We started out at the Biltmore for a little practice run.  Great shot of proud papa Lionel and the gorgeous bride waiting to walk down the isle. 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Not only did her dad walk Dasia down the isle, but he also performed their ceremony.  Looks like they’re all having a pretty good time up there!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

One of my favorite parts of the evening was the ride to dinner after the rehearsal.  They rented a super fun party bus, compelete with dancing poles, to transport the whole group!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Everybody got in on the action!  Hillarious! 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Dinner took place at Sushi Roku located in the W Hotel in Scottsdale.  Stylish and super chic – a perfect fit for this bride & groom! 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Seriously!  They were such a fun group! 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

The decor at the W was really awesome and full of color.  We just had to steal Dasia & Scott away for a few quick photos. 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

The rest of the night was full of fun . . . 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Lots of photos . . . 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Plenty of laughter . . . 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

And a good amount of silliness too! 

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Thanks for letting us be a part of it you guys!

- Denise

View Portfolio | Become a Fan | Contact: info@simplyknotphotography.com

(no loves yet – be the first!)

On Saturday I headed to California Pizza Kitchen at the Arizona Biltmore to shoot a baby shower for Karina & Susan.  Since baby showers tend to be a pretty girly affair, Ryan opted to let me cover this event without him. It’s a good thing too, because the place was packed!  There was barely room for ONE photographer :-)  Ryan and I had a wedding to go to later that night so I was only able to stay for part of the shower, but I had a great time capturing this very special event.

Karina and Susan are good friends of my sister Amy.  Karina and Amy work together as labor & delivery nurses at Maricopa County hospital.  You may remember her as the party planner extraordinaire from Amy’s shower way back in July of 2008.  Karina & Susan are expecting their first baby, a little girl named Greyson in April.  From all the friends and family that showed up to celebrate with them, I’m sure that Greyson is going to be well loved :-)

As is usually the case with baby showers, there were lots of fun details.  Kudos to the party planners!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

I super loved the cake made out of diapers – doesn’t SOUND very appetizing, but it made for super cute baby shower decor :-)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

There was a real cake too of course!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Party planner Jadie putting some finishing touches on the decor.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Here’s a shot of the mommies-to-be surveying all of their goodies!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

They’re doing Greyson’s room with a Lamb theme so there was plenty of cute lambies in among the goodies.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

He he he . . . this gift bag made me smile :-)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

A few of the happy party goers . . .

(no loves yet – be the first!)

What baby shower would be complete without a baby?  And what baby is more adorable than my niece Makena!  Amy, Makena and our Mom showed up right before I had to leave, but I managed to grab at least one quick shot of her “working the room”.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Here’s a shot of Karina, Susan and all their “COPA” friends

(no loves yet – be the first!)

One last shot of the Mommies-to-be :-)  Thanks for letting me be a part of your celebration – can’t wait to meet Greyson!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Yesterday, I shot a baby shower for one of my favorite clients – my sister Amy :-)  She’s due to deliver our first little niece in September and Ryan and I could not be more excited about it!  One of Amy’s good friends Corina, hosted the shower on Saturday at the Claim Jumper Restaurant in Tempe.  Probably the largest baby shower I’ve even been too, the group pretty much filled up the private party room.  Here’s a shot of the room before all of the guests had even arrived yet.

(no loves yet – be the first!)

The gals did a wonderful job of organizing and decorating for the celebration.  Here are a few of the fun details!  Everything they used for decor where items that she can use when the baby comes.

Amy loves turtles so the diaper/turtle toy center pieces were especially appropriate :-)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Loved the purple flowers – and the fact that the vases were baby bottles off of Amy’s registry!  So clever :-)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Some happy party guests . . .

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Here’s a shot of Amy and Corina – the party planner extraordinaire!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

And what baby shower would be complete without a couple of cute babies?  These kids got passed around so much I’m still not really sure who they belong too!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Here’s the Mommy to be getting ready to open gifts – doesn’t she have that adorable “pregnant woman glow”?  She looks so happy :-)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

 So cute!!! Notice the turtle theme?

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Apparently the “Diaper Genie” is a MUST HAVE new mommy gift.  Gotta love Amy’s reaction to the cheering and applause of all the experienced mommies in the room.  Who knew something with the word diaper in it could be such a crowd pleaser?

(no loves yet – be the first!)

And last but not least, MY favorite baby gift - tiny pink Cros!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

They’ll match Amy’s perfectly . . .

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Loving that baby belly!

