4 Years Today...

I remember having butterflies in my stomach just before I saw him that day.

I remember anxiously holding the little white box anticipating his reaction.

I remember crying as I vowed that I am wholly his forever. 

I remember him carrying me so my feet wouldn't get cold in the snow. 

I remember why I married him. 

He's the most real, generous, and loving person I know. I am more in awe of just how incredible he is each day. And above all else, he's the greatest evidence in my life that God is real and His blessings are so far beyond what we hope for. 

On this day 4 years ago we had friends sing a song that's dear to my heart, and its versus are still true today: 

Thank you for Loving me...

Thank you for finding me...

Thank you for hearing me...

Thank you for healing me...

Thank you for saving me...

My Jesus I love thee

I know thou art mine. 

 

I am so genuinely filled with gratitude. I love my husband more than ever and am thankful for each and every day that I have him in my life.  Happy Anniversary Barto I love you. 

Christmas Wedding...

From cranberry filled vases, snowflake table numbers, and bridesmaids with winter scarves, this winter wedding was so cozy. I don't know if it's just that I'm biased since I myself got married in the month of December but I think it's awesome that at such an iconic time of year Ashley and Jason will always have not just a day but in a sense a whole season to celebrate one another and the blessings that they will have experienced together that year. I wish them all the best and may this Christmas be just the first of many reminders of how lucky they are to have one another. 

 

Lovin' My Niece...

I think it's appropriate to start this one off with saying: "I love my niece!" Though I get to see her every couple months or so one slight perk to that is the ways in which she's grown is so apparent. Little Evelyn is almost 6 months old and couldn't be cuter. Smiling all the time you can't help but love her even more. Cutest new thing since the last time I've seen her? Her obsession with the word football. (: The kid is in the right family...Her dad just finished his 15 annual Turkey-Bowl (By that I mean town kids that have been playing Football together on Thanksgiving for so long they're gettin' to be old men) and her Grandma refuses to skip a Bears game. So yeah...She's a cutie-pa-tootie and I loved spending some quality holiday time with her. Can't wait till Christmas!!

Ball Blog

We might as well just call this the Ball Family Blog because I shoot this group so often. (: 

You'll hear no complaints here though, I love these guys. I literally have to brace my self while shooting because the constant dialogue during the shots have me laughing too hard to not shake. Fun loving, care free, and generous is this group. As always it was great to be around them.

 

Finding My Greekness...

If any of you from my generation had any kind of childhood you'd be familiar with the Sesame Street song: "One of these things is not like the other."Sigh...Sesame Street...Good times. Anyhow, where I'm going with this is one should play that song anytime you were to look at a picture of my six foot blonde and blue eyed family. Especially around the time when your eyes gaze a couple inches lower in the photo to find me, the little Greek girl. Yes, I was adopted...Best thing ever. But where I'm going with this....I wasn't raised with knowledge of traditional Greek ways. Shoot, the closest thing I've gotten to my own culture is a Gyro. (Delish by the way) So it was AWESOME to get to know Nick and Ketia as they planned for their full fledge traditional Greek wedding. There's a reason for everything. You don't do something just for the sake of doing it; which is something I'm all about. I felt like I got submerged into the motherland and was finally getting filled in on all the things I've missed. It was worth the wait to learn a few things the wedding was great.

 

Festive Family...

From the moment I walked through this families front door my urge to get the holidays rolling was instant. I don't know if it was the half-way lit up tree, (Yes, only the bottom half of the tree worked so I photoshopped some lights on the top) family members mingling over wine, adorable Christmas baby clothes, whatever it was it was great to be there even for a short time. I met my first member of this family while shooting a wedding while she was expecting her first child and it was awesome to see it come to full fruition now that they have a beautiful 3 week old daughter. Ready for Christmas! 

Little Ava...

Besides the fact that most of the time I don't look a day over fifteen years old I still feel like the era of riding bikes barefoot and  high school crushes weren't that long ago. (Which lets be honest...it was) (:  So I gotta admit, when my inner-circle of friends started to have kids themselves it was pretty surreal. But it's so cool to see the faces that used to show delight over Sunday football are now glowing over their kid. As for Derek and Tatum I can't blame them. Ava is too cute to boot. You just want to be around her. It'll be neat to see her grow and to see her parents love grow for her each day. 

 

Pat & Joan's Wedding...

If you've ever attended a wedding more likely than not you've witnessed the bride and groom have a first dance followed by an awkward segway into either absolutely no one dancing for at least a couple songs or the one guest that you aren't sure if they're the crazy aunt or the random guest that's already drunk "dancing" solo. Let me be very clear...Though the above scenario has almost undoubtedly true almost every weekend for the past four years this wedding was oh so different and oh so great! I kid you not, the second the first dance was over like the mall doors the day after Thanksgiving hundreds of people ran, not walked, but RAN to the dance floor. I'm small... Like can get confused for a flower girl small, and here I am getting stampeded by the very people that make me love my job for the following four hours. They were a blast! Which is so telling of my bride and groom, Joan & Pat. 

I've known Joan since homeroom days back in Jr. High and she's always had this awesome sarcastic ready to try anything spirit. And though I've only known Pat through the wedding process this past year I have no doubt that he's the one for Joan. Equally ready to dish a joke back he's just perfect for her. I couldn't be happier for these two. 

