Well, hey, y’all!

December 13th, 2011

Things at Iris have been pretty quiet for the past month or two, as I’ve taken a bit of a break to get settled into my new job, which I absolutely adore!

We’ve done a little shooting here and there– a very sweet 50th anniversary celebration up in Washington, D.C. and helping shoot a couple of gorgeous weddings!

As we take this little break, I’m prepping for my and Chris’s wedding, which is very very quickly approaching! I’m SO excited to share a photo from our engagement session with The Schultzes. We LOVE them– they are such talented photographers and so fun to be with! As you’ll see from the session, we shared plenty of laughter and could be our (nerdy) selves in front of the camera!

I’ll be back soon with some holiday styles and wedding trends I love! xo!

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Happy Tuesday!

September 6th, 2011

Hope you enjoyed your long weekend! I most certainly did. Here’s a little list of what I’ve been up to recently!

-Traveling to Pisgah National Forest to explore potential wedding locations. We had a nice afternoon hiking and exploring Asheville, but we realized that a wedding in the national park wasn’t quite feasible for us. But that’s ok because we have a new, practically-perfect location!

-Researching wedding things in ALL my spare time. So many details to figure out! It’s a really great thing that my mom is an event planner. Or else we would still be sitting around saying, “We really should start planning one of these days… 7 months is pleeenty of time.”

-Being sick earlier this week… that was no fun!

-Training my puppy, who is practically perfect 80 percent of the time, mischievous 15 percent of the time, and a holy terror 5 percent of the time.

Stay tuned later this week for another installment of “Wedding Details I Love,” a goals post, and some fun photos from an Asheville wedding!

xo!!

 

 

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Branches & Light

August 27th, 2011

Photog friends, you absolutely must check out the Branches & Light workshop! Nancy and Caroline are two lovely photographers whose work I admire greatly! I’ve been shamelessly stalking the B&L blog for photography, business and lifestyle posts for the past few weeks, and I am going to do my very best to attend this year! I hope you will, too!

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Clearing the Clutter

August 19th, 2011

lara casey the challenge making things happen

I hope this Friday is treating you most wonderfully! As for me, I’ve got LOTS to do. Last night I got so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff bouncing around in my brain that needs to be done, like two weeks ago, that I felt like I couldn’t do anything at all. I was exhausted, and the amount of things to be done was paralyzing.

I knew when I woke up this morning that something needed to change. Today, I revisited The Challenge by the ever-inspiring Lara Casey. This amazing set of blog posts is designed to help you cut out the clutter, prioritize, get things done and make things happen! This is exactly what I need right now. So after downloading two full notebook pages of things that are on my mind and need to be done, I am already feeling much more free and capable of making achievable goals and moving forward.

So tonight I’m getting started by physically clearing the clutter– out of my car. I’m baking Butterbeer cupcakes for my love, who finished math boot camp today. And I’m sitting down with a cup of tea and some Bon Iver to look over my business budget and make some changes.

Have a great weekend! I’m looking forward to some good productivity and some time to relax. If you want to join in the Challenge with me, let me know, and we’ll cheer each other on!

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Turn the Key Tour

August 18th, 2011

Turn the Key Tour in Charlotte

On Sunday, I had the chance to attend a really incredible photography workshop in Charlotte called Turn the Key. It was the first workshop I’ve been able to attend that directly relates to wedding and portrait photography.

I was completely blown away by the amount of information I received in such a short amount of time. It’s taken me several days just to process everything and flip through multiple pages of notes, trying to prioritize the things I can implement in my business right now.

I’m excited about some things I have in the works (like the Etsy shop I promise is coming, a giveaway and some multimedia fun). It certainly is an adventure learning how to balance a 9-5 and a 5-9. But it’s a good one. I love what I do!

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Wedding Details I love – Favors with a Story

August 11th, 2011

I had fun collecting photos for today’s post because I could realistically see doing any of these for my wedding! As Chris and I make plans, we want the entire day to be reflective of us and our story– full of personal details. That’s why I love these favors I’m sharing today!

I’ve always loved the idea of a “mix tape” wedding favor… every couple has songs that mean a lot to them, or that marked different points in their relationship. Plus, everyone loves getting free new music! (via Pinterest)

Fresh flowers– what a great idea! Use several small bunches of your favorite fresh flowers as a centerpiece that guests can take home as favors. There are always loads of leftover flowers anyway! Tie a note of thanks to the groupings of flowers, or maybe the text from a passage of scripture or a reading from the wedding. (via Martha Stewart Weddings… oh, Martha!)

I LOVE the idea of local favors. Honey, produce or crafts from a local vendor are great ideas. I also adore the story behind these honey jars– even after the honey is gone, the jar is still a special memento with a history of its own. (via Green Wedding Shoes)

I love this last idea. Create something new and completely unique to you as a couple! I love these little lightbulb terrariums. I think something like this would be perfect for me and Chris… he’s a tech geek and I’m a hippie at heart. A cute little craft like this tells a little bit of our story in a sweet, unique way! (via Green Wedding Shoes)

xo!

