Wedding season is just around the corner…

We are looking for a couple with a story.  It could be about a hardship they had to overcome or are in the middle of now.  It could be about the awesome cause they are dedicated to, it could be because they are involved in the community.  What every the story is, I want to hear it.  I want to know what brought you together, what keeps you together and why you need wedding photography.  So if you know a couple, or if you are getting married soon, tell us a story!

- A free engagement shoot

- Your submission must be TRUE. This contest IS for couples who have overcome great odds, hardships, or are otherwise deserving of free wedding photography. This contest IS NOT for people who can afford a photographer, and just want to win something free.

Our selection committee will be made up of a local officiant, my sister, both sets of parents, 2 former brides and friends, and by brother and sister in law. Results are final.

I cant wait to get your submissions!

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Meet Beth and Zizou (also known as Frantz):

Let me share Beth and Zizou’s story with you.

Zizou and I met in 2008 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I was there for a medical missions trip and he lived at the orphanage that partnered with the church I traveled down with. During our stay we quickly became friends with the boys at the orphanage. I became good friends with my translator for the week and he was the one who introduced Zizou and I. We became friends and exchanged email addresses. We emailed back and forth pretty consistently for two years-our friendship grew. In January of 2010 I decided to go back to Haiti for another trip. I was excited about the work and excited about seeing my friend Zizou again. Our first day at the medical site he was assigned as my translator for the week. This gave us ample opportunity to get to know one another and spend time together. Towards the end of the week we both had very strong feelings for one another, but reservations surfaced about a long distance relationship. We decided to remain friends and see where the future took us. (At this point I was planning on coming back to Haiti as a full time missionary) I left Haiti the afternoon of January 12, 2010. As you know, an earthquake devastated Haiti that day and completely destroyed the orphanage that he called home since 5 years of age. It shook my world too. I didn’t know if he was dead or alive and for three days I had no contact with him. When we were finally able to talk about our future we both knew that whatever happened we wanted each other in it. We made a commitment to work hard on our relationship knowing that distance is a huge issue. Most importantly, we’ve strived to put Christ at the center and we attribute that to the many obstacles we have had to overcome.

Proposal: Zizou proposed in September of 2010. I was visiting from the states with a friend and he planned a beautiful day in the mountains of Haiti. Unfortunately, the car never made it up the mountains and he proposed in what I suppose to be the nicest restaurant in all of Haiti I said yes!

Why us? : I can’t say with all certainty that we deserve to win more than any other couple. What I can say is that in May of this year I will leave and work in Haiti for 15 months unpaid. I am currently raising money to live on and have not included wedding expenses in a missionary salary. The unemployment rate in Haiti is astronomical and Zizou lost his translating job last year. Having a photographer is something special that Zizou and I consider a luxury. It is something that, on our own, we would not be able to afford. Luckily, we have friends and family that have digital cameras and are willing to get us pictures throughout our special day. However, we would love quality photographs taken to capture our sweet memories. It would be a blessing for us, thank you.

Here is a slideshow capturing The wedding!!!  It is long, but worth it.  Enjoy!

It has really been a blessing to me to meet Beth, Zizou and all their friends.

Beth and Zizou~
I Love getting to see the two of you communicate and truly Love each other. I love seeing your awesome support system, and I love seeing both of you have such a heart for the Lord. I know you will be blessed for many years to come!!!

Stay tuned for more Haiti Photos soon…and a few stories too!

You may remember this couple from their engagement session.   I love how much energy and love these two have.  It is so precious to see the way that they look at each other and calm each other down.

The Bride and Bridesmaids started their day at the Sun Valley Lodge with some makeup, wine and laughs.

Then we headed out to Galena Lodge where the wedding would take place.  I LOVE this place for a wedding!  It is a great place to bring the beauty of the mountains into your wedding.  I could see this place being decked out with tents, horse drawn carriages, etc, or you could just keep it simple and let nature decorate for you, like my wonderful couple chose to do.

My 5 year wedding anniversary was the day before Kathleen and Mihai’s wedding.  Seth, My husband showed me a beautiful photo of clouds and asked if I knew what it was.  I did not.  He told me that it was the sky on the day he married me.  I decided to take a similar photo for Kathleen and Mihai so they can always remember what the day was like, even down to the clouds.  

Kathleen and Mihai chose to see each other before the ceremony.  Mihai was really nervous when I first saw him that day, then his beloved bride walked out and I could see relief sweep over him!  I love how much these two love each other!     

Kathleen and Mihai told me when I first met them that they love jumping photos…I do too…and this one might be one of my favorites!  I love the mountains and the setting, and the serious air some of the wedding party got!  :)  

This photo was taken after the ceremony as they were walking toward the Lodge.  LOVE!!!  :) 

Not only was the Bride and groom looking their best, but these adorable flower girls were as cute as ever!  :)  Im pretty sure they stole my heart!  :) 

The first dance was a memorable one with Mihai and his amazing dance moves and awesome sence of humor…he eventually got down on one knee and sang, after doing a series of jumps and leaps!  :)  The best part was Kathleen was still following him…True love I tell you.  These two were meant for each other.  

The cake was so beautiful.  I loved the softness of the frosting and the strawberries cascading down.  The cake was made by Cristina’s of Sun Valley.  If you are ever in Sun Valley, go there…trust me, you will not be disappointed!  :)  

Last, but not least…a ring shot…only because taking photos of rings is one of my favorite things to do!  :)  

Kathleen and Mihai~

I have been so blessed to get to know the two of you.  I loved your wedding and hope you like the wedding photos as much as I do.  I also LOVE the postcard you sent!  :)  Thanks!  :)  I wish you many more years of happiness, and I cant wait to see photos from your Romanian wedding!  :)

When I got to the Vineyard, Jocelyn was getting ready for her big day.  

SShe was a Stunning bride!

And the Bridesmaids were also beautiful.  

The Boys were also getting ready…I would say they clean up well.  

The Ceremony was beautiful.  The officiant was Jocelyn’s Grandpa, which is awesome.  I love when the couple incorporates family into the wedding.  They also had the guests throw the little hellicopter leaves at them as they walked down the isle as a newly married couple.  LOVE!

After the ceremony it was time to get the party started!  :)

JJocelyn and Eli chose to sneek away for a few sunset photos.  

Jocelyn and Eli~

Thanks so much for letting me be a part of your day.  I really loved everything about it and have enjoyed getting to know the two of you.  I wish you many years of happiness to come.  I Love watching the to of you and love how much fun you guys have together.  This sawtooth winery wedding is one for  the books.  I loved this wedding…Have fun viewing more photos in the slide show.

eliandjocelyn-1 eliandjocelyn-2 jocelynndeli-2 jocelynndeli-3 jocelynndeli-4 jocelynndeli-5 jocelynndeli-6 jocelynndeli-7 jocelynndeli-8 jocelynndeli-9 jocelynndeli-15 jocelynndeli-16 jocelynndeli-17 jocelynndeli-18 jocelynndeli-19 jocelynndeli-20 eliandjocelyn-1-2 eliandjocelyn-2-2 eliandjocelyn-3 eliandjocelyn-4 eliandjocelyn-5 eliandjocelyn-6 eliandjocelyn-7 eliandjocelyn-8 eliandjocelyn-9 eliandjocelyn-10 eliandjocelyn-11 eliandjocelyn-12 eliandjocelyn-13 eliandjocelyn-14 eliandjocelyn-15

Please leave comments on the blog and help Lacey and Cris earn money toward photo prints!

This was such a fun couple!  The bride Margaret could not stop smiling!  Every time she looked at her groom I could tell she was happy!  :)  I love seeing couples like this because it warms my heart.  Today I am going to do something a little different on my blog.  I made a little slide show featuring some of my images of the day…Enjoy!

