Away on Holidays

I don't know how many self-employed "suckers" read my blog. I can say that, because I'm self employed, so I'm a sucker myself. If you ARE self employed you know that Holidays are great, but also dreaded...

You have to work 24 hours a day before you go on Holidays and then you have to work 24 hours a day after you come back, just to catch up...

So, my friends, my clients and whoever you are, stalking my blog through RSS feeds... I'M GOING ON HOLIDAYS!!!

First I shoot two weddings, Sandra & Elliot, then Leslie & Martyn. THEN, I go on holidays.

I won't have a phone, or email, so help me God.

So if you need me, feel free to call and email, but please note that I won't be responding until July 9th.

Yikes!

I am excited though, because my hubby has been out of town for two months and will be out of town for two more months after we get back, so I will really make an effort to spend as much family time as I can in the next 10 days.

I know, how dare I take time off. But hey, the bright side of being an entrepreneur is that I get to take a day off here and there. And most of all, I get to choose, everyday, which 14 hours of the day I will work!

I will, I will... triumph!!! (movie reference here... can you guess?)

Ciao!

Vanessa & Rick: Getting Married Soon!

When Vanessa and Rick came over for the first time, they brought Rick's mom with them.

It was love at first laugh... I just fell in love with that lady and a few weeks later I did her anniversary pictures. What an amazing family... To be honest I think she told Rick that if he didn't hire me to do his wedding she would never make Italian Sausage for him again.

Rick obviously could never live with that (neither could I, since I did have some of her homemade goodness and fell in love with her even more!)

I'm so excited to be doing this wedding... These guys LOVE being in front of the camera and LOVE LOVE LOVE each other!

Here's a typical shot of them: I love Rick's expression.

I love this series...







Mmmm, delicious...






Can't wait till August guys!

View the slideshow here.

Katie & Jonathon: Married June 21, 2008

Katie is so sweet. Jonathon is soooo dedicated! He's going to be an accountant, and she's a dental hygienist. She was really busy with her new job this past year, so he did ALL of the planning.

I don't usually get contacted by the groom, but Jonathon was right in there, planning every little thing, tying every single ribbon and making sure that all of Katie's wishes and needs were met.

What a guy.

This also says a lot for Katie. The fact that she really trusts her man, really knows her man and can live with the decisions that he makes.

Don't get me wrong, she made a lot of the decisions too...

They are so good together and it really showed.

Here's the bride holding the flowers that Jon sent to her at the hairdresser's with a note saying "I love you".... and a few more things that I won't post on here.



Katie's dad, Dave, drives busses for Fehr-Way Tours and he was able to get this sweet White Ride for us to be driven around all day and not have to worry about parking. Thank you Dave and thank you Fehr-Way Tours!




The "Oreo-cookie" shot: L to R: Andrew, Kim, Robbie, Rachelle, Dirk, Sarah Joy, Jonathon, Katie, Thomas, Laura, Max, Ashley, Blair and Shawna. (Whew, I still remembered!)


Katie was going with the flow the whole day, working it for the camera. I LOVE it when that happens.



Magic!

Dancing around Jon at the Leg.


She loves DQ and HAD to have a Blizzard.


Did I mention she LOVES DQ?




The building says Robinson & Webber. Their last names (except Jonathon's is Weber).


Congratulations guys! Your day was awesome! I'm glad I was there!

So, a priest, a nun and a photographer walk into this bar...

Not a bar really. A Wedding Reception instead.

Katie and Jon's Wedding Reception.

I have to tell you I haven't laughed so hard at a wedding in a long long time!

Katie and Jon put me at the same table as their fabulous, hilarious priest and their crazy Nun cousin, Sister Darlene. I knew when I sat down, that this would be a night to remember...

My sides were splitting from laughing so hard at their stories growing up in the same town. The stories just kept pouring all through dinner... Too bad the priest didn't stay for the dance. We could have had some shots like the ones of Sister Darlene below, dancing to "I Will Survive"... What a night!

Doesn't she look like fun? Here she is dancing with Jonathon:


I love the speeches. It's like you've asked me to come into your living room and be part of this intimate family moment, when people tell your stories, and display old pictures.

Here's Jon and Katie.




The first dance. Magical.


The girls get sassy. L to R: Sarah Joy, Shawna, Ashley and Rachelle.


Hmm, what song might they be dancing to? Rasputin? Be careful... Don't break a leg!


It's like you can guess the songs, just by the gestures: Shout!


I'm too sexy.


And finally: the beautiful cake.


More images tomorrow guys! Stay tuned!

