I just found this company through a facebook ad (!!!). Thought some of you gals who want to clean your dress might be interested.

PERMISSION TO GET DIRTY
slate. [blog]

Posted in fearless bridals, random links, vendor, wedding No Comments »

I have just had a chance to start working on Erin and Jared’s wedding photos, and can I just say, they’re going to be spectacular. Out of all the offbeat weddings and funky artist couples I have photographed, Erin’s was the first nonwhite wedding dress. Hooray for spunk!

Posted in wedding 4 Comments »

I wanted to let you know that I absolutely LOVE the photos that you put up in my bridals gallery.  I love my wedding photos, but realized after the fact that somehow none were taken of just me or just my husband, and I was really bummed to not have that.  The bridals that you took are absolutely stunning and I’m so grateful to have them to add to my [wedding] photos.  (Looking back, I wish I had thought to find a way to have you at our wedding, along with our photographers)  You just have a way of catching the life, beauty and silliness inside of people and using it to make them even more beautiful on the outside (if that makes any sense?)  Thank you for all of the work that you’ve done, from boudoirs to bridals for myself (and for my husband… he’s equally as grateful)…

-M

Posted in accolades, clients, fearless bridals, inspiration, portraits, wedding No Comments »

Choosing a Wedding Photographer

First of all, let me be overtly obvious with my bias. I have been shooting weddings for more than four years and in that time have been hired to photograph more than seventy-five wedding celebrations. I have watched the industry and myself and I can see in retrospect the risks associated with hiring an inexperienced vendor to assist with the biggest party of your life, enthusiasm nonwithstanding.

While I do NOT claim to be an expert, I have been around long enough to watch the trends. I know where brides go to do research. I’ve interviewed many couples about wedding photography, and have been in email correspondence with literally hundreds of brides.

I am writing this article because I see an ironic trend with the number of people who highly value photography, and do copious amounts of research for the perfect wedding photographer. The disturbing part is that despite some couples’ best intentions, hours of time obsessing over photographers’ blogs, and myriad discussions on wedding message boards, some of you choosy brides want to pay as little as possible while maintaining expectations of the highest results. You want photos that look like the magazines, but don’t want to pay for it.

I write today to call out some wedding photography trends as you search for your perfect photographer. If you looked at work of mine from four years ago I would be guilty of many of the issues I cite here as things that may indicate lack of professionalism on the job. Everyone has to start somewhere. I would ask you to look at a photographer’s overall body of work, and not just the few images dropped in a portfolio or shown on a blog.

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Continue Reading

Posted in clients, wedding, wisdom 6 Comments »

I usually only know my travel schedule a few weeks before any particular date, but I do have several trips happening in the next few months worth noting

September 26-27 :: Phoenix, Arizona
October 3-5 :: Providence / Warwick, Rhode Island :: boudoir sessions
October 11-12 :: New York, New York
October 22-24 :: New York, New York (+ Long Island, New York)
October 25-26 :: Newport, Rhode Island
November 27-28 :: New York (NYC, Long Island)
November 30-December 11 :: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii + Kona, Big Island, Hawaii
December 23-29  :: Dallas, Texas
January 10-14 :: Phoenix, Arizona
January 16-20 :: Key West, Florida
February 2-6 :: Michigan (projected)
February 26-March 2 :: San Francisco, California (projected)
February/March :: Tehran, Iran?

If you live in or near one of these places (or know people who do…) and would like to schedule a meeting to talk about wedding photography, or book a portrait, bridal, or engagement session, contact me at rachel@mergeweddings.com.

I am seriously interested in taking a trip overseas (Kenya?) with a nonprofit relief organization sometime in 2009.

As I mentioned below, I’d love to shoot a wedding in Michigan next year, as well as talk with you about your international location wedding.

Posted in destination, travel schedule, wedding No Comments »

I would LOVE to photograph a wedding in Michigan in 2009. Anyone have friends getting married there?

Michigan is my home state. I miss it a little.

Posted in travel schedule, wedding 6 Comments »

I LOVE RHODE ISLAND WEDDINGS!

One more photo from the ceremony part of Allissa and Seth’s wedding celebration at The Towers in Narragansett, Rhode Island. This is when they were praying together after taking communion.

One of the very romantic images from our portrait session on the Rhode Island coast.

One of my favorite things about the wedding was the simplicity of the details.

Here are some special moments from the reception:

Normally, I think white twinkle lights are not only overdone, but usually poorly arranged. The Towers in Narragansett is a beautiful venue with lots of windows and a view of the coast and natural light streaming in during the day. The twinkle lights here really do add just the right amount of magic here in this photo. Well done, whoever set that up!

When her daddy asked her to dance, she was all adoration. Check this out:

It was really important for me to document Seth’s kids as they were throughout the day. When I suggested to Sophie that I take a photo with just her and her father, with no one else around, she absolutely beamed. This is just one in a series of photos that make me so glad I get to make images like this for her to show off when she is graduating from high school, or maybe add to one of those ‘growing up’ mashup slideshows people love to show at their own weddings.

And this family portrait? Priceless. The kids weren’t really digging the idea of any more photos, so it was an interesting series. Something about this not only makes me laugh, but rings so true to life. I hope you guys display this image somewhere prominent:

In summation, if I only took one photo the entire day, I think I would want it to be this.

[ see more photos here and here ]
[ first sneak peek post here ]

Posted in clients, destination, wedding 4 Comments »

Allissa and Seth had a small outdoor ceremony near the coast in Rhode Island. I loved the intimacy of the day, and the simplicity of the event. You got the idea that everyone who was supposed to be there was there, but no one was trying to show off for anybody else. It was delicious.

There is always SOMETHING at every wedding that provides a lasting chuckle. Sometimes it comes in the form of flailing aunties out on the dance floor, uninvited onlookers in their beach clothing, or earnest little girls watching with huge eyes every time the bride walks by. Of all the wonderful things at Allissa and Seth’s beautiful Rhode Island wedding, the thing that amused me the most was the cake topper… Allissa’s dad took it upon himself to custom ‘manscape’ the groom - he painted a beard to match Seth!

Venue: The Towers (Narragansett, RI)

More images coming at the end of the week… I’ll be at a conference here in Phoenix for the next few days.

Posted in clients, destination, wedding 4 Comments »

Beth is the daughter of a Pentecostal pastoral team, so you would expect the ceremony to be heartfelt and intense. It was.

moments before the KISS:

Brits have this funny tradition of going over to a decorated table and publicly signing the wedding registry in front of the entire congregation. I’ve never seen that before, but I’ve been told that this is common “everywhere” except the US (and probably Uganda or something).

Oh! Hello everyone! Three handsome sound guys were helping me balance on a wobbly office chair in the church balcony to get this photo. (Thanks dudes. Next time I will bring cookies.)

fancy British CAR:

men wearing CRAVATS

women wearing HATS

1-year-old Tobi, with his curly head and impish little smile and breakdancing skillz, pretty much stole the show for me.

more photos here and all photos here

link to their prewedding portrait session

A HUGE thanks to my new friends in Huddersfield UK. You guys rock! I had such a nice visit.

Posted in clients, destination, ethnic wedding, wedding 2 Comments »

This image has proven popular with the ladies since I posted it on facebook, so I thought Phil deserved his own post.

This is Phil, the brother of the bride. The image was one of the last of the day; the only light comes from the headlights of a car. This is not spontaneous; I definitely told him what to do, but the attitude was all his.

Posted in clients, portraits, wedding 9 Comments »