I spent this last weekend just outside Tahoe City, California shooting the type of wedding that would make almost any photographer drool.  Josh and Amy finally made it official and they did it in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We had their first meeting at the Painted Rock Lodge in Olympic Valley - just a mile or two down the road from the Squaw Valley 1960 Olympic Village. I took the the bridal party down to a park overlooking the crystal blue waters of Lake Tahoe – arguably the prettiest lake in the country. We even managed our way on to one of the ski lifts at the breathtaking Squaw Valley Ski Resort, and then finished things up at the Squaw Valley Chapel for an intimate and gorgeous ceremony. It was a wedding that I’ll never forget, and a weekend that made coming back to rainy old Portland a little tough. Here’s a link to Josh and Amy’s slideshow at alyssajul.com

When I picked up the phone to call Summer and tell her that my due date was only a week away from her wedding day I was totally expecting massive amounts of panic to exude from the other end of the line. I had even prepared myself to help her pick a different photographer to shoot her wedding. After all, I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to take the chance that their wedding photographer could go into labor in the middle of their ceremony!  Quite amazingly, she wasn’t phased in the least! At first I didn’t think she had understood the implications of what I had just said… I’d would be shooting her wedding while 39 weeks pregnant!

So, first and foremost I ’ve got to thank Summer and Eric for their confidence in me and their willingness to let me waddle through their big day!  Just to be safe, I brought lots of back-up photog help, and had about 10 different contingiency plans in case my little guy decided that he wanted to share his birthday with Summer and Eric’s anniversary. Luckily, he decided to wait a while.

It was one of the most gorgeous March days in Portland that I can remember. The temperature was flirting with 70 degrees (which was a good thing because the last peice of clothing in my closet that still fit was a summer dress), the sun was beaming through the tops of the downtown buildings, and the entire city’s worth of people were out on the streets enjoying the amazing and uncharacteristic weather.

Bride, groom, wedding party, and family were all a blast to work with as we photographed our way through the Embassy Suites, the Portland Streets, and Waterfront Park. The groomsmen were all basketball finatics (coaches, players, and/or enthusiasts) and even brought a ball along. At first, I was a little worried that they’d be too distracted by March Madness scores and their impromptu “three-man-weave” drills to care about pictures, but when their turn in front of the camera came, the fell into line quickly.

The day was a hit! The ceremony and reception were a blast, the food was amazing, and Summer was stunning! Thanks to my hubs for carrying my bag all day and making sure I was hydrated. Thanks to my amazing photographer friend Sara Gray for second shooting. Thanks to Amy my new sister who spent the whole day learning to second shoot. Thanks to the long list of photographers who agreed to be on call in case my baby came. But most of all, thanks again to Summer and Eric for being so gracious, kind, and easy to work with!

I’ve posted a few fun shots from the day below, and if you’re intereseted in seeing more, Here’s a link to their slideshow

It’s been almost a year since I shot Kailee and Joey’s engagement session but it was definitely worth the wait!  The day started downtown at Hotel Fifty, one of my favorite places in portland to shoot “getting ready” pictures.  I had been crossing my fingers for dry weather but Portland didn’t really cooperate. Luckily, the bride and grom were a pair of  troopers and with the aid of the hotel lobby, the parking garage and a big black golf umbrella we still managed to get some great ‘urban-esque’ shots. 

Kailee did an amazing job on all the wedding details, accomplishing a perfect blend simplicity and elegence. After shooting downtown we headed across the river to Sellwood for a perfect and intimate ceremony at the Oaks Pioneer Church a beautifully restored 160 year old church from Oregon’s pioneer days.

The reception was just down the road at the Oaks Park Dance Pavillion and was absolutely awesome. The ring bearer wins two awards for the night: 1) best dancer, and 2) worst cup-cake thief  (see below). Rex with 1st Choice DJ Entertainment did an amazing job (as he has every time I’ve worked with him) of keeping the dance floor hoppin. It didn’t take long for the ladies to ditch their shoes, which made for one of my favorite reception shots of the night, even though it was not an easy one to get crawling with my big ‘ol pregnant belly. 

It was a great day – so very full of love, laughter, and fun. Kailee and Joey, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the priviledge of being a part of such a beautiful milestone in your lives.

It was a  chilly January wedding day in Salem, but Erica and Mike didn’t flinch. We made our way from the Capitol building to Downtown and then off to Waterfront Park snapping great shots all along the way. Erica and the bridesmaids would bundle up between clicks and during posing but when it came time to get the shot, they shed the extra layers and looked like seasoned models.

The reception was held at the Grand Ballroom downtown, and was as gorgeous as I’ve seen it. They have one of my most favorite dance floors of any venue I’ve worked and it didn’t dissapoint. The paper laterns and twinkle lights created incredible lighting scheme and a great ambiance – I even brought one of my big studio strobes along for some extra dramatic lighting during the dancing. I love taking dance pictures with the strobe, it really gives a ’spot-light’ type of feel to the pictures and it offers some extra creative flexibility.

Another one of my favorite parts of the night was when I got the chance to take Erica and Mike outside the Ballroom to get some low light stuff under Salem’s cool downtown street lighting. There’s something about shooting in the dark without a flash that makes for an extra romantic, movie-like quality to a picture. Ever since the low-light workshop with Art, I can’t get enough of it.

It was a great day and a blast of a wedding.  A couple months back I was a little worried about how my pregnant body was going to hold up during all my winter weddings but so far, apart from some extra sore feet, I think I’ve handled it like a champ!  :)   Thanks Erica and Mike, for trusting me with your big day – your pictures turned out amazingly and I can’t wait for you to see the rest.

As a Portland wedding photographer, there aren’t many times I get to shoot in the snow…but this was one of them.

Megan and Joe (and the entire wedding party for that matter) were great sports as I paraded them around the temple grounds for pictures in the middle of Portland’s first snow storm of the winter (a bit of a stretch to call it a storm I know).  It came down in big, soft, fluffy flakes that photographed wonderfully. What a treat to have snow filled wedding pictures! It’s definitely not  something many other Oregon brides can say.

Photos at the Temple went oh so smoothly and the reception down at the Green Villa Barn near Salem was equally perfect. They had wood stoves set up all along the walls (guess where I stood when I wasn’t shooting) making the barn an incredibly welcoming and cozy place to celebrate their new vows.

I also had a chance to meet Michael Jensen, a very talented videographer from Antelope, CA. He was easy to work with and put together an amazing “same-day” wedding video that was shown at the reception. There should be some video clips from the day up on his website soon.

Here’s a few of my favorites – I sure wish it would snow more often!

Corey and I shot our second to last wedding of 2009  just before Christmas out in Oregon City. Beth and Taylor were adorable and an absolute blast to spend the day with. We spent much of the day doing pictures downtown on Main Street near the old Courthouse (an amazing spot for photography btw) wandered through the nearby Oregon City Winter Farmer’s Market and got some great shots. We even ran into my inlaws (who are Oregon City residents) which was a fun coincidence. The rain held off just long enough to get some great wedding party shots on the courthouse steps – I absolutely adore the pink umbrellas.

There’s something extra special about cold wintery weddings, especially ones so close to Christmas. Somehow it makes them feel even more magical. It was also fun bonus that Beth and Taylor got married in the same church that I did (Oregon City Evangelical Church) it brought back all kinds of great memories!

The genuine love, happiness, and contentment that Beth and Taylor have is an amazing thing to witness and photograph. They were such a fun couple and I’m thrilled for them and the many happy years they have in store.

Here are a few from the day, Enjoy!