Emily and Zach: An Engagement Story

I have been holding this engagement story and session for quite some time now...and I am finally excited to share these fun pictures and love story with you.

Emily and Zach were introduced by a sorority sister, Casey, in May of 2010 (both of which happen to be sisters of mine!). Zach had been invited to a wedding of two law school classmates in Texas last August and needed a date. Casey introduced the two via facebook and after a month of texting, emailing and playing hard to get (on Emily's behalf) the two decided to meet...and well, the pictures below show the rest!

Zach and Emily decided to take their engagement pictures somewhere that had a little southern flair and alot of class (both literally and figuratively), just like their upcoming nuptials in January. They decided to take their pictures at Wake Forest (where Zach attended Law School) to include the classic and southern vibe they were looking for. The library ended up being the perfect location. What do you think?

 

 

 

On a side note: We love Emily and Zach's photographer! Kristin Byrum shot another sorority sister of Emily's a while back and Emily fell in love (we can see why!) I know the ACE Team is excited to get to know this North Carolina based photographer.

Monday Meeting: Jarnett Photography

We have taken a few weeks break from our Monday Meetings and wanted to come back with a BANG! Today I am going to introduce you to Ashley and Jen, the masterminds behind Jarnett Photography. I wanted to give you a little back story into my history with these ladies (Ashley in particular) in hopes it gives you some more insight into why I love these girls personally and professionally. Prior to planning fabulous events full time for Antonia Christianson Events I had a corporate job in marketing for a regional wireless phone provider where I planned and implemented corporate events, merchandised a region worth of retail stores (21 to be exact) and worked on media and sponsorships to help secure the name of this provider in Hampton Roads and throughout this region (including 5 states). Actually, not much different from what I do now...anyways, I love Ashley Barnett because when I left corporate america Ashley filled my shoes. She rocked the position obviously and we got to know each other through other ventures we do with Komen for the Cure (a non profit we both know and love). Soon after Ashley took over for me I heard she was a photographer: NO really, a good one. And I have to say, I was impressed from day one with what I saw. Now, since then (it's been a few years) her passion, her style and her drive have changed/grown and become more obvious to the wedding world. She has left corporate america and together with her business partner Jen they are rocking their brand one wedding at a time. Below is a question and answer with these two awesome ladies and of course, a few of their favorite images. As always! Let us know what you think. 

How did you get your start in photography?

I (Ashley) got my start in photography taking film classes in high school and fell in love with black and white images. I always swore up and down I would NEVER want to photograph weddings, but when my god-sister asked me to photograph her wedding in 2007, I realized how much I actually loved being a part of someone’s wedding day… the happiness of a wedding day is infectious and not many people get to say their day job is the happiest day of people’s lives!! From there it began and has continued to be solely word of mouth referrals from past clients which we love! 

Jen began taking an interest in photography through her connection to the automotive industry, and began learning photography techniques by practicing on friend’s cars and her own. She went to a friend’s wedding one day and was completely fascinated by the photographers and began thinking she might want to transition into weddings. It wasn’t long after that she asked Ashley if she could second shoot at one of her first weddings and the rest is history! We realized how perfectly we worked together right from the start and Jarnett Photography was born!

What is your favorite moment to capture at a wedding?

Our favorite moment to capture at a wedding… okay we are cheating and saying two! : ) One, if our couples choose to do a First Look (where the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony), it is by far our favorite part of the day. The emotion and excitement of the day are just spilling over at that point and we love seeing the look on the groom’s face when he sees his beautiful bride for the first time. Our second favorite moment is one that isn’t necessarily categorized: it’s the small, in between moments of the day where we catch the bride and groom smiling each other, or reaching for each other’s hands. We love when we hear from couples “I didn’t even know you TOOK that!”

How would you classify your style of photography?

Our style of photography is inspired, modern, fresh and timeless. We want our clients to be able to look at their images in 15 years and still love them as much as they do today. However, we recognize and understand that our clients have put a lot of thought and detail into making their wedding unique and fun and we want to make sure their images reflect who they are as individuals as well as a couple!

What words of advice do you have for couples seeking the right wedding photographer? 