Drew and Margaret~

I am so blessed to be a part of your day.  I loved meeting your families and getting to know the two of you.  you are both amazing people and are lucky to have each other!  I know your marriage will be a great one and that the two of you together will accomplish a lot in your lives.   Have fun on your honeymoon!  the Road trip sound like tons of fun! the rest of your photos should be done soon.

photo credit to my amazing assistant, Joanna Point

Those of you who read my blog might remember the princess I am talking about.  This princess is Crystal, and had won a wedding photography package from me.  She won by telling her and her prince’s story.  If you would like you can read that story here.  ONe thing that I really love about Crystal and Sean is that they cant let a little thing like rain ruin a beautiful day for them.  Both Crystal and Sean handled the weather like champs…afterall, as they say in Hollywood “the show must go on.”  And go on it did!  Crystal made a GORGEOUS Bride!

and had some amazing friends to share her day with.  

Sean also had some pretty awesome guys with him…It was crazy, everywhere I looked there were Gorgeous people…but all of them knew how to have fun!  :)  I love people like that!!!  ;)  

One thing I love is when couples really make their weddings there own.  I love that Baxter (the boxer) was involved in the wedding!  My dog Edgar came to my wedding too.  He did not get to wear a cool dog siut though…I mean seriously…how awesome is that!?!  ;)

See what I mean about being surrounded by gorgeousness…even Baxter the dog could be a model!  :)  So now that you see the suit that baxter wore to match the groomsmen…its time to show you what  the groomsmen wore the match baxter…can you guess what it is…Leather belts with the boys names no them, to match Baxter’s collar!  :)

Baxter may be cute, but he could not stay awake during the ceremony.  

Baxter was not the only one that was not always doing what he was suppose to…Sean could not take his eyes off of his bride for one second…not even during the prayer!  :)  

After the ceremony everyone partied it up thanks to the awesome DJ from VCI Audio Entertainment

The DJ, Vince, was great!  he was very organized and was great at getting the crowd involved…

of corse, Sean did not need much prompting!

And then they lived Happily ever after…rain and all!  :)   

Sean and Crystal~

I am so happy to have gotten to be a part of your day!  I know from the way you rolled with the punches that your relationship will last for years to come!  :)  I cant wait to see what the future holds for you.  I hope these photos help you remember how much you love each other and how much you mean to one another.    You both are truly beutiful people both inside and out.

As we walked around I was some cute little families.  I can not wait to take my son there!  ;)  The Botanical Gardens are filled with lots of gazebos, swings and all things you would want to find in a garden.  We put some of those things to good use.

They also had burn buckets to help people keep warm.  We stopped to warm our hands more than once!  ;)  

And of corse, being a garden there had to be some flowers lit up too!  :)  

If you have not gone to the Winter Glow…GO!  It is awesome!  They have so many things to see.

Jillian and Colin~  Thanks for the awesome day!  I loved getting to know you two better and capturing a little part of your life.  I hope you Love the photos!  ;)  

Want your picture taken? CONTACT ME! You can also become a FAN on FACEBOOK to receive updates and discounts, and see more photos!

Then we went to play in the snow!

Jillian had given me some photo ideas that she liked, and this hear in the snow was one of them. I love it when my clients have an idea of what they want!  ;)  This turned out harder than we thought!  The First heart we made was too big, then the second hear we made was to small!  ;)  And I tried to climb an ice covered fence to get above them enough to get the heart, but I think we finally pulled it off!  :)

Colin is in the Air Force, so when we saw this spot, all of us knew it was perfect!

Then it was time for some sledding!  

And a pretty sunset!  

We almost had two sessions because the location change was pretty drastic, and we had some time we had to waste in between, so I am going to do two blogs!  Come back tomorrow for more of Jillian and Colin!  :)  

Want your picture taken? CONTACT ME! You can also become a FAN on FACEBOOK to receive updates and discounts, and see more photos!