I love meeting new & fun couples like Jessie & Jon.  Just super cute, fun & up for anything!

We traveled around Janesville to a variety of locations & ended up @ the very famous Frosty Freeze which J & J go to quite often for Ice Cream.  It was very fitting for them!

Thanks for the fun evening & I hope you guys enjoyed the remainder of your vacation!

Enjoy your Sneak Peak!

{s. natale}

$25 for a couch.  Anyone? Anyone?

Loved your shoes Jessie, loved your shoes!

If you have been following Facebook & the BLOG you know we are currently running TWO contests & they are ending on MONDAY MAY 31st 2010

Make sure if you’d like to nominate someone for the love {you} forever session or the destination wedding giveaway to do so prior to Monday!

The winner will be notified by Monday June 7th

Feel free to pass this on & share with friends & family!!

*love {you} forever session contest  (click here to see the previous blog post)

QUICK NOTE:  Many people have asked about these sessions.  Basically they are a session dedicated to couples!!  Long-term couples, married couples, couples celebrating their anniversary {wedding or dating}.  I wanted to offer a session to those couples that maybe wanted to celebrate their relationship, love & have some fun doing so!  You can nominate yourself and/or another couple.

*destination wedding contest click here to see the previous blog post)

Looking forward to the Madison Bridal Fair this coming SUNDAY.   If you are planning a wedding or know someone who is be sure to pass on the information.

Admission is free & there are a lot of great giveaways & vendors that are participating!

2010 is almost fully booked for Natale Photography {1-2 more weddings tops} & we are actively booking for 2011.  Be sure to snag your date before someone else does!

Sunday March 28th, 2010 1-4pm ~ Quality Inn & Suites

Hope to see you there!

Matt & Jacey had a wonderful wedding day in & around Madison.  They were married @ Matt’s parents home in the backyard & it was simply stunning.  From there we traveled around the city to various locations that Jacey had all planned out & we were able to get some amazing shots.  I will note here that J & M opted to see each other prior to the wedding so we were able to get all of the family shots done prior to the wedding which made for a longer & more relaxed time afterwards to be able to stop @ all of these fun places.  I always like to give my Bride & Groom the options & weigh the Pro & Cons.  But really, when it comes down to it I absolutely LOVE it when the B & G meet ahead of time.

Jacey’s AMAZING gown, was custom made & I loved every tiny detail of it!  Check it out: http://www.availcouture.com

Pretty sure they could not be ANY cuter.

Jacey & Matt = so so cute.

Jacey + Matt + Bridal Party = good. times.

“What was that?  Did you hear that music?  Must be a keg party… Lets go…”

We were welcomed with open arms…

We had to stop by the place that the bride & groom first met, for old times sake.

State St.

The reception was @ the Madison Club.  The light is absolutely RAD.  I love love love love love the Madison Club.

An amazing shot, one of the last of the night.  Shot by my wonderful assistant, Michelle.

Vendors:

Wedding Gown:  Avail Couture

Reception:  The Madison Club of Madison

{stephanie n.}

So part #2 of my new blog is integrating a weekly post {my goal is monday} of random information, links, sources of motivation and/or resources that hopefully will benefit my readers.  Being as though {ideally} I’ll have variety of people viewing this blog, my hope is to break it down like this:

portrait {peeps}

{{resources, articles & information geared towards the modern mommy, family & seniors.}}

Building Blocks for Learning located here in Janesville.  I think they are a great resource for families in the area.  I became acquainted with Kay & Jeanne several years ago when I started buying Thomas the Train items there for Gabriel & loved their selection of toys, books & learning tools for children.

If you haven’t been in to check out their store yet & you live in Janesville, shame on you.  They are located right across the street from the Post Office & next to Walgreens on Milton Ave.   They carry a lot of fantastic educational toys as well as a variety of Melissa & Doug, Thomas the Train, Playmobile & they also offer classes in their activity room.

{Remember to support your local small businesses!}

wedding {peeps}

{{unique ideas, planning websites, vendors & exciting news in the bridal industry for my wedding clients}}

If you are looking for custom Wedding Invitations {that ROCK}, check out The Paper Deli in Middleton Wisconsin.  They are originally from Janesville & recently opened up their retail store on Old Sauk Rd.  They do amazing work:  invitations, programs, thank-you’s & more.

Brian Breezer is the owner & he is great to work with & very creative.

They even carry these (what more could you possibly want):

photo {peeps}

{{resources, motivation & random tidbits for those in the photo industry}}

One thing that I’ve learned over the past few years in this industry is that working with & learning from other photographers is a huge part of the business.  I’ve loved meeting many different photographers from around the country @ different workshops, conventions & seminars.  I think that it is so important to recognize that we all have something to learn & we all have something we can offer.

Recently I was a part of a fantastic program {Foundations of Posing} given by Pierre & Anna from Pierre’s Portrait Art in Madison.  Both Pierre & his wife Anna offered a lot of great knowledge & shared information with a small group of photographers.  We were able to work with each other on a variety of exercises & shoot @ a beautiful location.   We even had an adorable couple who were celebrating 5 years of marriage but were very willing to put on a suit & a wedding dress in order to play “bride & groom” for a bunch of crazy photographers.

Pierre gives back to this industry in many ways & it is photographers like this that allow all of us to grow & learn in our business, improve & then in turn give back to other photographers in the future.  Check out his website & his amazing work!  He also offers a free forum for Wisconsin Photographers (WPPF). Thanks again Pierre & see you Thursday!

Here are a few of the images I took that day:

If there is a topic, question or idea you’d like to see discussed here next week, leave me a comment & I’ll see what I can do

{stephanie n.}