Scottie and Christine’s Wedding <3

Kurt and I were so very blessed to photograph the GORGGGGEOUSSSSS fall wedding of Scottie and Christine. Everything from the dress to the shoes to the rings to the flowers to the cake to THEM to the speeches to the reception was truly LOVELY.

Scottie grew up in the area and moved to Florida a few years ago, where he met Christine. Christine has lived in both New Jersey AND in Florida. I know what you’re thinking… but don’t worry, Kurt strictly forbid me from asking Christine about the Jersey Shore. It wasn’t easy, I assure you. ;)

Behold the absolute loveliness of their day. Flowers by Clazzy Designs, Davenport. Getting ready location was Blackhawk Hotel, Davenport.

Their pug, Meatball, made the trip from Florida, too! And, in true wedding-day spirit, also donned a tux…omg, I want to adopt him!

And if I know anything at all about being married, it’s if all husbands looked at their wives the way Scottie looks at Christine, this world, truly, would be a happier place…

Both boys approved of the dress…

She is such a classic beauty. And just as sweet, too!

What an adorable couple…love all of these…

They were married at St. Anne’s in Long Grove, the church Scottie grew up attending. Note the sand ceremony was half corn for the Iowa farmboy and half sand for the Florida beach girl. I love it.

The reception followed at the always fabulous, River Center in downtown Davenport. LOVE the canopy and everything about the place!

Love their first dance photos…

And we all know my feelings for the Anniversary Dance! =Yay!

Joe from SAS Entertainment did a fantastic job keeping the dance floor hopping all night. Amazing up-lighting around the reception room, also provided by SAS. Check it out in the background of some of the photos. Love!

Here’s some of my fave dance shots of the night:

To Christine and Scottie ~ THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for allowing us to be part of your amazing wedding day. Everything was perfect and was a day we’ll never forget! We wish you the best of luck!

Much love,
Ann & Kurt

Ashlyn is ONE! <3

I cannot believe this little princess is ONE! I am so sad! She is growing up so fast but is turning into the sweetest little fashionista, just like her mama! <3 Lovvvvve her so much!

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend! xoxo!

Much love,
Ann

Baby Lauryn <3

Who doesn’t just LOVVVVE the super-sweetness of this little doll baby!?

Miss Lauryn gave the world quite a scare when she arrived a few months early. But as you can see, she is living the dream now as a very much loved, snuggly and happy little gal. Sooo cute!

We actually took these photos on her due date even though she was three months old. She was such a good girl but made sure to let me know she would wear any hat in my collection but would only sleep in one pose! Too funny!

Many congrats to Kari and Mitch on their new little princess! So happy for you!! Thanks so much for bringing her to the studio for her newborn photos! xoxo!

Much love,
Ann

Miss Ava is 1!

Look at this sweet birthday princess!

If a more darling and delicious party outfit ever was, I do not know of it…

Absolutely LOVVVVE this little gal and her mama. We have so much fun when they come to visit.

Happy Birthday, Little Miss Ava!! <3Thanks soooo much for coming to see me again at the farm!! Hope you are enjoying playing in all the fall leaves. <3 xoxo!

Much lovvve,
Ann

Happy Fall!

HOLA BLOG-LAND!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic start to Fall 2011. Yes, I am still alive and yes, I’m still shooting lots and lots! So sorry I’ve been Facebooking and blogging not lots and lots. I have a hard time FB’g and blogging while editing awaits. Not sure why…blogging doesn’t take me too long since I type about 2,767 words per minute. The good news is, if I ever WHEN I get caught up, I’ll have about 75 adorable sessions and five weddings of fabulousness to blog. Yay!

I’m ever-so-thankful for the beautiful weather as of late. It’s been awwwwwesome for my fall children/family sessions and especially all of our recent WEDDINGS. PLEASSSSSSE STAY UNTIL AT LEAST OCTOBER 23RD!! Our last wedding of the year is October 22 and we have majorrrr plans for outdoor photos. Dreading the looming demise of the warm afternoons and evenings. Ugh.

