Wow. All I can say. Wow. So, last December we did the wedding of Laura and David (hey guys!) and after the wedding, the Father of the Bride pulls me over and asks what we are doing on July 12th, because he was getting married, and he was really impressed by how “into” this photography thing Brett and I were. I thought that was so cool that he noticed! :) He then went on to tell me about all these SURPRISES he had planned, and I just thought wow, this is going to be different.

Well, it certainly was. And it was soooo much fun! The wedding was held at the beautiful Vinoklet Vineyard on a VERY hot summer day. As in we we were all dripping sweat….and I don’t even sweat! Regina and Ed didn’t care about the heat, they were happy as could be. They were so smiley and in love and that’s about all I can say because I have to keep this a G-rated blog ;-) Let’s just say, this was the second time around for these two, and they were so laid back and just wanted to have FUN. And they did.

Ok, a few things I learned about Regina and Ed. They call each other “butter buns” and “sugar tush.” We heard this quite often throughout the day. Ed is crazy about Batman- and I don’t mean a recent phenomenon because of the movie, I mean like “he has been recreating the bat mobile in his garage for a while now” crazy. Regina is nutty about penguins. She LOVES them. All these things were part of their day.

Here is Regina, looking gorgeous.

We had TONS of time for portraits of the two of them which was great. Any couples willing to see each other before the wedding, it really saves time, and sanity!

Here is the basket of kazoos that people received before the ceremony to blow at the end. Also, this was their wedding “iceberg” complete with bride and groom penguins.

At our planning meeting before the wedding, Regina told me about what she planned to do when they said “kiss the bride.” Later she said, “Did you get it?!” YEP. :)

I love this shot!

So, Ed told me months and months ago about his penguin plan. The DJ asked Regina to sit down while someone was bringing in a penguin for her to see. Then walked in Ed. Everyone was laughing, and as soon as Regina saw him, she was smitten. He bought this suit and had been planning his “penguin dance” for a while now. After this dance, everyone jumped in and wanted a dance with the penguin too. :) After dancing, and the congo line, Ed finally emerged and was DRIPPING sweat from the heat of that suit!

They announced at the beginning that they would have a 20 minute ceremony and 4 hours of dancing…and they sure did. These ladies could dance it up!!!

Ed was full of surprises. He went next door and borrowed the violinist to come play the wedding song from “The Godfather” which is a favorite of Regina’s.

Ahhh….They took a break form the reception to get a few more shots together.

Back to the PARTY. This gentlemen was singing a great rendition of John Mellencamp’s song, “Hurts So Good” and I thought WOW. Pretty cool. Later Regina said, “Oh, that was John Mellencamp’s brother!”

Did I mention they like to dance?? Ummm…yes. Can you say Y-M-C-A?

And they danced, and they danced. :)

Thanks Regina and Ed! We had a blast at your wedding. You guys really know how to be stress-free and just have fun. :) Thanks so much for having us. We wish you two all the happiness in the world!

jess + brett

Ok, so maybe turning 30 is not THAT bad. I woke up today and felt great. When my sister called me when we were on the way to church she asked the greatest question people ask on your birthday, “So how does it feel to be 30?” My response, “Well, I really feel that I have reached an age where I will finally be appreciated, you know, like a grown-up, in fact I feel very distinguished.” “Really?” she said, “No.” I said.

Welcome to Jessica’s land of dry sarcasm. And I heard this only gets better with age too.

I realized today that my 20’s were AWESOME. I mean, I really got a lot done :) I got married at 20, had my first baby at 21, then had three more over the course of the next 8 years, and then started my dream business at 28. Now I am 30, and Brett and I will be married 10 years in a few months! Wow. Oh, and we are super excited because WE are getting OUR photos taken by some awesomeness in a few months!! (hmm…who could it be?)

So here is what I’ve been doing on my birthday day:

Went to church, came home and took a nap (which I never take the time to do), wrote this blog, then I am going to Ikea with my hubby (alone), going to dinner at my favorite Peruvian restaurant, and then going to see BATMAN tongiht!! Yea! Fun day.

Thanks for all the sweet emails and birthday wishes! You all are the best!! :)

Photo props to my 8 year old photographer daughter. She was workin’ that camera!!