Today I wanted to share a few photos of the 16×24 canvases Eric and Erica ordered from their wedding photographs. Ironically, I received these canvases in the mail the day after I sent off all of our camera gear to Canon Professional Services for a yearly check, so I had to take pictures of them with my little PowerShot Elph. That thing just really can’t compete with the big dSLRs! So, excuse the quality of these photographs. I seriously loved on these canvases though… they were just gorgeous, high-quality, and perfectly assembled. Have a look!

I loves me some press! Check out Christen + Leigh’s Mauna Lani Bay Wedding on Broke Ass Bride. Christen is a kickass Broke-Ass blogger now, and she was kind enough to re-post her wedding photos as her introduction. Head on over there to say hi to her (and check out her awesome posts)!

Kadie and Doug wowwed us with their sweet, stylish, and budget-savvy wedding last September. Their wedding wasn’t just a coming together of loved ones, or the creation of a new family, it was also a homecoming of sorts for Doug, who had been away in California and then Oregon on residency most of the summer. When we took their engagement photographs at Cafe Vida, Molly Moon’s, and Gas Works Park it was the day before Doug returned to California for three months! In fact, it was only just after the wedding that he was able to return to Seattle to be close to his new wife. So this lovely, smile-filled day was very special for everyone.

While Doug got dressed at his family home, Kadie got ready at a really amazing rental house in West Seattle where her out-of-town family was staying. They then met at Interlaken Park, just across the street from Volunteer Park, where they had a very intimate friends-and-family-only wedding ceremony with a beautiful view of Lake Washington. One of their friends officiated while two stood by as Maid of Honor and Best Man and still another played beautiful, tearful ceremony music on the violin. Their Boston terrier, Bailey, watched with his “grandparents” as parents tied the knot.

We celebrated the gorgeous, Indian Summer day with wedding portraits at Gas Works Park on the Lake Union waterfront. The Seattle skyline from Kite Hill was pristine and colorful kites fluttered overhead as Kadie and Doug took a moment to soak up the sunshine and their newlywed status.

Their beachside reception was on the patio of a clubhouse at a private Lake Washington residence, where guests enjoyed wood-fired pizza and salads provided by Inferno Catering, delicious cake and cupcakes, and even the Molly Moon’s ice cream truck! It was the perfect way to spend a long, summer evening watching the sun set over the water. Congratulations again, Kadie and Doug!

Wedding Details:
Photographer: Persimmon Images
Ceremony Location: Interlaken Park
Reception Venue: Private residence
Wood-fired Pizzas: Inferno Catering
Cake: Creme de la Creme Bakery
Cupcakes: Molly Moon’s
Rentals: R&R Rentals
Flowers: Young Flowers

It’s my goal to start posting more personal and travel photography on our blog along with images from recent sessions. So here are some images of the lovely scenery during our trip to Hawaii last July to go along with the recent posts from the KICKASS wedding we were there to photograph.

I’ll start with the beautiful Hawaii High Country, add some snapshots of the Mauna Lani Bay grounds and nearby coastline, and finally, leave you with photos from our epic 12-hour adventure circumnavigating the island in our Mustang convertibles all the way down one side, to Akaka Falls and Volcanoes National Park (where there sadly was no active lava to see) and back up the other side! Enjoy!

We even had the camera turned on us by Christen at Akaka falls, where she snapped this photo of Justin and I enjoying the cool spray. Thanks, Christen, you’re the pro now!

This is the third and final post in our series from Christen + Leigh’s epic Hawaii destination wedding with karaoke craziness and Mauna Lani Bay sea turtle Independence Day. We hope all the gorgeous Hawaii imagery has kept you warm!

As if their destination wedding week wasn’t epic enough, Christen and Leigh were also asked by the wonderful staff at the Mauna Lani Bay resort if they wanted to take part in this year’s Sea Turtle Independence Day on the Fourth of July. The Mauna Lani hand-raises baby sea turtles in some of their on-ground ponds to mature adulthood and then releases them when they are big enough to fend for themselves in the less hospitable sea. Every Independence Day, they release the newly minted turtles into the sea with the help of guests and their children. Of course, Christen and Leigh were all like, “HECK YES, SIGN US UP.” (I was too, I mean, who are we kidding… I love me some sea turtles!)

