Barry and Teri said their “I Do’s” surrounded by their family, friends, and the Ko’olau mountains on the 18th tee off of the Ko’olau Golf Club. The ceremony was amazing, and personalized, and it was apparent how much affection Barry and Teri had for each other, and for all their family. The backdrop was beautiful, and the weather although sketchy that morning had turned into the perfect day minutes before the ceremony began. My favorite part of the ceremony was when all the guest got out of their seats and formed a circle of love around the couple as they were announced husband and wife. Or was it the rainbow that popped up just before they were about to head to the reception? Either way the whole day was nothing short of amazing. Congratulations to you both, and thanks for letting me be a part of your day! Here is that sneak peak I promised you!
The Lin Ohana has been coming to Hawaii to vacation for years but they have never gotten family photos done. I am so glad they happened upon my website because I had a great evening with this sweet ohana. Since they were staying in Ko Olina we figured it would be the best location for their shoot. I went exploring with the kids and we found a sweet little hermit crab. I think Cloe fell in love! She named him Sebastian like in the Little Mermaid, and she giggled as he tickled her little hand. Ethan, like most boys his age, was more interested in playing DS then having his picture taken. He did put it down long enough to get a few good shots though. I mean I know I am not as fun as the Super Mario brothers so I really can’t blame him. Here is A sneak peak of this adorable ohana!
When Kerry called me on the phone to talk about wedding details, I knew there was something I really liked about her. We hit it off and chatted like school girls for quite awhile. I felt like I had know her for years, and I could not wait to meet her in person. When the day finally arrived I discovered that not only was she more awesome then I originally thought, but she was about to marry a man that was equally as great. Dan and Kerry’s sunset wedding was so intimate that they did not even have an officient. It was a ceremony for just the two of them. Two people, in love, on a beach, at sunset, surrounded by all of Hawaii’s beauty. So we decided it would be best to do all their wedding pictures before hand so they could have a private ceremony for two just as the sun was setting past the horizon. We started at the surf shop in Haleiwa, and it was so fun to watch them just being silly and in love with each other. I even tried out a fish eye lens for the first time which was tons of fun! We joked that Dan was just a prop and Kerry was the main attraction. I say we joked but it was kind of true, Kerry looked stunning, and I think Dan makes a very good prop! Want to see what it looks like to be fabulously in love? Well then check out the pictures below!
I am a girly girl, and God knew that although I love to go camping and fishing with the best of them, I needed some pink bows and nail polish in my life. So God blessed me with four little shopping partners! I have trained them well in the ways of the mall, and one day they will go forth on their own and do my proud! My eldest shopping partner just turned 11 and is now calling herself a pre pre teen. This is quite fitting considering she is 11 going on 17. Addison is the spitting image of me. From the color of her hair, to her posture, all the way down to her attitude, we are one in the same. This being said, we can spend entire days butting heads, and having long “discussions” in which we are both always right! However when all the pre-teen drama is set aside we are best friends. We are best friends who love to shop! So every year on Addison’s birthday her and I take a day just the two of us. We wake up early, get all dressed up, and hit the malls from sun up to sun down. This has become one of our favorite days of the year. Addison gets a new wardrobe and I get priceless time bonding with my oldest daughter. This was the third annual mommy daughter birthday shopping extravaganza! Although it is usually a day for just the two of us, this year we decided to celebrate with our two BFF’s Debbie and Adele. It became a mother daughter shopping trip for two. Which of course ment double the laughs, double the shopping, and double the fun. Knowing that our BFF’s are moving away at the end of the month this day was bitter sweet. But for right now in this moment I am only going to think about the sweet. I am going to cherish the day and all the great memories we made. I will focus on the sweet and let my husband worry about the bitter when he gets his credit card bill. For me this day was all about my sweet daughter, our sweet friends, and most important the sweet deals we SCORED! We scored good food at Macaroni grill, we scored fantastic deals at Macy’s, and most of all we scored the best friends, and daughters these mommies could ask for!
Addison is rocking her first pair of designer jeans. Happy 11th Birthday! I love you!
Well it is time for Aven to grace my blog with her adorable little face again! I cannot believe my little baby is almost 10 months already. How did this happen? I mean it has to be entirely impossible that ten months have gone by since her birth. I know this because my butt is no where near fitting into my pre pregnancy jeans yet. So either she is still only two months old and just large for her age, or I need to face the reality that while she continues to grow up, I continue to grow out! I had better head straight to the gym without passing go, or collecting $200. Unfortunately she really is 10 month, and I really am still FAT. Either way both points are just a little disturbing and I might need to down a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a bottle of red wine to numb the pain of this reality. The fact that Aven is growing way to fast is hitting me a little harder this time then with the rest because this time I know, with out a doubt, that this is my last baby. This is the last little squishy, chubby, diaper wearing, dimpled kneed little baby that will be joining our family. Thankfully I will at least be blessed with tons of grandchildren one day, but that is several years down the road. For as long as Ben and I have been married we have always had a baby in the house, and I cannot believe this is going to be the last time. I love every stage she goes through even better then the one before. Right now she is crawling all over, gives out a belly laugh when you tickle her, raises her arms when you go to pick her up, and lights up when you come in a room. I love this stage! I cannot stop time but I can capture this moment in time and make it last a life time. So here she is at 9 months in all her dimpled knee glory. I love this kid!
Thanks to Irene for capturing this photo of Aven and I!
Victor and Kanoelani said “I Do” on the white sand beach of Lanikai. A planned elopement is what they called it. I called it perfect! Two people, madly in love, on a beach, starting their lives together. May day will be an extra special celebration for them from now on. After and amazing ceremony we ventured all over the island taking pictures. We started at the beautiful Laie Hawaii Temple , stopped at the Banyan trees, hit the surf shops of Haleiwa, and finished with an amazing sunset on the beach. This wedding really reminded me of why I love my job so much. The love and passion between Victor and Kanoelani was so intense that it felt like it poured onto those around them. I have been married for almost 12 years now and it is so easy to let the craziness of everyday life get the best of you. We spend our days scratching off items on your “to do” list and not even have a full conversation with your spouse until your sleepy head hits the pillow. I love my job because I get to share in the moment of two people beging their lives together and loving each other so intensely, like nothing else in the world matters at the moment except for each other. New love reminds me to never let that feeling die in my own marriage. It reminds me to take the time to love a little more, laugh a little more and enjoy a little more. It makes me want to be a better person, a better wife and a better lover. Love that’s contagious should be spread! Thank you Victor and Kanoelani for infecting me with the urge to love bigger, to love deeply, to love passionately.
Enjoy your honeymoon in Maui. Hope you infect everyone around you with your love! Here are a few of my favorite pics from your wedding day!
I have to start off by giving a huge shout out to the Sibbit’s! Mahalo! Mahalo! Mahalo! I was so surprised when I got a gift box at my front door this weekend with a thank you note for our shoot last week. I mean I am the girl who does a count down to my birthday 90 days out so people know how many shopping days they have left. So when I get a special gift in the mail just to say thanks, well that just gives me the warm and fuzzies! Just hearing how you love your photos is thanks enough for me but hey, if you want to to tell my with bottles of wine and chocolate that is fine with me also! By the way since we are on the subject there are 86 more shopping days until my birthday! In all seriousness though I love my job, I love my clients, and I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet right now! Who thinks the Sibbits just flat out rock! ”this girl!” (pointing two thumbs at myself)!
Speaking of the Sibbit’s and how much they rock, check this glamourous couple rocking it out in front of my camera:
Aloha and welcome to my new blog! I am so excited about the new look and the promo videos I did to launch the site! I feel this new site is a much better representation of myself. I hope by hanging out at my blog you will be able to get to know me even better. I am a what you see is what you get kind of girl! I am high maintenance behind the scenes but totally laid back on the outside. This does not mean I am fake it just means I like things a certain way but can let thing go if they are not. I wear makeup to the gym and if you come to my house for a visit it will look perfect when you walk in the door but I don’t expect it to stay that way long. Not sure where I am going with all this….I guess what I am trying to say is that when you read my blog I want it to be real and when you meet me in person I want you to feel like you already know me. I want my new site to be more personable then this is my job, here are my photos. So in between the shots I want to have some more personal blogs then I have had in the past. I used to write a personal blog long ago and people even thought I was funny….who knew!
So all that aside the first thing I want to share on my new blog are some behind the scene shots from the Trash the dress video. I cannot tell you how much fun I had putting this together. Ok I will admit I stressed a bit also but it was a good, excited, I hope this all goes the way I have it envisioned in my head kind of stress. An ugh I am going to be on camera and still have 20 pounds to lose kind of stress. It was basically like planning a whole wedding from the dress down to the flowers and I could not have done it without allot of help and great volunteers! I have to say a special thanks to you all for making my plans come to life. Thanks to Brook and Julian for being my models. Thanks to Coco Dela Cruz of www.modelmayhem.com/corvette for doing an amazing job on hair and makeup! To Patricia Inouye of www.fleurcouture.com for the fabulous flowers. Thank you peter Fowler of www.midshotproductions.com for your unbeleivable talent as a videographer. To the lady on craigslist selling wedding dresses at a great price! To Matsumotos and Haleiwa Surf and Sea for letting me shoot in front of their stores on a busy Saturday. Last but not least I want to thank my husband for producing my new website and letting me roll endless ideas off of him, and the rest of my family for putting up with me while being sleep deprived because I could not sleep with all the excitment rolling around in my head. Without all of you my vision would never had become a reality and I think you all absolutely ROCK!
I have included a link to all their sites because you future brides are going to want to check these guys out. Because a picture is worth a thousand words I will leave you with some of my favorite images of the day! Thanks to all family and all my FaceBook fans for all your love and support!
Oh and one last thing! If you have not already seen the Trash the Dress video please go to my website and click on the video link! I love comments so let me know what you think!
Today I had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning for a sun rise photo shoot in Lanikai. This is kind of a big deal for me because I just don’t do mornings. I think it is painful to wake up to an alarm clock. No joke, I actually experience physical pain. I really wish I was a morning person. I feel like morning people get so much more accomplished in a day. I however am just going to have to come to terms with the fact that mornings and me do not mix. The fact that I do not like coffee may be a contributing factor to my grumbly morning attitude! That being said, I have to thank this morning bunch for getting me up and at’em today! Not only did I get to hang out with this fabulous family, but I also experienced my first Hawaiian sun rise on the beach! I had so much fun shooting them that I forgot it was 6am and I had bags under my eyes! Here is the sneak peek I promised you! Thanks for a fun time this morning!
I had such a blast working with the Hartsell family. Besides the fact that the whole family is absolutely gorgeous, the kids were the sweetest ever! I am glad my little man Jensen loves to talk because I loved listening to his voice. He has a deep voice for a little guy and I just couldn’t get enough. Between the red hair, blue eyes, and freckles I don’t think I could take any more cuteness from one family! Even the sea turtles agreed with me. For the first time ever, in this location, we spotted at least 4 turtles. They were even sticking their little arms out of the water and waving. You don’t see that back home in Texas! The lighting was absolutely yummy that evening, making me break out into my happy dance more than once. The Hartsell’s love to travel and they are always looking out for new adventures. Thank you for letting me capture your venture in Hawaii! You guys are the best!
