A beautiful sunset...

A couple years ago I was taking the ferry back across the Straights of Mackinac and for once decided to ride on the top (like a tourist...aka fudgie)... I saw the most beautiful and amazing sunset just behind the bridge.

Well, I'm glad to know that others will be able to see this sunset too... Pure Michigan (a wonderful new campaign for tourism in MI) just launched their Mackinac site... and decided to feature this image of mine... take a look...

A lovely email....

So, I had to share with you a lovely email I just got today from one of last year's brides... I just love it when photos make people happy... yeah!!!

Hi Andrejka, I'm so excited to tell you thank you for the album! I just opened it and looked at it literally 5 minutes ago. It is so gorgeous and beyond anything I could have expected. It's perfect! The pictures are so clear and arranged so perfectly. It took me back to our wedding day and made me feel everything all over again. Thank you, thank you, thank you! What a special surprise the three little brag books were too! They are perfect and I can't wait to give one to my mom and to Pete's mom and of course keep one for myself :) Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Take care and keep in touch! Stephanie P.S. Pete just got home from work and I'm so excited to show him right now!

S & P... I'm so glad you love the album ... it was such a joy working with you last year... I hope we get the chance to meet up again this summer!

Love,
A

Little Luxuries of Mackinac Island...

I've had a couple people ask me about this gem of a store that will be opening this May on Mackinac. YES... it will be open for the season ... and the website is in the works.

Just wait!!!... I've been in cahoots with the owner about some really really cool things for brides, guests, and basically anyone looking for super fun high-end luxury gifts of all shapes and sizes...(confused yet... you'll see... wink wink).

Also, I'll be exclusively selling some great high-end postcards and maybe even greeting cards here to.

Have a fun day and enjoy the smell of spring jsut around the corner!!

Love,
A

Cool little gift...

So as I was perusing Etsy* looking for neat things I came across this little gem and had to share it...

Ego Award Ring
How cool is this ring . . .AND, you can get it engraved with anything you want. It's hand made in Argentina and costs $20 ($6 shipping anywhere). How awesome would these be as bridesmaids gifts, thank yous... heck even just a simple "Love"...

As a side note I have to pay props to my friend Nicole who is in the process of opening an AWESOME store on Mackinac this year... called "Little Luxuries of Mackinac Island".. once her website is up I'll let you all know... this place is going to be THE place to by not only great little Mackinac things but little gifts that can be incorporated into your weddings... she is the one who got me turned on to Etsy (an awesome shopping site for all things handmade and special... some really really cool and unique things here... check it all out)

Have a fun day!

Love,
A

A place for Mackinac couples to chat with each other...

I just wanted to let all you Mackinac Island couples know that I just started a "thread" on Best Destination Wedding. . . .this is a great forum for all of you Mackinac couples to chat and communicate with each other about your past experiences and/or your future plans...

click on the image below to access the forum... just sign up ... and look under the "east coast" section of the "Mainland US" category

BDW... Best Destination Wedding Forum...

Two great wedding resources . . . Destinations & Mackinac

I just found two great new resources that I had to share with all of you...

Best Destination Wedding
(http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com)
This one is AWESOME for all things destination (my good photographer friend Nate Thompson told me about this forum) . .. I just joined and am really excited to start exploring it more. I know it has great reference information having to do with Trash the Dress, and destinations around the world. Its a wonderful place to talk with other brides... and not be bothered by vendors (they have very strict rules about vendor participation... which I love... I'm not much of a sales girl)

Mackinac Island Weddings.. the blog (http://www.mackinacislandweddings.blogspot.com)
and THIS one is awesome for all things Mackinac Wedding style. Its a great reference for planning an island wedding, have questions answered directly from professionals, and see who, what where, and especially WHY things are done the way they are on the island... Keep an eye on this one, I'll be a contributing writer in the future discussing photography related issues and what all couples should know about their wedding photos.

Hope this helps!!

Love,
A

The last of my winter holiday... and the end of 2008

I am now adjusted to being back home in California after two weeks in Michigan in the freezing cold (it's not hard to adjust when yesterday morning I was up running around in a tank top in the sun surrounded by palm trees and the smell of the ocean).

I must say I was quite impressed with my ability to adjust (granted my Michigan peeps who witnessed me shivering non stop would probably disagree). By the end of my trip I was finally able to brave the weather on the back of a snowmobile and photograph the island.

Here are just a few pics shot the last day of 2008 (and a few of me... proof that I really did do it--thanks Mary).

I feel so blessed that I can call two places my home Santa Barbara and Mackinac Island... two opposites that I love so dearly and could never replace one with the other.


May this next year find you feeling blessed around every corner!

Love,
A





This I had to add: notice it's "guacamole" BUT there's no avocado in it, only in the midwest!!

I made it... Mackinac Island Winter style...

Yesterday was quite an adventure to Mackinac Island ... it started off quite normal . .. clear road and even some sunshine for the first 3 hours . . then things changed... after stopping off to have lunch with a friend from Bella e Dolce (amazing wedding cakes in Northern Michigan)... the weather did a 180
Now this California girl does not know how to drive in snow anymore, so after white-knuckling across a very windy Mackinac Bridge and making it safely onto the boat I could finally relax . . . almost there... maybe

All of a sudden the boat half way across the lake stops... imagine Titanic... there we were stuck in the ice in the middle of the straights. I have to admit it was kind of cool... and I got amazing photographs.and we made it....

Codie's Senior Pics .. Island Style

This past weekend I had so much fun shooting Codie's senior pics with her mom Marie. It's amazing the different backgrounds you can find within a Mackinac Island block. They were so cute together. . . you can tell by her laughter. . . how much fun she has laughing . . .with (or at) her mom...

Congrats Codie. . . and it was so fun to meet you. I wish we could have had more time. . . darn those boat schedules...

Good luck with V-ball!!

Love,
A
BTW... who would of thought it would look like a summer day in the middle of October!!

A Dream Destination...

It was an amazing weekend. The M.I. Tourism Bureau held it's 3rd annual Dream Destination Wedding Weekend. This is unlike any wedding expo. It gives each couple the opportunity to see every venue for themselves and meet every vendor face to face. How many destination locations offer that as an option? It makes planning a destination wedding so much easier.

I had such a blast... I met so many amazing people. I hope they all make it back to the island for their weddings. I get so stoked talking about wedding photography . . .that I may have talked a few people's ears off. . .Well, At least they got these cute little boxes that contained a Mackinac photo book I made & personalized mm's how cool is that... check it out anyone can do it... my m&m's

Registration took place at Mission Church . . . just check this pic out. . . . how cool does it look all lit up at night... so fallish ... the church is so historic that it doesn't have any electric lights inside, so they brought in construction lights to light it for the event... (not to mention in the daylight it is a GORGEOUS place to get married)



Thanks to all the brides, grooms, families, friends and vendors for attending this year. . . and a very special thank you to the tourism bureau for doing such an amazing job at putting it all together!!

Good luck with all the planning!!

Love,
A

BTW. . . if you happened to make it this past weekend leave me a comment.. say hello and let me know your favorite part of the weekend... was it the reception at MP, the cake tastings all day long, the gobs of information, the horses. . . or that pub crawl you decided to do late Satuday night . . . ;)

Amy & Michael... An International Love Affair

(Above . . . some well traveled shoes)

Well, I must say this was one of the hardest couple to keep track of. . . I met Amy and Michael last year at the Dream Destination Wedding Weekend on Mackinac (location #1)... then we chatted and discovered we lived just a few hours away in Cali (location #2) . . . as we spoke more, I discovered Michael is from Australia. . .and they split their time there as well (location #3) . . .and now the kicker. . . over the past year as the three of us would email back and forth I came to realize that most of the time they were in Asia (location #4) . . pheewww. . .and I thought I traveled a lot...

And that was just the beginning. . . I could go on for hours about this couple, their wedding, their guests. . . everything... but I'll try and keep it short... To sum it up Amy and Michael along with Cameron and Matthew ("the boys") ... truly created an amazing family. I feel blessed to have been such a part of it.

As you can tell I love details, . . but when the details are meaningful and closely connected to the heart as they were that day... the love shines through even brighter (and I get even more teary eyed). Amy and Michael used this beautiful day to honor not only each other but their families, their friends, their ancestors and their traditions. It was truly inspiring!

Click here for the slide show

Okay . . .last thing. . .I MUST pay props to the wonderful team of vendors that pulled this event together.

The cake. . . by the AMAZING and talented Bella e Dolce

The flowers . . . by the talented Weber's Floral and Gifts

The event planner. . . Carole Erbel (For the Love of Mackinac) . . . words cannot even come close to express my appreciation for this woman's talent and skill

and. . . a very very very special thank you . . to my AWESOME assistant Britain... (there is no way I could have done this without you)... you rock!! (just look at her with the camera... you go girl)

Love, A

Stephanie & Peter. . . A "Grand" Escape

I wrote about this couple a few weeks ago. . .her shoes. . . his food .. . their smiles...

And now I am going back through looking at the pics for one last final edit and it just reminds me again of how cute Stephanie and Peter were... from the outside they were elegant and "adult" . . . but then you can look closer and see the childlike glimmer in their eyes as they looked at each other. Plus. . . take a look at the slide show... they couldn't keep their lips to themselves... they were constantly sneaking little pecks (luckily I had my camera)

Click here to view slide show

S & P . . . You two have showed me how love can bring out the childlike joy in everyone. I have no doubt this will keep you two forever young! Thank you.

Love,
A

BTW... They were married at Little Stone Church an adorable congregation on Mackinac then the reception was held at one of my favorite venues, The Grand Hotel (Marty you did an awesome job as always. . .good thing you know a thing or two about bustling)

First day of Fall...

I just returned from a quick 3 day trip to Mackinac. September really is the BEST time to be there in my opinion. It's still sunny but with a bit a crispness in the air, the leaves are changing colors, the streets are quieter, and everyone just seems to be in a wonderful mood. There's something magical about biking through the tall trees with the blue sky above and the sight of little leaves slowly making their way down to the ground and speckling the pavement with splotches of color... Yesterday I was on my bike with a scarf wrapped around my neck flying down a hill like a little girl... tears welling up in my eyes partly because of the cold breeze . . but mostly because of the pure joy I felt in that moment...

Love,
A

Melissa & Andrew... Power of two

There is ONE thing that stands out to me with this sweet couple. POWER OF TWO...

I met Melissa and Andrew a year ago at the Destination Dream Wedding Weekend on Mackinac, since then we've been emailing and chatting every month. I spent a little bit of time with each of them before the event all the while trying to get a feel for this couple and their wedding... but it wasn't until the moment Andrew's eyes gazed upon Melissa on the Stonecliffe porch and Melissa saw Andrew waiting for her at the end of the aisle that I instantly understood.

There wasn't a sense of excitement, or overt celebration... there was a sense of confidence, a sense of relaxation in the midst of chaos, a sense that these two were the only two in the world and together they could face anything. Together they are one, together they are each other's pillars of strength.

After the ceremony, Melissa and Andrew went on a private carriage ride... after spending most of the day apart... they were finally together... not just for the moment but for a lifetime.

M & A . . . you two truly are an example of the power of two . . . may you face the world together with the same sense of confidence and joy that radiated out the minute your hands touched at the end of the aisle.

Love,
A