Not to mention any names...

Once in a while a bride hires me to start early.

I'm not talking 10am early, I'm talking 7:30am early! Yikes!

But hey, it gives me more time with the bride and I'm able to hang out with the girls at the salon, and in the end we have a blast!

That was the story this past weekend: Katie asked me to be there early so we could hang out at the salon and have coffee, chat it up and get some candid girl shots.

HOWEVER, when we got there the hairdresser (and manager - the only keyholder - you get the picture) was not there! Nope, we couldn't get in, couldn't start with a different hairdresser, nothing...

Not for a whole hour...

Here we are, all the way in Kenaston Village Mall, waiting and waiting...

Katie was super awesome about it, not freaking out... Even though this is her WEDDING DAY and we were on a tight schedule...

But Jonathon was livid! Apparently this place had already "accidentally" deleted her from the appointment book the month before...

So I told him I would post this for him and that could be his little revenge. I won't mention any names though...

You would think that the manager would have at least have done Katie's hair for free...

Kicking it then and Kicking it now

I usually try not to post too often, just so you guys have a couple of days to digest each post (ever notice how I like to talk in food terms?)... But today I was double-backing up old personal drives and I found this little number!!

Oh, I cracked up. This is my sister in law, Lori from Kickit Dance Studio, which I mentioned in yesterday's post.

When she and Robert came back from doing a 6 month stint working on a cruise ship (2004), she assisted me with a few weddings.

One time we were out in Niverville, doing a wedding and the fields were so amazing, that we decided to do some impromptu headshots amidst the Canola!

Don't you just love these?

Just a few months later they FINALLY got engaged and I ended up doing their wedding in 2005.

Thanks Lori for assisting me that summer. That sure was fun!








She gets a lot of air for a little person! ;)

Twice a week, all the way across town..

Every Tuesday night, every Saturday morning, myself and/or my husband drive all the way across the city to go to dance class... Not me, well, me, yes but mostly the kids.

My brother and sister in law (Robert and Lori) own a fabulous dance studio in Waverley Heights (Kickit Dance Studio), which is in my opinion, the best in town.

"Is it worth the drive?" you might ask! But I tell you it is! Not only are they incredibly talented, their school is great and the crowd there is a lot of fun, but they are also family! And family supports family, it's just how it goes! I couldn't imagine going anywhere else.

The kids just love them and they learn so much! It's good to dance...

As a matter of fact, I rejoined the adult tap class this year with my mother in law and another sister in law and made some crazy wonderful friends! We really bonded! We performed Abba's Waterloo at the recital on June 11! This is our class in costume.

Looking good!


We performed well too! The crowd went wild! I bet you they were mostly feeling sorry for us. Very few of us have ever tapped before, so it was quite the adventure being there on stage with so many talented super duper young dancers.

Anywho, as a end of season gift, I did what anyone should do: called up my cookie girls (Sweet Impressions) and asked them to do me this little favour...

I know that Robert and Lori will probably not eat them, but they will be really good if they do!

Lori & Patrick: Married on June 14, 2008!

She's a Health Inspector.

He's an Engineer.

She worked in Brandon and so did he.

He had a house party and Jaqueline brought her over to his house.

They played Twister.

She liked his moves and the rest is history...

Patrick loves cycling, in fact he's been to Europe with his friends, cycling from place to place, and even cycled parts of the Tour de France.

We met early in the morning at Assiniboine Park for some cycling shots.

It's not everyday that boys want to be photographed in Spandex, so I couldn't say no...

Here's Brady, Patrick and Al:


Al's dad lent them his Beautiful Vintage Chrysler




I love the way she looks at him... She's in love!





Here are the girls: Jessica, Lori and Dana.





Best boys and pretty girl: Matt, Al & Lori. I think in this shot Matt said something like: "hey, you're not married yet!"


After the ceremony the skies opened up and we were able to do a lot of stuff outside!


For their favours, Lori & Patrick handed out personal coffee packs from Green Bean. Mmmm... The coffee is amazing, I tried! And it's organic! What a great idea for favours!


Here's Lori's Grandma. She's almost Ninety and she looks incredible! In this shot she was telling me how she is a Great Grandmother to 14 or 15 kids! Isn't that amazing!


Ok, seriously, these boys were in farm country, but they pulled all the stops when it came to doing the charades to get the bride and groom to kiss!


Here's Danielle, I have no idea what she's doing!


The speeches were funny...


And emotional...






We got out right after dinner for some sunset shots...






Lori dancing with her dad.



Here's my friend Stephanie who helped me out! She's nuts!!!