I heart Faces (is a little addicting)

I posted a link yesterday for the fabulous "Wedding Bells" contest listed.

The response was overwhelming and I had to dive back in and post one of my favorite family photos.
It was incredible because the photographers that submitted to the contest weren't in competition with each other, but a fantastic support system. Each one of them with encouraging words, and friendly comments to the other. Some photographers were pros and some were just enthusiast. It was a wonderful mix and I think that it made it all the more special.

It was so sweet and I really love the community spirit that it brought forth. Yay. With that said, I thought how I would happily posted on other blog sites words of "Wow, Super and Awesome." But to my surprise each photographer had expressed a fabulous sense of love for light, composition and divine colors.

So kudos to I heart faces.



here is my little submission:

Vanessa Brooke is a fabulous Children's Photographer based in Orange County. She has an eye for fashion, color and textures, beyond my understanding. Even better she is an amazing Mom.
For Holiday photos we were to Griffith Park, CA to capture some golden moments for her Christmas card. Her son, and husband rocked the shoot and gave me this fabulous shot. She blogged about the shoot too, because she is awesome!



Shout out from V Brooke: "We had so much fun taking photos with my good friend and photographer Holly. As a photographer myself, I sometimes forget to have photos taken of my own family. It creates memories that you don't want to miss out on. So, I knew it was time for me to have photos of the three of us before Jayden turns one year old next month. Time really does fly by! Thanks again Holly for photographing my family, we love ya!"

i Heart Faces (i do)

Yay! So exciting. A contest for everyone to have their photography shine! This is a weekly contest, and this week is judged by the one and only Jasmine Star.

Check out I ♥ Faces blog site.

I entered in my favorite photo. Details below.





I wanted to capture the emotion and transformation that occurs to a bride when she first gets into her dress. Her mother and sister are crouched behind her lacing up the delicate backing of her dress. The bride was looking forward at her bridesmaids and fathers in the room.

The transformation for a woman to be a bride is really quite an emotional moment. She puts on the MAC lipstick, Choo shoes, Tiffany's necklace, and dress etc, that she has been consumed with and thinking since she got engaged.

This is her day and her moment to shine. My creative vision of this was her standing alone, her beauty, and simplistic expression and everything else does not matter, because today she is a bride.

xoxo
Holly

Castle Green Wedding - Sneak Peek!!

Tucked away amongst the Jamba Juices, parking structures and busy roadways of Old Town Pasadena, is a little treasure called Castle Green. It is an amazing wedding venue with tall palm trees, lovely greenery, and an exquisite location for a wedding.

This is just a sneak peek of one of many favorite images from the wedding day.

It was taken just off of Green Street in Pasadena.
Check back for more images later this week.

Here is a quick note from Heather after getting a sneak peak:

"Hi Holly!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! We had an awesome time and it was great to have a photographer so fun and chill =) Hope we weren't too crazy for u haha... we are still learning to take pictures!
Thanks for the photo, I love it! Can't wait to see the others when the time comes... thanks for helping to make our day so special.
W/loveHeather and Abe
See u SOON!"

Homemade Talents

(This is one of the bride, is my favorite from a wedding at the Queen Mary, in Long Beach.)

When it comes down to it, wedding photography is about connection. It is the union of two families, the merge of two hearts and the emotional connection between the Photographer (me) and the couple.

I have been a part of many a wedding. But truthfully, I love, embrace and happily remember, everyone of them. I could tell you intimate details, cake flavors, invitation fonts, or whatever the groomsmen were drinking. I remember each wedding like a best friend in High School Musical. Fondly and always with happy memories.



My family, friends and brides have heard a million wedding stories. And I will tell you more if you want to hear them. Brides planning their wedding love to hear what works and what to avoid.

The Queen Mary wedding was a beautiful memory for me. The bride was existentially elegant. The groom was divine in a tux with tails. Special moments like, the father daughter dance when he held her so tender with her hand on his cheek. And the perfect first dance done to the song from Juno by Moldy Peaches, Anyone Else but You. She laughed with her whole heart, they danced all night, and he married the woman of his dreams. It was a win win.

(Ingrid and Dom's wedding I shot with my fabulous photography friend, Robyn Rachel.)



