Today we were featured on the Florida Bride's Blog and couldn't be happier about it. Danielle does such a wonderful job showcasing local wedding professionals and we feel so honored to be included. They chose to show off Katie and Michael's Disney wedding (because you don't get more Florida than that!) and gushed over her gorgeous pink and lavender details. We would feel oh so loved if everyone would pop on over there and leave us some love on their feature! Thanks friends!

click here to go see the feature


I'm not sure we've ever been this slow posting on the blog and I'm starting to feel like such a slacker but we've literally been spending every free moment working with our talented designer behind the scenes to get everything for our new blog ready to roll. It is finally coming together and is so close that I can taste it. I'm so excited about the updated format and all the new features we will have included! It's been something that Nate and I had been wanting for a while but we just didn't have the means to get it accomplished and thanks to our amazing designer we are now able to bring it all together.

But, I've got to admit, I'm holding out on you all, beloved readers, because I want to save it all for the new blog once it launches. That means I've got all kinds of pictures waiting and ready to show off but I'm waiting until the new blog goes live to do it. Some of the things on deck are...

A gorgeous wedding at the elegant Grand Bohemian Hotel
A bright and beautiful country club wedding
A country styled engagement session
A steamy elopement/trash the dress at Wekiva Springs
News about our feature in Professional Photographer Magazine
A look at our first ever magazine COVER!
Weekly posts by Nate himself ;)

And so much more :)

Stay tuned...we'll be announcing it soon and giving everyone the new address.

Love and Changes,
Becka & Nate

A few months ago I put together an inspiration board. For those of you who don't know what an inspiration board is, it's basically just a collage of things that inspire you. But even more than that, it's positive images of goals you have for yourself and your life. You display them somewhere that you'll look everyday, usually in a workspace. Mine is positioned on the wall right behind our desktop computer so whenever I sit down to work, it's the first thing I see. It's 20x30 and has cutouts from magazines, a few things I printed out myself, and some extras just because. If you subscribe to the views in the book The Secret then you would believe that by focusing brain power on these positive images, you will actually manifest them into being in your life by the law of attraction. I'll be honest, that philosophy sounds pretty cool to me even though I'm not too sure of it's validity. But, I do think there is something to be gained from positive thinking and focusing on your goals. Recently I asked my friends on facebook if they had inspiration boards and if they've seen anything come true in their lives from them. I was really excited to see that many people have seen things go from pictures on their boards to events in real life.

Becka, this all well and good by why are you babbling on and on about it?

I thought you may ask that. I'm talking about it because recently we've watched some things go from inspiration board to real life without even realizing it completely. They weren't even exact, established goals. They were more like ideas too bold to actually vocalize and yet, here they are as real life things.

We were published in Professional Photographer Magazine this month with a little blurb about our trash the prom dress sessions. Professional Photographer Magazine? WHHHHAAATTT? I know, right? Oh wait, it gets better. We're going to be in there again this fall! With a full feature.

Hold the phone, Becka... WHAT?

Yeah, I know. Crazy cool. Mind-blowing. Nate and I were literally sitting in awe for an hour while we were interviewed by the talented writer who will be turning all of our babbling into a story worth reading. I still can't really wrap my mind around it. And that's all I'm going to say about it until it comes out because I don't want to ginx anything... Here is our stuff from this month's issue. They used one of our photos for the contents page and then the little story with another photo is on page 22.

This morning I got a sweet email from my good friend, Lauren telling me congratulations and that she had seen one of our weddings featured on The Wedding Chicks today. Excitedly, I clicked on over to the website and sure enough, we are one of the featured photographers today on their lovely wedding blogsite! They featured images from Lindsey & Justin's gorgeous wedding at the Lake Mary Events Center. We love the Wedding Chicks and the work they do each day to create fresh, beautiful, and inspiring posts for all the brides-to-be out there. If you are planning a wedding, or just love browsing wedding sites, bookmark their blog now and be inspired daily!

We were recently added to the Wedding Chicks family and are now a Preferred Vendor in their Central Florida listing. Thanks ladies! We love you, your blogsite, and all the work you are doing for brides-to-be!



*image collage from The Wedding Chicks

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Earth Day Giveaway! Everyone left such great responses that it was impossible to pick a favorite. All of you have such wonderful uses for these little bags and I hope that even if you don't win, you'll go and purchase some for yourself. I love mine and use them all the time! Since we couldn't pick a favorite, we let the random number generator pick for us and #1 Josh & Ashy are the winners! Here is what they said they would use the bags for:

Thanks to earth day, I've been making an effort all day to think of ways I can minimize my carbon footprint this year... and these bags would be a great help! now that I'm a mom, I'm constantly grabbing little tidbits (baby socks, shopping lists, lunch) as I run out the door. More often than not, I end up throwing them in a grocery bag which I later toss in the garbage. Tisk, tisk. I could definitely make good use of a baggu or two!!

