Sean and Julie

I have been the worst blogger ever lately. I realize it. I have reasons. I swear. I'm almost ready to announce why... But until I have the perfect image to go with the post.... I'll hold off for a few more days. (Whats a few more days) For those of you that have been checking in and seeing the same images, my apologies! I'll do better.

Sean and Julie just ooze sweetness. He was a little nervous, but looked put together. Handsome. She was lovely. Calm, smiling and hugging all of her nieces and nephews. Taking it all in. Their ceremony was lovely, full of personal touches and "them". My favourite part of the entire wedding may have been the story. Their story, being told to all of their guests. Best. Part. Beautiful. So personal, so sweet.

Tigh-na-mara has been on my list of favourite Vancouver Island wedding destinations, and once again Suzanne and Tigh-na-mara was amazing, and don't even get me started on how much I loved the flowers by the ever awesome Petal and Kettle in Parksville. Total dream team. If you want your wedding to be relaxed and beautiful... you may be in luck with Tigh-na-mara.

Hope your Monday is full of beautiful, and if it's not... I betcha you just need to close your eyes, count your blessings and have another look. ox

Julie and Scott

I love Tigh-na-mara. I love photographing weddings all over our beautiful Vancouver Island, and really love Parksville weddings. Tigh-na-mara is nestled along the seaside in Parksville, BC. Truly an amazing venue for a Vancouver Island wedding.

Julie and Scott were amazing from the moment I met them. So in love, so grateful to be surrounded by all of their family and friends. Their love for each other seeping out of every moment. Every card he had sent over for her. Every bracelet, locket and sweet reminder that she, was beautiful and his true love. It's pretty hard to not be inspired by a couple still so madly in love.

A few things stick out in my mind about their wedding last weekend. The weather was magnificent. Everyone was incredibly happy and was so happy for Julie and Scott. The staff and especially wedding co-ordinator Suzanne and Tigh-na-mara was seriously wonderful. The flowers from Petal and Kettle in Parksville were remarkable, and the couple couldn't stop smiling. As fluffy as this is going to sound, I really love, love.

Congratulation to an amazing couple. As always, I am grateful for your trust in me.

Laura and Derek

Well, it has been a wild few days (or week).  With a mid week amazing wedding at Tigh-na-mara in Parksville, a few extra awesome maternity sessions, family sessions, headshots, engagement session, another amazing Filberg Wedding in Comox, it's been far from boring.  And all full of fantastic.

My Tigh-na-mara adventure involved the fabulous Laura and Derek, who absolutely rocked from the first moment I met them.  They are just so great together, into each other and so much fun.  I love her hand made dress dress, so elegant and romantic and everything was just so incredibly relaxed. They saw each other before the ceremony, in fact just walked up to the gathering of people started mingling and then said, "Ok, we're ready". Perfect!  My famously awesome sidekick Shannon and I had an amazing time with these two, and I just have to share these images with you NOW!

Special thanks to the folks at Craig Heritage Park Museum for allowing us to use their property for some fun images!

Looking forward to more posts as soon as humanly possible! Are you thinking Old Hollywood movie star? I am. I'm not really a 'ring shot' kind of girl... but I love this one! I've recently heard it said, "show what you want to shoot". This my friends, is how I love to shoot. So clearly into each other.

Becoming Present...

It's no secret that I photograph a lot of weddings, being in a small town its also no surprise that I photograph people that I know. But I have only photographed a handful of true 'friends' weddings. Tiffany and Braden fall into the very good friend category. (I'll apologize in advance for the long winded round about way this is delivered.)

The first wedding I ever photographed, I was in the bridal party... another one a few years later was the deciding factor for me, that I should be photographing weddings for a living. That one was 5 years ago, that was my good friend Sarah and Jody's wedding.

The moment I knew I HAD to be photographing weddings, was not during the wedding, when I was bouncing around, crawling on my tummy for the perfect shot... or even when I was climbing up a ladder (in a long skirt) to reach the roof top of Jody's parents house for a fun group shot.... but more so after... when so many people made a point of talking to me, and letting me know how much they appreciated my energy at the wedding, and also seeing the reaction of everyone when they saw the images. It was then that I realized... hmmm... maybe I'm alright at this. Not to mention... hmmmm maybe weddings are alright to photograph. (I was one of many budding photojournalism students who swear to NEVER shoot weddings, for fear of bridezillas, momzillas... and doilies) Truth be told, I loved Sarah and Jody's wedding, and I loved photographing it. So there spawned my wedding journey.

What I'm getting at is that being at weddings, involved with weddings is natural for me. Its what I do. I go through the motions, I get to know people, the connections they have with one another. I pay attention to detail, I look for light, I watch peoples faces, their body language. I capture memories... almost without thought. It feels right.

So I never really realized that it WOULD be different photographing a good friends wedding at this stage of my career.

I have done many MANY foolish things with Tiffany, driven cars without licenses, picked up random hitchhikers, (a LOT of stories that stay locked within us as well)....I've stayed up talking all night with Tiffany, shared a love of literature, art, books and dance with Tiffany...

I put as much energy into every single wedding. I give every client, every thing I've got. I truly do. Maybe that's why I've heard people say, they feel like they know the people in my images... because even if I don't, I feel like I do. So I was working, bending my mind, my heart to create wedding images for Tiffany and Braden... pre-ceremony, I was photographing her through her veil, her shoes, the makeup, the dress... I was scurrying over to catch the fellas, Braden waiting patiently, admittedly, finally "a little" nervous... I was working, going through the motions... It wasn't until the ceremony when I watched Tiffany walking down the isle with her dad and mom, welling up with a few 'almost' tears... that I realized... I know her. That is Tiffany. The same girl, I wrote notes religiously back and forth with in high school, the same one that shaved her head for fun, the same one that knew my family, knew my history, knew me, just as much as I knew her. TIFFANY was walking down the isle! My senses tingled, and I became incredibly present. Increasingly so. It was a beautiful thing.

Here is how I saw their wedding day.

Cody and Alicia

Cody and Alicia were magic from the start. You may remember them from our engagement session (in the pouring rain), they were so much fun then... and were even more amazing on their wedding day! I have no idea how, but I do believe I am blessed with having the most amazing couples... ever.

Their wedding took place at the Tigh-Na-Mara Resort in Parksville, and everything was flawless. On my way driving down, (in the pouring rain) I just somehow trusted that the weather would co-operate for them. The clouds were out, but parted, when Alicia and her dad walked down the isle.

She was absolutely radiant!

Cody confessed before the ceremony, that he wasn't nervous at all, just so excited to see Alicia walk down the isle. He said, he knew she was going to look incredible... the tears in his eyes, proved that he was overwhelmed when he saw her. I believe everyone was!

It was such a beautiful day, with such amazing people. I feel completely blessed to have been given the honor of photographing such an important event in Cody and Alicia's lives. You two are amazing, and I wish you a lifetime of laughter, blue skies and mountains of love.