Farm fam is rocking through the harvest. It seems to be going bueno so far but as s*xy as the tractors and combines are, it’ll be nice to have my husband back in the house once in awhile. Seriously.

No worries, I haven’t converted to the barefoot/preggo farm wife; more like adorable fall flats and cute (is there such thing?) maternity jeans. Although Kurt did make me cook a roast the other day. Waaaahhh!! I’m still being all Zsa Zsa and creating farm havoc. Whoops. Thursday, my M.I.L. had me drive her out to the tractor. I’ve done this before but this time it was seriously like a ten minute drive through their random corn fields. I’m like, “Do you own all of this? I feel like we’ve gone really far.” She laughed but I was completely serious. So I ask her, “What if I get lost on the way back?” She like, “What?! You won’t get lost.”

Normally I’m not one to freak out for being lost (IN A CITY!!!) but in the case of blue sky above me and corn maze all around me, I admit I was getting a little concerned after the tenth (or so…) dead end. Even Will was laughing and shaking his head wondering where we were going. Uhhhh…20 minutes later, I’m frantically texting Kurt a photo of a tree saying, “Do you recognize this tree? Let me know ASAP!!!!!”

He’s all, “Oh yah, that’s the Linden tree.” As if it’s some type of landmark I’m supposed to know? We know no “Linden’s.” They like to call farms they’ve bought over the years by their original owners that we don’t even know anymore. For example, “Go behind the bin site, turn right on the water way, turn left at the bean field, go straight past the Stanlick farm, until you get to the Linden tree. Just meet us there.” These are all directions through fields where nothing is marked, there are no houses or buildings and everything looks the same. I don’t know any Stanlick’s either, btw.

All’s well that ends well. Husb called and gave me detailed directions (when you see the bean field ahead and picked corn on the left with standing corn on the right, turn left. Etc. Ha!) and informed me even Belle knows her way back from the tree. I confirmed this with her after school. Yikes. Oh well, I’m just trying to keep it real out here ;-)

Miss everyone muchhhhhoooo. Chat sooooon! xoxo!

Ann

Charlotte and Doug’s Wedding Today <3

Today we’re photographing Charlotte and Doug’s wedding! We’re so excited to be a part of it all!

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Wibholm!! Pics of fabulousness to follow soon <3

xoxo,
Ann

RECENT LOVVVVES/HATTTTTES

Again, let’s throw it back to my old-school blog days with another edition of my loves & hates!

Let us mix it up and start with the hates:

Hate #1:
I hate it when summer ends, don’t you? I don’t have too much of a genuine issue with the fall, per se, except that it means winter is coming so I’ve never liked the season. I can’t believe I still live here and to solidify my icy life, I married a fabulous farmer who will never, ever, never, ever move away from Iowa. Awesome. I lovvvve the holidays, though…lovelovelove. But I would love them even more if I lived in a climate closer to the equator. For sure.

Hate #2:
Not a fan of Borders closing! I love that store! Argh! I finally joined their RIDICULOUS exclusive program, too, ONLY because the Davenport checkout girls are MEAN MEAN MEAN and it was worth the $25 to not have them pestering me any more about it. So I won’t miss them, or their little card club that I just joined…but I’ll sooo miss the store and the books.

Hate #3:
That instant when you’re out in the cutest pair of brand new heels and you realize, “OMG, I can’t walk another step my feet hurt soooo bad.” I swear it always sneaks up on me. It was worth it…they were super cute!

Now for the lovvvvves:

Love #1:
In the past, I’ve raved on my h20 body products. My newest love came in the form of a Christmas gift from my bro and SIL. The Milk Body Lotion. Never something I would have picked out since I always go for the berryish or waterish scents of fabulousness BUT I am so glad they did! I am obsessed obsessed OBSESSSSSSED! Must try! Von Maur and Ulta both stock it or you can buy it from h20 online (click here). Granted, you may think $19.50 for a 12oz bottle of lotion is ridiculously expensive but you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Love!!

