The day that Caleb asked Amanda to marry him, he had an elaborate plan. They would drive up to Sedona and spend a romantic day together in one of their favorite places . . . and then he would pop the question. Well, things didn’t exactly go as planned. On the way up to Sedona, the car broke down. They ended up in Cottonwood and had to wait around for the car issues to get resolved. Not exactly what he had in mind. In a last ditch effort to salvage the day, they decided on a sunset picnic by a lake. Frustrated that the day had taken a turn for the worse, Caleb had pretty much decided to save the proposal for another time, but there was just one thought that he couldn’t seem to shake. While he had been upset and stressed about all the issues they had encountered, Amanda has just rolled with the punches and been totally upbeat and positive. Her attitude in the midst of such a mess was just another confirmation that she would be an amazing wife. As the sun went down, he realized that the day God had planned was even more perfect than what he had imagined. And of course, underneath a star filled night sky, she said “Yes!”

We feel so blessed to be able to tell love stories like theirs. Not only are Amanda & Caleb deeply in love with one another, they also know that it’s because God has brought them together. That is one AMAZING love story if you ask me! Today, on the day that this blog will post, they will become man and wife :-) We had the huge pleasure of hanging out with these two last Saturday to capture their bridal session. And since it is one of their favorite places, we thought it made perfect sense to do their photos among the iconic red rocks of Sedona.

(Please sign the guestbook if you’d like to be notifed when the rest of their photos are online.)

The day began at the Los Abrigados Resort. Their first look was soooo sweet and totally filled with emotion. I swear they forgot that we were even there!

They were so in the moment, we didn’t want to interrupt them to start doing some portraits! Adorable :-)

These two were such a joy to shoot all day. I mean seriously, how adorable is this?

You know it’s going to be a good day when you get shots like this within the first 10 minutes :-) Absolutely love this shot that Ryan took. Pretty sure that this will be a canvas print hanging in our studio someday.

Next we headed over to Tlaquepaque. Amanda really wanted to find a spiral staircase. We weren’t sure that there would be one in the area but we thought it was worth a look around to see what we could find.

We had been in the area for maybe 10 minutes when all of a sudden, we started to feel rain drops . . . uh-oh. We headed to this little tunnel for cover and just as we got inside we realized that it was not only raining, but it was actually HAILING! In typical Amanda & Caleb fashion, the two lovebirds made the best of their downtime with a bit of snuggling. Not a care in the world :-)

One of the store owners nearby happened to notice us and asked if we wanted to come into her store to get out of the weather. “You may even want to take some photos in here actually” she said, ” The store is really cool – I even have a spiral staircase.” You would think getting stuck in a hail storm during a bridal session would be a bad thing, but not for us. We had somebody looking out for us all along and HE was determined to lead us right where we needed to be :-)

After a short hail delay, we were able to venture back out for a few more shots before heading to our next location. This is another one of my favorites from the whole day! Love the moody feel and their sweet embrace.

On our way to Red Rock Crossing, we pulled over and hiked up a hill to take advantage some classic Sedona views!

We heart these two!

Another favorite :-) Love their interaction.

We finally made it creek side. By this time the sun was setting pretty fast, but the scene was just amazing.

I think this photo is proof that my husband is hillarious. I don’t know what he said, but it must have been pretty funny to get this laugh! (Maybe it was his, “You’re gonna love these pictures” song?

Gorgeous couple + beautiful setting = Photo Heaven

Um-Yeah. They can work it too!

Love the texture of the ground in this one. And the trees too. It feels very “wintery”.

All for of us were having so much fun we weren’t really ready to stop shooting, but sadly, we did eventually run out of sunlight. Boo.

To check out more photos from their session, click on the slideshow button below and make sure to stay tuned for their wedding day photos coming to the blog soon!

To Amanda & Caleb: we feel so honored that you choose us to capture such precious memories. Your love is so beautiful and pure. We have full confidence that God will bless your marriage in ways you can’t even imagine! We enjoyed our time together so much and can’t wait to watch you two make it official!

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Couples come to us all the time looking for answers about their wedding photography. Here are a few questions that we hear a lot:

“We want to get married at our church, but it’s not very pretty and we’re afraid we’re going to miss out on having great photos.”

“We want awesome shots of us as a couple, but we also don’t want to miss out on spending time with our family and friends on our wedding day.”

“We are on a tight budget so we’re having a friend take photos on our wedding day, but we really want to have a professional take the most important shots – the ones of us as a couple.”

The answer: A Bridal Session!

A bridal session is a portrait session of a couple in their bridal attire on a day other than their wedding day. These types of sessions can take place before or after the wedding. The concept may be a little untraditional, but it can also be the perfect solution for couples struggling with how photography will play a role in their big day. In addition to that, we LOVE to shoot them! We decided that rather than have us tell you how awesome bridal sessions are, we’d have some of our past clients do it for us! We sent a little survey to three of our awesome couples and here’s what they had to say about their experience . . .

Why did you choose a bridal session?

Meghan & Matt: We choose the bridal session for two reasons: we wanted to get some great photos of Matt and I in our wedding attire and secondly, we wanted our wedding day to just be about our love and sharing that love with friends and family. The bridal session enabled us to get amazing wedding photos with many different poses and backdrops without worrying about taking time away from the activities on our actual wedding day. On our wedding day we had no idea when photos were being taken, we were simply in the moment. I think that’s the way it should be!

Julie & Jimmy: We decided to do a bridal session to eliminate stress and pressure from the day of our wedding. I wanted our photo session to be a personal, intimate time as a couple that did not have the pressure of time and schedule. We also had the chance to use a unique location for our bridal session other than our actual wedding venue. In addition, taking photos on the day of the wedding keeps your guests waiting around and getting impatient so we wanted to minimize that too.

