The day itself ended up being out of a story book.  The weather was suppose to be close to 100 degrees, but instead we got a breeze that cooled everything as it whisked through the valley and stormy clouds that seemed to only make themselves known so I could get great shots!  Not a drop of rain, just fantastic lighting.

Here is a teaser of their wedding to delight the senses!

I'm getting a little more courageous in working with white dresses that every girl dreams of walking down the aisle in. I use to only be brave enough to take shots of them indoors, but I have discovered the great potential of draping them in the great outdoors!

This is one of my favorite shots of putting on a bride's shoes!

Meredith's smile was electric and I really enjoyed capturing it!

I was pretty excited about these two shots! What a perfect couple in a perfect setting!

Classic, romantic, dramatic...that's all I have to say

I want to make this one into a canvas print!

Chris' sweet boys spreading the flowers for Meredith before she walked down the aisle.

I could not have waved my magic wand and made more perfect and dramatic clouds. These are moments that photographers live and breath for. Thank you God for your amazing gift!!

There ceremony as so sweet and quaint. Family only...about 20 people max. I loved it!

They had a butterfly release at the end of the ceremony and it was a delight to watch and capture.

There are several other shots I would like to share from their wedding, but I will leave it at this for now, so I can move onto more editing. Can you see now why I drool over shooting at Cave B?  It’s just gorgeous and to add a stunning couple to the mix, who could ask for anything more?!!  Many blessings to you Meredith and Chris~

It was a delight to be there to capture Kyle and Sawyers special day!  This is just a teaser of their day……enjoy!

I love how this captures their joy and the light surrounding them!

I think Sawyer looks gorgeous in these shots! Not to mention the sweet joy that is written all over her face.

I find this shot very romantic and filled with gentle love.

These shots just make me smile!

The beautiful flower girl....

I had to showcase the family shot and zoom in on this little angel.

A good portion of the time I was there, friends were filling the air with laughter and the relaxing sounds of summer. "Mingle" was the word!

I will end for now with a shot of Sawyer's jeweled shoes! I thought they were fantastic and a perfect addition to her summer wedding dress!

I adore my job and feel incredibly blessed to capture people’s life moments, especially such a special time as a wedding.

Sammy and Evan were married at Red Tail Canyon Farm in Leavenworth, WA.  What a beautiful location!!  I am going to keep my words short here, not because there isn’t a ton of wonderful things to write about their wedding, but because I must move on to the next bit of editing!

I hope you all enjoy the preview of Sammy and Evan’s wedding in the woods!

I thought her shoes were so cute, yet so practical. Heels make walking in the grass a little challenging, so Sammy went with blinged out flip flops. Smart girl!

There was a wonderful, huge bathtub in the room they were getting ready in, so I had to have Sammy crawl inside. Something a little fun and a bit different, I like how it turned out!

I caught a few shots of her as she was waiting on the stairs. I think you can feel some of the anticipation of waiting for the "big moment"

They were darling together. I think this shot shows their connection and overall joy to be getting married!

I love their very real smiles and laughter in this shot. Makes me happy!

The gorgeous ladies!

Boys will be boys!

Sammy was brought in by horse and carriage...so romantic!!

I wanted to add a few detail shots because her flowers were beautiful and I love how simple and elegant everything looked...and right in the middle of the woods nonetheless. They did a great job!

The "candy bar" has become more popular over the last couple years, and I personally think the idea is fabulous! Great for kids and adults alike.

But make sure you leave room for cake....I think everyone might have been on a sugar high by the end of the night

Toasts to the bride and groom! There were a few laughs for sure.

And finally I will end this post with the joy of children running around free as birds. That always brings a smile to my face.

I have so many photos that I want to post from this wedding and I did my best to include as many as possible.  I am continuing to grow as a photographer and part of that growth is changing my “blogging” style.  I’m trying to be a little more creative with how I post and include enough photos so you can get a good feel of the wedding day!  I hope you enjoy what you see.

My first attempt at displaying my photos in a grouped, creative way! What do you think?

I loved Kara's dress! It actually kind of had a little resemblance to my own.

I love how this shot is filled with joy and spirit!

I had to start the shots of Kara and Jon with this one! Sleeping Lady has random sculptures all over their venue and I had to grab a shot with this guy...he was too cute!

Another one of my favs!

The stunning Kara. She was glowing!

I had to put this montage together of Kara laughing while I was trying to get some shots of just her. So cute! I know it's always hard and akward for everyone to be infront of the camera all by themselves.

Mr. GQ himself....Jon!

There were seriously too cute for words. I had a great time capturing their love and laughter.

Aww....family! They are our support system, the glue that holds us together!

I was so thankful to have my backup photographers. I thought this shot was priceless.

I love how Jon is looking at Kara in this shot! Full of love for her.

My favorite part of the ceremony! It's official.

And finally, at least for now, I wanted to give a little feel for the absolute FUN they were having at the reception. They cut up the rug!

I hope you all enjoy these few shots I took of Chris and Nichole’s wedding album.  I should be receiving  a couple more albums in the next month or so, and I will be sure to post those as well.  This particular album is called the “Modern Book”, which features flush-mount, lay-flat pages, and a photographic wrap-around dust jacket.  I love it!

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!

