So incredibly excited for so many reasons. I am an avid fan of the TV show The Bachelor + The Bachelorette. It's like, total shut down mode, turn off the lights, red wine in hand, drag my husband with me to watch this show! I mean... doesn't everyone do this? When we got the call from our dear friend, Mindy Weiss, Event Planner extraordinaire, to photograph one of my favorite Bachelorettes of all time, Ashley Hebert's wedding to fiancé, JP Rosenbaum, I was like a school girl all over again! I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs but of course had to keep it all top secret until the wedding was published.

For now, all I can say is WOW, WOW, WOW, how gracious the beautiful Ashely & JP are with each other and everyone they meet. And their families are so sweet. JP's mom.... ohhhh, I just wanted to squeeze her every time I'd see her. And Ashley's sister, five months pregnant and cute as can be. Their little, Boo, was the best behaved puppy ever! She is just adorable. Every single ounce of this wedding was designed with love. From the incredibly beautiful invitations, the 3 gorgeous wedding cakes, flowers galore, Mindy & her team didn't miss a beat. Ashley & JP said "I do" at beautiful Langham Huntington in Pasadena, California. Their wedding was absolutely dreamy. I can't wait to share way more photos that were taken, but will do that when the time is right.

Ashley and JP thank you so much for all your kind words throughout your wedding.... it was incredibly awesome to hear you ohhhing and ahhhhing over your photos the morning after. We loved that and can't thank you enough for trusting us to capture one of the most important days in your lives. Bob and I wish you so much happiness, I agree with Chris Harrison, you were meant to be!!!

A huge shout out to our 2nd shooter, Christine Bentley who rocked this wedding with Bob. It was no easy task sharing the floor with TV crews and such and she did a fantastic job making sure to capture the moments. Thank you girlie, we love you more than you know!

I soooo can't wait to share more photos but for now, Bob and I are so please to share their feature in People magazine. Oh and check out Ashley & JP's website... it's adorable!

We are thankful for the blessing God has graced us with and will always give Him the glory!

Much love!!!

~ Dawn & Bob

They met on their fist day of law school orientation and the rest was history! During a trip to Hope Town Harbour in the Abaco Islands, John had a plan and Whitney had no idea. After spending the day at the beach, they headed back to their cottage to get ready for dinner. John poured champagne, lit a candle, and opened the doors of the cottage to have the view of the ocean. And she thought he was just being sweet. They toasted and then he said, "Do you really want to know what we're celebrating? We're celebrating spending the rest of our lives together." as he pulled out the little blue box, got down on one knee, and said, "Will you marry me?" She was very surprised and of course answered with a yes! What a wonderful, romantic surprise!

We are so thankful to Hope Weis, Event Planner, for introducing us to Whitney and John and their families. We met Whitney first at her apartment and then I met with her mom later. They were just the nicest women and I'm always so honored when we book a wedding with wonderful people. We photographed their engagement session right away with their cute dog, Mollie, who stole the show! It's hard to believe their wedding has come and gone... and all that is left is the wedding photos we had the honor of capturing.

We are blessed to have the most wonderful 2nd shooters such as, Jenn Guadrau, who shot this wedding with Bob. Thank you lovely Jenn!!!

Here's some images from Whitney & John's wedding... we hope you enjoy!

Much love!

~ Dawn + Bob

Jeremy had a plan when he left work early and headed home. Danielle had no idea what was in store that evening. When she opened the door to their apartment to find rose petals covering the floor and when she was greeted by their puppy wearing a shirt that said "Mommy, will you marry Daddy?" and Jeremy around the corner waiting to pop the question, she was so shocked and not to mention, happy, she started laughing and crying at the same time. Needless to say, her answer was YES!

We can't thank Jim Dillbeck, from Heffernan Morgan Ronsley, enough for introducing us to this incredible family. I'm in awe everyday when God brings gracious and appreciative people into our lives. I clicked with Andie, Danielle's mom, the moment I met her in Jim's office. She's the glue that holds her family together and I can totally relate to that. She loves her husband, her kids and her dog, and I knew that she was my kind of girl. She stresses over the details, and she'd give you the shirt off her back. She's incredible and I adore her. When the bride's mom texts you photos of the bride in her dress from the Vera Wang store in New York, you know she is the BEST. I love our brides, but I truly love their moms. One day, far from now and God willing, I will be in their shoes helping to plan my daughter's wedding and I'm sure I will stress over the details too.

Thank you to our fabulous friend, Jenn Guadrau for second shooting with Bob at D+J's wedding. You are incredibly talented and we are always honored to have your assistance!

We hope you enjoy the images from this gorgeous wedding!

Much love!

~ Dawn + Bob

On my way to Heffernan Morgan Ronsley to meet with Jim Dillbeck and his client, I had NO idea what I was in for. When I walked in the meeting room, it took only moments for me to fall in love with Andie, Danielle's mom. We laughed and talked for a long time and she loves her puppy as much as I love mine!!! I left our meeting thanking God for bringing such an incredibly kind and beautiful woman into my life. You can't help but fall in love with Andie instantaneously. She is the most caring, loving, involved mom and I hope to be half as close to my kids as she is with hers as mine grow up.

Danielle + Jeremy met while attending the University of Denver together. They would say their fist date was almost a complete disaster. Jeremy asked Danielle to go to Rosh Hashanah services with him and then go out to dinner afterwards at a Chinese Restaurant, one of Jeremy's favorites. As it turned out, Danielle had not been to services in a long time and not a fan of Chinese food. But it didn't matter because they spent the next 7 years learning to love each other completely. They've traveled the world and have skied almost every resort in Colorado.

They have lived in New York together since early 2008. Jeremy is an attorney specializing in commercial litigation and international arbitration and Danielle has established herself as an internet marketing specialist for Yahoo! I'm so excited to share their engagement session with you all. We began at Danielle's parent's beautiful home, where she grew up and then we hit the streets of downtown, Glencoe. I love when our couples include their dogs. Meet Sohpie, she's so stinkin' cute!

Next blog post is their wedding! Yes, they said "I Do" and it was a perfectly dreamy wedding!

Definitely one of my favorite families of the year!!!

Enjoy!!!

xoxox,

Dawn + Bob

Their wedding was simply beautiful with incredible details, gorgeous bridal gown, shoes, cakes, flowers, ooohhhh the list goes on, but that's only the small part of what made their wedding spectacular. Their love for each other is pure right down to the last two paragraphs in this article. Since it's hard to read the text in the article, I'll recite it here because it's utterly noteworthy!

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While there isn't one thing the couple would change about their magical day, they were amazed at how quickly it passed. "I look at the pictures and I want so badly to step back in time and relive each moment," says Patrick. And the bride who has dreamt of her wedding for so long? Her favorite memory has nothing to do with the details.

"Right after the ceremony, Patrick and I were whisked away to a more secluded part of the property - just close enough to the ocean to hear the waves crashing - where we had a few minutes to be with each other and take in the moment" Melina recalls. "We didn't realize how profound that time would be for us after everything was said and done, but having those moments alone together to share our feelings was priceless."
-----

Bob and I did this on our wedding day. We stepped outside onto the veranda and just looked into our reception and really took in all the love that was in the room for us that evening. We held each other and cherished that moment. It's something we still talk about to this day.

I always share with our clients that if they can find the time to do this, they will not be sorry. And as Melina beautiful said, her favorite memory had nothing to do with the details, but everything to do with that moment they took for themselves on their wedding day.

Words cannot describe how excited we are for Melina and Patrick to have their wedding featured in the Fall 2012 edition of Inside Weddings magazine. Thank you Melina and Patrick for being so amazing, and for always praising our work. You make our job so easy! We love you both and wish you a lifetime of happiness! A humble, but huge thank you to Mindy Weiss for referring us. We love you dearly!!!

And last but not least, thank you to our dear friends, Ray Santana from Miami and Christine Bentley from Orange County, for second shooting this wedding with Bob. We love you both so much!

xoxoxo

~ Dawn + Bob

It's hard to believe we spent 3 weeks in Europe over the summer, more on which I'll blog about later. For now, I want to share this very special wedding of our very dear friends, Alenka + Joseph. Bob met Joseph while he was employed at Apple working in the Aperture division. He's now owns his own business, Aperture Expert, and is exactly that... an expert! Alenka is an amazing graphic designer. Together, they are a perfect match.

We are loving our new business cards by Studio-Z. When it came time to selecting who would re-print our letterpress business cards, it was an easy choice. After seeing the beautiful cards Zida made for Kenny Kim, I knew we would be in good hands.