Oh and side note... I'm in love with the church they got married in. It's as if I got to spend an hour in Europe. Pretty sweet. 

New Customized Photo Cards!

I'm Pretty sure my carpel tunnel has come back with all the work I've been doing on these new products. And let me just say...It was well worth it! I love love love the new line of Save the Date, Birth Announcement, and Holiday cards. 

All are completely customizable and come in sets of 25. Turn-around time is about a week so if you're diggin' the holiday cards and think you may want to use them for this season I'd e-mail me at: melissamariephotography3@yahoo.com so we can get in your design in time. 

So...I suggest grabbing a cup of coffee, a cozy blanket, and parkin' it in front of your computer for a bit to check out the full line of cards on my website: www.melissamariephotography.org

Holiday Cards

Birth Announcements

Save The Date Cards...

Remember to check out the full line of cards on my website: melissamariephotography.org

And get me your holiday orders soon. 

"Fall"in In Love...

Love shooting here, love gorgeous fall days, and I love beautiful people. Okay that last part sounded different in my head but let me explain...I'm pretty sure this is just a girl thing buuuut ladies you know when you come across another girl who's so stunning there's a real part of you that wishes you looked like her? Yeah that was me throughout this entire shoot. (: It wasn't in a spiteful envious way, more like: she's gorgeous inside and out and I admire that. 

Anyway...all that to say, I loved spending the day with these two. (: 

Oh! Annnnd I got to try out a picture idea I've had in my head for awhile but didn't have the right couple to do it. Until today...And they were troopers cuz that straw is not forgiving. Sigh...I'm happy and much to do with it is the fact that it took forever just choosing what pictures to put on here because I loved them all. And to that I say one last time that I love fall. (:

 

Green Eyes...

Green Eyes...aka...The absolute opposite of my eye color, a great Cold Play song, as well as what made National Geographic a phenomenon around the world. Dawn, my bride for the day has the most incredible eyes I've ever seen in real life. They are completely enchanting. And since it's said (well, at least in the photography world) that eyes make the picture you can say I was a little excited to get to shoot Dawn. 

I'd have to say my favorite part of the day was when we had a little extra time and thought we'd experiment with some pictures near a window in her house. My guess is my inner monologue of "holy cow, that was sweet" became more of an outer-monologue because she asked if she could see one of the pictures. So I turned my camera so she could see my monitor of the last image taken and when I looked up those beautiful eyes of hers had tears in them. So what was the picture of? Her eyes of course! (:

 

Girl In A Red Dress...

A couple years back I was shooting a wedding in Iowa. (I actually am there quite often and I'm glad about it) So I find myself that night at the dinner table with about 10 other people and this girl with a gorgeous red satin Thai dress on. Maybe it was her beauty, maybe it was fate, either way it was years later when I got a phone call from her and I knew exactly who she was.  I love stories like this. Really, what are the odds? I'm placed at a dinner table at a wedding that I'm already shooting, I meet a couple there, years later remember them, and end up shooting their wedding! I love it! Be it fate or what not, I'm so glad my path re-crossed these two. 

After setting the record for the longest engagement session I've ever done (by far!) I had already really gotten to know these two. They have a sense of care for people that is so rare and I truly am privileged to have gotten to spend so much time with them over the past year. They are having a second wedding in Thailand (Where Kanlaya is from) and I want to forewarn them to check their suitcases....I just may be hiding out in there. (: 

Personality Not Place...

Tis the season for last minute engagement session phone calls and trips to the Morton Arboretum. Hands down, the arboretum is where I most frequent for my shoots come fall. This day, well, weekend really, was no exception. This particular shoot being the second one in a row I've been at the location. The fun part about shooting back to back days at the same location is you can have such a different feel even though you're technically standing in the same spots you were but just 24 hours prior. So really, what it comes down to is personality, not place. As for place, there couldn't have been a better one for this couple as Erin, the future bride is Botonist. So I pretty much had a guided tour of what was what throughout the arboretum. Pretty cool. Wonder what kind of foliage she'll have at her wedding. (: 

(Notice the reflection? Was glad it turned out) (: 

What To Choose...

I probably haven't had such a difficulty in trying to pick out which pictures I want for the blog than this time around. I love them all. How do I choose? All I know is that I scored the photog jackpot with these two. They are gorgeous inside and out and they physically cannot take a bad picture. Good deal for me right? I sure think so. (: Can't wait for the wedding!  

My Gap Babies...

Is this not the most beautiful family you've ever seen? Well, I thought so the minute I walked through their front door. My inner monologue went something like this: "Holy cow, they're beautiful...I wish I worked for Gap...They would be the face of the company." 

The most exciting part about shooting children is they bring the un-expected factor. You have absolutely no idea what's about to happen or be said. Typically, it comes in the form of chaos and random comments that make me chuckle inside, but the unexpected with this family, was not only how beautiful they are but how well behaved the kids were! I dunno, I guess I haven't had that in quite awhile, it was refreshing to see. 

So Gap...When you're hiring, look me up, and my first gig can be shooting these beautiful faces. Ok? Thanks. (: