Wedding Wednesday {Stand Out}

It’s time for another Wedding Wednesday! Last time we looked at some cake toppers, so to further explore this theme I’ve got some unique cake stand ideas to show you today. This may also be timely for my non-bride clients who are hosting holiday events, etc. Love, love, love the holidays. Especially the eats–which may be why I’m on a cake tangent here…

ANYWAY…For many,  the cake stand is merely an afterthought left in the able hands of the bakery and/or caterer. I know that’s how it was for me. However, if you are looking for ways to incorporate more personalized details this may be food for thought.

In addition to making your wedding unique–it can also save you money. You can go with a smaller cake, while still having a beautiful and memorable display. Plus, you can continue to use the cake stand to display your treats and baked goods for as long as you both shall live (you and the cake stand sitting in a tree…♫).

Cake Stand Idea #1: Rustic

It’s just not fair when they use chocolate in their product images…nothing is a bigger draw for me.  (Click on the images to go to the shop listings)

Cocoa goodness aside, if you are into the rustic look or you’re planning your wedding in an outdoorsy or farmish local, here are several variations of the tree slice cake stand:

This idea is very viable for DIY (Do-It-Yourself) projects, and there are even some instructions out there:

Cake Stand Idea #2: Personalized

Okay, these fake cupcakes are not nearly as enticing as a chocolate cake…but I absolutely love this vintagesque blue color, and the idea of personalization. I mean, who doesn’t like to see their name in print?

Cake Stand Idea #3: Thematic Icons

I know. “Thematic Icons” sounds pompous and means nothing. I needed an excuse to include this cute stand. Yes, it has birds! Yes, that is probably why I like it! And there’s that blue color again…

Cake Stand Idea #4: Simple

This DIY stackable cupcake stand is onto something. There are patterns and shapes and all kinds of found objects that could easily be incorporated into a simple cake stand. Add some meaningful embellishments or materials and now it’s got some sentimental prowess.

disclaimer: I did not create any of these photos/images. If you click on them, it should take you to their source.

Wedding Wednesday {bird is the word}

I see so many fun ideas at weddings, on blogs, and in shops {online and otherwise}. Some seem a bit far-out, and others are amazingly adorable. So I’ve decided to start a new blog spot for my brides-to-be… Welcome to the first edition of Wedding Wednesdays!

I stumbled across this little dude while browsing the main page of Etsy:

His name is Romeo and his cute bird self is constructed of vintage page(s) from the Shakespeare play. Talk about “fowl” language…

How cute are they?!? This lead me to look at the rest of the  shop and what to my wondering eyes did appear…but a whole line-up of avian cake toppers!

These last two sets are my favorites:

If, like me, you’ve got birds on the brain–you can find more products from the creator/seller cottonbirddesigns at www.cottonbird.co.uk. Enjoy!

Hansen Family {Sneak Peak}

I seriously love this family! It doesn’t get any better than this. Here’s an image from our Yuma portrait session and a couple of little Dominick on his way to get some Halloween loot! More of the session coming soon!

school ∂ays

Thanks to the great web development guys at Skyhook I enjoyed a super opportunity to do some candids for Adobe Montessori Preschool and their new website. The administrator, owner and teachers at the preschool were so sweet and great to work with. After a couple of hours at the school, I left wishing I had some kids to send there! What a great program and the kindest, sweetest faculty. And don’t even get me started on the ADORABLE students! Check out the preschool’s website at www.adobemontessori.com. o This was a fun new adventure and I’m grateful I had the chance to do it!

The Little Man and the Sea(shore)

My sister-in-law called recently to ask about using some photos I took of her son, my nephew, the wild thing himself, Isaiah. Wild, but SO adorable! Wild, but it was probably our fault for getting him wound up whenever we see him. He’s probably not quite so wild when Uncle Braden’s not around. Then again…I have to think that Isaiah’s dad,( my brother, Bryce), is bound to be guilty of the same sort of instigating.

I am so glad that Heidi called and gave me an excuse to go through some of the images from our Oregon trip and share a few shots of their little family!

Q’s and A’s {Pic or Treat!}

As promised, here are the details on our Pic or Treat! Fundraiser. Mark your calendars and contact us to schedule your session! OCTOBER 24th is coming fast!!!

Links….