I can't stress enough how important it is that love your business cards. Bob and I are educators in the photography industry and we travel the world teaching lighting techniques and business strategies. More times than not, we are handed business cards with an apology or a statement of being in the middle of re-branding.

I remember the days that I felt that way. Many, many years ago and I have to stress "many", I designed our first business card and it listed documentary style weddings, elegant parties, private galas, corporate events, editorial, magazine style books, full service retouching and design, portraits and advertising. Yes, that's right, all that was on our card, not to mention our logo, name, title, phone, cell, email, and address. It was a disaster in the making!

What's important to remember when designing your card is to make sure it reflects who you are. You are your brand and you need to brand yourself beautifully because if you don't love the direction of your brand then chances are your potential clients won't love it either. And when I say brand, I mean your entire brand; your website, blog, business cards, marketing materials, social media accounts, etc., should all be consistent. I'm not a brand expert but I can tell you that I love what Bob and I have created and it reflects in everything we do.

Remember not to overload your business card with information. You do need to have your name, email, website and phone number. You wouldn't believe how many people do not have any contact info on their business cards, only their website. You don't want to lose a client because they have to go searching for your info when their time is valuable. I feel that adding a photo to your business card is an option, one that we decided against. We wanted our cards to have a clean, professional look and we feel that our logo clearly states that we are a photography company.

You also want to have a unique card, one that someone will remember and not toss when you walk away. We selected a die cut shape that matched our brand. Our logo and text is letterpress onto Cranes Lettra 600 gram paper. It's beautiful to the touch and piece of art which always elicits a compliment.

Avoid cheap, do-it-yourself, cards. You only get one chance to make a first impression!

Thank you so much Zida for your patience with me. You are a true delight to work with and I'm so happy with our business cards. I'm very proud to share these with the world...!

I hope this helps. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

God bless you and yours,

~ Dawn + Bob

Another beautiful wedding designed by the ever-so-talented Reva Nathan & Associates. Some may say that Susan & Ted are the modern day Brady Bunch without the "Mom always says not to play ball in the house!" lifestyle. Their ceremony was a beautiful blending of families with Susan's children Matt, Jack, & Elli, along with Ted's children, Alec, Jack, and Ryan each pouring different colored sands into one vessel symbolic of combining both families. They celebrated their vows under what Susan called her "Christian Chuppah" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Incredibly sweet... just see for yourself.

Thank you Susan + Ted for trusting us to show how beautiful blended families can come together!

xoxo,

~ Dawn + Bob

It was really important to Susan + Ted that they found a photographer that could capture the essence of their families. See, they were planning their wedding at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and they each have 3 beautiful children. Susan's kids don't mind having their photo taken and well Ted's boys, they hold back their smiles just a tad. So, they wanted someone who could let the kids be themselves and capture them doing what they love most.... play!

Bob did a wonderful job letting the kids have fun, while sneaking in a few portraits. Susan + Ted, you have the most beautiful family and we are so happy to have captured these images for you.

xoxoxxo,

~ Dawn + Bob

Every detail was so well thought out, but of course it was, Reva Nathan was the Event Planner for Sara + Matt's wedding. When you're working with the best, you only get the best. And what a wedding this was! There is nothing better than working with incredible vendors, all pulling together to make someone's wedding a day they will never forget. I'm quite positive that Sara + Matt will always remember theirs.

Sara looked stunning in her Monique Lhuillier dress. It's a two-piece gown and it is spectacular. Matt was looking quite handsome in his Ralph Lauren Black Label Tux as well. But all names aside, these two are as nice as they are beautiful. And Bob and I are so thankful they trusted us with their wedding day! Their family is wonderful and we are blessed to have such incredible clients.

I say this with the utmost of appreciation; I pray to God, that He will bring us the clients that are meant for us. Ones that are kind and genuine and truly appreciate photography and what it takes to make a great image. He never fails us and I'm so humbled by the blessings He brings to us. Sure we have days that are not so good, but then look at these photos... how can anyone deny how wonderful this world is when they get to witness incredible love like this.

Thank you Sara + Matt for allowing us to be part of your lives! And thank you Reva for the introduction to such a wonderful family!

xoxxo,

~ Dawn + Bob