Ashley, you'll be receiving an email soon asking for your shipping address and I'll be placing the order this week for the bags! You'll have a peacock and rhubarb coming your way!

I became a list maker because of my friend Megan. She loves lists. In middle school we would read Seventeen magazine and take all the quizes, jotting down our answers alongside doodles on scraps of notebook paper. We made lists about boys, we wrote a best-selling novela (at least we thought it could become one, one day) and made annual lists of resolutions. Megan instilled in me a love of list making (and color coding) and that has remained with me through all these years. (Seriously, look at my iCal. It's a spectrum of color coded craziness.)

In the beginning of January I decided to make a list- a 101 in 1001 list. It's like new year's resolutions, except you have 2 3/4 years to finish it. And instead of resolutions, they are goals. I think the whole thing has a much more positive vibe and since positivity is something that I am trying to cultivate daily, I figured that this would be a great way to start. Since I made the list, I've crossed 18 items off and this week, I got to cross off one more. A big one:
#64. "Have a wedding image featured in print."

Booyah!

We entered an image in Photo District News' Top Knots 2009 Contest and it was chosen as a finalist which means that it was printed in this month's edition of the magazine. I cannot even express how excited we are to have been given this huge honor. We are so blessed and thrilled and excited and in awe and all, "Break open the bubbly babycakes!" Thank you to Lisa, the bride in the photo for being so ridiculously fun and trusting of us as we explained our idea for this shot. And lastly, to make sure that credit is given where it is deserved, Nate is the one that snapped this photo even though the magazine printed my name instead of our studio name when I submitted it. So everyone tell Nate how much he rocks. ;)

When Modern Photographers started their Best of 2008 Bridals contest, I entered a few images, and honestly didn't think that amidst all the crazy talented other members, we'd even make it out of the preliminary voting. So when 2 of our images made it to the top 50 and were then put online for anyone and everyone to vote on, we were elated. With amazingly talented submissions by people like Sean & Mel McLellan, Poser, and Fuller Edge, we were thrilled to be counted among them and didn't really think that our images had a chance. I mean, these are the photographers who I blog-stalk, who I am inspired by constantly, who I hope to one day have the privilege of meeting and getting coffee with and picking their brains. They are all amazing!

Then, it happened. I got online and saw the postings on Modern Photographers, Trash the Dress, and Don't Box Us In advertising the contest and telling people to go vote. And I saw it. One of our images sandwiched on the screen between an image by Poser and one by the McLellans. WHHHHAAAAATTTT? To try to explain the sheer magnitute of this to everyone else, we've come up with some analogies...

For an up and coming musician this would be like seeing your single on iTune's new music Tuesday between new singles by the Dave Matthews Band and Paramore.

For automotive lovers, this would be like seeing a design you created for your dream car highlighted between designs by Chip Foose and Jesse James.

For computer nerds, this would be kind of like getting a program you designed listed in Wired Magazine between ones designed by the guy who made Twitter, and the mastermind behind iFart. You with us? This was crazy!

Wondering why they chose our image for the ad I logged into the contest and noticed that we had a shocking number of votes. Enough even that when the contest closed we were counted among the top finalists and showcased on the Modern Photographers' main website. (I think it's like the equivalent of "runners up" or an "honorable mention") You can see the rest of the wedding that image was from on our website under "Josh & Lisa" in the "Wedding Style" section of our portfolio. Thank you to everyone who voted for us!

I'm sure that I sound like a broken record and you're going to be reading this thinking, "Um, if you could just shut up about websites and features and post some pictures that would be great." And I promise, I've got a bunch of pictures coming up. We've got 2 weddings to show you as well as some fun pictures from Disney World and a kick-A promo shoot. So... bear with me while I completely freak out about the subject of this post...

When embarking on any new adventures in life, there are always those goals you have set up for yourself along the timeline of your dreams. I'm talking about the big goals marking off major accomplishments. If the timeline of a dream was a ruler, those big accomplishments would be the inch marks. Each time you get to one it's a big deal. You've grown. You're moving up the ruler. This morning we added an inch. One of our business goals for 2009 was to be featured on a prominent wedding blog. Today, Southern Weddings Magazine Online made the magic happen for us with their Real Weddings Feature on Kate and Pete's wedding. I know that tons of weddings are featured on tons of wedding blogs every day, but this just made me so excited. I totally did my celebration dance around the living room.

