Last week, I received the exciting news that I was chosen as one of The Knot’s Best of Weddings 2013 Pick. This is a such a huge honor; if I could reach through the computer and bear hug all of my awesome couples I totally would. But alas I can not, so my second choice is to say a thousand virtual thank yous :). Without you all, none of this would be possible, and for that I am sooo thankful. You all mean so much to me and I am overwhelmed by your love, support, and friendship everyday. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. xoxo ~Ali
Eleven years ago today I was on the phone with a boy that caught my attention in Ms. Vinson’s freshman geography class. There were talks of this boy, Beau, among the softball girls even before the school year started, I hoped I would have a class with him so I could see what the fuss was about. The first day of school came to an end and I’d given up on seeing this mysterious boy, but then as I walked into my last class of the day, there he was. The long- haired boy behind the stories.
We were put into a seating arrangement (gotta love high school ;)) and he was a couple rows over and a little behind me. The weeks went by and so did our exchange of glances in class. I would “look at the clock” so that I could catch a glance of him again, he’d be looking at me too. He started coming around my locker to talk after class, he was shy and sweet, but had the look of a rock and roller with worn out jeans, a band t-shirt, and a plaid over shirt. I’d never experienced this type of boy before, someone who was different and comfortable being himself, I adored him. A couple months of cat and mouse went by and I told him I didn’t date boys unless they asked me out, laying down the law at 14 years old 😛 So, he asked me to be his girlfriend at the end of November, and what’d I do?! Said nothing (talk about playing hard to get). After that, we kept talking like normal, at our lockers and on the phone after school. About a week went by and we were on the phone after school as usual and somewhere in our conversation I said “…because I’m your girlfriend”. And that was it, December 6, 2001, the beginning of our forever together.
I never imagined being blessed with this love; he’s the calm to my crazy, encourages me to pursue my dreams, wipes my tears, and loves me unconditionally everyday. Eleven years ago, I became one of the luckiest girls in the universe.
I just wanted to drop by the blog today as I am feeling very blessed and blown away by the support and love I have received since starting photography. Over these past couple of years, I would not be where I am without the awesome clients that saw something in me and decided to have their portrait or wedding photographed by me, I am so grateful to every single one you. I also owe so much to some wonderful photographers that have allowed me to second shoot with them, ask them questions, even become friends with them 🙂 I am so amazed.
My wedding calendar for 2013 is filling up quicker than ever and I am sooo excited and honored to have been asked to photograph a wedding in Key West, Florida next year. I’m not posting this to brag, I even thought about not doing so because talking about myself always feels a bit awkward. But I decided to post because I want to be fair to brides that may be thinking about photography. I take a limited amount of weddings per year, please don’t wait to drop me an email if you are interested in talking more about photography, meeting and chatting over some yummy tea or warm cocoa. I do not claim to know everything about photography. I still have more to learn, that’s what keeps me excited and makes me push harder. I invite you to join this journey with me, keep exploring, have fun, be curious, whatever that means for you in your life. And if you like photographs, heck, let’s make some together and see what kind of fun we can have while doing so 😀
It’s been a while since I first introduced our cats Wiley and Luna to you and I’m glad to have them back on a special day, Wiley is 4! I know you may be saying, “he’s just a cat”, but to us, he’s our boy 🙂 We adopted him shortly after we moved into our home and anytime we come back from somewhere he’s usually the first to meet us with a big meow and leg rub. We have bought a couple fancy toys for him over the years, but his favorite toy is a string from Beau’s boot. He loves to be around, even when there’s a lot of people; I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s a person 😛 He will forever be our first pet together, our boy Wiley.
Taken right after he was adopted in Nov 2008
Grown and playing with his favorite string, Luna watches from the sidelines.
Luna is our other cat and here’s one of her cuteness, why not?!
When he’s being super serious like this, I think of the Dos Equis commercial, “He is….The Most Interesting Cat in the World” 😛
Life without this 10 pound, rambunctious guy just wouldn’t be the same. From the moment we adopted him he’s brightened our day, happy 4 years buddy ***
I’ve been making some changes and after a few weeks of polishing, I’m so ready and excited to share! After attending a photography conference held by one of my favorite international wedding photographers, Jasmine Star, I came back inspired and ready to do things differently. While talking about website appearance and logos she said, “If you’re not in love with it, change it!” After that, I realized I was no longer in love with my logo. I wanted something more “me”, something I could call uniquely mine. I’m so fortunate to work with some super talented artists; I knew Kenzie would be able to turn my vision into reality. She did just that with an earthy, clean design, I couldn’t love it more 🙂
Another change I’ve been working on is the addition of online galleries. I’m happy to say the gallery is now live and all sessions and weddings now include a private, online gallery where you can view and share your images anytime. I love this feature and I know clients, their family and friends will too, with their session just a click away.
I didn’t want to leave you without any photos so I’ll share a few that Beau took of me while we were out exploring some areas by our home. I asked him to take pictures so I could have new head shots, it’s not an everyday occurrence for me to explore in a dress with curled hair 😀
