After receiving their engagement session from me, they sent me this incredibly sweet thank you e-mail that I wanted to share.  I’ve been meaning to post it for quite some time, but as always, I got a little side tracked.  Thank you to Molly and Josh for being so wonderful and I know we will have a blast on your special day!

If you would like to see more shots from Josh and Molly’s engagement click here!

“Hi Maija,

As Josh and I have finally been finishing our save-the-date cards, I wanted to take a minute and let you know how thrilled we’ve been with our engagement pictures– I thought of you and decided to check on your blog a week or so ago, and was surprised to see our silly mugs! That reminded me of how I’ve been meaning to pass on our gratitude to you.  Knowing that we’d be using one of the photos for our save-the-dates, we’ve been somewhat secretive about sharing all the photos until we’d chosen the one to send out.  I can’t tell you how crazy it’s driven our families and friends!  We’ve received such praise on the photos they have seen, and everyone has been begging to see the rest ever since!  Everyone had a favorite, as you captured both our silly sides (which are showing all too often!) and the softer moments. On top of it all, we had a FABULOUS time shooting with you, and learning what a fun, vibrant, easy-going yet professional work ethic you have.

The photos were such a hit with our family, that we framed several for Christmas gifts for elated family members.  (I have to say, it feels somewhat narcissistic to be gifting so many photos of ourselves, but they loved them so much, we couldn’t resist!)

Our photos were one of our ’splurge’ decisions when it comes to our wedding; One of the few things that we refused to compromise on, because it means so much to us that we have great photos to preserve the day.  After receiving our beautiful engagement photos, we are so very anxious for our wedding, and the gorgeous photo-memories we know you’ll create.  Amongst all the chaos of planning a wedding, it’s fabulous to feel confident and excited about booking with a vendor– We are so glad to have you!
I’m sure you’re swamped with bookings and editing, but if you get a chance to send along any further photos, you can bet there’s a restless audience that would be elated so see ‘em!

Hope all is well– And THANK YOU!
Molly and Josh.”

I just received these very kind words from Nicole last week in the mail.  As always it’s a blessing to me to hear these words, because I LOVE my job!!!

“I am very thankful for you shooting our wedding – 4/04/09.  You exceeded all my expectations and shot the wedding as if you were telling a story.  So many emotions come to mind when I look through the photos.  I know that I will be proud to show these pictures to my children one day and that they will appreciate your timeless art work. I also included an ad from the local bridal salon I purchased my dress at with a picture that you took wearing their dress.  I feel very honored that they asked me to use my picture because they have never had a real bride in one of their ads (I’m so excited that Cruz’s Bridal & Tux decided to use one of my photos)

Thank you also for allowing Aileen (she was an up and coming photographer in Southern California) to come 2nd shoot the wedding.  She mentioned to me that she had so much fun working our wedding because you gave her freedom and that in the past other photographers weren’t so supportive working alongside another professional.  Wish you weren’t so far away!”

~Love, Nicole & Matt Hank

Nicole also wrote a testimonial on Projectwedding.com

“Maija is such a talent and I’m so glad that we hired her for our wedding. She happens to be one of the easiest people to get along with which makes working with her so much fun. She is open-minded and loves to work with her Brides and Grooms to help them get the pictures that they are looking for. She photographed both our engagement pictures and our wedding day. I just wish she didn’t live all the way in Washington since we are in California so that we could hire her again for the future.”

Here are a few photos from their wedding on April 4, 2009.  It was at a Golf Course in Valencia, CA.  BEAUTIFUL!!!

Loved the tree!

She was such a beautiful bride!

With that said, I am posting another one of my “little blessings”, which for me are thoughtful, unexpected words from my past clients.  I wish there were words to truly express my gratitude for the kind e-mails and testimonials that people send my way, but there are not.  So I will just say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to write me and extend their appreciation.

I shot Megan and Tyler’s wedding back in September of 2009, and they sent me this e-mail about a month or so ago.  They were simply a delight to work with and they were troopers on their wedding day….because there was down pour rain for the majority of the day.  However, we sprinted outside at every moment of lapse in the rain and were able to get some amazing outdoor shots.

If you want to take a look at their wedding on my blog, click here:  http://maijakarinphotography.com/blog/megan-and-tyler-9-6-09-happily-ever-after/

What they had to say………

Hi Maija,

We just wanted to Thank YOU again for the photos. They are amazing and we
cannot express how much we love them. I am so glad that we chose to work
with you. You were great at the engagement shoot… helping us break out of
our shells and then again on the wedding day! You were like an old friend at
the wedding just taking photos… even helping me with my dress We loved
that you understood the overall look in the photos we wanted and you exceed
any expectation that we had.

Your pictures are by far some of the best photos that we have ever seen
and we cannot wait to have you take more pictures for us We have seen
some of our other friends who got married and recently gotten their
photos… and we must say that we are so proud of our photos. Not that their
photos were bad… but yours were just so superior that it made us smile.
You captured our personality and love for each other better than we could
have ever imagined. Thank you for helping us through the big day… with
rain and all. Waiting for the photos was agonizing but seeing the finished
product was so worth the wait! Thanks again… if you ever come over to
Olympia… call us we would love to take you to dinner!

Love,

Tyler and Megan Baker

I got my new BlackBerry (aka crackberry ) a couple months ago, so now I can check my e-mail at anytime/anywhere.  I don’t typically check my e-mail right when I wake up (I’m not that obsessed yet), but this particular morning was different because I woke up earlier than normal and was checking the time on my phone and noticed I had an e-mail.  That e-mail was from a couple that I worked with in June of 2008.  I had the pleasure of shooting Kathie and Shannon’s wedding, and was VERY blessed to receive a sweet note from them.  I wasn’t looking for it, nor did I ask for it.  And that is when it means the most!  I truly love what I do!  It gives me a natural high to know that my couples are so happy with their photos.

I don’t want to speak for all artist, but I’m pretty sure most would agree that our work is like riding a roller coaster.  When you truly have a passion for what you do and want the best for all of your clients, sometimes emotion can RULE.  I find myself one day in a  moment of complete bliss and then the next day I will be curled up in a ball on the floor with tears in my eyes.  In my business, I want NOTHING more than for my clients to be delighted with their photos. I mean, pictures are our memories; they are what you save if your house is on fire.  So when I get an unsolicited “thank you” e-mail, it brings tears of joy and a HUGE smile to my heart.

You can view more of Kathie and Shannon’s wedding on my website and/or on my old blog.

Thank you to Kathie and Shannon for giving me the chance to capture your wonderfully special day and for taking the time to send me such kind words.

Pure joy!!!

"Maija, I cannot begin to explain how truly thankful we are for everything

you did in capturing our wedding.  I can honestly say that I can relive every

moment of our special day by looking through the photos that you took.  You

have such a gift of capturing all of the moments in time that you never want

to forget...the big things like our first kiss as husband and wife, and our

first dance...and the little things that truly help you to remember just how

that day felt, the look on Shannon's face when he first saw me coming down

the aisle, the laughter, the tears...it was like you took everything and put

it down on paper for me to be able to revisit whenever I want.  Your photos

were incredible and we were so thankful that we found you and that you were

still in California to shoot our wedding!  We hope that you know how blessed

we felt to be able to work with you and we wish you all the best.  Thank you

for everything!  Kathie and Shannon Miller (married 06-07-08)

I’m leaving for Maui on Monday for my belated honeymoon, so I will be out of the “office”, but not disconnected!  If you are a new couple and are looking to book your wedding with me for 2010, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  I will get back to you as soon as I can.  I am only accepting a few more weddings for 2010, so call soon!!!

Here is one of my weddings from May 2009.  Kevin and Kendall were such a fabulous couple!  I met them in California and was able to fly down to San Diego and capture their BEAUTIFUL wedding.  I also wanted to post some kind words from them that they sent me after they received their photos!

Click on the link below to checkout their slideshow!

Kevin and Kendall’s Wedding

“Maija was an absolute pleasure to work with!! She went beyond our expectations and captured our day perfectly. She is a bride’s dream to work with- easy going, organized, and made us feel very comfortable. We gave her ideas of shots we wanted, and she made sure she got them. We had no worries the day of our wedding because we knew Maija was there capturing every moment. She actually seemed to be everywhere at once! When we look back at our pictures, it’s like re-living our wedding day all over again. She did that good of job capturing everything- and in ways we didn’t even imagine! I don’t know how we are going to choose which photos to frame or put in an album, because I want to use every one! We highly recommend Maija and her love for photography truly shows in her work. THANK YOU!!! ”

from a very happy couple,

Kevin and Kendall Chinn

Sweet Words from Haley and Vince

“We could not be happier with our photos and experience with Maija from our wedding. By the end of our journey together, from engagement photos to the wedding day, we developed a relationship with her. She was so relatable, and made us feel comfortable in every situation.  She was such an important part of the whole experience and felt like an old friend. Maija has a kind heart and a special joy about her. It is apparent that her passion is capturing the perfect moments.

She captures the feel of the wedding in her photos, allowing us to relive the day over and over. She found those special shots that would have been lost in time if she had not discovered them. We were looking for photos that were fun, beautiful, and a bit non-traditional. Maija catered her work to fit our personalities and desires exactly, without us even telling her exactly what we wanted.

Since the wedding, all of my friends have been asking, “who was your photographer?” Many of them saying that they were the best wedding photos they had ever seen.  I would recommend Maija to any engaged couple, as well as others looking for timeless photos. She is wonderful to work with, and has become our friend. Thank you for everything Maija!”