Well crafty Ingrid, the bride, made a era transformation on this little boat. She had beautiful boas for the lady guests, fedora hats for the men to wear, fun invitations that looked like boat tickets, and a fabulous guest book, suitcase, for guests to write messages to drop in. It was very creative, and perfect.

To my delight, and a year after the wedding, Ingrid is still just as crafty. She has an Esty store. It is a place where talented artist can make handmade goods and sell them online. I would ugre you to go and check it out. Especially if you are in need of a fabulous Buddah tote, or a sweet Natural and Rose Knit Scarf.

Visit her Esty store, and find little handmade delights.
Here is a little story she wrote about how she got started:

"Like 4 years ago I taught myself how to knit to kill down time during winter break in college. This year I got bored with making beanies and scarves and decided to tackle sewing. In December I taught myself to make quits...then skirts...then bags...then hand stitching...etc.

Being a teacher, you have a lot of down time in the summer, so I decided this year that I would take advantage of that time and craft. Last weekend, when visiting my best friend, I was showing her some of my projects and she mentioned that I should sell them on etsy. I told her that I was a beginning seamstress and that there was no way I would do that.

Monday, she took a bag that I helped her to make to work and all of her friends there loved the bag and said that they wanted to buy one. After hearing that, by Tuesday night I was on the computer making an etsy shop.

I collaborate a lot with my school psychologist on different creative ideas (she started to sew quilts in January) and we tackle different projects together...if one of us finds a great ideas, we collaborate a way to make it work.

We decided today that we are going to start a crafty blog and link it to our etsy accounts. We are in the process of thinking of a blog name."

If you have any suggestions, or would like to reach MzPazzo please feel free to check out her Esty.

Wedding photography advice via smart Wedding planner

A wedding coordinator to a wedding photographer can be a dream come true. They are the ones that can do all the bridal party herding, timeline creators and ensuring that it is beautiful and perfect for all involved. I saw this article from Fabluxe a coordinator and had to repost. It basically says all the things I could ever advise for wedding planning.




Your wedding is the most important day of your life– I totally get that. But the part where you are confusing me is where you decide to skimp on the on service that will help you relive the day: the emotions, the laughter, the tears, and the love through film.



So here is the question…If your wedding isn’t covered (and properly), did it really happen?



Where else can you see yourself evolve from a beautiful, independent woman into the woman who will now spend the rest of her life being a part of an everlasting couple with the love of her life?

Where else will you see your father kissing your mother and looking on nostalgically as you exchange vows?

Where else will you see your fiance’s grandmother wiping her tears away during your first dance?



Photography does so much more than just capture your day, it also captures the moments you didn’t see. Like your groomsmen playing around with your future husband, your mother getting ready or having a loving moment with your father, or those special moments where your fiance and his mother enjoy the day prior to the ceremony. Skimping on the photography is like virtually erasing your memory after the wedding. No one is saying that you have to have a celebrity photographer with the largest package. What I am saying, is that after the dress has been cleaned and pressed and the honeymoon is over, how will you look back on your wedding day? Most importantly, will it be favorably? Is it worth risking to an amateur? When you’re painting a house, you can hire a friend or someone just getting started because you know in the back of your head, if worse comes to worst, you can do it over. You don’t have that luxury with weddings– you can’t reassemble your family and friends and reenact all of the important moments. This is something that you must get right, the first time.




Here are some tips on doing just that:



Think about the type of photography would you like– are you more photojournalistic or traditional?
Think about how long your would like your coverage to be– keep in mind, it is far easier to choose from a large selection of pictures than it is to choose from fewer. More coverage, more pictures, more memories.
Do a test run with your photographer by doing a love story or engagement shoot. This will help you get acclimated to your photographer’s shooting style.
Take good care of your photographers– be sure to account for them in your guest count. Like your planner, they are the ones that will be with you for a majority of the day working extremely hard. You can’t expect great art if the artist is starving.
Respect your photographers’ artistic and professional ability– Some photographers love “must shoot” lists, others can live without them. If you have some pictures that you definitely want, be sure to discuss this with your photographer beforehand. They will get it in, and if it is really important, make sure that you stress the point. If you have select people that you want in images, please make it easy for these people to be located so that the photographers can do their job effectively, and not chase down Aunt Sarah.

