Not a nerve, only calm confidence. She slipped on her Jim Hjelm gown, and her attendants slaved over the perfect bow tying and retying until it hung exactly right. She steadied herself and slid her feet into her adorable Kate Spade heels. They sparkled as much as her smile. Jenny touched up her makeup and Kristal put the final pins in her hair… Kelsey just laughed easily and talked about her excitement for the evening. Ready and waiting almost an hour early for her time to see Justin, Kelsey was the vision of perfection.

Justin and Kelsey…. so sweet, so endearing, so in love. Where one of them lets go, the other picks up. Kelsey would describe her husband as shy. He’s more of the strong silent type, where Kelsey couldn’t be more opposite. Her bubbly little personality warms you to the core from the moment you meet. They are each others’ perfect compliment. We broke into what makes them tick at their springtime engagement session. It had me anxious for more!

Justin carried his father’s pocket watch. A charming heartfelt memento of a father I’m sure would be so proud of his son on his wedding day.

We headed to the roof of Hotel 1000 for their first look, and some stunning Seattle views. If you’ve been a long time reader of my blog you know how much I love the first look. From my own experience, to watching other couples share this intimate moment… I just think they’re amazing.

Kelsey’s favorite flower… and I can see why… made for a STUNNING bouquet. Flown in from some rare South American location and then artfully assembled by Maureen at Posh.

These girls call themselves Alvin and the chipmunks. So allow me to introduce you to Simon, Alvin and Theodore. :-)

So sweet…

I must say… Herban Feast really outdoes themselves everytime. I absolutely adore them.

Justin and Kelsey’s all star lineup:

Venue: Sodo Park by Herban Feast

Coordinator: Bobbi Roth Wedding Design

Floral: Posh Wedding Flowers

DJ: Adam Tiegs, Adam’s DJ Service

Lighting: Adam Tiegs, Adam’s DJ Service

Dress: Jim Hjelm,  La Belle Elaines

Hair: Kristal Locke, Lockes on Location

Makeup: Jenny Bowker Makeup

Getting Ready location: Hotel 1000

Cake: Ashleigh Stebner

Officiant: Rev. Ray Van Winkle

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One year since my fiance saw me for the first time in my wedding dress.

I’ll never ever forget that moment: time absolutely stood still, and we were the only people in the room… I’ve watched the playback on CreativeLive (admittedly maybe one too many times) and I can’t believe how LONG it was. We had so much build up coming to this moment, so many stressful moments in planning a four week wedding, it all clashed together right when we saw each other. It was all worth it for this moment. I think I really realized that no matter if we had planned our wedding in 18 months or one, we would have had the same family drama, the same decisions over linen color, the same stressful tears. Ours was just bottled up and served in a 4 week time frame. We held each other during our first look, and both of us let go, it was here. Nothing could stop the freight train now, and at the end of tomorrow the only thing that would matter is that he would be my husband and I would be his wife. I laugh now, because most of my first looks as a photographer last about a minute tops. Ours was probably almost ten. Sorry about that.

One unreal experience.

For those of you who don’t know, a year ago, my husband and I got married live on the internet. We won a contest that provided us with our dream wedding for free. It was part of a wedding photography workshop offered by CreativeLive with uber famous and talented rockstar photographer Jasmine Star.  Today marks the one year anniversary of the first day of the rest of our lives. I’m so thankful for everyone who made our “I do’s” possible. I’ve been pretty quiet about the entire thing, both here and in real life. Honestly, I was trying to live it like a bride, and I think afterward I suffered from a slight-to-moderate case of PTSD.

One amazing photographer.

It’s never good to open on a bad note, but I want to address that I heard through the grapevine, some people had a negative attitude while watching the class. I guess I should expect that everyone will have opinions, and success generally breeds jealousy and envy. Dale Carnegie said, “The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.” Jasmine really took a giant leap in putting herself out there for the sake of educating other photographers, and as a photographer myself, I’m grateful for her fearlessness. It’s no easy feat to be placed in front of the entire world of your peers. Criticism is to be expected, but to those who were cruel and personal about it, shame on you and your small ugly minds. It’s easy to forget that words have impact, and as my father always said, “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all”.

I want to say a few NICE words from a brides perspective on working with Jasmine as my photographer. First off, I will admit, I knew Jasmine before this all happened. I started reading her blog 3-4 years ago. Her canter and her wit made her blog a nice escape from my desk job at the time. I wasn’t a wedding photographer, nor did I have aspirations to be one. I was climbing my way up the commercial photography industry with dreams of becoming the next cover of Gourmet magazine, or maybe just being published.. anywhere… ever. Food, lifestyle, architecture, that was my life. I felt first love for Jasmine, and then understood her work. When I made the decision to change my path, I attended her very first workshop. So yes, maybe I’m biased, because I love her and don’t feel threatened by her openess. In fact, I hope it’s contagious and I catch it.