Humanitarian Services: Emergency Response , Worldwide Activities, FAQ’s

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance: About, Ways to Help

Q&A II

Q&A III

Halloween Fundraiser

I am SO excited for this event! I have really admired the business plans fostered by Toms Shoes and other companies that have a built in mechanism for giving back to the community and the world. I’ve always known that I wanted to find ways to do something similar, but I’ve felt even more motivated as of late. I know this is totally short notice, and I *promise* to give more response time in the future. Please check back in the next day or two for more details and links, particularly about the organizations that will receive the donations. All proceeds will go to Humanitarian Services and St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance.

Thanks everyone for your support!

Gracias, Carissa, for the clever tagline idea!

Sisters!…{Maritime Style}

We just got back from our first stay in Oregon. It was gorgeous and green, and most importantly, it was many degrees cooler than Phoenix! We had a great time playing with my extended family and exploring Rockaway Beach and some surrounding sights. Here are some shots of my sisters–they are amazing and beautiful. I look forward to hanging out with them again in the future.

 

Feather in my…headband?

When it comes to my own accessories I like to keep things simple–nothing too flashy/gaudy/trendy. On the other hand, I love, love, love to see people wearing crazy stuff and pulling it off! Plus it makes for great photographs that are  much more interesting.

With that said, for some reason I am a little tempted by these headbands…even though I know I wouldn’t wear one. Or would I? Hmmm…

What do you think of them?

http://store.bambako.com/products

Hawaii Vacation

We recently had a fantastic Hawaii vacation, and as you would imagine the result was hundreds of images of our fun adventures, the island scenery, and of the robins family. It was difficult to narrow it down to a few that Braden and I selected to go in a book–but I am really happy about what the layouts became. I used the iPhoto app on my Mac to organize the images and then order the printed from Apple (from the comfort of my couch…in my pajamas…eating cheetos…well, not really eating cheetos, but you can imagine.) We dedicated the book to Braden’s parents for taking us on such a great trip, so we also shipped it straight to them. I can’t wait to see  how the book looks in person (don’t worry, they already showed it to us via video-conferencing!). Depending on what the final product is like–I may utilize iPhoto for client photograph books in the future.

Here is a screen shot of the Cover. Oh how we miss the beach!

The front inside flap. Braden authored this fabulous narrative (with my input, of course!)

Title Page. We looked up as many of the places we visited as possible to make sure we go the names and spelling right. In reality, we probably could've just used any combination of vowels and the effect would be the same...

Spread #1. Shots from our sweet digs and the resort grounds.

Spread #2. Just a montage of images from the weeklong adventure.

Spread #3. Our first full day in Maui we spent the morning at the beach, and went for a hike in the afternoon. They have trails that go through an old plantation, most of it used to be a golf course. It ended up being a little steeper than we had anticipated...but we survived. By "survived" I mean that Aubrey ran up the hills, Braden almost kept up with her, and well, you can see Norma's strategy in the photos above.

Spread #4. The Road to Hana. The distance around Maui is not all that long, but driving to the other end to see the sites took us upwards of 10 hours round-trip. This can be attributed to the extremely narrow roads, two-lane bridges, and tourist traffic. Not to mention that there are several places to stop and play along the way! We saw beautiful beaches, ate fresh banana bread at a roadside fruit stand (well Ward and I did), saw a super old church made out of coral, had a picnic lunch by a waterfall, some of us got in and/or fell into the water, and other various activities.

Spead #5. Most of these are us modeling our church clothes on the hotel balcony. It definitely seemed that the majority of the congregation at the church we visited were tourists...It was, afterall, Memorial Day weekend.

Spread #6. We drove up a very windy, very steep, very cliff edgy road to get to the volcano crater. It was rainy and "foggy" most of the way up, and as you would imagine, "foggy" at the top as well. Apparently the fog was actually vapors from the volcano on the main island. It made it somewhat difficult to see anything, let alone the crater. But at least we can say we've been there! And it was pretty fun anyway.

Spread #7. We embarked on a Snorkel trip bright and early Monday morning. We enjoyed clear skies, smooth-sailing, and several ocean wildlife sightings. Captain Dave took us around the island of Lanai, stopping in three awesome bays to let us snorkel. Snorkelling was a blast, and Captain Dave and his crew were very entertaining.

Spread #8. Zipline! I'm so glad that Aubrey suggested this. The views were AMAZING and the ziplines were long and way fun. Plus, as a bonus we got to look hot in some sweet gear.

Spread #9. Good times at the Luau.

Last page. The requisite Aubrey-montage. She is looking out in the distance for her boyfriend, Captain Dave.

The back inside flap.

Back Cover. How sad that vacations have to end!