Dear Nikole and Chris’ parents,

If seeing steamy, sexy, awesomely hot photos of your two little darlings makes you uncomfortable… You should probably stop reading right now! I tried to keep it G-rated, but.. well.. newlyweds will be newlyweds!

XOXO,
Stacy

Day After sessions are, hands down, my favorite thing in the entire world. No contest. One of main reasons I am a photographer is because I love making people feel beautiful and capturing that beauty in images, and I feel that everyone is at their most beautiful when they are dressed up all fancy-like with the person they love most in the world, which is exactly what happens in a Day After session. It also gives people a chance to be totally narcissistic and fill the walls of their home with amazing portraits of themselves, which I of course fully support.

As I mentioned before, I absolutely adore Nikole and Chris for many reasons, but I especially love them for taking some time out of their honeymoon to wander around Puerta Plata with me and roll around in the sand and water. Check out some of my favorites:

Nikole and Chris, thank you first of all for being so easy on the eyes, making my job ridiculously easy, and thank you for being so great to me and allowing me to have a blast with you both during your wedding and honeymoon. I’m just sad that you’re so far away now I guess I will just have to make the trek up north to come visit!

Random side note: I am seeing a lot of hits to this post via the NAPP forums, and a friend on those boards informed me that a lot of you all are discussing this post in regards to use of actions and plug-ins.  I want you guys to know that virtually every image in this post, aside from the B&W/Sepia images, is pretty much SOOC, with minimal tweaking in Lightroom. In fact, only one action was used, and that is Totally Rad Action’s Old Skool, used on the last pair of images in this post. In the past I have been a big fan of actions, but these days I am leaning more towards the school of leaving images mostly as-is, and letting their beauty speak for itself. In the future, if you have comments or thoughts about my images, I would love to hear them in the comments section of this blog. Thanks! It’s always great to know that my work is inspiring discussion

Is anyone else obsessed with the Olympics right now? I swore I was going to boycott them because I am really not fond of the Chinese government, but I can’t help myself. The opening ceremonies were the best ever, and there are so many great stories of athletes who have worked so hard to get where they are. I pretty much haven’t watched anything else since they started. Jason even rigged up a TV tuner so I can watch them on my computer in the office while I work! Thank goodness that I have the Olympics to distract me from all my favorite shows being over (Last Comic Standing, So You Think You Can Dance, Design Star, and Project Runway, which might as well be over because all of the designers this year are terrible!).

Since this past week was fairly chill with not much to report, today I want to focus on sending you all some links that I want to share. There are a few blogs that I check on an almost daily basis, and I think they may be helpful to a lot of you engaged girls out there.

Southern Weddings Magazine Blog is the single greatest source of inspiration I can think of for weddings. They are the cream of the crop, because they pull their inspiration from some of the best vendors in the industry. Their daily inspiration boards are pretty much guaranteed to make you go “I want to do that!” This morning they posted a wedding idea board (pictured below) inspired by one of my favorite things - cameos. I think every unmarried girl is secretly planning her wedding in her head (whether she has a boyfriend or not), and my fictional wedding is pretty much pulled straight out of this blog. Highly recommended!

Real Simple’s Nearly Wed Blog comes from one of my favorite magazines, Real Simple. I love the clean line and elegant simplicity of everything they do. Not to mention how much time and money they can save you! Sometimes they can be a little off (for example, all of those companies they recommend for wedding albums are very low-end, and will not last very long if you plan on putting them out on display!), but for the most part they have very cool DIY suggestions. I really love these cute cupcake holders!

Wonderful Graffiti is not technically a blog, but I still go back to look at it practically every day. They sell custom-made wall art with your monogram, name, favorite quote, business logo, etc. You can purchase one of their pre-made items, or create something completely new. I am in love with those lucite letters (below)! They have some really fun wedding decor sets than can make personalizing your wedding easy and relatively cheap. They’re also great for home decor, as well. I am very strongly considering getting a huge decal of the “Desiderata” poem to put in our house.

Elizabeth Anne Designs comes from two girls with great design taste who always have really cute inspirations. I am so in love with the aqua and red color scheme (probably my favorite color combination ever) they posted today. Lovely!

Etsy.com has been mentioned here before, but it seems unfair to do a blog post about websites I love and not include it. Etsy has homemade crafts from all around the world, ranging from jewelry to clothing to purses to veils. There are also a lot of talented graphic designers who can create some stunning save-the-dates and invitations for you! I spend way too much money on this website, and is definitely another huge resource for my fictional wedding in my head. Last week I bought two adorable camera straps. If you want to see them, you’ll just have to hire me Here’s a cute bird’s nest ring pillow that would be great for an outdoor southern wedding.

Wholly Matrimony was once defunct, but has recently been picked up again and is well on its way to become a major resource for brides. Their specialty is destination weddings, but they have advice for all brides regardless of wedding location. Recently one of my brides wrote a very smart and accurate article on how to get the best photographs out of your wedding day, featuring some of my work, which is very cool.