Wedding Planner Tip: Please tell your planner or day of coordinator who these people are so that they can be located easily or even kept on hand. If you choose not to get a wedding planner, be sure to point these people out to your photographer’s assistant or second shooter. But your work is not done at that point. Then designate a relative not in the wedding as the official relative and special person finder. (You like that title, don’t you. Yes, you can use it. No copyright.) Make sure that this person stops these people at the end of the ceremony and keeps them at bay until they are needed for photos. After wards, they can return to the cocktail hour.



Photography is important– it is important today, and it will be important to you years from now. I can’t tell you much my children enjoy looking at photos from our vow renewal. It means a lot for them to share in that moment of their parents, and I am sure that it will mean more later down the line as they get older.

To read more advice like this click here

For the Click of it...

The BlogLuxe Awards is a SocialLuxe Lounge contest for Websites.

LA Style Unveiled is part of the Inspiring Blog nominees. Yippee for them.



If you want to vote, Click, and be whisked away to a magical land of voting and scrolling. Go to the middle / bottom of the Inspiring Blogs.
They are titled "The Lounge".

Best of luck LA Style Unveiled!!

Philip and Brianne- Slideshow

And

It is all about team work:

On a personal note, I love working with other photographers. It is important to always work together and never let ego, or pride get in the way of a good service that we provide to clients. I have been friends with Blue Silver Photo for years, thanks to Scott A Nelson Photography. Both Alex and Scott have been major inspirations of mine in wedding photography and in friendship. Although both have certain quirky behaviors, nothing makes me happier than to say they are close friends.

On to Phil and Brianne, but first some back story:

Phil and my boyfriend Jeff, have been friends since the years of Saugus High Football days. When I met Phil and Brianne, and they were planning their wedding I was right there to help along with all the gory details.

In March, I shot Brianne and Phil's engagement photos. We did some shots in their home in Valencia, and then walked to a nearby paseo and park. I posted them on my blog, and we made a HUGE print for people to sign at the reception.

Brianne and I, printed invitations, stuffed envelopes, discussed time lines, and went over program details. When it came to them needing a wedding photographer. I asked if my friend Alex, at Blue Silver Photography.

I know how I am ... I love Brianne and Phil. I get emotional, and just wanted to enjoy the day for my friends and my Jeff. I couldn't have wanted a more perfect photographer for their day. I offered to want to shoot the "getting ready" and the "after party". Check out those shots here.

Alex, the main photographer at Blue Silver Photography, would shoot the ceremony, portraits and reception. It was a great deal, for me and the couple because while Alex was shooting the couple's portraits, I was able to assist on putting together a slide show of the wedding day at the Marina Del Rey Marriot, reception. YAY!

I suppose when it comes down to it, life is about relationships and team work. Alex did an amazing photography job, and I know that the bride and groom have memories and images to last a lifetime.

This is a great shot that Alex got after the ceremony at the St. Augustine Catholic Church, in Culver City.

Editors Pick on LA Style Unveiled-

This is the same beautiful Sona and Nico I featured earlier in my blog in April. They are World as well as Blog travelers!

Yummy.



Featured on LA Style Unveiled!!!

This is the engagements shoot that steams up your computer monitor. It is warm, delicious and makes you want to go make out with someone at the train station.

Yay!




To see all the photos from their engagement click here, and enter your email info.
Don't forget to check out LA Style Unveiled for the most update in wedding planning and trends!

Love and Kisses,
Holly

The Cake to my Kiss

Last night I fell in love... with an inanimate object, again.

But first some back story:

Bridal Bar is a fabulous is a boutique that allows brides to get a hands on and complimentary peek at the best of the best in the wedding industry. If you are wedding planning it has to be one of the spots you go to get ideas, some champagne, then chill out and talk about weddings. Think of it the people you go to when you want to talk weddings, when your Maid of Honor and Mom is tired of hearing about the details. Not these girls at the Bridal Bar. They love the whole planning, and coordinating process. And it is complimentary! Whoa. Believe it Sister!

I went to talk to Harmony about joining this fab group of photographers. We were chatting about wedding stuff, and she told me all about a television taping they had at the studio. The Bridal Bar was on the premier episode of Kendra tonight on E! AWESOMENESS. Well they had left over CAKE!!! Made especially for the shoot, by Fantasy Frostings!

So the wonderful host that Harmony is let me take home a fabulous mini wedding cake. It was Banana Walnut.... Yum, with a rich cake batter laden with fresh bananas and walnuts, lightly spiced and filled with fresh bananas and whipped cream. It was my lucky day.

