Photo Walk

Back in September, I joined Scott & Jaime from Scott Gage Photography to walk some streets in Calgary taking photos. This photo walk was just that - walk and take photos. You don't have to even know what you were doing (I sure didn't!). It was so fun to see the photos that the other participants took and submitted to Scott to post on the Calgary Photo Walk blog.

It is amazing to see the different points of view, items and focal points that each person took a photo of. We were challenged to take an abstract photo as well. It was a great time, a chance to learn and challenge yourself if you are at all interested in photography.

Here is one of my photos from the first Calgary Photo Walk. Watch the Calgary Photo Walk for news on upcoming walks! And check out Scott & Jaime's site too - they do awesome work and are a great couple to work with!

Beloved Fotos

The other day, I stumbled across a friend's new business venture. I haven't seen Shannon since we were in our friends wedding party together, so didn't know what she was up to. I was giddy with excitement (seriously - I was thinking about what I saw on her blog all night) and had to share with all of you.


Shannon is a photographer, but I think you will sense from her site (newly launched, I might add) and her blog that she is more than that. Her personality shines through in her writing and I am certain that any photo shoot with Beloved Fotos would be memorable and fun.

Check out her website at www.belovedfotos.com and her blog here to get to know Shannon and Beloved Fotos more.

And you HAVE to see this project she is working on...I LOVE the idea and wish I would have thought of something like that for my first baby. You won't be disappointed. Check it out here.

Here is some of her work, borrowed from her blog.

photo courtesy of www.belovedfotos.com

photo courtesy of www.belovedfotos.com

photo courtesy of www.belovedfotos.com

Natasha & Wayne

A beautiful September day marked the wedding of Natasha & Wayne. It was a beautiful day. Natasha was stunning in her gown, Wayne looked great all dressed up and their kidlets looked so cute in their wedding outfits too.

The ceremony was at the lovely Fifth Avenue United and reception at the fabulous Desert Blume Golf Club. The photographer for the day was Renee Michiel from Flare Photography. I have been looking forward to working with her for so long and it was great! Renee posted a great blog about the wedding here and here. I borrowed some photos from her (with her permission) and will post more when I get them.

Congratulations Wayne & Natasha. It was a joy working on your wedding with you and sharing in your day.

Stationery all provided by Noteworthy Designs
Wayne designed a great faux mantel to highlight the fireplace. With the monograms, candles and flowers it look phenomenal!
Here is the talented Renee and I at the end of a very long day!

Marina & Bruce

On a lovely, hot day in July, Noteworthy Designs was a part of the union between Marina & Bruce. They were a lovely couple that we started by doing their invitations and that leaded into a "Day Of" package.

The ceremony and reception were both held at the Shriners Center in Bowness in Calgary right along the river. They couldn't have asked for a better day and the guests were thankful for all the little touches - including bottled water, sunscreen and insect repellent.

I was able to get some photos of their day from their photographer Sarah Khalland. In addition to wedding photography, Sarah owns a fabulous business called "she was stunning". The concept is amazing and Sarah is doing very well! Keep it up! Love women entrepreneurs. Speaking of which, Marina is also an entrepreneur and wanted to support as many other women entrepreneurs (i.e Noteworthy Designs too!) as their wedding vendors. Marina owns Cadbury Banks - a personal shopping and creative gift giving business.

This is Marina and myself just before the ceremony!

Marina and her dad starting to walk down the aisle. Those lovely topiary's were made by a friend and they looked great!

Marina was so happy and looked beautiful!

And Bruce was so proud and handsome!

They preformed a hand binding ceremony and had a great use for the cloth at the reception (see the photo further down).

What a great location with a lovely waterfall in the river. The gazebo was great for such a hot day - the bridal party used it to their advantage!

Married! With rose petals showering them as they walked down the aisle.

Love the mood in this one!


And who can resist loving colored shoes! I love this trend!


I like the sassy-ness of this photo - that is Marina for you!!