The biggest piece of advice we can give couples looking for their wedding photographer is take the time to meet with them before booking and make sure you not only like their style of photography but them as people as well! Your photographers will be with you non-stop on your wedding day, and knowing you can joke, laugh and 100% trust your photographers will make your entire day feel less stressed, and of course make for better photos! This is why we blog a lot of personal stories as well as our photos- we want clients to come to our blog and site and feel like they know us before they even contact us! It truly helps them decide right off the bat if we are a good match for them and their wedding!

Below is a picture of the always fun and always fabulous Jen (left) and Ashley (right). Keep updated with their latest and greatest events by visiting their blog or respective facebook pages. Ashley and Jen.  

Sneak Peak: A Cape Charles Wedding

In Mid-July we had the honor of coordinating a wedding the ACE Team had been planning for the last several months in Cape Charles, VA. I always love to be on the Eastern Shore at Bay Creek, it's such a nice feeling to be "away from it all" and in reality only be 30 minutes from our home base. I don't want to share too much about Tricia and Vince's big day...until I have more detailed images to share, but I of course got a little giddy when I saw these images from Trivium Studio. I will however share this sneak peak explanation of their love story: Tricia and Vince met in Mexico while vacationing a few years back. Tricia is a gourmet ice cream sandwich maker based in DC (they are ridiculous amazing sandwiches too!) and Vince is a roofing contractor based in Sunny Southern California. They have lived across the country from each other for 2 years and have never gone more than 3 weeks without seeing each other. It truly is a blessed loved story. James and I had the extreme pleasure of shooting their engagement shoot while in LA this past summer and are so grateful that Vince brought the amazing weather from the west coast to Cape Charles for their big day. They got married in the church Tricia grew up in and had their reception on the water outside of Aqua Restaurant. I hate to put a "favorite" label on any one event because I have very distinct and fun memories from each client's wedding...but these 2 images below might be some of my favorite I've seen in a long time. (i love them so much I ordered 2 humongous canvases for my studio walls). I hope you like them as much as I do:

 Image Courtesy of Trivium Studio

Trust your Vendors: A guide to loving your wedding vendors

I often write posts for this fabulous blog based on questions, comments, concerns, input, etc. of former clients, current clients, friends and vendors and today is no different. I have enjoyed being in the amazing world of events for 12 years now and have owned Antonia Christianson Events for nearly 5 years (can you believe it?). I tell you this so that you, as a reader, understand that there are years of stories to back up the remainder of this post. Today, I'm going to write about trusting your vendors, proper vendor/client etiquette and a bit of random banter that pops into my head.

Image Courtesy: Hayne Photographers 

I think the easiest way to give pointers to our readers is to just bullet a few topics. Below are 5 tips to help ensure that you have the wedding day you have always envisioned:

1.  Have a mutual rapport with your potential vendor before you sign a contract. Make sure that you feel you will trust them and will have an enjoyable working relationship because it doesn't matter how amazing you think a vendors work is if the rapport is not up to par. If there is tension between you and your booked vendor it will absolutely show in their work. You want them to create beautiful flowers for you out of love, or to take amazing pictures because they love working with you and want to see you happy. If there is animosity in the client/vendor relationship then the best foot might not be put forward on behalf of either party.

2.  Trust your vendors. Understand that a respectable vendor is going to give honest feedback and will use their years of experience to give you the best service possible. If a makeup artist that has been in the wedding world for 20+ years tells you down to the minute the amount of time they need to service you and your bridal party...trust them. If you have valid questions by all means ask, but don't create your own schedule based on the amount of time you believe they need.

3.  Respectable vendors recommend vendors to you based on their experience. This is a topic that always gets me. Personally, as a vendor I only recommend other vendors that I have had an amazing experience with and those that I would trust with my own event. (this doesn't mean we don't work with new vendors, it just means we can only educate our clients off of the feedback we receive from other vendors in the industry) While I can't speak for all planners or vendors I don't recommend other vendors based on some sort of kickback I might receive as a gift for a recommendation.  With that said...We have to share the bad as well. If a former client is suing their photographer because they haven't received their wedding pictures over a year after their big day, we are going to tell you. This isn't to ruin your hopes and dreams for a wedding photographer, it's to save you the upset after the wedding.

