In the meantime, I wanted to thank all of our wonderful PROs!!!   I feel close to you guys…  I’ve met so many of you over the years, and really believe in what you do!

• Punam Bean did a maternity shoot with me recently.
• Laura Nadeau came to a NY meetup and also did my makeup for a wedding.
• Kim Canale redesigned my workspace.
• Amy Salinger helped me revamp my wardrobe and styled me for the Modern Bride Trendsetters photo shoot and awards dinner.
• Chelsea made hair flowers for the bride and bridesmaids for one of my best friend’s weddings.

• Headshots with Amelia
• A TTD session with Still Motion
• Business cards with Wiley Valentine
• Photoshoot with Anne Ruthmann if I’m ever in Boston

And secretly in my head, I’d love to work with all the pros because I truly believe in their talent!

I really wish I could keep PRO going, but I’m 39 1/2 weeks pregnant and it’s getting harder to focus on anything but the upcoming delivery!  I’m due next Thursday, so wanted to give this heads up before then!

Thanks again to our PROs for all of your wonderful contributions to the hive.  And if any brides reading this are ever looking for vendors to consider for your nuptials - the PROs should definitely be on your list!!

Amelia Lyon - Photographer
Amy Salinger - Stylist
Angel of Events of Love and Splendor - Wedding Planner
Anne Ruthmann - Photographer
Chelsea of Oh My Deer - Accessories
Courtney of Flush Designs - Invitation/Floral Designer, Photographer
Cyd of Bella Figura - Invitation Designer
Emilie of Emilie Inc. - Photographer
Jerry Yoon - Photographer
Jessie of Eclectic Unions - Officiant
Joe Simon - Videographer
Kate Parker - Floral Designer/Wedding Planner
Kim of Inspired Goodness - Wedding Planner
Kristin of The Treasured Petal - Floral Designer
Kristy of Momental Designs - Invitation Designer
Laura Hooper - Calligrapher
Laura Nadeau - Makeup Artist
Llubav - Ring Pillow Designer
Megan of Princess Lasertron - Floral/Accessories Designer
Melody of My Sweet and Saucy - Baker
Nancy Liu Chin - Floral Designer
Patrick of Still Motion - Videography
Punam Bean - Photographer
Rachelle of Wiley Valentine - Invitation Designer
Sabrina of Hello! Lucky - Invitation Designer
Sarah of Parrott Design Studio - Invitation Designer
William of Humanstory - Videographer

I’ve linked to their blogs so you can continue to follow them!

© Mrs. Bee for Weddingbee PRO, 2009. | Permalink | 31 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: announcements

Her dress. His shoes.

My favorite shot of the day! Chelsea from the Nicole DeAnne team did a great job on Wendy’s hair and make-up!

Cutest flower girls ever!

These two images make me happy:)

Second favorite shot of the day!

I was completely intrigued and entertained by these dancers!

Wendy’s little brother was the back legs!

Wendy + Sunup = WENUP!

Huge high fives to Wendy + Sunup on their marriage, so glad we could be there to catch the day as it came! And of course, what would a wedding post be with out an online slideshow?! Click here!

© Amelia & Justin @ Amelia Lyon Photography for Weddingbee PRO, 2009. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: real weddings

For their invitation, they wanted the design to be classic and reflect the natural landscape of the vineyard. Jamie’s flowers will be white peonies & hydrangeas and olive tress will decorate the reception.

We only had one design restriction, by request of the groom, and that was… no flowers! Sure thing!

I decided to go with the olive branches and added a bit of romance with extravagant flourishes at the bottom of the invitation and RSVP. The invitation was gocco screenprinted on 100% cotton paper in Pearl white with chocolate brown and papaya inks.

© Sarah @ Parrott Design Studio for Weddingbee PRO, 2009. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: gocco, invitations

Mainers Jennifer and Steve opted to forgo traditional wedding plans and eloped on the beach instead in St. John. And they brought us along!

Jennifer works at the Pottery Barn where I spent my first winter in Maine, helping furnish my house and meet some new people. The employees have remained friends of mine ever since, and when they heard Jennifer talking about the possibility of a St John ceremony, they directed her my way. Initially, she and her now-hubby Steve hired us to photograph their upcoming New Year’s Eve party to celebrate their nuptials with family and friends here in Portland. But over a pint and conversation at Gritty’s Pub about our own recent St. John wedding, it was decided we would go along and document the adventure for them in November, too.

