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.

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!

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!

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!

Elaina and Seth were married on Friday, the last day of July. They are blessed with two beautiful and supportive families who helped pull off a very perfect wedding day for these two.

The ceremony was held in a private location hidden away on Jewel Lake. Although the day started out with a tiny bit of sprinkling rain, the sun decided to make it’s appearance just in time for the ceremony– perfect!

Thank you Elaina & Seth for letting me share in such a beautiful day with you. Congratulations on your new life together!

I thought I’d post one more of the weddings that I helped shoot while in Alabama.  This was the very first wedding that I photographed with Mark Lawley & Associates.  I told Mark how common it was to have outdoor weddings back in Alaska, and all he had to do was have me follow him around one time to realize why southern brides love air conditioning!  It was ridiculously hot!  Summer hadn’t even gotten into full swing yet but you could easily see how an outdoor wedding could knock a bridal party off their feet!  Thankfully, the rest of the summer, the weddings I helped with were all indoors!

This particular couple was going on an Alaskan cruise for their honeymoon, so I felt right at home meeting the bride for the first time.  She was surrounded by a wonderful group of friends and we had an easy morning spending time at the salon.  They chose to have a “first look” where the bride and groom see each other prior to the ceremony and it was a beautiful opportunity.  I had never participated in a wedding with a “first look” before and had the good fortune of witnessing several more before the summer was over.  What a great idea!  I wish I had thought of that with my wedding.  

When we arrived at the church we were joined by Keith and Carla,  additional members of Mark’s Photography team, who took over with the bulk of photographing the wedding.  I was able to step back and watch some seasoned pro’s in action.  It was a great start to a wonderful summer!

]]> http://melissashelby.com/2009/04/an-alabama-story-wedding-photography/feed/ 0 http://melissashelby.com/2009/03/what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation-southern-weddings/ http://melissashelby.com/2009/03/what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation-southern-weddings/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:51:52 +0000 Mel http://melissashelby.com/?p=435

Prior to the start of our trip down south I had the good fortune of meeting Mark Lawley of Mark Lawley & Associates. Mark allowed me the wonderful opportunity of photographing weddings with his team based out of Birmingham, AL. They kept me busy throughout the summer and shared their vast knowlege that comes from years of experience in the business! The last time I had the opportunity to photograph a wedding as a team was back in 1999 when I still shot film! Needless to say, I picked up several fun new techniques this go around!

Mark’s approach to team shooting is such an awesome and comprehensive way of capturing the story of a wedding. After my first wedding with these guys, I was already excited about all the possibilities for weddings in Anchorage. I’m so thankful I was able to gain this experience but more importantly I had the opportunity to work with and develop friendships with some great fellow photographers! Thank you to Mark, Keith, Carla, Randi, Maggie and now baby Noah!

I’ll be posting images from some of these weddings over the next couple of weeks. The first batch is from the last wedding I photographed with Keith. My favorite images were from the dance floor. We were taking turns working some backlighting and trying to keep up with the dancers!

Earlier in the day, there were some beautiful moments captured. The first image to follow shows the father of the bride quietly looking out the window while we were wrapping up the formals.  Also, there is also a fun moment when the flower girl gives the bride a high five after the ceremony — total cuteness!