 

 

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Kacey & Matt – Married!

August 10th, 2011

Oh, how do I find the words to write about this wedding? As you might have seen in Kacey’s Bridal Portrait post, Kacey and I have been friends since middle school. Kacey has the sweetest personality and the best sense of humor you’ll ever find. She is SO encouraging and incredibly talented. Obviously, Kacey was meant to be with a phenomenal guy.

Matt is that guy. Funny, ambitious and kind, he swept Kacey off her feet. After shooting their engagement session in Raleigh a few months ago and spending time hanging out with Matt and Kacey, it was clear to me what a perfect match they are. If you spend five minutes with them, you can tell that they exude love for each other. You could see that their hearts and lives were bound together, that they were entirely devoted to each other, even before they tied the knot last weekend!

Needless to say, Kacey and Matt’s wedding was a big, beautiful celebration! With bright colors, lanterns and white lights, it was a fairytale. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Chris caught these next two shots, and I adore them both!



It was my pleasure to work with some fabulous vendors at Kacey and Matt’s wedding!

Venue and Catering – The Cotton Room. I felt so lucky to work in a venue with so much beautiful light, and the staff was amazing. The owner, Michelle, is fabulous and so helpful and hardworking!

Floral Design – MEWS Designs of Wake Forest. Can you BELIEVE those bouquets? p.s. Kacey’s bouquet broke into several smaller bouquets for the bouquet toss! Each mini-bouquet had a little ‘fortune’ on it! How fun!

Amazing cupcakes by Olivia Terrill of Olivia’s Simple Sweets. There were several different flavors and tiers of cupcakes– so adorable and delicious (I had a coffee chocolate chip one… so yummy)!

Eric of All Around Raleigh DJ did an AMAZING job of keeping the dance floor full for hours. The reception was such a celebration, and I loved every minute of it!

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A sneak peek

August 9th, 2011

I’m back in the blogosphere! Now that choral rehearsals between 2-4 hours each night have subsided, I can resume my regular updates! I am SO close to finishing my post on Kacey and Matt’s wedding, but I’m not quite there yet, so it must wait till tomorrow! (I know! I can’t stand it either!)

But here’s a little sneak peek of what’s to come!


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August Goals

August 4th, 2011

Am I the only one who is amazed that August is already here? Chris started his first day of his graduate program today. The benefit of it being August is being able to look at all the pretty school supplies and organizational products (I know I’m no longer in school, but I’m convinced that the appeal of school supplies will never wane for me).

And, in keeping with my goals from last month, I have a little beginning-of-the-month treat for you– a cute little desktop wallpaper download!

(Large)

(Medium)

(Small)

(Click the image to view and save the full-sized file!)

Without further ado, the goals! August has already become a CRAZY BUSY month, and it’s only the third! Here is my list of August goals!

  • Launch my Etsy shop! Yay!
  • Look at wedding venues with Christopher
  • Edit and deliver all my clients’ photos!
  • Start puppy training classes with 62-pounds-and-not-even-close-to-finished-growing Mouse (my German Shepherd puppy). It’s been a while since you guys have seen him… maybe he’ll make a guest appearance on the blog later this week.
  • Get in the healthy habit of earlier mornings– plenty of time to get ready, enjoy a cup of tea and not look like a frumpy frump.
  • Make a sprint triathlon training plan (that’s right, folks… this gal is going to attempt a sprint triathlon in about 10 months… yikes)!

Goals from July (*blush*… didn’t do too well on these. Hope to finish the rest this month!)

  • Work on a personal multimedia project to share with you! (I have been wanting to do this for a couple of weeks, but someone essential to this project demands he get a haircut first. You’ll see.)
  • Do a fun blog giveaway! — Coming NEXT WEEK with the launch of my Etsy shop!
  • Go for an evening Krispy Kreme run with my love.
  • Meet some local wedding vendors.
  • Create something fun to share on the first of next month.
  • Shop at the Farmer’s Market.
  • Post every day on my bloggy blog. Round 2*
  • Print and assemble my business cards. I am SO excited about these. Almost done. They’ll be so pretty!*
  • Finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.*

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Kacey Mullaney – Bridals

August 1st, 2011

This lovely lady is so dear to my heart. Kacey and I have been friends since 7th grade. We and our little group of high school friends (“The Core Six”) have been through lots together– most notably in our awkward teenage years when we laughed almost constantly at the silliest things and shared countless inside jokes. Kacey is brilliant, beautiful, and has the kindest, warmest heart you’ve ever seen. It was an incredible privilege to photograph her wedding this past weekend. She and Matt are a perfect fit, and I teared up behind the camera on more than one occasion during their wedding day. Their love for each other is so strong and full of joy, and I am so lucky to have been a part of their wedding!

Kacey, I love you so much! You are such a sweet, dear friend and it makes me so happy that you have such a wonderful man to share your life with.

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