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Thanks to everyone for creating such an awesome shower for my beautiful sister!  And to that little girl in there – we can’t wait to meet you, but you’re not allowed to be born until I get to feel you move!  (She’s always quiet when I’m around - so stubborn already!  Guess it runs in the family, ha ha ha!)

I shot a golf tournament last Monday, but we’ve honestly been so busy this past week that this is the first chance I’ve had to post about it.  Monday feels like a long time ago to me, but I guess not too much time has actually past since the ridiculous sunburn I got shooting the event STILL hasn’t gone away!

The Perfect Match Golf Classic is an annual fundraiser for United Blood Services.  Sponsors and supporters of the non-profit gather each year to enjoy a round of golf and a fun day in the sun to raise money for the cause.  This year’s event was held at the Sun Ridge Canyon Golf Club in Fountain Hills, Arizona.

The course is really beautiful.  Filled with desert flowers and lovely views of the mountains.

And what course would be complete without a little desert wildlife?

The tournament began with a shot gun start.  Each foursome starts off at the clubhouse and when the signal is given, they each head out to their assigned starting hole.  It’s quite a sight watching all the carts heading out at the same time.

LOVED the colors in this next one.

Some more fun shots . . .

I thought it was kinda funny how many of the sophisticated golfers had silly little club covers!

The valley Saturn car dealers were one of the sponsors of event.  There was a couple of holes throughout the course where players could win a car if they made a hole in one.  Here’s a shot of the super cute Saturn SKY that was displayed near the clubhouse.

At the end of the day, there was a putting contest to win a trip to Vegas . . .

Love this reaction shot – SO CLOSE!

And what would be a more fitting end to the day than a couple of cigars?

Thanks to United Blood Services for asking me to be a part of such a fun event!

Paris came to town last night at the Phoenix Art Museum as United Blood Services hosted their annual Silent Heroes recognition dinner to honor valley platelet donors. These special donors take several hours out of their day up to 24 times a year to give the gift of life to valley hospital patients. This event is always one of the highlights of the UBS calendar! Each year carries with it a super fun theme and a brand new venue to host these everyday heroes.

I was working at this particular event, but decided it was going to be far too fabulous to attend without my camera in tow! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all things Paris so I have to admit that I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while now.

The event was held in one of the large galleries, complete with lovely works of art on each wall.

I was fascinated by the hallway through which the guests entered the main part of the museum. It’s lined through out with mirrored circles that cast fun reflections everywhere.

There were of course, tons of fun details! Each of the tables was named after a Parisian landmark and held a beautiful centerpiece with it’s own LCD light. (Flowers by Cactus Flower Florists.)

Even the food was filled with lovely colors!

But my absolute favorite detail would have to be the awards!

And what evening in Paris would be complete without it’s very own Can Can dancers?

The museum itself is such a cool place! I highly recommend you stop in and take a look around. The collection housed there includes a mix of many genres including contemporary and classic art, paintings, sculpture and even a fashion exhibit. There’s something for everyone!  I think the design of the building alone is worth the visit.

I shot this fun glimpse of one of the galleries as a reflection off a piece of sculpture by Anish Kapoor.  If you look really close you can see a tiny figure standing in the middle with a camera in hand - that’s me :-)

OK, just a couple more – on the side of the building facing McDowell, there are these cool LCD light people that are constantly walking. What can I say, I’m easily fascinated – I thought they were super cool!

Overall, it was a great event! Congratulations to all the wonderful platelet donors who received awards – you are truly heroes to Arizona hospital patients!

To find out more about platelet donation, please visit www.UnitedBloodServicesAZ.org.

Our snowy road trip came to an end at the Raddison Woodlands Hotel in Flagstaff, the location for the Northern Arizona Valentines for Life Reception.   The purpose of this very special event was to honor northern and central Arizona blood drive coordinators who’s heroic efforts brought in over 100,000 blood donations for hospital patients in 2007!  All the guests seemed to really enjoy the evening.

Here’s a few detail shots:

The YUMMY dessert tray :-)

The room looked really lovely.

Donor Recruitment Rep Ken Kotalik and his lovely wife Jennifer.

I was not the only photog in the crowd! Gotta love those handy camera phones.

Here’s a shot of the wonderful Emcee Liz Lemmer of Channel 2 News getting the program started.

The Hero Award – only 16 organizations out of 500 reached this prestigious award level in 2007.

The fabulous Hero Award winners, joined by Emcee Liz Lemmer and Donor Recruitment Director Carla Fields.

