The last event at The Mayo Hotel this year was Cortney's spectacular wedding. The entire town was abuzz with festivities and when we talked about it, she told me they just wanted it to be a great big New Year's Eve Party. So on December 31, 2011, she became Mrs. Cortney Pelley. BUT before this, I had the opportunity to photograph her bridal session. Since LSD Photography wasn't shooting her wedding, and the bride lives in Dallas where she runs her own sportswear company, Ketch the Spirit, we didn't have a chance to meet in person before her session.  Even though that's unusual, we did discuss it through emails and telephone calls and we shared inspiration images through Pinterest. Blessed with a beautiful November day (a little windy at times) we just "winged it" and it was nothing short of  FABULOUS!  Cortney had two dresses for her special day - one with layers of tulle and chiffon and appliqued with satin and crystals and all the fanfare, including a matching cathedral length veil. Cortney opted for  a second party dress with an art deco flair but still some BLING! She wore rhinestone encrusted Louboutins with dress #1 and custom monogrammed cowgirl boots with dress #2. Fabulous Style!  Zinke Design arranged for a vintage Cadillac El Dorado in front of The Mayo Hotel for a little pizazz and we made a little side trip to Philbrook for a few more traditional images. The French Bouquet made a gorgeous bridal session bouquet, as always! There were so many beautiful images from this session it's hard to choose but here's a few of my favorites! 



Such a cute party dress for her reception and to ring in the New Year!

 Thank you so much for including us in your special day! What a beautiful, beautiful bride you were! Congratulations!

and also for Awesome! Abigail got married this past June at Philbrook. (Her wedding blog is here) We did her bridal session at Philbrook as well. Abigail is a teacher. An 8th grade English teacher. She is a no nonsense girl. But not on this day. Not with me! It's hard to be no nonsense with me I think. I love to push to the inner nonsense level of every bride at their bridal sessions because then I get to see their true hearts. Their little girl wedding fantasy feelings many have carried with them for most of their lives. The little girl that likes to spin in her dress because it makes her feel so beautiful. The little girl that played in high heels and lipstick. That little girl. I want her to come out and play! Oh, and we played all right. Abigail had a Carolina Herrera dress. Tiers of ruffled seams in a trumpet silhouette that bustled into a billowing cascade. It was totally the dress for Abigail - sophisticated, sleek and full of fun all at the same time! Then top it off with coral Manolo Blahniks and I feel it . . . partay!  I rarely get to post bridal images when I take them and many times, after waiting months for the wedding date, I get so busy with other things I just forget to post. But I love bridal sessions so much that I just have to get better about that!  So, these may be a bit delayed but they are still so so gorgeous! I think I'll give her an "A"!

Laina, Laina, Laina. I just don't even know where to start with this girl! So fun. So gorgeous. So sweet and kind. I just love her! Laina is the first bride that Chris Humphrey and LSD shared and it was perfect! I shot her bridal portraits and he shot her wedding. (You can see her wedding pics here.) Now, we brainstormed these bridals way before but of course, logistics (Laina in D.C. and THE DRESS) getting coordinated for the right date pushed us to less than 2 weeks  before the wedding date! Laina has a 'thing' for this pink couch that once resided in her sorority house. It is an awesome pink couch if I do say so myself. I would love to have it reside at LSD. :D  Not a chance. I've been told it's moving to D.C. We decided to feature it in her bridals and her dad lugged it downtown for us. What a trouper! Up until this day, it had been about 110 degrees every day for two months. BUT - on this day, we were forecast with our first chance of rain and it was only in the upper 80's. Miracle of miracles! We started at The Mayo Hotel where Laina was getting ready and when we moved to the rooftop, dark clouds started rolling in, deepening the sky to a periwinkle blue. It was gorgeous but it almost looks like a backdrop! It was real, and so were the sprinkles that started when we were up there. However, glancing over the railing on the rooftop towards the BOK center, it was still sunshine there. You know how weird our Oklahoma weather is right? It can be raining on one side of the street so you just cross and your dry again. So that's what we did. Made the mad dash to the BOK center with the pink couch! WOOT! So glad we did. We had little TIDO there with us to have pics with his 'Mom'. TIDO travels everywhere with Laina and he's so cute and adoring. Well, the clouds rolled over downtown but we never felt a drop of rain. It was so perfect! You may notice in Laina's wedding photos that she changed into dress #2 for her reception. It was a beautiful Monique Lhuillier dress with a blinging beaded bodice (say that fast 3 times) and a full tutu skirt to the floor . . . BUT wait, Laina wanted a short party dress. She has an incredible sense of style, and she LOVED the dress,  so . . . she had it cut off! I'm pretty sure I don't have the guts to cut off a designer dress but I oh so love it when my brides do! Sophia and I incorporated her second little dress into a darling separate portrait session just to create a special gift for the groom. ;) But we can share the bling!


