Back in January we had the pleasure of shooting a family/engagement session for Melissa & Bryan.  Last Saturday we got to shoot their wedding reception! It was so much fun to see these two and their families get down on the dance floor!  They had a beautiful wedding in Hawaii last week with the kids and some close family so when they came home they wanted to celebrate with all of their friends and family. It was a bit rainy on Saturday, but the rain let up just in time for us to snap a few portraits before the reception got underway.

Such a cute couple :-)

The reception was held at the Firerock Country Club in Fountain Hills. The party started with the entrance of Melissa and Bryan with kidos David and Michael hand in hand.

They went right into their first dance . . .

About half way through the first dance, Melissa and Bryan had a bit of a surprise for everyone – including US!   Their sweet love song was interrupted with a fast one and they rocked it out on the dance floor!  It was awesome!

Everyone seemed to enjoy it . . .

 The Family Dance was really sweet. I think little David wanted to cut in.

The reception was decorated with lots of great details . . .

Melissa and Bryan didn’t want to get too messy with the cake. They were very polite.

Then it was time for some insane dance moves.

Even the kids were showing off their mad dance skills . . .

It’s fun to stay at the . . .

Thank you Melissa and Bryan for allowing us to be a part of the evening! We had a blast!  

Today was a beautiful day :-)  I got to stand beside my oldest and dearest friend as she married the man of her dreams.  Julie & Jimmy – we couldn’t be happier for you guys!  We love you both soooooo much!  Now, just to set the record straight, we did NOT shoot their wedding.  Being the maid of honor comes with a lot of duties, but “photographer” is not one of them!  Julie and I agreed earlier on that she’d much rather have me IN her wedding party enjoying the day with her than shooting it, so I actually got to be IN some photos today.  However, last weekend Ryan and I were so blessed to have the chance to do a bridal session for them in preparation for the big day.

Their session was SO much fun and turned out SO awesome, it’s been really hard to keep all these great images to ourselves for a whole week.  But of course, we didn’t want to spoil the surprise for everybody else so now that their officially man and wife, it’s time to share :-)  I should warn you all now, that I LOVE LOVE LOVE this couple so this is gonna be a long one.  My apologies in advance . . .

Jimmy had not seen Julie in her dress before our session so we set up a very special “first look” for them.  There were some tears . . . well mostly, Jimmy’s :-) . . . and it was so much fun for us to see how overjoyed they were!

Jimmy & Julie were at a car show a few months back and stumbled upon this fabulous “1928 Packard Super 8″ owned by a super sweet gentelman by the name of Dennis.  When they told him that they were getting married and would love his car be a part of their weddng photos, he very generously offered to let us come to his house and shoot their session there!  So awesome!  We could not have asked for a better location and the car fit perfectly with their vintage look.  Dennis, thank you SOOO much for helping us create these fabulous memories for them!  We had a blast!

Love this fun portrait of Jimmy in the review mirror . . .

And Julie looked absolutely STUNNING!  She had her doubts along the way as to whether or not she could “pull off” the vintage look, but as I think you’d all agree, she totally ROCKED it!

I know they’re our friends and all, but I just gotta say it – they are one HOT couple!  And so much fun to be around at the same time!  Who says you can’t have looks AND personality?

I want to say that these next two are some of my favorites from the whole day, but the truth is I love SO many of them it’s impossible to choose!

Jimmy was full of creative ideas!  He came up with some really fun “situational” poses like this next one . . . hilarious!  Such good little actors :-)

Not only was the Packard Super 8 fabulous!  Dennis also had a garage full of other awesome cars.  Love all the great colors!

Love the motion and the way her train is draped in this one . . .

Next we headed up the road to one of my favorite resorts, the JW Marriott Desert Ridge.  The property there is beautiful inside and out so we just took our time and wandered around finding all kinds of cool places to shoot.

Lovin’ the escalator shot . . .

We decided to play around with some fun editing to really pull of the vintage look for this one . . . what do you think?

Their expressions are so cute in this one – Jimmy’s looking very GQ and Julie looks like she just can’t believe she scored such a hottie . . .  (That one’s for you Jimmy ;-)

How cute are they?

One final shot – such a sweet moment between them :-)

To Julie & Jimmy: we’re so happy for you guys!  We feel so lucky to have been able to share in this amazing time in your lives and feel so blessed that you wanted us to help you capture it.  Thank you guys for everything!  We love you!

Please, please, please check out their slideshow by clicking on the “View Slideshow” button!  LOTS  more awesome photos of this beautiful couple.  And don’t forget to tell us what you think by leaving a comment below!

Our niece Makena is six months old!  I can’t believe how fast time has flown by and how much she has changed since the day she was born.  On Sunday, we met my sister Amy, her husband Jim and Makena at Freestone Park in Gilbert to take some family photos for them.  My mom Nancy also came along to help us keep Makena entertained.  She was so funny making ducky noises and jumping up and down with us to get her to smile!  At one point she even did some reflector work for us – thanks for all your help Mom!  We know who to call next time we need an assistant :-)

Here are some of our favorites from their session:

LOVED Ryan’s perspective for this shot of them on the bridge :-)

Makena and her proud Mommy & Daddy . . .

This one of them playing makes me smile and I super love the colors! So cute!

At one point, I JOKINGLY suggested that Jim hold Makena upside down for a few shots – I should have known better!  Ha ha ha!  She looks a little confused, but seems to be having a pretty good time . . . .

“Nana” got in on the action too :-)

Some fun shots of little miss Makena :-)  What a cutie!!!

LOVE the colors in this detail shot Ryan grabbed while she was modeling her blue hawaiian dress :-)

And this last one is just too cute for words!

Love you guys!