Seeing photographers from a Brides perspective was a different way to view the world I lived in. I’m a visual person. I realized the vision of what I wanted my wedding images to look like. How I saw myself through the camera…. Jasmine might not have been my first choice. Let’s be honest, she wasn’t even in the running because I’m not necessarily her bride, I’m poor.  As it worked out, the thought of having Jasmine as our wedding photographer was as much a thrill as the wedding itself. We understood the connection she made with her clients, we could see it in her work. We put our trust wholeheartedly in her.

Jasmine’s selling point isn’t in her technical ability, her Photoshop skills, her posing, her eye. All of those are strong, this is true, but none of those are what we saw in her work.

Jasmine connected with us. She KNEW us. What we see in our wedding images is our connection with each other… and that was made possible because we are relaxed and comfortable with her. She took the time to learn about our family and friends and made them feel important and included. We saw that, we noticed that. She must have asked me 5 or 6 times on my wedding day how I was doing, how I was feeling, did I need anything? She and JD (and maybe another photographer or two?) made a point to take a gorgeous portrait during cocktail hour of every guest that attended our wedding. Our images might not be heavily composed, or lit, or photoshopped. They might not be cutting edge poses, or something you haven’t seen before, but they are of US, and we cherish them because they remind us of how we felt on our wedding day, of how our photographers made us feel while we were taking them, of how we felt toward each other, of how our guests felt about being there. These are all things that make our experience as her clients unmatched. We will forever be evangelists for her and her business.

Can you believe I have nothing negative to say? I’m trying to come up with something to keep it objective…. If I think of something I’ll edit it in.

I’ve only ever shared detail photos on this blog, but today I wanted to share with you some of the images I cherish from our wedding day. I hope you’ll be surprised.

I love this photo, it’s of me and I can’t believe how sexy, feminine and glamorous this makes me look. It’s just of my feet! Which I’ve never liked by the way. This photo makes me love my feet, and especially those shoes on my feet.

This photo is SO BILLY…. it cracks me up. This is how he puts on his shirts every morning. Why would his wedding day be any different? Notice: the tie is already tied on the shirt, and it’s completely buttoned. Weirdo. I adore this image of him.

Each one of these women means the world to me.

This image perfectly illustrates what I was trying to describe. I am so soaked in him, and when I see this picture it takes me right back. It was so natural. I love that I’m holding his hand behind my back, and intertwined with him like I never want to let go. It still makes me cry to see this.

To me, this image exudes confidence. Neither of us were scared, timid or unsure of the commitment we were about to make. This images shows the strength of our love.

One image that says it all.

This is it. If I only had this one image from our wedding day, I would be happy. This is the moment right after we exited the building from our ceremony. It’s a split second, and I can’t believe Jasmine was even there, I don’t remember her being there. This image sits framed on my desk, and every time I steal a glance, it makes me cry. I love this image above every other.

This is somewhat of an inside joke. But I can share with you that it involves a very embarrassing moment between one of my bridesmaids, and my father-in-law. I’m not sure which photographer snagged this gem, but I love you forever.

This picture is so perfect on so many levels. These two can gab on the phone for hours. It’s ridiculous. You would think I live with a 13 year-old girl with the amount of giggling, feet kicking and hysterical banter that goes back and forth. These two are soul mates, well second to me.

The atmosphere of the evening… so memorable, so awesome.

One Million Thank you’s:

Thank you Jasmine, JD, Sachin, Nate, Victoria, Stephanie, and Audrey for your breathtaking imagery and commitment to making this entire experience for us about us.

Thank you Celeste for being a shoulder to cry on and an advocate for me, and for holding everything together. To you I give: producer of the year.

Thank you Craig for believing that everything I could dream was possible.

Thank you Chase for letting me have my chairs.

Thank you world wide web for all of your cheers and congratulatory tweets on our wedding day, it wouldn’t have happened without you.

Thank you Billy for asking me to marry you, and agreeing to take this leap of faith in life starting with this very bizarre way to plan a wedding.

One incredible year full of life’s unyielding changes and triumphs.

One UNREAL honeymoon to Europe (which I can’t remember if I blogged about, so probably not… maybe I should do that).

One amazing meal on the day of our wedding.

Or actually two if you count last night. Last night we went out to Russell’s to celebrate our first year of marriage. Chef Ben Riggs re-created our wedding menu just for us. It was like living it all over again… so divine. We were so busy hiding during cocktail hour, coupled with the fact that they were so delectable, the appetizers went really fast. I didn’t get a single one. AND my bustier was so tight, I couldn’t enjoy much of my dinner. In fact, I got up halfway through the main course, went in the bathroom, took it off and threw it in the trash. The next person who threw their paper towel away was probably pretty alarmed. :-) Russell was right… with everything going on at the event, the only thing the guests still comment on, is the food.