Perhaps an extra ordinary circumstance is what happened, and I call it fate. Fantasy Frostings, in Pasadena had created some beautiful designs and perfectly crafted wedding cake for a television episode airing on the E! network. And I happened to be there hungry for the perfect dessert for all occasions. Match made in heaven, or AKA Bridal Bar.

As for true love, it happens, you see each other from across the room. Contact is made, frosting is smelled and the cupid strikes you down with what some call "True Love." Of course I am talking about CAKE! It is my sole reason for shooting weddings. Forget all the love, romance, and commitment for a lifetime stuff. This is the day when a beautiful cake gets it own table, a ceremony to cut it, and honored guests get to enjoy the sweet delight before anyone else. I kid. I kid.

I asked myself, "Am that girl who takes photos of food and then blogs about it?"

YES! Yes I am.

Well the main posting of this blog is to express how crazy in love I am with Fantasy Frostings, Bridal Bar and my iPhone.

I love my iPhone. In earlier blog postings I refer to it as my iHusband. It is my second love to this wedding cake though. It was so fantastic. I wish I could carry my iPhone and Mini Wedding cakes around with me all the time. Sigh.

So I was absolutely amazing when I saw that my Mini Wedding cake from Fantasy Frostings, and my iPhone were the EXACT same size!!

I have a sticker on the back of my iPhone which is from Skinit.com, which I highly recommend to anyone and everyone. But that is perhaps for another blog.
On my Skinit.com, I have a photo of me and my honey from a wedding that he was the groomsman in back in September. Joy!
Happy happy! Joy joy!

For the love of Cake, Kisses and iPhones!
Holly

Pay It Forward the Bridal Way

There was a movie that came out in 2000 called Pay It Forward. It was a fantastic warm-hearted flick with Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt. The concept was "When someone does you a big favor, don't pay it back... Pay It Forward." Simple enough.

Well my Bride, April, wanted to pay it forward with a twist, for one of my upcoming brides.

Drenched with the stresses of wedding planning, she dedicated her self to research, planning and making the best damn wedding she could. She poured herself over Brides, TheKnot
and Grace Ormonde Magazines, looking for the perfect idea, for the perfect wedding. Then she had an epiphany, and planned to elope instead.

So she tossed all those books, magazines, seating worksheets, and planning journals. But kept one special book. The ZEN Bride.
This is where it gets really sweet and mushy. April says that she wanted to dedicate this book to one of my Brides'. It was her way of having this gift of insight passed on to other brides in need.
She signed it inside "I dedicate this book to one of Holly's Brides. With Love, April"

I am giving it to a special bride tomorrow. I know she will fully appreciate the idea and pass it on to someone after giving her dedication.

Winner of WPD Wedding Photography Contest!!

"Wedding Photo Contest Winners Announced
The WPD 2009 Wedding Photo Contest is officially complete. The contest was open to WPD members and outside professional wedding photographers alike. Photo contest entries were open for public view, and critiqued by voters like you. After receiving over 3,000 contest entries, the top three winners and runner-ups are now revealed." -WPD website

So exciting. This contest has Wedding Photographers from all over the USA submit images. When mine was chosen out of the 3,000, I knew I was lucky. But when it was narrowed down the final 10, I thought WOW that is amazing. And now, third place. That is incredible. I received 3,227 votes!

Yay!
Here is the little blurb I wrote:

"White Wedding"

Photo Equipment: Canon EOS 30D, 24mm 1.4L Series, f/2.8, 1/50sec, ISO-250, 24mm

Notes: "I wanted to capture the emotion and transformation that occurs to a bride when she first gets into her dress. Her mother and sister are crouched behind her lacing up the delicate backing of her dress. The bride was looking forward at her bridesmaids and fathers in the room. I was able to freeze the moment when she looked at me and my camera.

The transformation for a woman to be a bride is really quite an emotional moment. She puts on the lipstick, shoes, necklace, and dress etc, that she has been consumed with and thinking about since she was a little girl. This is her day and her moment to shine.

My creative vision of this was her standing alone, her beauty, and simplistic expression and everything else does not matter, because today she is a bride."

I am beaming like a bride right now. YAY!

Thank you anyone and everyone that voted. I truly appreciate the efforts and the thoughts. It is incredible the things that happen when you keep trying at it.