How they met, in Jenn’s words:
Our shared passion for University of Maine hockey brought Steve and I together. We first met four years when we were both season ticket holders and had seats in neighboring sections. I would often catch Steve stealing glances and flashing me that big beautiful smile. We never actually spoke until the end of the season, when we found ourselves sitting in the same row at the hockey championship in Boston. It was just a brief hello and an exchange of names but that was all and the season ended. When the new season began seven months later, I looked for Steve at every game but he no longer had those assigned seats and I never saw him once that year. That is, until I found myself at the same hockey tournament in Boston and as I walked into the pre-game pep rally, he was the first person I saw. This time we exchanged phone numbers, had our first date the following day and the rest is history

So armed with our gear- both camera and snorkel- J and I returned to the exact place where we tied the knot just six months prior. I had a bit of anxiety about going back so soon and documenting an event quite similar to our own. But St John is a wonderfully cool, calming escape, and within minutes of arriving any anxiety quickly turned to gratitude for the chance at experiencing such relaxation three times in the same year (our original scouting trip to St. John was at the end of last November).

This is now our second destination elopement where it’s just us and a couple (we traveled to Mexico in March with Kristin and Jesse), and boy, is it tremendous. It’s a different approach to documenting a traditional wedding in the sense that when Jenn was getting her dress on or riding in the limo to the ceremony, it was just the two of us. We had more interaction as we were always talking in between shooting (can you imagine how boring it would have been for her to be with a mute solo sidekick all day?) and the majority of the photographs are portraits. Tho I always prefer unobtrusive to obtrusive, in this case J and I had a very active role as we also represented 100% of the guests. Knowing that we were solely responsible for producing the only images of this event to share with family and friends back home was a huge pressure and also a great honor.

The afternoon after we arrived, we met Jenn and Steve at Caneel Bay, the rustic luxe lodge owned by the Rockefeller family where we had our mini-moon after our wedding, for a casual portrait session on the beach and among the ruins before a sunset dinner.

The following morning at nearly the crack of dawn, 7am, I met Jenn at the salon for her hair and make-up prep. She and Steve were having an 8:30am Wednesday morning ceremony on the beach.

J met Steve at the Westin, where they were staying, to capture his preparations.

And then the two of them set off for the perfect spot on Hawksnest Beach for the ceremony.

Here comes the bride.

The sun peeked out from white fluffly clouds at all the right moments during their ceremony. And the beach was perfectly quiet with just the sound of the waves crashing to keep their words exchanged private, J and I didn’t hear a thing.

Love this!! My hats of to officiants who move quickly out of the frame during the kiss, especially with such spectacular backgrounds as this!

We headed back into town for some portraits around the town of Cruz Bay.

It was too early for a rum punch, so Steve and Jenn opted for slushies instead. Jenn decided hers was her “something blue.”

And we rounded out the morning excitement back at the Westin.

Pretty adorable, right?

Jenn and Steve, you did it!! Thank you so much for taking us back to a very special place and inspiring us with your wide-eyed sense of discovery in surroundings already familiar to us. The four of us now belong to a very special club, Mainers married in St John, and we cannot wait for the party in Portland to meet the rest of your fan club in just a few weeks!! Cheers!

© Emilie @ Emilie Inc. Photography for Weddingbee PRO, 2009. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: real weddings

We often cover the bride and groom preparing things, such as presents or their vows, the morning of the wedding. Something has always irked with the timing of it all. Let’s say Chrystalle decides to write her vows to Michael the morning of the wedding. That is something that we would certainly focus on and would potentially be a big part of their SDE or main feature (assuming it meant something to them). But what if Chrystalle decides to put together her vows the day before the wedding // does it not have just as much meaning? Does it not contribute to the story just as much?

There are so many details that go into every wedding, but we often only see them when they come together. Before the bride can put on the dress, she had to go shopping, choose the right one, and go for several dress fittings. Each and every detail has a similar story. As story tellers, we started feeling like we were only capturing the tip of the iceberg and leaving so much behind.

With that the idea of Michael + Chrystalle’s film was born. We always ask ourselves // what do we not see at every single wedding we shoot? As we look at our own paradigms, one of the biggest things we never considered was why we weren’t looking beyond the wedding day itself.

Over a tasty east Asian inspired Indian lunch, we started plotting with Michael and Chrystalle. The idea for their film was rather simple. The execution of it, as is often the case, wasn’t nearly as straightforward as we had originally thought.

The plan was to have five of us travel to New York for the week before their wedding. For the entire week we would cover anything and everything related to their wedding that would add to their story. That meant the flowers being made, trips to pick up the tux, finishing off the wedding presents at home, picking up the jewelry, the final dress fitting, the rehearsal, and so much more.

When we contacted some of our industry friends and told them about the film, we got some lovely reinforcements sent to our hotel.

Canon sent us a 14mm rectilinear lens for some amazing wide shots, as well as a 300 f2.8 to get super tight while staying at the back of the church (that’s 480mm on the 7d cropped sensor). Cinevate sent us their prototype jib (which Mark practically cuddled with the entire trip as he couldn’t get enough of it). And Tiffen/Steadicam sent us some lighting for all of our interviews with the key wedding friends (such as the coordinator, priest, florist).

Any questions about the project, just leave them in the comments and we will be sure to answer them in a follow up post with some behind the scenes.

michael + chrystalle // a wedding is more than one day from stillmotion on Vimeo.

© patrick for Weddingbee PRO, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: video