Please go take a look and read Katie's interview about her amazing proposal story as well as how she went about planning such a fabulous wedding. Oh, and leave us some love over at SW so we look good. ;)

For all you brides-to-be out there, Southern Weddings maintains an amazing blog full of great insights, inspiration, and amazing vendors for brides getting married in the southern states. The magazine is available in almost every bookstore and it equally amazing. The ladies over there are doing a rocking job!

I'm so thankful for twitter. Twitter is how I get my daily news. Seriously people. I'm in love with it. Twitter is also how I find out everything that's going in the the photography world and thanks to our good friends (thanks Baxters!), we were informed on twitter that some of our images had been featured on www.arewemarriedyet.com.

Are We Married Yet is am amazing website that showcases the thoughts and images from some of the world's best wedding planners and photographers. The goal of the site is to help brides be inspired and find their perfect photographers and planners (so invaluable!). So, we were so thrilled to have some of our images of Justin and Lindsey's engagement session chosen to be featured. (And rated with 5 stars? This is just too much!)

And, as the cherry on top, the post went live on 2/22/09. :) Did they do that on purpose? It's too perfect!

The photography on Are We Married Yet is mind-blowing and we feel so blessed to be included. Thank you.

Never knew I could feel like this.
Like I've never seen the sky before.
Want to vanish inside your kiss
Every day I love you more and more

Listen to my heart can you hear it sing
Telling me to give you everything
Seasons may change, winter to spring
But I love you, until the end of time





Wishing you a wonderful day of love and laughs and splendid things with those you care about most!
If any of you or your friends get engaged today, you know who to call tomorrow! ;)
PS. Notice the new header? The images change each time you refresh the page. Yay!

Also, check out the Weddings Unveiled Valentine's post featuring one of our gorgeous couple's Kate & Pete's first kiss picture.



Weddings Unveiled is a gorgeous magazine that showcases the brides of the south's amazing sense of sophistication and charm. Their blog is a wonderful resource for brides in the planning process. If you haven't already, head over there and take a look around their lovely site.

This morning I was thrilled to get a message from our friends at Trash the Dress letting me know that they had selected some of our images to be featured. (Hello Josh & Lisa! You little hotties!) Of course I was thrilled because I love trashthedress.com! It is such a wonderful resource for brides thinking of participating in one of these fantastic sessions. Head on over there to see our feature!

Nate and I love (read: LUUUUUHHHHVVVEEE) these sessions! These sessions are always fun, romantic, and a bit steamier than others and we like it like that! We call them "Encore Sessions" and you can see some examples of them on our website and here on our blog. The sky's the limit with these sessions as we can literally go ANYWHERE and do ANYTHING for the pictures. Now, I know what you're thinking...

But Becka, it's my wedding dress! I just can't ruin it!
Okay, I understand. Let's chat for a minute about that.

First of all, we call these sessions "Encore" sessions for a reason. It is your encore. It's your time with your husband to get all dressed up again and get some show-stopping images of you both in all your wedding-attire glory. But this time, we will have tons of time and no limitations on where we can go. On your wedding day we want to keep you looking pristine and so we won't say, for example, "Go lay in the surf of the ocean over there". But for an Encore session, we can! And just because we can trash your dress doesn't mean we will. Yes, you will probably get it a bit dirty and possibly a bit wet. But that is the sort of thing we can work out ahead of time. Let us know how far you want to go and we'll plan out an amazing session based on that. Right now your mind is filling with the limitless possibilities isn't it? Don't fight it...ours is too!

Second, I understand the feeling of nostalgia. I really do. I kept my high school cheerleading uniform for years. (And yes, I would periodically put it on just to see if it would still zip. Don't judge.) But, you're not going to wear it again. (Unless you decide to do what I did with my uniform which was really just torturous so let's spare you the pain.) It is most likely going to hang gracefully in your closet. Why not hang it on your wall as an amazing image? Why not memorialize it in the way it deserves?

Lastly, I know that some of you will not budge. And I know a little part of you will be sad because deep down you would really love to take the plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in a gown. But, you'll stand firm in defense of your beautiful dress. Admirable. Really it is. And for you, I suggest an alternative. Many brides go out and buy a stand-in gown. A stunt double, if you will. It's truly a great idea. You can pick up used dresses on the cheap online or at the sales at your local boutiques. Then you can be free to pose with reckless abandon for our cameras and we'll be free to ask you to jump up and down in a puddle. Everyone's happy.


If you're interested in one of our Encore sessions, shoot us an email. We can calm your nerves, discuss ideas and options, and have some fun planning the perfect Encore for you and your husband.