Bainbridge 2017

Hi, it's me. I'm posting 2017 pictures in the year 2018. That should tell you where I've been at with my blogging. So let's dive in!
Last summer we took our annual trip out to Seattle to spend time with my parents and sister. Normally we stick to the city, but we ventured out and went to bainbridge island! ( and then went to the city...) Here are some pics to prove it.

* There's also some sappy stuff going on at the end of the post, so if you happen to get there, I apologize in advance.

We took a ferry to the island and it was COLD. I always forget that summer in Seattle is like fall in Dallas. Just a heads up for anyone hopping on the boat: bring a jacket.

 ** Don't @ me

I thought I would write more in this blog post, but then, I changed my mind. The truth is, I just finished editing these photos a few days ago. They have been sitting in my hard drive for over a year. These pictures, like most of my others, wern't for my blog, instagram or facebook.
They were for me.I didn't take them with captions in mind.
Recently, I was reminded of how important pictures really are to me. My journals and my photos are my most valuable possessions. They are a piece of me. They are moments I spent with people I love, and those things give me a chance to relive those moments with more accuracy.

I hear people say, " put down your camera and enjoy the moment" SO much lately. And I get it. I really do. But this is me, and this is what I love.
 I've tried to explain the thousands of photos and videos I have on my phone at all times, or justify how often I bring my DSLR to events; but the truth is, it's just because I love it. Capturing moments IS my moment. I have never once regretted bringing my camera along for the ride.

Looking at my photographs often makes me emotional, and that is one of my favorite things. I take photos ( of my friends, family and clients) with the same purpose in mind: to capture a feeling, a moment.

I promise I'll stop being so sappy, but this is my first blog post in a long time, and I needed to remember why I even spend time doing it. It's for me ( which I know is kind of selfish and weird since I'm posting this stuff online), but I hope the people in my photos can share these emotions with me. I hope that other people who look at my photos will feel things too. Seeing loved ones from afar, seeing new places in new ways, seeing how things have changed or stayed the same.

So if you've made it this far, kudos! Thanks for coming along for the ride. I know many of you have supported my photography for YEARS ( since I turned 11? Thanks Mom & Dad! ), and I can't tell you how amazing it feels to have people tell you you're kind of good at something, and that something happens to be the thing that helps your world go round.

Also, a huge thank you to my parents for this trip in particular. They have always done anything and everything to give us all they could. I can only hope to be half as wonderful of a parent someday. 

Our Wedding! Part 3: Reception

Yayyyy reception post! LOTS OF PHOTOS (and a couple of gifs) prepare yourself.

I was in wisconsin during all of our wedding planning and couldn't have done it all without Emmily of Charming Details.  Click that for her info, she's wonderful, seriously. If I could have been in 2 places at once on my wedding day I would have, but since thats not possible I had Emmily and it was pretty much the greatest thing ever. We talked for months about decorating the reception hall, the food, the flowers, the DJ- this woman does it all. And she appreciated the wedding binder: obviously someone who was that organized about weddings was a necessity for me. 

I decided she was the planner for me when I saw her website (linked above) and saw her favorite flowers listed and that she listened to fleet foxes and beirut. A woman of my own heart: I knew our tastes would be similar. 

I walked into our venue and was SO happy. It was hard for me to think of not being there to help decorate myself, but she made it perfect. Its like she saw inside my brain or something. 

Chase and I fell in love with the Salt Lake Hardware Building long before, and knew it would match our colors and feel perfectly. 

 ^^ My mom made the schedule for the night and those adorable little cards for the guests to fill out. 

She is awesome, because they turned out perfectly.  ^^

^^  She also made our guestbook, which is a map with hearts marking where we met, where we got engaged and where we got married. The bomb.

 Also, if you're good with details you will notice the ampersand is the one we are making in the picture its leaning against ;) ^^

We started out with a ring ceremony, since many of our loved ones are not able to go into the temple, and it was a time we could exchange rings and vows. Having my dad officiate that was a wonderful touch for us (and P.S. writing vows was a lot harder than I thought it would be..) I think this was actaully the most nervous we were all day

Apparently our food from the brown brothers was delicious, but we wouldn't know because we stuffed ourselves with chick-fil-a right before the reception. Honestly, you're too busy to think about eating anyways.

 Its our number one regret though- if we could go back, we would totally eat the food. I even picked out pulled pork sandwiches as one of the options because it's one of chases favorite foods, and cotton candy is one of mine (so we had a cotton candy machine of course) and yet- we didn't eat. Still shaking my head...such a shame. 

The huge chalk wall Polaroid Photo Booth was one of my favorite parts. I just wish we had taken more pictures ;) But it doubled as a take home gift for guests, and another copy was left for us: to have pictures of those that came to celebrate with us. I will treasure them always.

^^ I really just adore this picture of Sarah and Shaun ^^

And our Dad's gave toasts, so of course I shed some tears. 

But to be fair: both Jaki and my mom cried too. So I had some company.

The following pictures are by far some of my favorite wedding pictures of all. They make me laugh every time, and chase is such a good sport..

Obviously I felt no guilt. Obviously I am already a terrible wife. But it was fun, still no guilt. It's a good thing chase kinda likes me. 

Also, delicious cake made by Tess of Le Loup. I am not a wedding cake fan so I was worried, and it was so not typical wedding cake. This cake was freakishly delicious. I wish I had some right now.

^^  Look at those Plano, TX girls front and center! The fact that the girls (who I had young women sleepovers with) were able to make it to our reception was so great. 

I will love them forever for it. ^^

Chris caught it...again. He caught the garter at the last wedding we went to together...anddddd he got married August first of this year. It worked I guess! (and we love ashley, wish she could have been there too! Finals destroy fun though.) 

Chase and his mom danced to "What a wonderful world"  by Louis Armstrong

I used to get dressed up when I was little, and dance around on my Dad's feet to "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle. So of course that's the song I picked for our first dance...and I cried. Come on, what do you even expect at this point. 

 The DJ even called me out and said he would play something more upbeat for me to stop crying...come on man.... 

Our first dance was "Come away with me" by Norah Jones...and then it got crazy.

 Justttt kidding, because chase doesn't like dancing in front of people..so we got a little tiny bit crazy.

 Then we had a crazy rushed exit, and it was still wonderful. And Emmily even packed wedding food for us (including the anniversary cake which we may or may not have eaten for breakfast the next morning on our honeymoon. And it may or may not have been an amazing decision. whoops)

 It was an amazing day, the reception was the fastest thing ever for us (probably happens to everyone, so prepare yourself) and I am so grateful for the love we shared with our family and friends. 

At the end of April, 3, 2014 I was exhausted, emotional and married to my best friend. 

PS always a shoutout to Shannon Elizabeth Photography and Iron Pointe films for capturing our memories! 

WEDDING VIDEO HERE

Wedding Part 1

Wedding part 2