The program wrapped up with a touching Testimonial from former Tempe Police officer, Scott Tipton. Scott was shot in the line of duty and thanks 27 blood donors for helping to save his life.

Scott’s story was a great way to wrap up the evening.  Every one in the room was reminded of the importance of blood donation and how vital it can be to save lives.  All the coordinators left feeling appreciated and inspired to continue their efforts in 2008.

The evening came to an end and it was time to pack up the car and head home to the valley. Thanks to United Blood Services for letting me be a part of this special event!

For more information about blood donation or coordinating a blood drive for your organization, please visit www.UnitedBloodServicesAZ.org.

A few weeks ago I shot an event at Dave & Buster’s in the new Tempe Marketplace.  What a fun place!!!  The event was a one day retreat for all the United Blood Services donor recruitment staff.  They are a hard working group of people and definitely deserved a fun day away from the office.  The role of this department is literally to go out into the general public and get donors to give blood . . . through whatever means necessary.  Often times this means long days, evening and weekends and lots and lots of “No Thanks”.

The purpose behind the event was to motivate the staff and thank everyone for all their hard-work in 2007.  The staff at Dave & Buster’s lead the group in a couple of really fun games which made for some great photo opportunities!

It was fun watching the employees cheering each other on

A little B-Ball action

Photo Booth Fun

Score!!!!!!!

And down the stretch they come!

I loved the reflections in this shot

We’re talking SERIOUS FUN here people

Looks like somebody hit the jackpot

The day ended with a sparkling apple cider toast and the presentation of awards.

And of course a little silliness . . .

Click here to see a slide show of the event. Thanks for letting me shoot this one – it was really a fun event!

As you can probably tell, I’m busy playing catch up on my blog from all the holiday activities. This is my 4th blog in 3 days with several more to come!

Before the Christmas bustle even began, I was busy planning an event for United Blood Services as part of my day job. The event was a big community blood drive hosted by the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

As you may know, the holiday season is traditionally one of the most diffucult times of the year to maintain the blood supply for Arizona hospitals. With many regular donors vacationing and keeping busy with holiday preparations, blood donations tend to decline. What most people don’t realize is that it takes over 700 blood donors A DAY to maintain our state’s blood supply and that doesn’t exclude the holidays!

The event at Jobing.com was held in an effort to vamp up the blood supply for the holiday season. The event was a huge success! Over 1oo people came out to donate. I was in charge of the event, so I didn’t have much time for a lot of shooting, but I did get some fun shots here and there. Here’s a few of my favorites:

The Coyotes provided this super fun inflatable slapshot for our kids area. Here’s one of our volunteers testing his skills.

Here’s a shot of some of our staff hard at work.

A hockey league practiced on the arena floor while our staff ate lunch.

Thanks to all those who came out to give blood! It was really fun to see all the holiday spirit . . .

. . . and the Coyotes fans too!

Our talented graphic designer Chris, had taken time off for the holidays, but he and his wife Lori came by to donate at the event.

Overall, it was a great event and most importantly, over a hundred donations were made that will benefit Arizona hospital patients.

For more information about blood donation, visit www.UnitedBloodServicesAZ.org.

Hello readers! I’ve been so busy these last two weeks I’ve been neglecting my blog a little, but now I’m ready to get you all caught up! This past Saturday, I attended a baby shower for my good friend Krissy Duley. She and her husband Bill moved to Ohio a few months back just after finding out that they were expecting their first child. Because she’s now lives so far away, Saturday was our first chance to see her with a baby belly! She looks so cute and happy! The shower was lots of fun, complete with silly shower games and ultra cute, baby sized presents. Here’s some fun shots from the party:

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

(no loves yet – be the first!)

Congratulations Krissy and Baby Boy Duley! We’ll miss you guys! To view all the images from the shower click here.

On Wednesday, I shot another event for United Blood Services. The event was their annual training session and awards banquet for the High School Blood Drive Challenge. High schools around the state compete in the challenge to earn awards based on the blood drive participation at their school. Few people realize how important high school students are to the Arizona blood supply. In fact, high school students have become the single largest donor group in the state. This event is aimed at training students to maximize their blood drive potential as well as recognizing the schools that achieved awards from the previous school year. The program, as well as this event, is generously sponsored by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

This year, the training session portion of the event was actually held on top of the dugout at Chase field. It was really fun to be so close to the field, although it sure created some unusual lighting to work with. The roof was open so the field was bathed in bright sunlight, while the stands were in dark shade. The photos may have suffered some, but the students seemed to really enjoy the experinence. Here’s a few shots from the day: