Vegas Baby!

We won two tickets to the annual WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Convention in Las Vegas last month! More than 15,000 photographers convened at the MGM for this incredible experience of education, motivation, and trade show.

Of course, we were super-excited (who wouldn’t be?!)…not only to got to Vegas for a week, but to see all the new products being introduced (and win free stuff), hear some awesome speakers whom we admire (and steal their secrets of success), and learn from the best in the biz (and win free stuff)…and to eat at In-N-Out, of course (hey, I grew up in California!).

The whole trip was quite the experience, to say the least. We learned a lot about Vegas that week. Like, bring comfortable shoes – our room was a good 20 min. brisk walk from where the convention was and it was in the same hotel! Walgreen’s saves you money – they have a little deli section AND alcohol! Sleep is over-rated – BUT, there was a Starbuck’s on our “side of town” that had the shortest line of the other 2 in house. Get to the classes early – some had more than 1,000 people in them and were standing room only – that’s insane in the membrain!

It was two days before we saw any familiar faces. We ran into Art Heffron on the way to our first class – poor guy, he must have felt like we attacked him, we were really excited to see someone we knew! Anyway, he invited us out for drinks that night, and we met him and some other Denver Photographers (who I love now). Art, Belle, Autumn, and Kim – it’s on like Donkey Kong next year-woop!

We had a great time – learned A LOT – and didn’t sleep much. We were exhausted by the time we made it back to Denver, but it was WELL worth every second and penny. Can’t wait for WPPI 2013…

Here are a few snapshots from our adventures:

The endless hallway – no mirror at the end like we thought…

Taken with my phone – hey, I wanted it for Facebook…

Last night in town – back to the hotel

Valentine’s Johnny Girls rockin’ it at The Burnsley Hotel :: Denver Pin-Up / Boudoir Photography

Our most successful Johnny Girl shoot to date! We rented out the two-story Penthouse and photographed these lovely ladies.  We love how these came out – enjoy some of our favorites…

NOTE:  *** These beautiful women are not professional models! (We just make them look and feel like they are) ***

Venue: The Burnsley Hotel
Hair & Makeup: Kori Schell of  AK Studio

What IS “Johnny Girl” you ask?  Visit our website HERE to learn more!

KBPI Mass Wedding 2012!

“Hail Nasty!” is what they yell – KBPI-ers from all over Colorado converged at the top of Red Rocks for the Annual Mass Wedding on Valentine’s Day to be married by the one and only, Uncle Nasty.

Uncle Nasty and his side-kick Matt “Cupid” Need asked us to photograph the event for their fans, and we couldn’t be more honored! I (Jewels) love this event and look forward to it every year – what a great way to spend Valentine’s Day – surrounded by so many people celebrating their love! I’m starting to recognize some faces as it’s not only for newlyweds – lots of couples come to renew their vows too.  It’s so fun for me and I get to meet so many awesome people!

I took a lot of portraits and gave away a photography session and an 8×10 to one lucky couple – Penni and Mike. We had the best time messing around and because of it, we were able to give them some fun wedding photos (even though they were renewing their vows after 15 years of marriage). They were so fun to work with!

This was the biggest crowd to date and next year they hope to get the folks from Guiness Book of Records out! Here are a few of my favorites….Hail Nasty!

Love this candid of Mike & Penni!

Who will the lucky winners be next year…?

Heart Ball at the Hyatt 2012

Once again, we were asked by the fabulous Alan Perry Floral to take detail photographs of their work for the annual Heart Ball at the Hyatt in Downtown Denver. We look forward to this every year because the decor is always amazingly done!

This year’s theme was “Alice In Wonderland”  (one of my personal favs – Jewels).  Guests were greeted at the entrance with a perfect little table entering Wonderland with “Eat Me” cupcakes, and “Drink Me” bottles.  A Mad Hatter table commanded the center of attention in the cocktail hour area.  Entering the ballroom, you were transported directly into the {heart} of the Queen’s Court.  Tables adorned with black and red sequin linens complimented the garden topiary centerpieces masterfully.  A perfect theme for a beautiful and wonderful event.

Check out a few of our favorites from this year!

Alan Perry Floral & Event Design

It’s all about “The Little Things”!

The International Special Events Society (aka ISES) held it’s annual Showcase and Tablescapes Competition at The Studios event center. Teams of Event Professionals got together to design and execute their interpretation of “Fashion Meets Fantasy” in which each vignette had to have a wedding dress incorporated into their design and have it reflect the design/style of the gown.