Katie & Justin: We chose a bridal session for many reasons, but primarily to allow us to have a variety of backdrops for our wedding photos. We knew our backyard would be a great ceremony site, but did not offer many photo backdrops. By choosing a bridal session we could choose a location that reflected our personalities and taste. On top of that, by shooting our photos before the wedding we were able to spend more time taking our photos and enjoying our wedding day with our family and friends. After all, you pay for the wedding you should be there to enjoy it, right?

How did you choose the setting for your session?

Meghan & Matt: We choose Sedona for our bridal session because that’s where we were getting married. We originally choose Sedona because that’s where Matt proposed while we were in college :)

Julie & Jimmy: We were blessed to have someone volunteer their amazing old fashion 1920′s car and their beautiful home and landscape for our photo session. The scenery and old car totally fit the classical big band theme of our wedding. Our second location was a suggestion from Ryan and Denise. The resort had a great variety of backgrounds and was very clean so I we wouldn’t have to worry about getting my dress too dirty.

Katie & Justin: We were very conflicted on what type of location we wanted for our bridal session. Justin wanted an intimate location well known to us. I wanted a picturesque location with a lot of background options. Ryan & Denise listened to our needs and came up with the perfect place – Jerome, AZ. With the small town Arizona feel that we love, we were able to have the best of both worlds.

Tell us about your “first look”. What was it like? What kind of emotions did you experience?

Meghan & Matt: The “first look” was AMAZING! I was filled with excitement to see my handsome soon to be husband in his tux. I have to admit, I did get a little teary eyed. It’s a magical moment meant just for the bride and groom (I will remember the look on Matts face forever).

Julie & Jimmy: (Jimmy) I was anixous to see her and when I did she looked so beautiful. She was breath taking. (Julie) The thing I liked about the first look was that I had the freedom to react and have personal moments with Jimmy. Our first look was filled with tears, hugs and some sass ;-) I have such amazing photos capturing a progression of emotions that I would not have been able to express while walking down the aisle. Our first look photos captured our personality and approach to each other; they are some of my favorite ones.

Katie & Justin: When we were deciding whether to do a bridal session, I had been worried about our “first look” not being at the ceremony. Would the ceremony still be as special? Absolutely yes. Seeing my husband waiting for me at the top of the aisle was an exciting moment that our “first look” could have never changed. Our first look was in a park in the heart of Jerome, AZ, just a few days before our wedding. Ryan & Denise scouted the location before the “first look” in order to find a gorgeous and intimate backdrop. They thought of every detail in choosing the location – from the ivy enveloped staircase straight from a fairy tale to the perfect lighting. When I arrived at the top of the staircase, Justin was faced away from me. Justin and I were both giddy with excitement about this moment. We had looked forward to it almost as much as our wedding day. When it was time for me to call Justin’s name to turn around, I couldn’t stop giggling. Knowing I was there, Justin turned and smiled. We kissed and we laughed. It was the perfect start to our wedding weekend.

What was the most memorable part of the experience?

Meghan & Matt: We loved hanging out with Ryan and Denise and coming up with all kinds of different photo ideas. The most memorable for me was getting in the water with our wedding attire on . . . burr! I love the pictures and it was so fun! Ryan and Denise were troopers, and they even got partially into the water too!

Julie & Jimmy: The most memorable part was probably our first look. Also, there are so many fun moments we had with the old fashion car. One of my favorite moments I did not even know was being captured till I saw the photos. There is a great shot of me resting in Jimmy’s arms during a break when we didn’t even know they were shooting!

Katie & Justin: Because of our location, we were able to walk around and explore on foot. We found stairways, courtyards, benches, windows, and nooks that we felt were our very own; each one was a special memory. We remember the bench that seemed sculpted from ivy and twinkle lights, the jungle gym where we played (yes, in our suit & dress!), the baby blue VW bug behind the “No Trespassing” sign, and the inconspicuous parking lot with the amazing view. Our bridal session became a memory in itself, apart from our wedding day.

Would you recommend this type of session to another couple and why?

Meghan & Matt: I would highly recommend a bridal session to other couples. Actually, my advice would be that it’s mandatory. The bridal session decreases stress and increases happiness on your big day!

Julie & Jimmy: Absolutely! By doing a bridal session, we were able to have multiple locations outside of our wedding location. We were also able to have personal intimate time on a relaxed schedule taking away the pressure of our wedding day. We have photos of intimate moments and photos that capture how we interact over just posed shots.

Katie & Justin: In talking to my married friends, many regret that they rushed their photos in order to get to their reception. They were often disappointed by the number of photos or the lack of variety. By choosing a bridal session we didn’t have to sacrifice the number or quality of the photos. The bridal session allowed us snuggle and kiss for an entire day AND experience our entire wedding reception. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

For more information about bridal sessions, feel free to email us at studio@simplyknotphotos.com.

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I know we’re already 18 days into 2010, but as long as it’s still January, we decided that it was not too late for one more 2009 wrap up post.  It was such a great year full of awesome images so we selected some of our favorite photos from the year to feature one more time on our blog.  We love so many, it was really hard to choose!  It kinda ended up coming down to what makes each individual image special to us.  Some of them have great color or amazing light, some make us laugh, some make us remember a particularly sweet moment, some totally capture the personalities of the couple and some just make us say, “Wow, that shot ROCKS!”.  We’d love it if you would take a moment to tell us which shots make the top of your list by leaving a comment at the bottom of the post.  It’s ok – you can choose more than one if you want to :-)  They’re each numbered to make voting super easy.

So here they are, in no particular order . . .

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Don’t forget to tell us which ones are your favorites by leaving a comment below!

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