Kali & Jonathon!  What a stunning bride and such a gorgeous, fun wedding to end the year with!

There were so many incredible surprises throughout the day!  Have you seen the dance scene from “500 Days of Summer”?  No?  Then google it and then try to imagine coaxing your own wedding party to pull off all that choreography!  Yes, it was quite amazing!  There were so many other beautiful, inspiring, and special moments that I realized how fortunate I am to experience these major life events as part of my profession.  It is also a little bittersweet knowing that 2011 will be taking me away from photographing weddings.  Instead I will be renewing my focus on family and portraiture.   I will miss all the little moments– the excitement, the families, the amazing friendships of the wedding parties and , of course, I will miss all of the awesome, crazy receptions!  Kali & Jonathon’s reception was no exception!

Congratulations you two!  Here’s to a beautiful life together.

Click here to view Slideshow.

Michelle and Brian are married! I met them last summer during their engagement shoot down on Turnagain Arm. They braved the cold and the wind and were a lot of fun to spend a blustery day with!

This summer, however, they lucked out with one of the sunniest and warmest days of the summer and the whole wedding party celebrated in style. They pulled off a beautiful wedding tending to all the details themselves. So many cute items were used to decorate the chalet and Brian even catered the event himself!

Congratulations, Michelle & Brian, and best of luck in your new life together!

On a gorgeous morning a few weeks ago, Kelsey & Rusty were going through all the preparations for their wedding ceremony. Just before the ceremony started the storm clouds started billowing in over the Chugach. Kelsey stuck with her original plan of an outdoor wedding and after maybe three minutes of sprinkling rain, she ended up with an absolutely beautiful ceremony and beautiful day!

The ceremony was held at O’Malley’s On the Green and it made for a location both inside and out. The wedding party was….well, non-stop entertainment to say the least! Rusty has several brother’s who were not afraid to ham it up for the camera and who pulled out all the stops on the dance floor. Needless to say, it was quite the party and we even had a moosely visitor toward the end of the night!

Congratulations to Kelsey & Rusty on the start of a long and happy life together!

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A beautiful wedding on a gorgeous day was celebrated recently out at the Hilltop Chalet.  Will, the groom, gave a quick speech after the toasts which reminded me exactly of why I love weddings so much.  He spoke of the great opportunity we have on wedding days to be surrounded by our closest friends and our extended family members and a room full of people who are genuinely happy to be there.  This is one of the great treasures of photographing weddings — the opportunity to be around a couples most  cherished friends on a day filled with anticipation, excitement, unbounded love and endless smiles!

Congratulations to Will and his beautiful bride, Amanda!

Last year about this time I had the opportunity to photograph Amy & Andy for their engagement session.  It’s always fun to spend several hours with a couple prior to the wedding because we get the chance to know each other up front before all the timelines and family responsibilities of the big day.  I knew that these guys were going to enjoy their wedding and nothing, not even posing in a little rain, would lessen their excitement or appreciation of their time together!

Congratulations to such a beautiful and caring couple and best of luck on the big move as well!  It sounds like yet another adventure to add to the many that you’ve already had!

In March of this year I had the opportunity to photograph Connie and Mark’s wedding at the Anchorage Museum.  I’ve known Connie over the years by way of “the Christmas Parties” and “the Halloween Parties” from back at the Railway Depot.  It’s been several years now since I’ve photographed a wedding where I knew any of the attendees so this was quite a treat!  There were old friends all over the place! Following are a few of my favorites from Connie and Mark’s winter wedding.  Congratulations you two and thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding day!

New samples for 2010 are slowly but surely starting to roll in and I just received my first sample album of the year! It is beautiful! I tried a new album vendor so I’m always hesitant to see what kind of funky colors the prints end up looking like (you have no idea how many shades of magenta you never want to see!) Anyway, I had nothing to fear with this one! This album is beautiful! Yippee! The color was exactly what I was expecting and the craftmanship looks really well done.

This sample is the Fine Art Album. This style comes standard with Package III or can be an upgrade to the Coffee Table album included in Package II. The cover has three cameo photographs and is a duo-tone leather combination. The pages are thicker and sturdier than the basic coffee table album and for this sample I chose a linen texture. I love it! The album comes with it’s own black storage box and slipcover to keep everything protected and in perfect condition.

Below are a few photos and I also included some shots of it next to a coffee table album to give you a feel for the differences.  These pages are perfect for designing full page spreads across the center line without significant image loss.  The transition is smooth and almost indistinguishable!

Alisa & Casey are married…finally!  At least that’s what their friends and family were saying!  They’ve been a couple for a long while and everyone was very happy to help them tie the knot and celebrate.

They were married downtown and the party quickly moved over to the Hotel Captain Cook.  Alisa is also a photographer so she made sure she had a beautiful suite at the hotel for all her “getting ready” shots.  Yay!  (okay, I just have to say that one more time. Yay!)  She also had a surprise bouquet that was absolutely gorgeous even if there was a bit of a stressful moment involved!

The reception was a definite party.  The ambiance at the hotel was crazy dark and gave us some good opportunities for tricked out lighting styles.  Too much fun!

Congratulations Alisa & Casey!

Hannah and Anders decided to get away for the weekend and talked their family and friends into joining them. They headed south into the Kenai Peninsula and set up shop at a beautiful lodge high above the banks of the Kenai River. They did some fishing, some hiking and then threw in a wedding ceremony for good measure!

Because Hannah & Anders have such a passion for the environment and Alaska in particular, they incorporated some unique details into their reception. The plates and cutlery were all made from bamboo and are completely compost-able, not to mention elegant . My favorite detail, however, were the wedding cakes. There were three different cakes and they all included entirely organic ingredients. They were jam packed with flavor! Kudos to the pastry chef!

Prior to the ceremony, I was fortunate enough to sneak away with the couple for a few shots on Kenai Lake. I get the impression these guys spend a lot of time in this area because before too long Anders had me “off roading” in the family mobile to get to a lookout high above the lake. It was completely worth it, though, and added a nice perspective to a perfectly pristine day for getting married!

Congratulations Hannah & Anders!

Chelsea & Sam were married at Alpenglow at the top of a neverending dirt road in Arctic Valley. The day was spectacularly sunny and warm and beautiful! A dream day for sure!

Chelsea is one of those people who has a special knack for making you feel like you’ve known her forever. She and her merry band of bridesmaids welcomed me into their group and I spent a full day following them around from the hair salon to the mountain top. It was on the mountain top where I first caught sight of Sam and got to witness the perfect wedding gift — Mr. T cuff links! They were a present from his bride to be and Sam was ecstatic.

Sam & Chelsea were married outside in front of their family & friends.  The reception was kicked off with plenty of dancing including my favorite dance of the evening, Sam & his mother dancing to Sweet Home Alabama.

Chelsea, you are a stunning bride!  Please don’t use the photo of the two of you strangling each other as your Christmas Card!

Here is to a lifetime of fun, love & laughter!