Amore Studios - Our Amazing Blog

Elise & Dan's Wedding at Kiana Lodge

Well how do I being to describe the beautiful, lovely, different and fun wedding of Elise & Dan at the beautiful Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo.  As you can see from below, Elise loves a retro style and that showed by both her hair and makeup choice and her awesome birdcage veil, I always adore those!  As guests walked into the ceremony location, they had a unique guestbook sign in that was a typewriter where you could type notes and thoughts to the couple - what a cool idea.  As you can see we took advantage of that and also used it for a fun ring shot.  She had her 3 sisters walk her down the aisle, I don't think I've ever seen that before and I loved it.  Before the ceremony, we met up with them and went straight into portraits.  I love the shot of Dan and all his guys at the bar . . all the shots of Dan & Elise in front of the water tower are very cool and of course the group shot at Kiana where most of their attendants are up on the benches (a little tricky for the girls). 

As you can see they wanted to have fun for their wedding and brought along these very cool different types of mustaches for their guests to wear.  Before hand we had Elise's dad help her put one on and got some very cute shots with her and Dan.  I also love the shot of the couple kissing the moose with the mustache on!   For their reception, Elise chose retro music that everyone enjoyed dancing to and everyone also got to enjoy the ever indulgent Trophy Cupcakes.  She let each of her bridesmaids pick out a flavor and also did a dessert buffet and opted out of the traditional cake cutting/feeding. I have to say I'd never had a Samoa cupcake before (the girl scout flavor) and boy was it yummy!  And lastly, I love the last photo on our blog for their Thank You photo . .  the old time font and sign was great.

Enjoy, Melody

                                               

Tia & Tod's Engagement Session at Golden Gardens

Well as I said before with our last engagement session, it's been the year of rescheduling due to our rainy and dreary spring/summer. .and I hope it's ending soon!  Thankfully we caught another break recently and Bryan was able to have so much fun with Tia & Tod.  They started out at the beautiful Golden Gardens to get beach shots.  So to further explain the cute little animated movie we have below is that at the time of the shoot, Tia didn't have her real engagement ring yet as it was being worked on at the jewelry store and Tod had told her it wasn't ready yet.  What she didn't know is that he had managed to get it and wanted to surprise her with it.  So with Bryan's help, Bryan asked Tod to recreate his proposal and when he did, he changed out the rings.  What was very funny was for several minutes, Tia didn't even realize he had changed it out!

Now onto the rest of the beautiful and fun photos.  I love so many of the ones at the beach including the one of Tia kissing Tod's cheek in the grass and the one of her on his back while Tod's legs are in the water.  Tia had lots of fun props for the shoot and isn't the ring shot with the skateboard very cool?  I love the one of them kissing in the phone booth as well as the one with their goofy faces.  I love how she tied in the Locks with the fishing poles and I think her idea of a chalkboard with her wedding date is just too cute.

Enjoy!

Melody

                                                 

Mike & Jennifer's Engagement Session

It seems like this year more than ever we have had to reschedule our engagement sessions due to bad weather.  And that's what happened a couple times with Mike & Jennifer, but finally we hit a break and Bryan was able to photograph them in the middle of a beautiful sunny day last month.  They started out at the always beautiful Golden Gardens and I love the photo of them kissing in the distance and of them lying with their eyes closed on the rocks.  It was then off to other fun locations around Seattle and I LOVE the photo of them in front of the mission sign . .the one of them dancing with the light beaming through and of course both kissing shots in the iconic pioneer square.  We can't wait for your wedding next month at the beautiful Edgewater Hotel!

Melody

                   
               

Rebecca & Alex's Engagement Session & Wedding at Georgetown Ballroom

Well I am so happy to kick off the month of June .. . with the beautiful, fun and funky engagement and wedding of Rebecca and Alex.  When we met with them earlier this year, I knew they were our kind of a couple.  Hey their save the date cards had a andy warhol pop art print of them - how cool is that?  Only a few weeks before their wedding, Bryan shot their engagement in and around Seattle.  As you can see from the first photo below, they got lucky and got such a pretty shot with birds flying over the sign as they kissed in front of the market.  I love the photos of them at the Sculpture park . .isn't the one with their heads peeking over the side just too cute and creative?  And how can you not love the kissing sign with the Dick's hamburger sign . .I think that's my favorite!

For their wedding they choose the very funky and awesome venue of the Georgetown Ballroom one of our new favorites.  We started out the day by meeting up with them for some last minute getting ready shots and well how can you not say that the dress shot just completely and utterly rocks - I LOVE IT!  And as you can see, Rebecca picked some very fun purple heels for the first part of the day and yes maybe Alex does need a little help (joke) for the wedding night.  We did their first look at the same place and I love that kiss shot.  It was then onto walk around Georgetown for more portraits and we had so much fun.  I love the photo of them holding hands in front of the old garbage cangs . . .the one of Rebecca's veil up in the air . . the guys sitting down looking very cool and the promptu ring shot with the gnomes.   They brought with them some very cool props, the funny wax lips and a giant diamond ring and then towards the end of our trip out for photos, we stumbled upon a group of people who didn't mind posing with them and that photo just makes me laugh.

During the ceremony, Rebecca had both her parents walk her down the aisle - a nice new tradition.  That tiny space was packed with all their 250+ guests and can I tell you that they know how to throw a party? They had not 1, 2, 3, but 4 food stations for people to go to . . Dante's Hot Dogs (very yummy), Fresh Grilled Mexican Tacos with Rice & Beans and 2 different buffet stations inside.  I thought it was such a great way to break up lines and let your guests have variety.  In addition, they had the wonderful DJ of Chris with Wave Link Music, 321 Photo booth (what a fun service to have at your wedding - Bryan and I even hopped in for a cute photo), and then great Jeremy with Endless Love Productions.  He was so fun and easy to work with, I recommend you check him out.

Towards the end of the night, we snuck out one last time to photograph them out and about and isn't the photo of them with the Taxi just gorgeous?  Before they left, they changed into their cute honeymoon clothes and walked under sparklers.  What a fun day - enjoy.

Melody

 

 

         
                   
                                                                

Hawaii 2010 - a Maui Vacation

For the past two years, we have chosen our big yearly vacation to the wonderful island of Maui, Hawaii.  This year it was so much fun to go again with Zoe as she is getting so much bigger and can just do so much more.  We stayed at the very beautiful Hyatt Regency on Kaanapali Beach and what a great choice as they had such a fabulous kids area.  Well I guess you could say that was good and bad . . ha as you spend all your time there when your child likes it!  Zoe was pool and beach obsessed and I think one day she went down the kid slide at the Hyatt (and always all by herself . .both frontwards, backwards and face first after she saw some other kids do it) 50 times.  Bryan was always there to catch her like a nice dad!

One of my favorite spots to eat on Maui is at Mala in Lahaina.  They are the same people who own Maui Tacos and they just have the best food.  Those adorable shots in the slideshow with the flower in Zoe's hair is while were there one evening.  And then of course we had to make our way back to the funky town of Paia . . write up Bryan's alley and do a photo shoot with our little girl!  As you can see this time we bribed her by getting Ice Cream from Anthony's (which was just in Sunset Magazine as a place to eat and it's so cute inside there).  She was very happy once that Strawberry ice cream was in her hand and would pretty much go anywhere with us .. ha.  In one photo . .and another you'll see her holding up a finger and it's a game her grandpa plays with her called one more - too cute!

As you can see we also went to the gorgeous baby beach in Lahaina and got Zoe in an adorable Hula Girl outfit and let her hula at sunset.  I love pretty much all of those photos, but especially love the one of me kissing her as the sun goes down.  And yes we did buy her cool hula barbie and isn't she funny playing with it on the beach.

Lastly, Bryan found the famous Surfboard fence and became enamored of it very quickly . .hey how can you not - it's very cool.  We were able to meet the guy who created it and got to roam around on his cool country property.  And of course afterwards we had to take some pictures there as well.  After that you'll see some of my favorite photos of the trip . . near Twin Falls on the Road To Hana.  I LOVE that photo of Zoe in the bamboo . .of course we had to get another photo of her there.  And then isn't her "Maui Built" top just very tomboy cute.  The last photo may be my favorite, she is just looking entirely too big!

Enjoy!

Melody

P.S.  Those lovely faces Zoe makes sometimes . .well I didn't teach her that . .it's all Bryan!

                                                                                

Marianne & Sara's Wedding at Georgetown Ballroom

Well I know it's been a few weeks since we've blogged .. but we have a very good excuse . . we were away enjoying the lovely island of Maui, Hawaii. Wow how the time flew when we were there. I will have photos of that soon, but for now I would love to share with you the beautiful wedding of Marianne & Sara at my new favorite venue in Seattle - the Georgetown Ballroom. Once you see the photos . .you will totally understand why it's our new favorite and just an awesome place to shoot. So funky and pretty . .very us. First I started out photographing Sara at the W Hotel while Bryan photographed Marianne getting ready. Aren't Marianne's custom made shoes with her wedding date very cool? And I love the photo of Sara getting her makeup done as the light is coming in. It was then onto the first look and some photos in the W Hotel before we headed to the Ballroom for more photos. I love the photo of them kissing in front of the vase and sitting in the tall blue booth.

Once we got to the Georgetown Ballroom, it was time to do some family photos. As you can see, they made the ceremony their own and walked down the aisle together and had no attendants. I love it when a couple embraces who they are and make it their day. Aren't the far away shots with their reflection in the floor just simply gorgeous? They had so many fun details in their reception including their unique table names and both cake and cupcakes (the cupcakes were amazing!) for dessert. The Ballroom has an amazing speaker system and they chose not to have a DJ and had quite the fun time dancing. Towards the end of the night, we grabbed them for some more photos and I love the shot of them outside against the rust/colored lights just gorgeous. Enjoy!

Melody

 

                                                       
   

Kristen & Ralph's Engagement Session

Well on a beautiful sunny day, Bryan went out to shoot the lovely Kristen & Ralph's engagement session.  As you can see he had a lot of fun finding different and funky locations with them and Kristen and Ralph were game to go anywhere.  I think the first photo below is simply gorgeous with that green door and Ralph looks just too cool.  I love all the ones against the weathered wood and how adorable is the photo of them curling their lips at the Henry mural? I can't believe their wedding is only a few months away at a venue we love - the Liberty Theater.

Enjoy! Melody

     

            
       
 

Andy & Maggie's Engagement Session

Well on a beautiful day, we ventured out to shoot Andy & Maggie's engagement session at the UW campus and at their venue they are getting married at - the Alexis Hotel.  Maggie loves Cherry Blossoms and it is a theme running through her wedding day, so it was important to her that we get some photos with some Cherry trees.  We weren't there quite in time for the campus to be in full bloom, but we did find some trees in bloom and took full advantage of them.  I love all the photos of them in the cherry tree and the gorgeous sun flare we got in the photos. I love the prop that Maggie brought along . .the Red Love Heart and how we are playing with the shadows in the first photo below.  And how can I not comment on the photo of them lying on the couch - I think that's my favorite and it's just stunning.   Andy . . you are a Rock Star and Maggie you are his beautiful muse - we can't wait to shoot your wedding next month - you were so much fun to hang out with . .we can't wait to do it again!

Melody

                               

Jennifer & Ian's Wedding

Well on a beautiful cold day, Bryan set out to photograph Jennifer & Ian's intimate and rustic wedding.  As you can see Bryan had a nice amount of time with them before hand and he had the chance to get so many fun photos.  I loved the solo shot of the bouquet and the silhouette of them in the reflection of the barn and how can you not LOVE the photos of them with the car - aren't those gorgeous?   As evening started, they had their ceremony inside the barn.  Her adorable cake toppers are from a potted plant and she has had them for years.  As you can see they had so much fun feeding each other cake.  Towards the end of the evening, Bryan grabbed them again for a couple quick portraits including one last one before they departed.

Enjoy!

                                       
                             

Emilie & Taylor's Engagement Session

Well on a beautiful sunny day, Bryan set out to photograph Emilie & Taylor on their lovely engagement session that went from Tacoma . . to Kirkland . .to Redmond!  There were several spots that were special to them including the place they had their first date on the Waterfront in Kirkland to the Soccer Bars they frequent in Tacoma as they are Seattle Sounder fanatics.  In fact on the day of the shoot they had to skip a Seattle Sounder game and as they are season ticket holders . .that wasn't the easiest thing to do!  So as a thank you to them, we got them an autographed Soccer Ball personalized to them from Kasey Keller and they will be getting it shortly!  As some of you may know, Kasey is Bryan's stepbrother and last year we had the opportunity to see a game - how cool it was! 

Now onto the photos . .well there are so many I love it's hard to pick favorites, but I love the first one below - how awesome is it? Another favorite is the one of Taylor kissing Emilie's cheek . . it's just breathtaking.  I love the one of them laughing, them kissing on the school bus with their instruments and them in front of the classic car wash sign.  We can't wait to shoot your wedding in August!

Melody