 

Gorgeous, Laina!

A couple of years ago, my daughter Kate and I were wandering around Alcatraz Island trying to imagine how it would have been to have been stuck there for your life. All the beauty of the city of San Fransisco, rising up through the fog, the smells of coffee and Ghirardelli chocolate in the breeze, and not being able to have any of it. Now, that's punishment!  While we were discussing these things, we both commented on how peaceful it was and what great light there was. Kate said - "this would be a great place to shoot a bridal portrait, right mom?" Why, YES, Kate it would. Now, how could I convince a bride to A) meet me in San Fran,  B) drag her beautiful dress to Alcatraz on a boat - maybe in the fog and/or rain and C) traipse around a filthy tourist island in it and be photographed in front of boatloads of tourists?  It was going to take a very special person to even consider this. So, I threw it out there a couple of times to brides and they either thought I was joking or was completely insane. And . . . then . . . there was Lesley!  She probably saw it in my eyes as we were brainstorming and stylizing her bridal session and she mentioned she had once been tour guide in San Fran.  She lives in Washington state now but she was oh soooo willing to come to San Fran for the session and honestly, I don't know which of us was more excited to be going to Alcatraz. We took the first boat over to try to catch the most fog but we ended up with one of the most beautiful, sunny days I've ever seen there!  And it was the only day all week it wasn't raining. Luck?  Fate?  Whichever, we'll take it!  Lesley had a couple of other spots in town she adored, and I wanted to include San Fran's marvelous City Hall, so we just made a day of it with her darling mom and sister toting gear, the dress, shoes, diva bag (that's all the little extra fun stuff you need) and Kate, who just couldn't miss it and was my most excellent assistant with a little OCF and reflector as needed! She even shot a little at City Hall (I posted it below) and is getting pretty darn good and has a new appreciation for wedding dress exposures. Lesley's mom treated us all to lunch at The Fog City Diner and we had our personal cab driver on call all day, just like 27 Dresses! (The Cab Driver/owner's cousin is Seigi of Seigi's Sausage here in Tulsa - what are the chances of that?) We ended up at the overlook of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day! It's a long post but it was a long day and oh so many pretty pictures!  Lesley and Sean just got married last weekend so some wedding pics will be coming soon!





This was Kate's shot at City Hall. I love the way her veil is flowing! Nice, Kato!

 

If we've shot your wedding, you may have seen this happening. At every wedding we shoot, at some point in the day or night, Sophia (and/or I but mostly her!) takes a photo of us in a mirror. It kind of started out as a silly thing, okay, it still is silly - but then it became almost a ritual. It's like kids with knock-knock jokes only they think are hilarious, I'm sure. I thought it would be a great addition to this post though. After a crazy terrible year, we have managed to keep it together and our brides have been wonderfully supportive. We always brag about them and how we have THE BEST brides but this year really put us all to the test and we really found out what we're made of and that we really do have THE BEST brides EVER! LSD Photography is currently booking 2011 weddings. We have a couple of May & June dates still available and lots of fall (we LOVE those fall sunsets)...so if you are getting married in 2011 or know someone who is, give us a call and let's see if we're the right ones to capture your love story and spend your wedding day with us! AND don't be surprised if you see this happening at a wedding near you!