Love #2:
Jersey Shore Italy. Still lovvvve that show even though I usually forget to watch it. I have managed to watch the first three shows, though, however! Yay! (Hopefully there have only been three so far…ha.) :)

Love #3:
OK, not to go all “Beyonce at the VMA’s” on everyone but for those that don’t know…

Due Christmas Day!! Yay!! Cannot waaaaaaaiiiiit!! <3 <3

Hope everyone has a FABULOUS WEEKEND!

xoxo!
Ann

Mr. Grant is 1, too!

My favorite little neighbor, Baby Grant, is no longer a baby. : ( Sadness!!! Like Caroline (see yesterday’s post), Grant has been coming to see me every three months. Grant was one of my first newborn clients, too. : ) I can’t believe he’s already a one-year old!

I’ve loved chatting with his mama every few months and meeting for pics. He is not too much younger than Will, so we always talk about how they will be sneaking out of the house together when they’re in high school to go to pasture parties. Ha! They better not…we will catch them for sure.

This time, we went to his great-grandparents farm for his one-year photos. He even brought his new John Deere wagon!

Their farm has a awesome old schoolhouse that I love to use for seniors, so we thought it would be cute to take Grant there and also do some updated family photos.

He has a lot of expressions, so we are always cracking up at him!

Here is Grant in his Socrates pose:

And, we all know I LOVVVVE LOVE LOVE them all but I’ll end with my very three favorites from the session:

Brittany and Eric, thank you so much for bringing Grant to me for all of his photos over the past twelve months! Hope to see you guys again soon!

Mucho love!
Ann : )

Miss Caroline Turned 1!

Love all of my baby clients! Everyone says time goes by so fast seeing your own little ones grow up and sadly, that is true! It’s also true when you only see certain little bambinos every three months!

Miss Caroline was one of my first babies in the studio last winter for her three months pics and now she recently finished up her baby package! She must have been studying my website because for her one-year photos, she arrived at the studio wanting more serious and grown-up looking pics. More of a Vogue-style this time, she was thinking…I love it. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

But she soon got more smiley for us and decided to be super-sweet happy self:

: ) That bottom one is toooo cuuuute. I love the expression!

I love summer pics. OCCASIONALLY/RARELY/ONCE IN AWHILE, I have the perfect photo with the perfect outfit with the perfect lighting to make me want to use an action or an overlay, and this is one of those times… (More on summer-inspired Photoshop actions later…I’m sooooo long overdue to post something photography-related for my photographer friends on my post-processing).

So sweet <3

And now, for two of my favorites:

And here’s Miss Caroline with two of HER favorites:

Thank you soooo very much to Betsy and Andy for bring her to me all of these times over the past year! I will soooo miss seeing this ADORABLE little princess and her “happy dance” every three months. Please keep me posted on how she is doing : )

Mucho love to you all!! ~ Ann

T$’s Family :)

Some of you may remember when I had the accounting J-O-B and used to travel all the time, before I moved to the farm and started doing photography. I will admit I was able to go work in some amazing places with only the very coolest of cats. I had some of the most HILARIOUS times with my co-workers, including this girl! Here’s a sweet pic of Tracy (T$) and I in Argentina. Circa Fall 2004:

At the time we started traveling together for work in 04, she had just started dating Steve. One fabulous wedding and seven years later (OMG, I cannot believe it’s been that long!!!), here they are with their beyond GORGEOUS family…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ve always wanted a sister. So it makes me soooo happy these girls, Anna and Molly, will always have each other…

…and their new lil’ sista, Baby Tessa!

I can only imagine all the fun these little gals will have growing up together. I hope Tracy and Steve have a hugggge room filled with princess dresses and tea party accessories. Soooooo cuuuuute.

In closing, here is what Baby Tessa thinks of August photo shoots:

Hahaha! Absolutely love her!

T$ and Steve, thanks so much for bringing the dolls out to the farm to see us! It was so much fun! xoxo!

Mucho love,
A$