We are The Little Things – a new referral group of Event Professionals dedicated to saving our clients time and money (see www.wearethelittlethings.wordpress.com for more info). We decided to get together to debut our mad-skills and do something fun and creative to introduce ourselves to this elite group of wedding event professionals in Denver.

Our vignette, appropriately named “The Little Things”, was taken from Snow White for inspiration. We showcased a different idea in that we had a picnic instead of the typical table. Flower petals in a braided design circled the pretty little linens and table settings. Adorable little woodland creatures peeked out subtly from the moss covered trees and rocks placed around the edge, while birds chirped in the background. Crystals and glass balls filled with flowers hung from manzanita branches, and everything was lit in pink and purple. One person commented that it “Looked like a dream”!

The dress, provided by d’Anelli Bridal along with the accessories, was an Ian Stuart design. Tamara from Chair Covers and Linens commented that it looked as if she “…ran through our forest and all these little things got stuck to the dress”. That’s what we loved about it – it had so many different textures: silver netting, gray leaves, soft pink flowers with sparkle centers, frayed strips of fabric hanging off of tulle, and lots of poofyness! The dress fit Alicia perfectly and she pulled the look off with grace and beauty. Hair & makeup was done by the incredibly talented girls of Indie Six Salon.

The flowers and bouquet were designed by last year’s winner, Julia Kaaren of Mulberries Fine Floral Art. Her mix and placement of pink and white orchids and roses were the perfect compliment to the gray accents, put together flawlessly. It was her idea to put an apple in the bouquet, and that’s when we came up with doing the cutest cake pops you-ever-did-see: poison apples! Even though they weren’t really poison, the chocolate cake centers were to die for!

The look was exactly what we had envisioned and we couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out. I guess that’s why we won “Best Overall Design”!  Congratulations to Team “The Little Things” and everyone who participated in the 7th Annual Wedding Showcase!

We couldn’t have done it without help from some of our friends in the industry and a very special and heart-felt thank you goes out to them: Tony Archuleta of the Pepsi Center for your expertise in the world of magical lighting; Opera Shop for providing the badass lights; Allwell Rents for the table settings, and extra linens (on short notice); d’Anelli Bridal for allowing us to borrow that gorgeous dress and accessories galore; Chair Covers and Linens for the beautiful linens and “glass slipper-esque” chair; SilverSage for the beautiful crystal centerpiece; to everyone that helped to make those adorable (and pain-in-the-ass) cake pops; and to ISES for providing such a wonderful excuse for us to get creative!

Coming soon – a behind the scenes look at how we made it happen from the incredibly talented Jason Bach of The Photogenic Lab!

Photography & project management: Gray Photography by Jeff & Jewels
Flowers, etc: Mulberries Fine Floral Art
Hair & Makeup: Indie Six Salon
Video (coming soon): The Photogenic Lab
d’Anelli Bridal
Allwell Rents
Chair Covers and Linens

Downtown Denver Winter Wedding :: Tanisha & Jeff (sneaky-peak)!

We started the New Year with our very first January wedding ever – Tanisha & Jeff at The Oxford Hotel in Downtown Denver. This boutique hotel was the PERFECT setting for this classy affair. It was styled by the Bride’s brother, the great Mondo Guerra (of Project Runway fame), and everything was put together beauuutifully (we especially loved the Grooms shoes).

Tanisha & Jeff were married by candle light in the Theater and was super romantic and intimate.  The reception was upstairs in the Ballroom.  These have to be some of our best and favorite photos to date…Congratulations Tanisha & Jeff and THANK YOU for choosing us to photograph your gorgeous wedding – we felt so honored to be there with you!

A few favs to hold you over….enjoy!

Urban Winter Wedding Cherry Creek Denver :: Kelly & Ian!

We were so honored to be chosen to photograph Kelly & Ian’s winter wedding! The ceremony was at the Good Shepard Catholic Church with the gorgeous evening reception at the J.W. Marriott in Cherry Creek. All the pretty and thoughtful details made this event intimate and romantic, just like Kelly & Ian were for each other! My favorite was the Flower Girl bouquets, little balls of mistletoe!!  Enjoy a handful of our favorites…

Ceremony: Good Shepard Catholic Church
Reception: J.W. Marriott Cherry Creek
Flowers: Plum Sage
Cake: Mulberries Cake Shop
Kelly’s dress: Colroado Bridal Collection
DJ: A Music Plus