largest post ever

alright, here is "the" post for mitch & amanda's wedding. can you tell that i had a lot of difficulty deciding my favorite photos? i did... enjoy all of these!!! :)

check out this GORGEOUS venue, the sonnet house


another photo of this beautiful place


front view


the bridal suite was just fantastic


cute shoes (and don't you love the pillow?!)




maybe the most classic, beautiful hair EVER


i'm not usually a "bright" girl, but i don't think anyone can say anything with these


first look at this beautiful bride in her magnificent dress


of course, she wore an auburn garder (yuck!)


she's all smiles, despite a little bit of rain


just get ready for this next sequence because she is breath-taking










check out the back of this dress (amazing!)




flowers, flowers, flowers


bridesmaids


groomsmen


CUTE ring bearer




"first look," such a fantastic thing to do :)
















here's the whole gang


it's ceremony time! :)






yay! married!!




have you ever seen such perfect colors?!


then, there's the ever classic (my favorite) black-and-white


let the dancing begin




here is a sweet one of amanda dancing with her dad


by the way, have i mentioned the fact that amanda's photos are EXACTLY what i would want from my wedding photos?! because they are!!!








time to leave!!!!!!!!!!






mitch & amanda, i could not thank you enough for letting me capture your moments. they truly are photos i would LOVE to have when i get married. jared & corey, your wedding venue, the sonnet house, is absolutely beautiful, and you guys are extremely helpful. i appreciate it more than you'll ever know!

a bit more...

let's just talk a little more about how special this wedding was.

check out the photo of the ceremony. would you believe that when this photo was taken, the power was out? this photo was taken, though, with a soloist singing "the prayer," which is a fantastic song. it was quite possibly the highlight of my week.

then the second photo. i mean, could the flower arrangements be any better? absolutely not. and, check out the smart move she made -- making the arrangements high enough that the people seated around the table could talk with each other. genius.

i love the deans...

this is going to be a really fun post for me... i love the dean family. now, too, it's better than ever with a little addition, known as andrea. she is quite possibly the most down-to-earth, fun-loving, caring person that i know. i do not know a kinder individual. she sent me the sweetest e-mail a little bit ago and almost had me in tears.

i want to post some great pictures of her and her groom, michael. michael, by the way, is perfect for andrea and just as kind. they are a great couple -- two people who really do care about their friends, family, etc. what an absolute honor to be apart of their day!

kiss right after the ceremony... i love the "first moments" when couples are finally husband and wife:



i love this moment i caught of them walking to the limo. i mean, does a bride get more beautiful? and better yet... she is just GLOWING!!!



don't they look like celebrities here?



i am not sure that a dancing picture can get better than this:



wow. michael and andrea, you guys rock!!! :)

on a different note, i must say that i am still going through photos from my last 3 weddings. it's really enjoyable, but i just wanted to make a note of that. if you feel like you are seeing photos from amanda, andrea, and meredith, it's because you are. they are all 3 such fun brides, though, that when i find a good photo, i have to share them.

and finally, i just want to post a little of andrea's sweet e-mail to me. what a treasure she is in my life:

"there is no way to express the gratitude that i feel right now. having you as a photographer was the best decision we made when we were planning the wedding of our dreams."

"well, we got back from the honeymoon and i couldn't wait to sit down and tell you how thankful i am for what an amazing person you are and how lucky i am and we are to have had you at our wedding."

"when we met before the wedding, i had no idea that i was not only hiring the best photographer a bride could as for but i got such an amazing friend as well."

stunning

i have had the privilege and honor of (almost) participating in these 3 girls weddings. they are some really great people, although their "coolness" doesn't surprise me. see, the 2 on the left were roomies with my best friend, meagan (on the right) through college. all that saying that of course they are cool. love you jess, mere, and meg!!

Mr. & Mrs. Zack Reuter

Meredith and Zack are such fun individuals!!

Thank you both for allowing me to capture your day with photos. It was such an honor, and I am blessed to know both of you.

Can't wait to play with more of these photos soon, although I still have 2 weddings worth of photos to enjoy. Then I get to experience these beauties!

vacation...

click HERE to see a post of my trip this past week:

what a vacation i just had!!! it wasn't your average vacation, but it was a blast. i actually chose to go to phoenix during the hottest months of the year, and i actually enjoyed doing work while i was on vacation. it was a really great trip... really, really great trip.

some things i learned on my trip:

1. cauliflower is actually REALLY good on salads
2. i need to find some really good garlic-y dressing for salads
3. spinach turns smoothies green, but they can actually taste really yummy :)
4. mexican train and nertz (?) are 2 really fun games, that are a lot more fun in good company
5. trader joe's makes some unbelievable cookies
6. almonds are the "good kind of fat," so it's totally okay to eat an entire bag of almond m&m's each day
7. massages are going to be required each day in heaven

and finally, i learned that melissa jill is one of the neatest people EVER. she is such a fun, talented, kind individual, and my time with her was fantastic. my goal in the next year is to go second shoot a wedding with her, if she'll actually have me... and, maybe even move out there soon. that's a big question with a lot of thought separating me and that extra bedroom in her house. we'll see how it goes!

melissa, if you're reading this, thank you, thank you, thank you. tonight i am in atlanta, and it isn't as much fun as phoenix. i really miss dixie, too. oh, i definitely miss dixie!!!

the top of the post has a photo of dixie. (now you know why i miss her!)