4.  Communication is key! Here is the fine line, it's important that all vendors treat you with respect and respond to you in a quick response time...but it is also important that clients understand that a Friday or Saturday email to a wedding vendor might not be responded to until the Monday or Tuesday after a wedding weekend. This isn't because your wedding vendor is ignoring you, it's because they are taking care of another client on their wedding weekend the way that you would want to be taken care of on yours.

5.  Social Networking is not the way to communicate with your wedding vendors. Yes, Social Networking (Facebook, google+, twitter) are all great ways to see what is happening with your photographer, florist, videographer, etc. it is not the place to contact them about pricing, a product you'd like to receive or anything of importance. Social networking is a great tool, but all important communication about your event should be left to a phone call or an email to their proper email address. Many vendors don't even personally update their social networking: they have staff, interns, marketing associates, etc that create these posts and keep up with the items that take up a lot of time but don't necessarily need to be done by the owner...with this said, if you'd like a response in a respectable amount of time and by the person that you intend it to go to, please call or email your vendors directly.

I hope these 5 tips find you well and help create a proactive and well-received relationship between you and your wedding vendors. All of the items we touched on are topics of recent feedback from clients and vendor friends, so we thought it was a great topic to write about. 

Have a topic you'd like us to cover? Just email antonia{at}antoniachristiansonevents{dot}com

Christmas in July!

As a distributor of Tiny Prints (and their amazing line of stationery) we are often given great sale opportunities...I know that it's only July, but it's never too early to start your holiday shopping, and of course your holiday card shopping. Between now and next Thursday (7/28) if you click through the below banner you'll receive 20% off or your holiday card purchase. If you have any questions please just email us at antonia@antoniachristiansonevents.com

Real Wedding: Kristen & Bryan's

In December 2011 we had the honor of planning and designing a beautiful "Winter Witt Wedding" for Kristen and Bryan. Kristen happened to be dear friends to one of my best friends from college so I was truly honored to get the call that they were looking for a planner for their upcoming nuptials. Kristen and Bryan were married on 12-11-10 at the Marriot Newport News at City Center. Kristen had a great vision for her big day and no detail was left unturned. RSVP Stationery created custom designed stationery for their special day that added just the right amount of detail. Her stationery, to say the least, was amazing!  The ceremony and reception flowers were created by a friend of the grooms mother...Karen Mulkey, owner of  Rooms, Blooms and More. The flowers added just the right amount of elegance and personality to both the ceremony and reception. Trivium Studio captured all of the romance and fun (have you checked out their photobooth?)  as DJ Rodney Charles kept the party going late into the night. The whimsical fondant layers of the cake by Patti Cakes had many of the guests in awe (and of course, it tasted as good as it looked).

The ceremony was held in the hotels elegant rotunda. The stage was set by the beautifully lit waterfall glass panels. Kristen beamed as she cascaded the grand staircase from the back of the rotunda with her father by her side (a moment we had envisioned many times before the big day).

The winter ambiance in the ballroom was set perfectly by Blue Steel Pro Lighting. Pin spots showcased the centerpieces as well as the cake. Silhouettes of evergreens cornered the room creating an intimate Winter wonderland.

As always, I wanted to share a few of my favorite details and moments from their big day: Kristen and Bryan were obviously loved! Many family members and friends participated in their wedding and it was such an honor to get to know their family throughout the process. The minister is a very close family friend, he was  like a big brother to the bride and it was obvious how honored he was to share in their big day. Did we mention that the bride and grooms families were best friends? Since before Kristen and Bryan were even born? It was truly the official joining of these two families into one! If I had to narrow down my favorite memory into one I think it would be Kristen doing the electric slide with only her bridesmaids just as she had always envisioned.

Check out the highlight video created by Digital Dreammakers and as always...tell us what you think!

Kristen & Bryan from Digital Dreammakers on Vimeo.

Kristen and Bryan, it was our honor and pleasure to plan and design this wedding for you. We wish you all of life's happiness together!