A huge thank you to all the couples and families who I have worked with since I began this photography business in 2004. It has been wonderful working with all of you and making so many friends through my work.
- This blog is filled with sneak peeks and slideshows from all of my weddings and photo sessions. - To get a little glimpse into my family life and see some of my personal pictures and what I'm up to lately, visit bykrista.com.
NOTE: I am no longer booking new weddings at this time. I am still booking family photo sessions on a limited basis.
Contact me for more information.
Naples, Florida – This past weekend, I flew down to Florida for Dina and Andreas’ wedding at the Club at Olde Cypress in Naples. It was a beautiful night for their intimate wedding with about seventy or so of their closest friends and family there to celebrate with them. The Clubhouse was amazing. It’s only about eight years old, but it had the feel of a really old building with lots of huge heavy doors and dark wood. Very cool location. One of the most special things for me about this wedding was that they actually changed their wedding date so that I could be their photographer. I was already booked for their original date and I was so flattered that they switched it. It is the biggest compliment I’ve ever received. And it was so wonderful to share the day with them. They have such great family and friends and everyone had such a wonderful time!
Dina walked down the aisle to one of the themes from Star Wars. She’s a huge fan. It was awesome!
Their sand castle cake was SO fantastic! And it was delicious, too.
Snuck outside at sunset for a few shots. Florida has such beautiful sunsets.
First dance as husband and wife!
Slideshow coming soon!
Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day for a wedding! Laura and Steve were the kindest, sweetest, most loving couple. We had such a wonderful time with them and I’ve been working on this sneak peek for the last couple days trying to narrow the wedding down into a handful of pictures. It was hard, so you’ll just have to make sure to view the slideshow when I get that ready because there will be many more moments to share. Here are the few I chose to show today:
The coolest thing about Laura’s wedding gown is that is was made from her mother’s dress. It was beautiful and so perfect for Laura.
Laura and Steve were married at the beautiful Inn at St John’s in Plymouth. The chapel there is amazing with it’s reflective tile floors, beautiful lighting and stained glass windows.
I told the girls “talk amongst yourselves” right after we did a “look at the camera” shot. This is what I got. These girls were perfect all day long! Loved them!
Somebody’s ready to finish pictures and party! 😉
Their reception was also held there at the Inn in one of their beautiful banquet halls.
They decided to cut their cute cake as soon as they entered the reception. Then funny and heartfelt speeches were given by Laura’s dad, the maid of honor and the best man followed by a prayer for the meal.
The details were just beautiful. The nature theme is one of my favorites. Loved the candles hanging from the branches. Tables were identified by years. Each card listed events that took place during that year and on the opposite side was a picture from either Laura or Steve’s family and something that happened that year. Some of the cards had wedding pictures of their parents and grandparents along with the date they were married. Another very cool thing they did was to appoint a friend to walk around from table to table with a guest book for everyone to sign. Each page had a space for a picture so she would take each person/couple’s picture to be printed and put in the book later next to what they wrote. Loved that. And the sunglasses were a huge hit! People were dancing around in them all night.
First dance as husband and wife!
I love this moment during Laura’s dance with her dad.
Steve hugging his mom after their dance.
The rest of the night, there was a lot of this and this …
… and a little of this and this, too.
Laura and Steve, I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved your wedding. You two are so special and I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to work with people like you, who truly care and show such kindness. Hope you’re having a fabulous honeymoon in the Greek Isles. I’m completely jealous! 🙂
behind the scenes: Florist: Heidi Grybas, Wedding Flowers by Heidi, 734.459.3160 — the flowers were gorgeous!!! DJ: Eric Hodge, Mike Staff Productions, 248.547.6935 — Eric was fabulous, by the way! Very friendly and fun. He kept the party going all night! Ceremony/Reception/Caterer: Linda Johnson, The Inn at St John’s, 734.414.0600 — I’m going to have to crash a few weddings there so I can have the salmon again. It was THAT good! Cake:Gwen’s Cake Decorating, 734.429.2039
Alison contacted me a couple months ago about doing some family pictures as a gift for her parents’ 30th wedding anniversary. The Mejeurs were at Lesley and Anthony’s wedding in June (Alison was also a bridesmaid), so I was looking forward to seeing some familiar faces this past Sunday. We met at Tunnel Park and I could tell as soon as we started that they were a fun family. So natural in front of the camera and they have a good time together, too. Here are a few from our rainy evening at the beach:
As it started raining, they all broke into song and caught raindrops on their tongues. 🙂
And then they had some fun ….
I had such a wonderful time taking pictures for you! Happy Anniversary! 🙂
When I posted that I would be doing photo sessions in Holland on October 5th, Lindsey wrote and said she really wanted to do a session with Kevin that day. Two years ago on October 5, 2006, Lindsey and Kevin said “i do” in Puerto Rico. Although I wasn’t there to photograph their wedding, I got to be there for their wedding reception and I also took their engagement pictures way back in the summer of 2005 at Tunnel Park in Holland, which is where we decided to meet last Sunday for our couples session. An anniversary session, if you will. 🙂
Lindsey has become a good friend over the past few years since we first met to talk about her wedding. She’s such a sweetheart and so fun to be around. And she has also become an important part of my work as she is one of my wedding assistants. 🙂
After our Saturday at Bonnie and Kyle’s wedding, we met Sunday afternoon at Tunnel Park and here is a glimpse of our fun!
A nod to their 2005 engagement photos:
LOVE this one! Lindsey’s such a beauty.
Since the fall colors haven’t really hit their peak, there weren’t a ton of trees to work with. But we found a few and made the most of them.
And finally … our little tribute to Notting Hill … only without the baby belly. We’re totally going to do this one again someday when they have a baby (in 5 years … or maybe another 5 years. haha!). 😉
I am kicking butt on editing sessions tonight, which will explain multiple blog posts all in one night. Here is a slideshow with more pictures from Alex’s senior session. Enjoy!
Last year right around Christmas, I met Bonnie and Kyle for the first time. I instantly liked them and I’ve been looking forward to their wedding ever since they chose me as their photographer. 🙂 Bonnie and I chatted back and forth through email and phone conversations about the wedding details and I was so excited for their day to arrive. Saturday was the perfect day for a wedding! The weather was great, everything went according to plan, the bride and groom looked great and were beaming with joy and love all day long, the bridal party was a riot, the food delicious, the DJ was fantastic. I could go on and on. And when we were getting ready to leave, Bonnie made it a point to tell me what a great day she had knowing that I was there taking pictures so she didn’t have to worry about anything. How sweet is that? Here are a few pictures from the big day. Slideshow coming soon.
It was so nice shooting in a Catholic church, where we were free to move wherever we wanted.
Didn’t I say the bridal party was a riot! We went to a nearby park for some fun pictures and they made the most of our time there! Loved it!
Bonnie and Kyle, I hope you are having a fabulous time in Hawaii. Thank you so much for choosing me to share your day with you. So happy for you and feeling so blessed to have met you both. truly. 🙂
behind the scenes:
florist: Essential Designs, Lori Devowe, 616.844.4033
DJ: Quality Sound, Tom Shock, 231.744.5926
Caterer: Rykes – Cuisine Art, Chef Butch Rouwhorst, 231.726.2253
Cake: Audra Pline, 517.881.7249
Coordinator: Fruitport Golf/Banquet Center, Robbie Snider, 231.798.3369
While in Naperville, Illinois visiting with old family friends this weekend, I was so excited to meet up with my friend Heather and her family at the nearby Riverwalk. She has such a beautiful little family and we had fun walking around together taking pictures here and there. Heather, I know you’re dying to see some so here are a few:
Mom and I went to visit Amanda on Monday. Our families have been friends for years and I even photographed Amanda’s wedding a couple years ago. We just had to meet her new baby, Grayer. He is soooo cute with those big handsome eyes. 😉 He makes the sweetest little faces. I kept thinking I was finished and had enough shots and then he would do something or make some cute little facial expression that just made me have to keep shooting. Here are a few favorites:
