When I edit weddings, I often come across what I call "little presents". These are images that move me but I initially overlooked during my first cursory edit. I love when I find these images--usually they either excite me or make me cry. :) Yesterday I realized that on top of these little presents, hundred of images of joy are imprinted into me every day. It seems a little silly but I finally just realized that these beautiful, happy people are becoming part of my soul... just by editing them! Wow, such a gift. So from now on, I'm going to do additional posts with images of joy. Sometimes it will be weddings, sometimes engagements, sometimes things that make me happy because they are pretty/yummy/funny/touching/exciting/.

Enjoy the joy, friends!

I met Marla & John the night before their wedding at a boisterous rehearsal dinner overlooking the gorgeous slopes of Keystone, CO. I was immediately struck by the love of their family and friends who had traveled from all over the country to celebrate with them. Marla and John have such a twinkle in their eyes for each other--it made me giddy; I feel like I've known them my entire lives. It was a fabulous celebration at Ski Tip. Congrats, lovelies!


 
Marla's mom is fabulously zesty!

 
Emily from Bella was incredible! Her name passed the lips of the guests about five times in six hours. She is awesome.

The first time I met Johanna, we chatted for well over an hour about life, love, beauty and pain too. It was one of those great, real connections that we all crave in people we meet for the first time. It brought me pure joy to witness Johanna & Norris' families come from all over the world to celebrate with them at Villa Viscaya. Laughter filled this beautiful home and intimate celebration. It was such an honor to toast these lovely people.

                

The beautiful editors at Brides put together a lovely inspiration gallery about spring sprigs, i.e. seasonal flowers! I loved contributing to this feature with flowers from Sabrina & Saf's San Francisco wedding. Take a look at this gallery for floral inspiration for your bouquets and hair.

Dear A Practical Wedding readers,

Smooch!

As I told Meg, the brains behind the site, her readers are savvy, brilliant, creative, unique and bring daily refreshment to me. Meg and I recently teamed up for a giveaway called Local Squared. This giveaway offered free wedding photography to a couple living in Northern California who was experiencing economic hardship. I'd like to thank everyone for their entries, sweet comments and emails; it was so hard to pick just one person! In the spirit of Oprah's "Everybody gets a car!", I'd like to offer a complimentary mini-engagement session near my studio to everyone who entered. If you are interested, please send me an email so we can chat. :-)

Much love,
Kate