A little quote from my Uncle Tommy: “The difference between the possible and the impossible lies in a person's determination.”

Newest Warm Fuzzies

"Holly was the perfect photographer and friend for this major event in our lives. She was very friendly and supportive throughout the planning of this day. She listened to our desires and requests exceeded any accommodations we were anticipating. The day of our wedding she was easy to reach at the different sites (preparation, ceremony, & reception) and was so "in tune" with the vibe of the scene.

Bottom line: Holly is wonderful and I, without any hesitation, would recommend her for any special occasion."

"Holly is the best. We actually met in line at Sprinkles Cupcakes in Newport Beach when she complimented my engagement ring... after 20 minutes gossiping over my wedding plans, I mentioned that I was still looking for a photographer and voila! Holly gave me her website info and the minute I got back from Sprinkles, my fiance and I went through her amazing sample photos and booked Cakes and Kisses immediately!! Holly was willing to travel to Santa Barbara and worked within my budget - she is extremely organized and is an excellent communicator - perfect for a busy bride-to-be!

We had a small winery wedding and Holly fit right in with all of our guests. She also brought an assistant so I technically had 2 photographers and received over 1,000 incredible photos!!! She captured every beautiful moment with style - I cannot thank her enough!!

Holly has such a creative eye, which is exactly what we were looking for and she totally delivered. Also, our English Bulldog was a part of our wedding (ring-bearer) and in that Sprinkles line, Holly told me that her second favorite thing to photograph is pets so... what a bonus!

I feel so lucky to have been at Sprinkles that day and HIGHLY RECOMMEND Cakes and Kisses!!"

"Holly did our engagement pictures and our wedding. She did a fabulous job capturing every ones personality, including the guest. She was more like a friend during the whole process."

"Holly is AWESOME!!! We love, love, love her to pieces. She is amazing at what she does and has a true gift for capturing the magic and love of a wedding in her beautiful photographs."

Marriage Sunday at Wayfarers Chapel

Nestled within the trees of Palos Verdes, CA is the beautiful Wafarer Chapel.

Married couples are invited to attend our annual Marriage Renewal service 1pm, June 7. The service affords you an opportunity to remember and reflect upon the love that binds you together and to renew your commitment to each other. Following the service we will serve refreshments and a wedding cake. (from Wafarer's Website)

On June 7th 2009, my parents renewed their vows, on Wafarer's Wedding Vow Renewal Day.



My parents still hold hands and sit close to each other.



It truly was a lovely blue day, and so clear you could see Catalina.



My older sister, my Dad, and me.
(my mom is taking the photo)

Seeing my parents renew their marriage vows after 39 years of marriage was an amazing experience. It gives a new understanding to the marriage commitment that I see almost every weekend with newly weds. I believe in romance, love and most importantly, that true friendship can make a marriage last throughout the years of time, that and a lot of laughter.

Thanks for reading my very personal post, and sharing a moment with me and my family.
Love and Kisses,
Holly

Greystone Amazing

Wow! Greystone Mansion!

More coming this is just a taste... Yum











Isn't her dress delicious?

Love love,
Holly

Blushing Brides Love Cakes and Kisses!

My most recent bride writes me :

"Now the gushing bride in me (I never thought I was)

You made my husband so comfortable that you were able to shoot him for who he is. He looks soooo handsome in the pictures.
I have never seen Ryan that comfortable around a camera. I have something to show off to our children/grandchilden/neighbors kids we scare away. "See how handsome dad/grandpa/my husband was/is"
You captured us. The two kids who "had a little captain in them" to elope and tell their family 6 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours after the "deal was done."
Thank you for the attention that you paid to the details. I never thought that my shoes could look so romantic. Or that my lashes could be so, well, perfect. And that when we were doubling over in laughter, you as a photographer, did not tell us to stop, but captured the spirit. I never thought that a wedding at a courthouse could look so fun. Or that kissing under the pier could be so romantic.
Thank you for giving me an excuse for making out with Ryan for 2 hours on my wedding day.
You, in a gentle way, directed the photo session, without taking away from our collective personalities.
We wanted something non-traditional, non-conformist, not fussy, fun and of the moment. You captured it. You directed us a wee bit. That was OK and appreciated and were truly, truly inspirng.

Kisses (but no cake),
April Lainez de Brimer and Ryan too"