Last night I wore a really comfortable outfit and stuffed my face.

One tiny life that is growing inside of me. Loved already so much by these two parents.  Maybe it’s the hormones, but I’ve never felt happiness and excitement quite like this. We are overjoyed with the realization that our dreams of having a family together are very near.

Looking at the above picture now, I probably shouldn’t have been holding Billy’s wine. But that’s just my sense of humor :-) I promise, I was only smelling it.

Thank you for reading this far.

All our love,

Laura and Billy

Planning a wedding is tough cookies. 99% of the reason we entered the contest, and put ourselves through planning a wedding in 4 weeks is because we couldn’t decide… on eh-nay-thang. There are SO many choices, so many resources, and so many talented people and services to choose from!

Some may say the best way to check out as many wedding professionals as you can in a day, is to attend a wedding show. I’m not really a tradeshow girl. I’m the one in the grocery store that gets to one end and forgets to pick something up all the way on the other side. My feet hurt, I come home with all kinds of crap that I have no recollection of intentionally picking up. WELL, I say, if you give one wedding show a glimpse this year, grab your fiancé and head out to Woodinville on January 30th for the best wedding showcase event of the year. 7 wineries, 80 of the best wedding professionals in Seattle, and a whole lot of wine! This and so much more, is Weddings in Woodinville.

Last year B and I went to this show as Bride and Groom, and we had the BEST time, the BEST. We met our caterer there, tasted some amazing cake (this girl loves cake) and had a blast meeting other couples. It is such an honor for me to say that this year I’ll be showcasing my work at Willows Lodge as part of the show. I’m SO EXCITED because I’m there with some of my favorite people in the world. Jen Taylor from Taylor’d Events is coordinating, Tanya from Elements in Bloom is doing the florals, and Eric Newland from Hybrid Moon will have his video booth there along with many many more awesome professionals! Please, if you want to attend, head on over to the site and purchase your ticket now! There are only 300 tickets and when they’re gone…. they’re gone.

Stop by, say hello, and give me a hug.

PS> If you watch the video from last year on the website… you’ll see a cameo of B and I at about 14-15 seconds in… I’m wearing my favorite green coat :-)

Recently I turned on the TV, attempting to find the news but settled on the View. Don’t ask me why, I really don’t like the show, but somehow I ended up there. The topic of discussion was about human attraction. What, why and how we find each other attractive. They had a guest on the show, who had just completed a study on the correlation of sweet dance moves to human attraction.

Are we as women, more attracted to the better dancer? Scientifically the answer is….. yes. Historically speaking, dance has been used since the beginning of time as a sales technique to the opposite sex. Whatever it is about dance, it appears to be instinctual. I won’t get into it, but I know first hand this is true. Billy and I fell in love at a dance party, he was trying to seduce me with the shopping cart.

Nathan and Delayna started out as friends at the same dance company. Aparently Nathan was instrumental in getting Delayna hired, as soon as he saw her he knew he wanted to know more about her. Fast forward several years they are both dance instructors and own a studio here in Everett, Premier Ballroom Dance. Partners in business, dance, love and now life, they’re beginning their journey together and I’m so happy for them.

They were married on a gorgeous December day at Semiahmoo Resort, in Blaine Washington. A small intimate group of family and friends gathered to witness their dedication to each other. The evening was filled with joy, laughter, dancing, and some of the most glorious food I’ve eaten to date.

Congratulations Nathan and Delayna!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for inviting us into your day and allowing us to capture your love for each other.

xoxo,
Laura

Slightly obsessed with her Badgley Mischka shoes.

Nathan and Delayna chose to do a first look. I love when my couples choose the option of a first look because (especially in the winter) it gives us plently of daylight to get some amazing natural light portraits of the two of them together!

SWOON. Delayna, you are a stunner!

This shot is by my AH-mazing second shooter for the day, Mandie. She wows me… every time!

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It’s perfect that these images of Michelle and Brian’s Sodo Park wedding are going live today! Today, I got the chance to work with Portland photographer Yasmin Khajavi again. Yasmin invited me along at the last minute to shoot alongside her for this gorgeous fall wedding in Seattle at one of my favorite local venues, Herban Feast’s Sodo Park. Coupled with the fact that I love Yasmin, this wedding was a blast to shoot! I was only able to join her for a couple of hours, but I got to know Brian and Michelle’s quiet love for each other well.

You can see Yasmin’s full blog post from the wedding here. And here are some of my favorites from the afternoon!

Happy Weekend!

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