Day 3 – Detailed Memories
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If you ask anyone who knows me they will tell you that I love collecting and holding onto things. I know that I probably have piles of birthday cards somewhere and odd scraps of paper from my high school years (that at one point meant something to me). I have a collection of 100+ stuffed animals (all nicely packed in Rubbermaid containers). I like to collect things that are frogs (not real ones), and in the shape of frogs. I collect candles and candle holders, recipe magazines, old Canadian pennies and nickels, and at one point: rocks (yes, I said rocks).
Anyways…. The one collection that I didn’t know I even collected was jewelery. I don’t have much in this new found collection and Nick (along with everyone else in the whole world) will tell you that I don’t really wear much of it. While I was going through my jewelery box, I realized that each piece had it’s own story and those memories really inspired me. I know that every person who is reading this knows exactly what I’m talking about. The memories of who gave you the piece (or if you bought it yourself), when you received it and if there were any stories surrounding it. These details can bring laughter or tears, but they are memorable because of that. So with that said, please enjoy a few of my favourites that I’ve decided to share with you 
This sunburst necklace was a gift from my Grandfather to my Grandmother. He gave her many gifts of jewelery, but this was the first one he gave to her. One Christmas after the passing of my Grandfather, my Grandmother gave each of her grandchildren a piece of her collection. She gave this one to me. I still remember the anticipation I felt as she made my sister and I open our gifts at the same time – and I still remember the moments of poignancy after we had opened them.
The ring was my mother’s and the tin box was my Nana’s. I don’t quite remember when I received the ring, but I remember the first time I saw it. I thought that it was so unique because the stone was black and the shape was non-traditional. I think I fell in love with it at first-glance! The box is a different story. While preparing my Nana’s things for storage (we were moving her into a care home) I saw this neat box that she must have picked up on one of her travels. I had to have it!
These items are more recent. Last year when Nick and I went to WPPI, we decided to attend a party with an Old-Hollywood theme to it. I bought these at Macy’s in Las Vegas after spending close to hour deciding what ones to get. This necklace, bracelet and earring set is the most “blingy” thing I own! Anyways, we got all dressed up for the party and when we got there we realized that we were part of a small handful of people who had abided by the dress code! We saw a lot of jeans and even some track pants, but we had a good time anyway. It wasn’t all for not because it felt nice to dress up!
Last but not least, these hearts are by far the most special pieces of my collection. They were both given to me by Nick, but have different stories.
The heart on the left was the first one he gave to me. One side is white gold and the other is yellow gold. I wore it on our wedding day. It was minutes before the ceremony and I realized that I had forgotten to put it on! My best friend ran back to the car (in her bridesmaid dress and heels!) and got it for me
The heart on the right is a replacement! Several months after the wedding I realized that I had lost my necklace! I searched the house top to bottom for 3 days before telling Nick what had happened. I felt sick to my stomach, but he reassured me that it was okay and that it would eventually turn up. Anyways, that Christmas after we had finished opening our gifts from each other, he told me that there was one more gift for me and that it was on the tree. I started looking in the middle, and then the bottom and finally I looked up and saw it. He had hung it in the tree along with a card filled with wonderful words. He had chosen a solid white gold heart because he knew that I preferred to wear the original one with the white gold side facing out. He loved me so much that he gave me his heart not once, but twice And as he had assured me, I eventually found the original necklace several years later
Do you have a favourite piece of jewelery with a special story behind it? Let us know in the comment! We’d love to hear your story
Day 2 – Lucy
I don’t know if we’ve formally introduced you to Lucy, our adorable little fluff ball that keeps us both sane. We may have mentioned her in passing or if you have been to our home studio, you might have met her. So here she is. She’s friendly and soft and she doesn’t meow unless she’s really ticked off! Instead, she squeaks and does a little half-meow thing that’s really cute.
She is usually sleeping in a blanket or a laundry basket of clean clothes. She loves to run around at lightning speed around 3am but her persistent habit of cuteness more than makes up for it. Also – she is the most excellent bug catcher!
When she’s not sleeping for 21 hours a day, she loves to stare out of the window and people watch. She also is full of curiosity! She knows that if she pushes on a door that it will open, however she hasn’t quite figured out that it only works one way. So… she sometimes locks herself in the bathroom! Regardless, she’s our lovable kitty cat
Day 1 – Maddie & Adam – VeilTV promo shoot
Well here it is! The first day in our 30 Day Challenge! We’re going to kick things off with a few photos from the shoot we did with Maddie and Adam (you’ll remember them from their awesome Pemberton wedding here) back in October for our VeilTV promo video.
In the summer last year, Kathy Marliss of Marliss Productions told me about a new production she and her husband Steph were working on called Veil TV. We’ve blogged about it before here, but basically is a site where you can view short video interviews with all sorts of wedding vendors. There’s more to it than that of course. Anyway, Deb and I were immediately on board for this idea, so we signed up right away. Part of our video included having Kathy and Steph follow us around to shoot video of us doing what we do. These are a few of the images we took while they were shooting us. Enjoy!
In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the video of us:
Happy New Year!
Ahhhhhh… A new year! A fresh start! A clean slate! A new leaf to turn over! I hope I have covered most of the terms for New Year’s… (if not just add in your favourite in the comments section below). Regardless of how you say it, January 1 symbolizes a new start to our lives. We resolve to eat better, exercise more, quit smoking, see our friends and family more, etc. While Nick and I resolve to do all of those things (except for the smoking one as we already are life-long non-smokers), we resolve to be better bloggers!
Now, before you comment on the fact that it is not January 1st, but instead January 8th!!!, let me remind you that almost every fantastic resolution has been fashionable late 
Right?
…………..Right?
Anyways, I used to be a really great blogger many years ago when I had a personal blog. I blogged at least 3 times a week for 2 or 3 years! Now as you can tell, my blogging frequency has since diminished 
However, I believe that 2011 will be the year of fantastic blogging done by myself (and Nick too)! To start this off we are doing a 30-Day Blog Challenge! What this means is that for the next 30 days we will blog something new for you guys. It could be our favourites from 2010, personal posts, a few sessions from 2010 that we still have to share with you, self-imposed photo challenges, etc.
With any resolution it’s important to make sure that we’re held accountable for our actions – or in this case, our in-actions. For each day from Jan. 15 until Feb 13, if we don’t post something here by 7pm we will gladly give away a free portrait session. Sounds pretty good right?! If you notice we’ve missed a day, then send us an email with “You missed your [insert date] blog post!” as the Subject, and the first email that lands in our inbox will receive a super-cool portrait session! How’s that for a habit-building exercise?!
So be sure to come back on the 15th, and every day after that! )
Gentle Hands Art Auction
I am very proud to be a part of a fantastic group of Canadian photographers who have donated some amazing fine art pieces to the Gentle Hands Art Auction. I would be thrilled if you shared this post with a friend or two The auction will be open from November 28-30, but the preview is open right now to view these beautiful art pieces.
Gentle Hands is located in the heart of Metro Manila, Philippines, and is a child and youth welfare agency on the front lines of rescue & rehabilitation of medical, social and educational needs of at-risk children & youth. The agency cares for children all in various stages of rehabilitation from abuse, neglect and/or poverty related trauma, adoption or reunification.
New Online Resource for Brides – Veil!
Hi There! This right here is a very rare blog post by me… I’ve been letting Deb do all the blogging this year because she’s just so much better at it 
Have you heard about Veil yet? If you said “OMG, SO MUCH YES!!!” to that question then you are already ahead of the game on this post. BUT if you HAVEN’T heard about Veil yet, well you are about to. 
Here’s the description of Veil in their own words, quoted from their site:
[box type="shadow"]Veil is a comprehensive resource designed to make wedding planning simple, personal, and stress free for Vancouver and area brides.
Veil gives you the opportunity to meet and chat with vendors virtually – through VeilTV, VeilTalk, and our ask a vendor series, and in person at our live VeilEvents, giving you a true sense of the style, passion and artistry each of our wedding professionals puts into their business.
Choosing your wedding team is no small task, pulling together the right group of vendors will impact how your day flows as well as the lasting mementos you are left with afterwards. A big part of selecting your team is ensuring that you feel a connection to their work and that you click with their personalities, you want to feel confident, you want to be stress free, and most of all you want to sit back and enjoy knowing you have assembled the best wedding team for your day.[/box]
So that sounds pretty awesome, right? Deb and I think so, so we decided to be a part of it right from the launch. And that launch was on Saturday! So head on over to Veil and check it out. It promises to be a fantastic resource for planning your wedding.
Go over there and check our little video (and the other vendors as well!)
Maddie & Adam | Pemberton Wedding
It’s not often that Nick & I get to head out of town, so we were super excited about Maddie & Adam’s wedding which was being held in Pemberton, BC. It was a pretty cool experience for myself because I had never driven up the Sea-to-Sky highway before. It’s a high-speed highway right on the edge of a cliff going along some of the world’s most scenic and beautiful coastline. So dangerous, yet so beautiful! We checked in around 9pm, fell asleep while watching a bit of TV and since Pemberton is such a quiet town, we had an amazing sleep!
The next morning we got up and grabbed some breakfast and then headed out to the farm for a little pre-wedding scouting. Now, I must give my thoughts about farms: I love them. I love the fresh air. I love the sunshine. I even love the mud. Most of all, I love the sustainability factor. Pemberton is a small town 20 minutes north of Whistler, and their potatoes go all over the province, into Alberta and even into Washington. The farms in this town not only support the residents but also support the local economy. On the farm where Maddie & Adam chose to get married, the Van Loon’s grow 40 acres worth of potatoes! One of the reasons why they chose to get married on a farm was to showcase how amazing local food is and to bring awareness to their guests about supporting their local farmers. This sustainability is something that Nick & I feel very strongly about. Not only is local food great for the environment since it travels a very small distance to your plate, it tastes fantastic!
Anyways, lets get into some photos!
While Nick was with Adam and his guys, I was back at the hotel with the gorgeous Maddie for some getting ready shots.
This parasol was just one of the MANY hand-crafted details that Maddie (and Adam) worked on tirelessly on for the wedding.
Hours and hours upon hours were spent on creating details for their wedding. Hand-stamped place cards, clay-casted mason jars and chicken cut-outs galore. Watch out Martha Stewart!
They chose an amazing band! Everyone was up and dancing as soon as they started to play!
Who says you can’t get a little silly on your wedding day?
And a few late-night portraits to cap off an utterly fantastic wedding! Maddie & Adam, thank you for being so awesome! You guys are silly, goofy, warm-hearted and truly in love
