“Weddings in Woodinville is a special event designed to give couples and their families and friends a sneak preview of each fully-decorated venue to better envision their special wedding day and meet with industry professionals that can help them put it all together.” Each of the 7 venues highlight some of the best wedding professionals in the industry. We had the privilege of showcasing our work at Willows Lodge along with these fabulous professionals:

Coordination and design by Taylor’d Events by Jennifer (a miracle worker really…)

Alongside:

Alexandria Nicole Cellars
Cadeo Flower
Elements In Bloom
From The Gown Up
Good Times DJ Service
Grand Event Rentals
Hybrid Mood Productions
Jennifer Witsil Creative
Koko Fit Club
Linens by Alice
Marrylicious
Nash Fung
Salon Maison
Starry Nights
Window to the Soul Ministry

We had such a wonderful time meeting all of you gorgeous brides and grooms. Thank you for stopping by to say hello!

Here are some highlights from our beautiful spot at Willows Lodge. Thank you Willows and Jenn Wenman for being so accommodating and warm to all of us. We love you!

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 :-)

We can’t possibly love everything about each other can we? Pretty sure I don’t love Billy’s lack luster enthusiasm for Disney movies, or his tendency to drive like a maniac in traffic. He would say the same for my ignorance on the topic of [insert any sport here], and my tendency to start involved projects and not finish them. What does it mean to us to love and be loved? We all show love and feel love in different capacities.

To Julie, it’s Jeff’s ability to always make her laugh. He can read her mood like a well written novel, and knows exactly what to say to put her at ease. To Jeff, it’s her lust for life and family, her way of making him feel like the only person in the room. These two have it right with each other.

Jeff and Julie,

A million thank you’s for trusting me to be your wedding photographer. I absolutely adored your wedding, and  your love for each other is not something I will ever forget.

xo,
Laura

What does it mean to you to love and be loved? I want to know.

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Enjoy!

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The wedding planning process has been a wild and crazy ride,  fascinating, so much fun, and pretty stressful all rolled into one. Phone hasn’t stopped ringing, inboxes are FULL. Believe me when I say, everything that could go wrong, has. If there is one thing I have learned about planning a wedding in 4 weeks is you must roll with the punches. Problem solving, compromise, and positive attitude will get you a long way with any project. Our motto for this entire process has been “NO RULES”. If the ceremony doesn’t happen in the order everyone expects, who cares, who wrote that rule anyhow. If the ring bearers don’t match, whatever… it’s more eclectic! Weddings can bring out the best and the worst in friends and family. For the most part it’s been relatively painless in that department(probably because of the short time frame). When ugliness has reared it’s head (because it does in every stressful situation) Billy and I turn to each other and just smile and giggle, we know the secret….. shhhh…. none of this drama really matters because in the end, it’s only about ONE THING, WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!

I wish I had more time to share all of the juicy details with you, my days have been packed full of appointments, errands, and shoots… yes among all of this I’ve been shooting weddings, engagements, seniors, and planning stock shoots. I’m so thankful to all of my amazing clients who have given me the flexibility to focus on getting this wedding done. They are so important to me, and haven’t blinked an eye at having to wait on their images.

You can learn more about the wedding planning process we’ve been going through on the Junebug wedding blog here, here, here, and on the CreativeLIVE website. They’ve been following us along with every decision, and doing these awesome wedding planning sessions live online!

The next I’m here internet, I’ll be a MRS!

xo,
Laura

It was hard for me to believe that I was actually there photographing their wedding. Not the fact that they were getting married, mostly that so much time had past…. where did it go? Wasn’t it just yesterday that Ashley and I were just girls, rolling around town in the Rabbit with the windows down blasting tunes?  Now here we are, adults, women, and both of us getting married. I felt mortal. I felt time. I felt…. old? Ha!

I’m so happy for Ashley and Mike, as a witness to their relationship over the years, I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t see it coming when they first met. Their love has evolved as they all do, into something much more, something incomparable. Ashley, I have never seen you more beautiful, more happy, more in love than this day. Mike, you are one lucky man, thank you for giving her that.

I LOVE you guys, thank you thank you for including me in your day.

xoxo,

Laura

Shot of the day… maybe lifetime ;-)

And because Lyons is a logging town in Oregon, I couldn’t wait to get them in front of this gorgeous texture.

More coming in Part 2!!

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Here is the deal. Our new wedding date is August 27th, 2010! Hooray! We get an almost entirely free wedding, the only catch is… Jasmine Star HAS to be our photographer (which we are really really upset about…. insert sarcasm here :-) And our wedding will be broadcast LIVE through the CreativeLIVE website as a workshop for photographers who want to learn more about how to shoot weddings from Jasmine. We’ll be out there for the world to see, or not see. Tune in if you can’t make it or we didn’t invite you! Ha!

We really only had ideas in place for our former wedding,  we’re starting fresh. CreativeLIVE is working with the lovely and ever so talented Daniela Fagét of Bella Signature Design to create a wedding that is uniquely us. She really understands our aesthetic and what we’re going for with our wedding celebration. It is a major point of emphasis from everyone, that this process be about Billy and I. That our wedding remain in our taste and style, which is SO amazing. We feel so taken care of in this process. We genuinely connect with everyone on this team in a way that it makes it very easy for us to call them friends.

Here are just some of the things we’re working on this week!

