tea ceremony as well as a traditional catholic ceremony. It was so fun getting to know everyone and after 12 hours with them you almost felt like part of the family! I joked with Ryan throughout the day that they made my job there SUPER easy because they all absolutely loved to have their photo taken. Family members who appreciate being able to savor their important memories for years to come, HECK YEAH!!
Linda and Adam were married last summer at the ever gorgeous McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. They had what I consider to be the perfect size wedding. Not too many people that it’s overwhelming and you don’t know some of them, but enough to make it feel like a real party and celebration and Linda and Adam were the absolute dream couple to photograph. At first they were a little nervous, but I cracked a few Harry Potter jokes (my speciality!) and pretty soon we were all laughing, playing around, and having a great time! They are such a beautiful couple and mesh together so wonderfully. They love the same things and both have quite the adventurous bone! Even though they were a dream to photograph and their entire day was beautiful I have to say my favorite moment was when Linda danced with her father. He was rather reserved and put together the whole day, but as soon as he got on the dance floor with her he completely let loose and I don’t think a single person in attendance was not laughing hysterically! I think the look on both his and Linda’s face says everything you need to know about how out of character this was of her father. As soon as the dance was finished she came over to me and said, please tell me you got that. I smiled softly and assured her…I got it.<3
So as some of you may have heard I got absolutely LIFE. CHANGING news last week. (Well, life changing for me at least!) For my photog. friends out there I know you all are aware of CreativeLIVE and the AWESOME work they do to help us all out, to my clients/fans out there I will explain:
CreativeLIVE host three-day internet workshops with the biggest names in the photog. industry. They are wedding photographers, portrait photographers, boudoir, fashion, glamour, babies, you name it they do it. So the workshop is absolutely FREE to photog.’s who tune in on the day of and catch the LIVE viewing otherwise you can purchase the course for a very reasonable price. I don’t think I have missed a single CreativeLIVE course that pertained to my business in the past year!
However! Not only have I not missed one, but I’ve also never entered one. That is! Until.
(pause for dramatic effect.)
JASMINE. STAR. (dun, dun, dun!!!!)
So Jasmine Star is literally (like her name implies) a STAR in the wedding photog. industry. There is no denying her rock star like stature. I mean come on…The woman does country-wide TOURS! She’s funny, she’s quirky, she’s driven, she’s talented, and she is one of the most giving people I constantly blog stalk. [;
So when she announced she’d be coming back to creativeLIVE to do another three-day workshop AND be discussing the making and marketing of an editorial wedding HELLOOO! You can just say destiny was not only calling me, it was following me in that scary black car you always see behind you for far too many turns.
So scared out of my mind, but shaking with excitement I mustered up the courage to make a short minute (okay, maybe a minute and 20 seconds) video about why I want to go to Seattle to meet J* (and hopefully not cry/pass out from excitement when I see her) and would destiny not only follow me around and harass my phone, it came straight up and knocked on my door/decided to break a window because after what seemed like FOR.EV.ER waiting for the deadline and the winners to be announced I woke up to an alert that someone commented on one of my YouTube videos saying “Congratulations, I’ll be watching from home!” Confused, lethargic, and slightly excited, but not wanting to get my hopes up too much. I ran to my computer as fast as I could and went to J* blog! 3rd person down was my FACE staring back at me. On the list of winners. To go to Seattle. To meet Jasmine Star. To soak in three days of invaluable first hand knowledge. To practice photographing with a rock star photographer. To network and meet new friends. To finally…FINALLY be taking steps in the direction that I want to take my business. Needless to say I jumped around, screamed, shouted, basically the whole little girly shebang. I looked like a little girl who just woke up on christmas morning to that pink glittery unicorn named Snowbell she had been dreaming about or the little boy who just got that brand spanking new nintendo-64. [;
<iframe width=”420″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/pFlcqWQVVuU” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>
yeah…that was me.
So..there you have it. My story of my total awesome experience that hasn’t even begun yet. I didn’t even mention yet the amazing 5 people who will be joining me in Seattle! We have all been getting nice and cozy on our little Facebook group and I know we are going to be friends long after this! I can’t wait to meet you all and get to know you even better! (I have included their links at the end of this blog in case anyone wants to go ch-ch-check em’ out)
And since I’m already bloggin’ it up. I’ll go ahead and post this teaser for the next wedding I will be featuring. Super excited as Linda and Adam were actually the FIRST couple I booked last year and were so sweet, warm, and fun to work with! 
^^look at that!^^ tell me that’s not THE image of love smackin’ you straight in the face! [=
Ashley Martens Photography
MiCLa Photography
John Cain Photography
Ashley Barnett Photography
Mark Nabong of Tekniq Productions
Rachel and Taylor’s wedding holds a very dear place in my heart. They were my first wedding couple “IN” Portland for my personal business, but more than that they were my first couple I felt an honest connection with. I connect with all the couples, but as a second shooter you don’t really get to spend that quality time getting to know them and talking to them. However, with Rachel and Taylor I honestly felt like we were becoming friends. They are so warm and kind. They are creative and offbeat. Funky and have a slight nerdy side like myself. (For instance: As a groomsmen gift they got all the men really cool/nerdy cufflinks like Taylor’s Nintendo one!)
They were married at the Rose Garden among all the absolutely beautiful roses and had their reception at the uber swanky urban studio in the Pearl. I had never even heard of the place or been there, but WOW. They were so welcoming and sleek. The whole day matched Rachel and Taylor to a Tee. It was full of love and tons of laughter. I don’t think there was a single moment of the day someone there did not have me absolutely cracking up or tearing up.
Rachel and Taylor I could write a BOOK on how appreciative I am that you chose me to capture your day, but I think you two know just how much Jason and I loved you<3
This gallery contains 9 photos.
Alison and Isaiah were married on the top of a mountain and it was just as romantic, intimate, and beautiful as that phrase alone sounds! It was full of absolutely everything a wonderful wedding should be: love, family, beautiful backdrops, chairlift … Continue reading
Brittany Lauren Photography 