Great weekend!!!!

With my parents leaving tomorrow morning, I went back to work this weekend and what a productive couple of days it has been!!!! I finished a couple album designs this weekend, created my new logo (more on that in a minute) and photographed one of my most anticipated weddings yesterday!

My logo...I really liked the logo I created earlier this year. However, I was having problems with the dye that was being used for my folders and albums. Mainly, though, I wanted to have all my branding the same. Since I LOVE calalilies (strange, because this flower seemed to cover my backyard when I was growing up, and was the flower I immensely disliked as a kid) I wanted to use that as my "signature". My gift certificates I offer to clients has a photo of a cala lily that I took, so I thought I'd carry out the trend with my logo. Actually, the cala lily is what I wanted to use when I created the logo back in January, but I could not find any sort of line art. I have been looking for a graphic of a lily ever since and finally decided to draw one for myself (thank goodness for my Wacom tablet!) Here's the finished product and as soon as I can figure out how to get it on my blog I'll be switching it out (HELP Madeline!!) :)

Now, onto the important stuff~Lana and Matt's wedding!! I have been so excited about this day! Lana hired me back in January of last year (I think she was my first '08 bride). I really need to thank Lake Natoma Inn as well as my daughter, Cassie, for getting this wedding. Between the two of them Lana knew she wanted to hire me before she even met me. Obviously she had seen my work in sample books at LNI, but she also realized that she knew Cassie from six years ago. Lana is now an elementary school teacher at the school Cassie attended when we moved here. However, when Cass was a student, Lana was a college student who did some work at Creekside and worked with Cassie in the afterschool program (ah, I do love a small town!!) Anyway, as they say, the rest is history! Lana and I hit it off immediately and this couple is so much fun! We were talking yesterday and we were saying how we couldn't believe that their engagement session was a year ago! If you recognize this couple it's because they're in the opening slideshow of my website. Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows how much I LOVE teachers...and this couple is perfect~they're both teachers!! Lana currently teaches first grade and Matt is a math teacher. One of the cutest things I've ever seen at a wedding was the book that was on the guestbook table last night. Lana and Matt have been engaged for a couple of years, so Lana's second grade class last year made her a book titled "Advice on How to Have a Happy Marriage". This book is priceless! Some great wisdom that I can't believe came out of second graders, and some that definitely came from second graders (I love the one about buying your husband a playstation)! I've included some of them in the slideshow, so please be sure to read them (if the slides go by too fast, you can always click on the calendar like grid to see them individually). This is a photo of the card that Matt put so much work into and had delivered to Lana as she was getting dressed. I won't show you the inside, because of the personal message, but believe me when I say that he put a lot of time and effort into it. Way to go Matt!!!!
I was so happy to be back at LNI (my sixth wedding in a row). With all the fires and smoke I was worried about what the day may hold for all of us. Actually, yesterday was the first day I had seen a patch of blue sky in a week. I think things are finallly beginning to clear up a tiny bit! Although the smoke is very unhealthy and the reason for the smoke is devistating, I guess if you could look for an upside, it is that it creates some soft filtered light which is great for the photographs.
When I photograph a wedding like I did yesterday I am so thankful! The wedding party was wonderful, the families were amazing, the location was perfect (as usual) and it was just one of those days where everything "clicked"! I know Lana and Matt were trying to decide what sort of cake they wanted and the mom of one of their groomsmen offered to bake it. I hear it was her first attempt at a wedding cake. I have to admit, I have had bakery cakes that were not as good as this one!! Part of the struggle Lana and Matt had with the cake was that Lana doesn't really like cake that much, so they couldn't see spending a thousand or two on something that wasn't as important to them. Lana finally said "I do like funfetti"...you know the cake...Betty Crocker?! It was DELICIOUS!!!!
Thank you, Lana and Matt, for making the day so much fun! Also, thank you for the gift. It was totally unexpected, but SO MUCH appreciated!!! I'm saving it for when Ali comes home this week and we're going to enjoy it with our friends when they come for dinner on Thursday evening. I can't wait for you to see the slideshow and how beautiful this couple is! By the way, a couple of weeks ago Ali told me about the song I decided to use for their show. When I heard it for the first time I said to myself "I'm using this song for Lana and Matt". It just seems to fit them perfectly and wanted them to be the first couple I introduced it with! Leave them lots of comments so when they get home from the Bahamas they can relive the day all over again!