Venue, Invites/Paper, Wedding dress, Wedding bands, Bridesmaid dresses, Cake, Decor color palette, and rentals… I’m sure more to come!

Friday we went dress shopping to a couple of stores here in Seattle, and the CreativeLIVE team followed me around at La Belle Elaines! BILLY DO NOT CLICK ON THIS VIDEO ;-)

We also checked out some wedding bands at E.E. Robbins, a really really great jewelry store here in Seattle that is very customer service focused. We have some great prospects there.

Honest concerns about this process: getting everything done in between, My clients, my family, my tan, they all deserve the attention they are used to getting. I’m only one person, one person who generally speaking is already stretched too thin. Hoping this doesn’t put me over the edge. Not sure what we are going to do about our bridesmaid dresses, and my girls call me every day to remind me that it’s important that they have clothes on at the wedding. Oy. My general disdain for Friday weddings, which I’m pretty outspoken about… and here I am, having a Friday wedding.

Concessions we’ve had to make: Bridal shower? Not sure when that will happen or if it will happen, bachelor/bachelorette, same deal. Some family won’t be able to make the event, which is good for the guest list, but bad for the heart.

So there it is! Thank you for tolerating my stream-of-consciousness ramblings. We don’t know much so far, but I know it will come together just fine.

Hope you’ll follow along with us during this process, and if you’re curious about more join us on Mondays at 12:00PST every week on CreativeLIVE for a live conversation about the wedding and where we are with everything!

xo,
Laura

Tiffany and Matt are a very talented duo of photographers based out of Napa, we both went to Brooks, so when she called to inquire about her wedding we immediately hit it off. Borrowed from her own words, “it felt like talking to an old friend…” so true. I’m not going to lie though, the thought of shooting for another photographer is crazy intimidating. Tiffany’s natural glow and easy demeanor immediately put fear out of my mind, and it actually made posing and shooting a cinch.

The uber talented Jenny Bowker hard at work.

yummy light….

Stunning…. simply stunning…. gasp.

Tiffany and Matt had a webcam set up so their friends and family that couldn’t make it could watch the whole thing on livestream… SMART!

mmmm cake. i heart Trophy Cupcakes.

These vintage cameras were borrowed from Tiffany’s grandfathers personal equipment collection. Much loved, and the perfect accessory.

Their intimate dinner reception was held at Purple Cafe, in the new downtown Bellevue location. One of my favorite restaurants, and perfect for their wine loving taste. If only Tiffany could drink…. ;-)

I’d like to consider myself a Gnocchi connoisseur of sorts. This was pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

Congrats Tiffany and Matt on so many levels! I can’t wait to see adventures in your future!

One thing lead to another, and Nicole found herself falling for his chivalry, dashing good looks and charm.

Saturday, as they stood there in THAT spot, they started into each others eyes reflecting on exactly how they had come to this point. Together, in Dayton, surrounded by their friends and family, standing at an altar together, holding hands. An entire lifetime of craziness ahead of them. You could see it. Happiness. Contentment. Adventure. Future.

Jay and Nicole,

You are my kind of couple. Totally in love, down to Earth, and CRAZY! I knew from the moment Nicole sent me that 3 page email inquiry we were meant for each other!  I had a blast shooting your wedding, and wish I could have stayed to party the night away right along with you. Congrats, and hope to see you again soon.

xoxo,

Laura

EPIC. Seriously, I could live in Dayton except I would need a Target within 15 minutes. It’s that beautiful.

Part 2 coming soon!

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1. GIVE something.

2. BUY something.

3. LEARN something.

Parts one and two were accomplished in the first two days, PHotoshoot, check!, new boxes (for a top secret project) at the trade show, check! Parts 3 and 4 were the ones I needed to focus on. Because I shifted my priorities this year from trying to do EVERYTHING to trying to do 4 things, I actually had a really wonderful week. I had lots of coffee dates with new friends, looooooooong dinners, shot a maternity session for two very good friends, and even had a mentor session with a photographer I love.

I met with Emilie Sommer of Emilie Inc. on Wednesday. She is a Maine based photographer, who’s work I’ve been following for years. I tried to win this mentor session on Ebay through the Thirst Relief auction. I stink at Ebay. I really do. I must not click enough, my strategy is always off. This time, I lost by 2 dollars in the last minute. I was devastated so I tweeted about it, not expecting a response at all. She tweeted back and asked me if I wanted to meet up for coffee anyway! Simply THE BEST. We talked about business, goals, life, and success. One thing I learned? I have a ton of work to do. We talked mostly about my web presence.

Emilie took a look at my website and confirmed what I secretly knew to be true but wasn’t ready to deal with. IT was HORRIBLE. Hard to navigate, limiting and not at all a representation of my brand. We talked strategy and exactly what direction to go! I can’t thank her enough for meeting with me. I know WPPI is a very busy time for most and I just think the world of her. I walked away from our meeting like I was floating on a cloud. I have a great new friend and I learned so much!

So here is the BIG news! BIGGEST news of the year! It’s a brand spanking NEW website!!!! I’m so excited about the launch, and because it is new there are still a few bugs to be worked out, but please take a look and let me know what you think. I used a revolutionary software called SHOWIT to make this site. It’s more than words. It’s my new best friend. I’m so in love with it.

Thank you for taking a look, I can’t wait to hear what you think!

www.lauramarchbanksweddings.com