jamie and terry's beautiful harrington opera house wedding

jamie and terry were married in one of the most unique venues… the harrington opera house. drop dead gorgeous! this beautiful old building was in the process of historic renovations, but provided the perfect backdrop for this rustic wedding. after the ceremony the guests were entertained in the families big red barn. needless to say, this wedding was picture perfect. thanks jamie and terry for being so fun, and letting us spend the day with you. wishing happiness forever!

danna and jt's sweet honey wedding...

danna and jt are literally two of the most amazing people! they ooze love and admiration for one another, and you can't help smiling when you're around them! we feel so blessed to have such amazing couples! oh, and did we mention danna has an incredibly stylish eye! this girl designed her wedding around a honey bee and all things deliciously-golden sweet. yep, she's hands down super-star status! danna spent a lot of time diy-ing the majority of her details, and blew us away. the party favors, center pieces, seating chart, programs and more all played on the unique theme. everything was a touch vintage, a bit sweet and super classy! check out her ideas, cause you're gonna want to borrow some! ps... a man in a uniform was a total bonus! we're such lucky girls!

 the first look was priceless! we were glad we couldn't hear what jt said, 

but we could read lips and those words appreciated the view ;)

 honey bees adorned everything from the bouquet to the program/fans...

hidden meadow always provides such a lovely backdrop!

we think boys that peek during prayers are sooooo special! 

he couldn't keep his eyes off here! yay, danna!

 honey stick seating chart? yes please!

such a cute gift idea for the mothers of the bride and groom! super love! 

 during the father/daughter and mother/son dances it started to rain... this led to an all out dance party in the rain! no one held back, especially the bride and groom! danna and jt, you guys are simply wonderful! thank you for letting us be a part of your day, and we wish you all the luck in the future. god bless!

hello world... meet hannah!

i can feel it.

feel too much of me.

the mirrors that all reflect

me back.

the boundaries of myself;

to tightly kept.

if only a key to 

my land; locked

a key to open,

release.

free me to the ocean edge.

the edge where it stops

being me and begins being

the wild open expanse of

everything; nothing,

freedom.

the misty salt breeze of tears

released.

and wind that whips hair 

and hold my breath.

until finally, finally,

the locked door of myself is

opened to the feeling of 

being a part of again.

-hannah stone, landlocked version2

word are something that i struggle with. it's one of the main reasons i struggle blogging. i want perfection, and can rewrite two sentences for hours... it's seriously pathetic!... enter hannah. she's a former bride and dear friend. she has been a source of encouragement through my joys and struggles with motherhood. she is a word master. at one point we had discussed some collaboration projects, but sadly life got in the way. so it was exciting one day when i open up my email to see a sweet message from her, and a poem she thought would be appropriate for one of my couples. that got me thinking. when the perfect images are married with the perfect words... magic happens. so i asked if she would mind if i published some of her works with my weddings.... and she said yes! so over this wedding season you will be treated to beautifully composed words. i hope you enjoy!

about hannah, as told by hannah...

i've always loved to write. i love how simple word are, black and white on a page. and yet they can take you so many places, make you feel so many things. i don't ever set out to write a poem. they just sort of happen. there is always a word or an image, thought or idea, that gets stuck in my head rattles around and won't stop until i write it out. writing is the only way i know how to understand what i am thinking and feeling inside myself. and sometimes when i stop and put down my pen, read what i just wrote, i'm surprised by what i read. the honestly look inside. it's like therapy! read more from and about hannah on her blog at writethelight.com. 

cinderella...

it all started with a 1950's wedding dress that i found at a local bridal shop. something about its soft feminine lines reminded me of a childhood fairy tale. i had to own the mounds of ruffles and tulle, so i scooped up my new treasure for a whopping $40 and skipped out the door.

unfortunately, we were in the middle of wedding season with minimal time to day dream... i decided to drop the project into the lap of our good friend and creative genius, emily. my only request being a theme of cinderella and using the color white... after several emails, story boards and dinner we had a direction and shoot date. *please note that all the detail shots of props were supplied and created by emily... the bouquet, streamers, hair piece and mice... yep, emily hand made those! 

the next big project was finding a model who was tiny enough to fit into the dress. believe me when i say a 1950's size 14 is not comparable to a size 14 today. not even by a long shot!!! when i bought the dress the woman who helped me explained that in the early 50's, men would brag about their wives/girlfriends having hat-band waists... meaning their wives/girlfriends waist was the size of the hat-band that went around their head! yep, the dress was that tiny! i begged a former bride to try the dress on, and it fit her like a glove... we had our cinderella!

this is just a small taste of what our weekend. the images below are a album layout, so you're going to have to use your imagination and envision it as a 10x10 leather bound album... ha! :) i'll post  more pictures and images of the album later, but for now... i hope you enjoy a little piece of our cinderella story... happy friday!

art director/ prop creator: emily bartsch

hair and makeup: lindsey lang

model: jill madison

photography: jonda spurbeck, staci faw