Sal & Gina's Fall Wedding at Our Lady of Sorrows

Gina first contacted me almost a year before their wedding day. I documented Adam & Ashley's wedding last September and Gina's mom is friends with Adam's mom. I love working with people who were referred to me by past clients and their families because I know we are already starting off on strong ground--and there's no bigger compliment than a referral. Gina & Sal had no problem trusting in my skills and creativity and that's always a relief, and allows me to do some of my best work. We met over the summer to do their engagement session and I met all of their siblings then so I already knew half the wedding party by the wedding day! We had a blast!

On their wedding day when I walked into the hotel room where Gina was getting ready, it was like walking in to see old friends. I was instantly greeted by her sisters and mother. The weather was a warm & perfect fall day--good thing since they had allowed lots of time for pictures outside later. I just in time to capture her getting her dress on. Then Gina & Sal had their "First Look" in their room at the Argosy Hotel.

It was a whirlwind day and these two are so meant for each other. Every time I'm able to witness love like this it reminds me why I love my job so much. Their ceremony was at the beautiful Our Lady of Sorrows near Crown Center and the Hallmark campus. The reception followed at The Argosy Ballroom. Here are just some of my favorites that tell the story of their oh-so-Italian wedding day.

Congrats Gina & Sal! I just adore you two and your wonderful families! May you have many many years of wedded bliss!

Gina & Sal did their First Look in their hotel room which made for a very private moment.

I have always wanted to get pictures in the couple's room but it has never worked out. I am so glad we were able to get these before the ceremony!

Gina's gorgeous bouquet, full of color. All the bouquets & bouts were made by Clara Bauer of Clara's Flowers.

A gust of wind blowing down Gillham made for some veil fun!

What a beautiful bride!

I loved the bridesmaids deep purple dresses. They just pop with those flowers.



More fun with the veil in the wind. Aren't they an amazingly gorgeous couple?! They are truly beautiful inside & out--and so relaxed!

This ring bearer is all cheeks! And I thought my little one had big cheeks. He's got nothing on this little guy!
Gina's dress was layer upon layer of pure fluffiness. Love it!

I captured this shot as the sun was setting. While in college I used to work at a law firm near this church (near Crown Center/Hallmark) so I used to see this church every day & think to myself "I'd love to shoot a wedding there someday!" I have always loved this church.



Exchange of rings

Mr. & Mrs. LoPorto!

This beautifully intricate cake was made my Amy Smith. The flowers echo some of the flowers in the lacework on Gina's dress.

They are so romantic...pure happiness



The bouquet toss. All the girls, including the flower girls, gathered around.

Aww, but the flower girl's hopes of catching the bouquet were dashed, leaving her in tears.

Gotta love Italian Wedding cookies! The women of the family who made all these delicious cookies are nothing short of amazing!

KC Bridal Fair

I just wanted to do a quick post about the KC Bridal Fair coming up August 23, 2008 at the Town Pavilion in Downtown KC where I will have a booth. They've got space for a lot of vendors so there will be a lot to see under one roof so come check it out and stop by to say Hi!

You can also pre-register on their website and get $2 off admission ($5 at the door) here: KC Bridal Fair. You can only enter the big wedding give-away by pre-registering so make sure you do that before the fair! The fair will be taking place from 10-5.

What's also really great about this fair is that they are limiting the number of vendors per category so it's not overwhelming for brides. And even better for you is that they are limiting photographers to only 4 or 5, so by the end of the day you won't have a zillion pictures mushing all around in your head (like some fairs where there are 25+ photographers), but it's still enough that it'll be a good selection to see.

I am still in the planning stages of my booth design but things are already coming together nicely. As the day gets closer I'll post more about what you can expect to find at my booth. I am already very excited to say that I'll have one of my lovely past brides who will be on-hand to help answer questions and talk to you more about her experience.

It's going to be a lot of fun so mark your calendar!

Flowers at the Zoo

Just a fun shot I loved & thought worth posting. We had a family day and took our son to the zoo a couple weeks ago. While my hubby took him through an aviary I stayed outside to shoot these gorgeous blossoms dangling from the trees. I took plenty of animal pictures too of course but this is the one that really jumped out at me!

The Derakhshanians

Here is the Derakhshanian family as promised... and you thought my last name was long! Natasha & I are in the long-last-names club. It's very exclusive. ;o) I met up with the fam in mid-December for this great outdoor shoot on the Plaza. Some might call them a bunch of ham bones... and I would have to agree. It was a really nice day and everyone had a blast being goofy and playing it up for the camera. All shoots are meant to be this fun!

Here is Grandmother. I think she is just beautiful. The camera loves Nily
Guess who the biggest ham is?
Here I got a couple shots of some Plaza window-shopping. I love her red scarf & Natasha & Nily are so cute!
These have got to be the greatest steps in the city. I love how they're all striking a pose.
Overlooking the steps. You can see the string of the famous Plaza lights. I love the warm evening light as they look at.... um... I hope they're not staring at the sun...

At the top of the steps under the pretty arched gate.

Wait a minute... is there room for the photographer in there??
I saw a sign inside a Gap window that said "EMBRACE" so I grabbed Natasha & said "hug someone!"

Megan's Senior Shoot

This is Megan, and as the heading suggests... you guessed it... she's a senior this year. ;o) I love the senior attitude and I got plenty of it last weekend on this shoot. Megan is so full of life, personality (you can see the many sides to her in the images below) and fun! Good luck, Megan, in your final year of high school, and with the whole rest of your life!

We started in the studio (which aren't quite edited yet) and then went to Kauffman Legacy Park, made a quick stop at the KC Art Institute, then finished up at the urban Crossroads Arts District.

Here are some of my favorites, but there were many more I just can't fit here!

I love the brilliant red trees in the backgrounds of these shots.

I love this shot of Megan on our quick stop at the KCAI grounds. I saw these gorgeous yellow leaves on the ground & we just had to turn around & snap a few here.

Here's a bit of that attitude I'm talking about! ;o)

I don't really know what to caption this one, but I just love it.

The Opfer Family

For this fun little family session I ventured up to north Kansas City to the Opfer family's lovely home in the suburbs. We spent some time outdoors in the chilly morning air for these shots in their cute backyard.

We attempted family shots with their adorable and playful dog Tanner, but he was just waaaay too excited to be outside! We couldn't contain him! :o)