On Saturday, we had a super fun portrait shoot with John & Jessica.  The first time we met them was at Elizabeth & Kevin’s wedding back in September.  (John is actually one of Elizabeth’s brothers – do you see the resemblance?)  So when Jessica contacted us about doing some portraits for them, we were, of course, thrilled!  AND we felt especially honored that they asked us because Jessica is a photographer too :-)  They told us at the beginning of the session that they hadn’t had any professional photos taken of them since their wedding and, get this, John had broken his arm a couple days before so he couldn’t even wear his suit jacket!  So sad :-(

John & Jessica have been married for six years, but you’d hardly know that they weren’t newlyweds from this super cute photo session :-)   Here’s a few of our favorites:

We started out at the Mesa Temple . . .

I love the light in these next two :-) 

Seriously!  How cute are they? 

There’s several things I love about this next shot – the splash of orange and green, the blueish tint of the windows – but my favorite thing?  Jessica is grabbing John’s ear :-)  See mentioned how she hopes all their kids have John’s adorable “dumbo” ears.  (Her words, not mine John!)  So cute!

Then we headed over to nearby Mesa Arts Center.  It’s such a cool place.  So cool in fact that the main section between the buildings was full of other photographers and their subjects.  So we wondered around to the back and still found some awesome places to shoot.

Love, love, LOVE the colored walls!

Probably my favorite of the whole session :-) 

Things got a little steamy next to the no parking sign :-) . . .

We had big plans for the Penske truck, but security chased us away after only one shot :-( At least it was a good one!

 

We don’t typically like to duplicate photos from one session to another, but they really wanted to do a couple of the same street shots we did during Elizabeth & Kevin’s bridal session.  Here’s a little different twist on the “dip in the street” shot.

Thanks so much you guys!  We had such a great time getting to know you both.

On Thursday, we headed out to The Secret Garden, a beautiful venue in Phoenix, to shoot the wedding of Nicole & Earl.  We’ve been looking forward to this wedding for a while!  We had the opportunity to do engagement portraits for this couple in Sedona a few months back and had such a great time with them.  They are such a fun, loving couple – it was such a joy to see their special day come to fruition :-)  Here are some of our favorites from their day:

The bouquet:

The rings:

Nicole’s dress was so classic and elegant.  I love how this shot of it turned out!  It has a kind of a moody, antique feel to it.

Nicole was such a gorgeous bride!

A few shots of Earl getting ready to go meet his bride . . .

Love the lighting in this one:

Earl and Nicole decided to see each other before the ceremony.

Earl checking out some of the bridesmaid’s handy work.

A few portraits of the couple:

Love this one!  So Nicole & Earl – laughing and having a great time together!

Doesn’t look like we’re in Arizona, does it?

Earl rides a motorcycle so they wanted to have some shots taken with the bike :-)  So fun!  We love it when couples add something a little different to their portraits!

Love this shot of Earl and his guys waiting for the ceremony to begin :-)  It totally looks like we posed this, but Ryan said he just happened to walk around the corner and this is how they were standing!

Nicole and her Dad descended this big staircase to the ceremony.  Check out the view of the mountains behind them!  Beautiful!

It was a lovely ceremony, complete with a very happy bride and groom!

 

The kiss!

 

And now they’re man and wife :-)

From there we headed off to their reception at The Estrella Vista Reception Center in Avondale.  Their first dance was so sweet :-)

What a great night – full of dancing, laughter and love.  Ryan caught the perfect moment with this shot of the garter toss.  Hilarious!

And of course we have to throw in at least one silly dance shot, courtesy of the Matron of Honor and her hubby :-)

One last shot of the newlyweds :-)

A big thanks to Nicole & Earl for letting us be a part of your big day!  We’ve really enjoyed getting to know you and wish you guys the very best of luck!

**** CLICK HERE to view a slide show with lots more images from Nicole & Earl’s wedding!

Last Saturday, we headed out to Encanterra Country Club in Queen Creek to shoot the wedding of Catherine & Daniel.  As is the usual for this time of year, it was over a hundred degrees outside so we were all prepared to get a little hot.  The ceremony was held on the golf course and the reception took place on the patio just behind the clubhouse.  This location was especially fun for Catherine because she works in the Bistro there!  It was a very cute venue, and despite being briefly interrupted by a windy dust storm, the whole day went great.  Here are some of our favorites from their special day:

Catherine had a stylist come to her Mom’s house and do her hair and makeup (along with some of the other members of the bridal party.)  It’s always nice to have someone come in and pamper the bride on her special day!  Here’s the lovely bride getting a few final touches done . . .

Love this next shot!  Doesn’t she look beautiful?

And of course, over at the house, Daniel was hanging out with his guys and enjoying a tasty pre-wedding beverage :-)

The guys always have it SO EASY!  All the guys were ready early so Ryan took them outside to capture a few fun portraits.

Catherine & Daniel decided to see each other before the ceremony.  We recommend this option to all our clients so they can get as many of their photos done before the ceremony as possible.  That way when the ceremony is over they can get to their party MUCH quicker!  And of course, we create a special PRIVATE meeting for each couple to make sure they have a super special and memorable “first look”.  We let the couple have a few minutes to themselves and shoot from far off.  The photos from the first look are always so fun – they really capture the emotion and excitement of the day.
Here’s a shot of Daniel patiently waiting in the hot sun for his bride to arrive . . .

LOVE this next one!  So happy!

Catherine had her heart set on their first look being out on the golf course, but it was SO bright that we all decided to find some shade for a few more portraits.

So cute :-)  I’m pretty sure he was doing an Elvis impersonation to get that smile!

Another beautiful bride!

Here’s Catherine and her girls:

And of course Daniel and his guys . . .

Here’s a shot of the proud papa walking his daughter down the isle for the ceremony.

Catherine started to get a bit emotional as they exchanged vows :-)

Married!

And then it was party time!  Here’s a shot of the reception just after the crazy wind storm.  The dust in the air made for a very cool night scene.

The couple was all smiles as they listened to the Best Man and Matron of Honor give their toasts.

We snapped this one of the very touching father daughter dance . . .

And the rest of the evening was pretty much all about this . . .

Thank you to Catherine & Daniel for letting us be a part of your special day!

*** CLICK HERE to view a slide show of more images from their wedding!