Having fun at Bowness Park.
Marina's florals were beautiful and I loved the feathers and the wire twists througout.


The hand binding cloth from the ceremony was filled with messages from their guests to hang in their home.


Very simple, yet effective centrepieces. Marina & Bruce named the tables by places they like to frequent - how unique!


Ummm, any local Calgarian would know where these are from! Crave Cupcakes always taste great.

I have a feeling this may have been the toast to the groom by the best man (his brother). Bruce looks worries and Marina looks like she is soaking it all in!


Marina and her dad had a wonderful dance. I think it is so cute!


Here are Marina and Bruce along with Terra (who assisted me from Inspired Occasions) and myself. Terra was an awesome help and I couldn't have done it without her. We had a lot of fun and I look forward to working with her some more! Check out her blog for some photos of another wedding that we worked together.

Photo Shoot

On Friday I had the opportunity to get some photos done for my website. Rachel at Madchen Studios here in Medicine Hat has been doing some product photos for my stationery lines and also did some of myself for my site. I can't wait to see them!! I had a great time seeing her studio setup and chatting with her....until.... I got bit!!

We did our studio shots and then were heading to an outdoor location for a great background. We were all set up ready to go and a bee (or a wasp - I really have no clue and cannot tell the difference) went in Rachel's hair. We swatted it out then it went in mine and got it out right away too. Phew. Or so I thought. Then it bit me. Little bugger. Right on my upper arm on the inside. At first it hurt, but just like getting a needle. There were two stingers in my arm and I could get one out, then used my tweezers (from my wedding emergency kit - see - it always comes in handy!!) to get the other one out. It wasn't as bad as I remember...until later.

The next day I woke up to a great big red ball on my arm. Then as the day progressed - it got bigger (in covering my arm and in swollen-ness). It covered like half my arm and was so itchy. Anyways, it is now going back down (back to the size of Saturday morning) and feeling better (3 days later!). So yes, I felt bad for myself and got my husband too as well.

Here is my favorite part (I hope I can share this part!). Rachel's son came to the outdoor location with us to help hold the reflector (is that what it is called?!?). He informed me that he was getting paid to do this (he is six - did I mention that?? And so super cute!). Then after I got bit, I gave up and said we were done (and none of us wanted to stay around there any longer anyways). He asked his mom (Rachel) "umm, do I still get paid for this?" It was so cute. Loved it. Took a little bit of the pain away!

Can't wait to see Rachel's photos. Check out her blog too - love her work!!

I took some photos of my arm - wanna see? It probably looks quite lame, but it hurt!! And still does. I'll get back to our regular schedule this week - we were in Calgary for a Sunday wedding (great wedding, despite the bad weather - snow, rain and mud!).

The morning after the sting - not too bad.
This was the afternoon the day after the sting - but it got much bigger and wrapped around my arm and was really puffy.

Madchen Studios

I was doing my regular daily blog surfing checks to see what has been updated, etc and imagine my surprise when I visited a wonderful local photographer highlight Noteworthy Designs on her site. How kind!! I was so surprised to see Rachel blog about our past visit and link to my site. See it here.

Rachel does some amazing photography and has a blog that she updates regularly. Check her out at Madchen Studios.

Photo taken from Rachel's blog.

With this heart...I thee wed

While blog surfing the other day, I came across a Manolo for the Brides that posted a very unique photo. I then searched for some and found this one. Isn't it beautiful!

What a unique photo to take of your wedding bands, especially on some text that means something very special to you. I love how wide this band is, and the photo works with all sorts of sizes.

Tip: When interviewing potential photographers for your wedding, don't be afraid to ask if they are open to request for different poses, shots, etc. I recommend to my brides that they write down all the different groupings of people that they want and give it to the photographer. I have too many friends who say they are upset as they don't have a photo with just the bride and the mother together! As well, if you see different photos that you like in a magazine, etc. cut them out and share them with your photographer.