Sea turtles abound at the Mauna Lani… maybe the beach has some really tasty algae growing there. The first night I stumbled upon what I thought was a dead sea turtle on the beach and I was really upset. The staff reassured me it was just sleeping, which I thought was a cover-up, hush-hush way to get rid of the dead sea turtle without upsetting the guest. It turns out, sea turtles just sleep like the dead (something they usually do during daylight hours) and my “dead” friend moved on after a nice, long nap. Almost every day there was a sea turtle sleeping in the same spot on the beach. In the evenings, more animated turtles would swim offshore and nibble the sea plants there, which I discovered when two of them bumped into my legs as I was wading. Why hello there!

So I was totally psyched to photograph these two letting a sweet sea turtle free into the wild blue. The turtle Christen and Leigh set free was named Pilialoha, which means “a loving or tender relationship.” Aww!

The local news channel also reported on the event, with a short video where you watch the newlyweds release Pilialoha!

Want more photos? Check out Christen and Leigh’s destination wedding at the Mauna Lani Bay, complete with karaoke craziness!

All RIGHT! It’s about time for an epic wedding around here, don’t you think? Since it’s fuh-reezing outside, I thought I’d take us someplace tropical and warm. Christen and Leigh’s “amazeballs” Hawaiian Mauna Lani destination wedding was recently featured over on the awesome Offbeat Bride blog. So, please, head over there to hear Christen’s take on the wedding day. YES! There was wedding-morning swimming… YES! There was a TARDIS wine box… YES! There were sea turtles… YES! There was a mid-ceremony pinky-swear AND rock-paper-scissors… YES! There was even karaoke!

Christen and Leigh chose Hawaii for their wedding because it’s a half-way point between his home (Australia) and hers (Wyoming). Though they booked us almost two years before their wedding, we never met them in person until the day of their karaoke co-bachelor/ette parties in Kona. Holy moly, was that one heck of a way to start off a week like no other.

On the morning of the wedding, Christen and Leigh went with their “crew” to swim in the salt-water Love Pond on the grounds of the Mauna Lani. Cold, purifying, and a great initiation into marriage! After getting ready in the hotel, they were wed on the beach with a sea turtle slumbering not 50 yards away. They celebrated on the Mauna Lani lawn with glow-in-the-dark bocce ball, dancing, hors d’oeuvres, cupcakes, cigars, and karaoke. But even after that, the party wasn’t over! We took a full-day road trip around the Big Island with Christen, Leigh, and some friends to see Volcanoes National Park. Then, on the Fourth of July, Christen and Leigh were selected by the Mauna Lani to be a part of their Sea Turtle Independence Day turtle release! I’ll have a separate post or posts with some of those photos later. For now, enjoy these photos from their wedding day, and don’t forget to read Christen’s account on Offbeat Bride.

Wedding Service by:
Turquoise Pearls: North Atlantic Art on Etsy
Turquoise Buttons: LiD Designs Supplies on Etsy
Red Sox Garter: Garters by Kristi on Etsy
Brooch Bouquet: Bride’s mother-in-law
Dress: David’s Bridal
Groom’s Shorts: Volcom from Dogfunk.com
Venue: Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows
Photographers: Persimmon Images
Wedding Bands: Kathryn Riechert on Etsy

Want to see more? Watch their wedding slideshow!

Here’s a little teaser for Karen + Chris, who were our last wedding this season and are coming over to view their photos tomorrow. You guys said you loved awkward photos, and this is one of my favorites just for the look on Chris’s face that he’s holding the bouquet. I had to include the photo of their hilarious wedding party, too. Consider yourselves teased!

Hello world! I’m back from Japan and with a ton of amazing photos to share from our tsunami relief efforts. I also have a bunch of great weddings from this year to show off on the blog — one or two full wedding showcases per week for the next couple months. To get started, I’ve got a few favorite photographs from a couple of lovely 2010 weddings. I was either the assistant photographer or a guest at these weddings, so I can’t show off the whole thing the way I would a wedding that Justin and I photographed ourselves, but enjoy these little tidbits, and keep an eye out for new photos in the next couple of days. Happy Thanksgiving!

We just had an epic double-wedding weekend, what with the Saturday nuptials of our friends Erin and Adam in Salem, Oregon, and our neighbors Andrea and Eli on Sunday at the Seattle Tennis Club. There’s so much more goodness to come, but for now a small teaser of a gorgeous Lake Washington summer evening from last night’s same-day slideshow.

A little sneak peek of the amazing photographs to come from Christen and Leigh’s beautiful beach wedding at the Mauna Lani Resort in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. So gorgeous! Ocean breezes, sea turtles, laughing, dancing, good food, and great company… I feel more relaxed just thinking about how wonderful it was. Working on their photos is a real pleasure. Congrats, you two! I hope this teaser whets your palate for the goodness to come…