Their wedding was a beautiful and joyous occasion.  There were plenty of tears and even more laughter.  They were married in Flagstaff, AZ, of which I had never been. It is gorgeous there, and the winter wonderland they had on their wedding, otherwise known as a blizzard, made for a very cozy feel to the day.   I was still determined to take some of the photos outside…and we did it!  Though my fingers were literally frozen, I couldn’t complain because the girls were wearing short dresses and high heels.  What troopers they were!!!!

Enjoy the story of their day. 

I had to start with this shot, because it's one of my favorites of Ruthy! It captures exactly who she is, joyful and beautiful!

Ruthy's dark blue shoes, how cute?!

A happy, happy, happy bride!!

The studly, handsome groom Mr. Tayor!

I loved all the smiles from the day!!

There was this awesome, huge tree in the middle of their reception place and it made for some fun photos!

I just can't get over how stunning Ruthy looked on her wedding day! She was a movie star on the red carpet!

I love how classic she looks in this shot!

I LOVED that she took the time to put this "I DO" bling on the bottom of her shoes!!

Loved the door in front of the lodge. And the "model" couple made it fantastic to photograph.

The absolutely adorable ladies! Acting like they were in the Bahamas, but in fact were literally in the middle of a blizzard.

You can see a few of the snow flakes in this shot.

The boys were a blast!

The next rock band?!!!

I absolutely love this shot of Ruthy's mom, I had to add it to the post. She wore a traditional Korean dress and was just picture perfect!

A few happy moments during the ceremony. It really was a very beautiful ceremony but included a lot of laughs. Andy started busting up laughing mid ceremony and had the whole congregation going. It was great!!

A sweet, love filled hug right after the ceremony.

Loved this shot of Ruthy dancing with her dad. A very happy moment!

I recently had a friend of mine, who just got engaged, contact me to ask my advice about venues to potentially host her wedding.  And I thought I would share it with all of you!  I know many of you are in the midst of planning for either this year or next, so I hope you find this post helpful.

I have shot at most of these locations, but some of the venues on the list are for weddings I will be doing this year and it will be a first for me (which I love because I get to be on my “creative toes” to create images of a place I have never been to!)

This list is in no particular order.  I will let each one speak for itself.   I love all of them for different reasons!!

#1 Beecher Hill House in Peshastin, WA

www.beecherhill.com

The dance floor at Beech Hill House.

The front of Beecher Hill House.

#2  Mt. Springs Lodge in Plain, WA

www.mtsprings.com

One of the beautiful bridges/locations at Mt. Springs Lodge.

#3  Sleeping Lady in Leavenworth, WA

www.sleepinglady.com

#4  Highlander Golf Club in East Wenatchee, WA

www.highlandergolfclub.com

Looking over the Columbia River.

#5  Pine River Ranch in Lake Wenatchee, WA

www.prranch.com

Taken by the 1944 dairy barn.

#6  Red Tail Canyon Farm in Leavenworth, WA

www.redtailcanyonfarm.com

#7  Cave B Winery in Quincy, WA

www.sagecliffe.com

Looking over the breath taking Columbia River at the Gorge.

#8 Banjo Creek Farms in Manson, WA

www.banjocreekfarms.net

I loved the farm feel!

#9  Warm Springs Inn in Wenatchee, WA

www.warmspringsinn.com

Warms Springs is surrounded by beautiful orchards.

And has a couple rustic barns to take photos by.

#10 Suncadia Resort in Cle Elm, WA

www.suncadiaresort.com

It has amazing views of the mountains.

#11  Imbrie Hall in Hillsboro, OR (this one obviously isn’t in WA, but I loved shooting a wedding there so I thought I would add it!)

www.mcmenamins.com

The following is list of venues I have NOT photographed a wedding at but are on my schedule for this year!

#1  Wapato Point Cellars in Lake Chelan

www.wapatopointcellars.com

#2 Bybee-Nims Farm in North Bend

www.bybeenimsfarms.com

#3  MAC (Museum of Arts & Culture) in Spokane, WA

www.northwestmuseum.org

#4  Mazama Ranch House in Mazama, WA

www.mazamaranchhouse.com

#5 High Cedars Golf Club in Orting, WA

www.highcedars.com

I truly hope that this helps all of you who are in the search for the venue of your dreams.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.  I’m happy to share what knowledge I have about the area.

~Happy Planning!!!!! 

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

Hope you can feel the joy of the day!

I thought I would start with this photo, because it shows some of the joy that Abbey exuded throughout the day!

Putting on the dress that a bride waits so long to put on "for real". Such a joyous moment.

A few shots from when they first saw each other. So much emotion and a few tears! LOVE IT!!!

And a shot from when Abbey first saw her dad! The emotion gives me chills. It shows how much her father dearly adores her and is preparing to give his daughter away.

This shot was just too cute not to post.

The oh so happy couple!

I thought this was a fun shot of Abbey with the reflection in the windows at the church where they got married. It was a lovely overcast winter day.

Introducing Ernie! I liked this shot of him on the bench.

How cute are these little ones?! The ring bearer and flower girl.

The whole crew! We took these on one side of the church which had an entire wall that was covered in wood. Turned out to be a fun backdrop!

I really like this shot of Abbie and Ernie walking to where we were going to take photos! Don't you love her shoes!

This probably has to be my favorite shot from the whole wedding! I love the dimension in it and the story that it tells of the day!

My second favorite shot. Again...do you see the joy?!

More smiles!

And extra joy!