Free Wedding Giveaway!

It's hard to beat the offer of a free wedding. But when it's a free wedding at Tacoma's gorgeous Museum of Glass, the offer is three times as exciting! From now through February 2nd, the museum is running an essay contest with a totally hot prize package for the winner — a complete wedding giveaway worth over $30,000!

When the museum asked us to sponsor this impressive contest, we knew we had to take part! In addition to free photography from yours truly, the wedding package will include buffet and bar catering from Gallucci’s, amazing floral arrangements from J. Robbins Florist, a four-tiered wedding cake frolm Celebrity Cake Studio, videography from Stork Studios, a DJ from Sounds Unlimited, limo service from Thoroughbred Classics, and wedding night accomodations from Hotel Murano. And of course, all this comes complete with Museum of Glass as a stunning backdrop to your wedding and reception (complete with tables, chairs, linens, and the chance to impress your guests with some of the most impressive architectural features and art in the Puget Sound region).

The winner will be announced at Museum of Glass' Open House on Thursday, February 12. From 6 to 8 pm, you'll have the chance to tour the museum's wedding spaces, meet the sponsoring vendors face-to-face, ask questions, take advantage of special offers, taste mouth-watering food samples from Gallucci’s Catering, and see one lucky couple win the wedding of a lifetime. For more information, visit Museum of Glass' website.

We hope to see you there!

Welcome, Izabelle!

This winter, our 2007 wedding clients and now friends Shannon and Jeremy welcomed their first child, Izabelle Charlotte. We are so excited for them and glad to celebrate the new arrival with a newborn photo session -- a follow-up to the engagement, wedding, and maternity portraits we've already had the privilege of taking for them!

Izabelle is a serious cutie and kept up good spirits and a calm mood for her first portrait session, which we held when she was just five weeks old. Here are a handful of our favorites from the session ...

Eyes crossed and tongue out! No child is complete without at least a few embarrassing baby photos, right? This oddball photo quickly became one of my very favorites.

Visit us this Wednesday at Tacoma Art Museum!

If you've ever wondered what a wedding would be like within the fantastic Tacoma Art Museum, now's your chance to find out! The museum will be hosting a Private Events Open House this Wednesday, January 21, from 5:30pm to 7:00pm.

Guests at the Open House will be treated to savory hors d'oeuvres, hosted beverages, a live-music ensemble, and private access to the museum's exhibitions. It's a great chance to explore the museum while getting a glimpse of how your wedding might look in this airy, safe-for-a-rainy-day space.

Wallflower Photography will be taking part in the event as a sponsor, taking photos of the festivities and hosting a small sampling of our work.

The event is free but registration is required, so contact their events staff right away to take part! You can reach them at 253.272.4258. We hope to meet you there!

News from the newstands

If you're in the market for a wedding magazine, chances are you'll come across Wallflower on the newstands! This January we were thrilled to see several published features with photos from our recent wedding clients.

Take a look at Kristin and Chris' fabulous farmhouse wedding at Tazer Valley Farm in the current issue of Seattle Bride, one of four Real Weddings highlighted in the issue's Northwest Albums section. You can also get a peek of the article here (click to view larger):

Our clients Rachel and Tom also are enjoying fifteen minutes of fame with a feature on their summer wedding at Kensington Gardens, highlighted in the latest issue of South Sound Wedding & Event.

The same magazine also features a great article written by Wallflower's own expert on planning and successfully scheduling wedding portraits! Laura provides the nitty gritty on the most common pitfalls in portrait sessions and how to ensure you never encounter them.

In Defiance of Snow

For months, Sonya and Warren had an engagement portrait session scheduled with us for a few days before Christmas. They live in northern California and there was only a narrow window in which we could squeeze them into busy holiday schedules — both ours and theirs. Of course, I'm sure you remember what that week was like here in the Puget Sound region: SNOW. Lots of snow. Our time with them turned out to be our most memorable portrait session ever!

We entered Point Defiance the back way, after we arrived to find the main gate locked. From the boathouse parking lot, we walked into the Japanese Garden to find a winter wonderland.

Turns out Sonya and Warren are naturals in front of the camera (or cameras, in our case) and when the snow started coming down harder, it only made the photos better!

Sonya's sister and supermom hung around for the portraits to provide assistance with the wardrobe changes, and Laura caught them in the act of doing something cute!

It wasn't practical to walk any deeper into the park, so instead we utilized the virtually abandoned area around the boathouse, where we found this cool tile mural and wall ...

We finished off the session the way any good time spent in a snowstorm should end: with a snowball fight! I'm sure this left their hands colder than ever, but it was totally worth it for the photos ... you can see the warmth, love, and playfulness between them.

We're so glad we were able to pull off this session despite the slippery roads and bitter cold! Looking forward to seeing you again this summer for the Big Day, Sonya and Warren!

Deja vu, plus the end of an era

Just before Christmas, we joined Morgen and John at First Congregational Church in Tacoma for their ceremony and then headed to The Vault for their reception. If this sounds familiar to you, it should! It's rare that we photograph consecutive weddings in the same location, so imagine our surprise when we realized that our last two weddings of the year were going to be held not only at the same church, but also at the same reception venue!

You might think this meant the same ol'-same ol' for us, but you'd be wrong. Having these weddings so close together just brought the uniqueness of each couple to the forefront, and encouraged us to be more creative than ever.

Since they live in New York City and have a fondness for the bustle and energy of cities in general, Morgen and John decided that they wanted to take some portraits in downtown Tacoma. We budgeted extra time to scoot down to the museum district before the ceremony and, as you can see, it was totally worth it (despite being freezing cold)! We love working with the gorgeous architecture of the Washington State History Museum and Museum of Glass.

I love the expression on Morgen's face during her first peek into the sanctuary as she prepares for her walk down the aisle (you can click on any image to see it larger):

The church was possibly even more gorgeous than usual, thanks to Morgen and John's tasteful holiday-themed decorations.

Dusk was falling as Morgen and John stepped out of the church. We really love the deep, rich colors of this photo.

Morgen and John's reception helped to mark the end of an era — it was one of the last weddings to be held at The Vault's location on Pacific Avenue. The great crew over at The Vault, led by owner Marnie Jackson, are headed over to their club-like new space, just up the hill. Morgen and John's wedding provided the opportunity for a festive send off to their old digs!

The happy couple carried their Christmas decorations over into the reception, too, complete with a cool pinecone cake topper on a very sophisticated yet simple cake. I may be wrong but I think it was cheesecake, an excellent choice if you ask me! (We chose the same for our own wedding).

Congratulations, Morgen and John. Your wedding was absolutely beautiful!