Also, yours truly has been popping up all over the web in the past weeks. I want to say thank you to all the people out there who have mentioned my name and spread the good word about me. MAJOR thanks to: Deanna Hall, White Wedding Bells, DarbiG, Elizabeth Anne, Pure Bliss, Everyday Beautiful (Lacy), Living Life with a Passion (Jules), L Squared Photography, Maddie Dean, Vashti Wood, Boronis, Heather Garland, Three Heart (whose work and blog I am a new huge fan of), and hennessy|g. I know there are more of you out there, and I’m so sorry if I forgot anyone! If you link to me, let me know so I can give you a big public thank you

How do I love Nikole and Chris… Let me count the ways!

First of all, they are Canadian, and I am more than slightly obsessed with all things Canadian. It started when I was younger and took a few trips up north with my mom. All I can remember is that the country was beautiful, the people were nice, the weather was good, and I had a blast. Fast forward to about two years ago, when I moved into my former condo and had what seemed like 600 TV channels, including one that focused solely on Canadian TV shows. I fell in love with the Canadian accent and sense of humor, and I have been a canuck-lover ever since. I only wish I could go visit again (hint, hint Canadian brides!!).

Furthermore, Nikole is a photography enthusiast, and you know what I always say - photographers throw the BEST weddings. Chris and Nikole’s wedding was no disappointment there. Everything from the wedding party attire to the decor to the location was super photogenic, and I was in heaven capturing all the cool details.

It also didn’t hurt that Nikole and Chris’ wedding also served as a much-needed vacation for Jason and I. Every year I pick one destination wedding and make that my vacation for the year, and I stay for an extra 4-6 days to relax and have fun. I am extremely lucky to have a boyfriend who is also a talented photographer in his own right, so he can serve as my second shooter as well as my traveling companion.

This was the first time I have ever shown up to shoot a wedding without ever having met the bride and groom in person beforehand, so I was a little unsure of what to expect, but luckily I had no reason to fear. Nikole and Chris are warm, friendly people who went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and having as much fun as they were. It was very clear that their top priority on their wedding day was to make sure everyone had a great time, and that’s definitely what happened!

I am in love with ALL of the photos I took that day, but here are a few that I think really tell the story:

The current Mrs. Bordato and the soon-to-be-other Mrs. Bordato getting primped and prepped at the spa… I don’t think Chris’ mom was super happy with how her hair was progressing.

Nikole added these cool brooches to each of the bridesmaid’s bouquets. I thought that was a really cool gift to her girls, not to mention a fantastic decor detail.

Nikole’s classic J. Crew gown - light and airy, perfect for an island wedding!

Why do I get all the beautiful brides??

The ladies arriving at the ceremony in style!

The reaction every girl wants to see as she’s walking down the aisle!

Mr. and Mrs. Bordato!

Canadians can JUMP!

And pose like rockstars…

And laugh like they mean it!

The reception was held in a cool hut just off the ocean, right next to a flamingo habitat.

The single greatest entrance I have ever seen

Holy cow! I have to stop posting photos or I will go all day! Don’t worry though, I have a lot more great stuff from their wedding week to show you.. Including a fun family portrait session and the most smokingest hot Day After session you have EVER seen.

As most of you know, this past week I jetted off to my new favorite city in America, New York! Although I was there to do some awesome destination portrait sessions that will be revealed at a later date as well as meet with a few potential clients, I also got to spend some quality time with my family, which is a far too rare thing for me these days. In the past few years, my mom has become my traveling buddy, flying to crazy places like China, Italy, and NYC to keep me company while I work, and we always have a ridiculous amount of fun together. This trip was no exception! And my sister Candy came along for the ride, as well!

Here is a little visual buffet of some of the things we did:

And a little explanation….
Row 1: I got to see Legally Blonde: The Musical’s brand new leading lady Bailey Hanks - TWICE! I am so in love with this musical, and with Bailey. One of my new favorites!! Notice my awesome hot pink dress - When in Rome…
Row 2: I had to take Mom and Candy to see my 2nd favorite musical, and it just so happened to fall on the 5th anniversary of Avenue Q’s opening night. It was a really cool experience, from posing in a huge furry birthday cake to being serenaded with a special song by the cast and crew to GETTING A PHOTO WITH HOWIE MICHAEL SMITH!! Eeeeee!
Rows 3 & 4: Being a cheesy tourist with mom, including taking an infamous Duck Tour, riding through the city in a double decker bus, and stopping at a street fair for pashminas, purses, and yummy food.
Row 5: Getting up at 5 AM in the morning to stand in line for Regis and Kelly - and being among the last few people to get in!! We got to see two shows get taped, including - purrrrr - Anderson Cooper.

Other fun things I managed to squeeze into my schedule:
-Staying at the Renaissance Times Square, the best hotel in Manhattan
-Running into my fellow Aggie, fellow graphic design class victim, and American Idol superstar Jason Castro at Central Park
-Waiting outside various stage doors so my starstruck mom could get to see a real-life celebrity
-Nearly getting into a fist fight in the Regis and Kelly line with a horrible man who had no respect for women
-Picking up a new set of Chanel specs - my weakness!
-Dropping $1,000 on Wicked tickets and getting to see the incomparable Kerry Ellis and her uber-talented understudy. I have now seen four different Elphabas!

Finally I am home again, but not for long. This weekend I am headed to Houston for a bridal session extravaganza. If you are in Houston and need to meet me for a consultation, schedule a portrait session with me, or otherwise hook up with me in person, please contact me ASAP as my schedule is filling up very quickly.

Coming soon: Nikole and Chris’ killer destination wedding in Puerto Plata!