Josh & Carlyn: Two of my best cousins!

I am SO thrilled to be able to post these at long last!! You might remember my post of my cousin Josh and his then fiance Carlyn's engagement pictures from last fall... that seems like forever ago!

They were married on July 11, and I had the very great honor of assisting my uncle with the photography that day. One of my aunts also assisted, but putting "my uncle and aunt" makes them sound married and that would just be weird. Because they're not. But anyway.

Here's just a sneak peek for now! There are TONS of photos and choosing just a handful is going to be tough... this bridal party was a hoot, let me tell you!!

Please feel free to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by! I LOVE hearing from people!! :D





Probably my very favorite shot from the entire day:











(Can you tell I mostly took pictures of the girls?)

















This is Uncle Steve (not the uncle who was doing pictures––this is actually the aunt's husband) and their little darlings who thoroughly enjoyed the bubbles:



The amazing getaway car, driven by the best man/brother of the groom/cousin, Dave. Uncle Gord (the uncle who I was assisting!) and I got to speed alongside them to get these shots:



May I also note the amazing seven-tiered cake made by my sister, Naomi:



On the left is Carlyn's sister Nicole and her husband, and on the right is another cousin, Beth, and her fiance Paul, whose engagement session you might ALSO remember from a little while ago... they're getting married in two weeks! I so cannot WAIT!!





So there you have it! Be sure to check out these links to see more of the fabulosity that comes from my awesome family :)...

Gordon Russell Photography

Silver Spoon Cakes

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Also, yes, this was a rather long sneak peek post. Probably the longest I've posted yet. But hey, family gets special privileges! ;) Stay tuned to see more in the coming days!!

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Paul & Kersey's Wedding Teasers!

I've got a LOT to catch you all up on, but for now, here's a few more teasers, this time from the wedding I photographed last week in Newport Beach!

I cannot WAIT to blog more about this event and go into a bit of detail about our trip that week––it was IN. CREDIBLE.

Another huge congratulations to Paul and Kersey and an even huger thank you for your warm hospitality and generosity!! People like you hardly even exist––I don't know how you manage. :D









This ring shot is a personal fav––the taffy was bought at a local farmer's-market-type place in Littlerock, CA (which is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of town and also the place I met Kersey years ago when my family lived there), and was brought all the way up to our little vacation spot. So I HAD to use it for SOMETHING other than eating... ;)

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Sophia Kathleen: A Baptism

This was the first baptism of this kind that I've ever attended and to be honest, I (along with pretty much every other woman in attendance!) was pretty torn up over the fact that this sweet little baby was being fully immersed!! It was pretty traumatic! Aside from the trauma that (thankfully) little Sophia won't remember when she's older, it was an absolutely beautiful event full of the warmest and most welcoming and loving family and friends! I am blessed to have been a part of it. :)

Sophia's mother, Angela, found me online and emailed me about photographing this event in a documentary/candid style (my very favorite ;), and I jumped at the opportunity! They were coming from Alberta so we didn't get to meet until the day before, but they're just the sort of people you feel like you've known forever, you know? I love people like that!

We went over the order of events for the ceremony and the luncheon afterward, and an extra bit of fun: They wanted all of the families and couples who were there to have a family portrait taken if they wanted as a special gift from them! What an awesome idea! There were some beautiful trees and grass beside the church, so it made for a perfect backdrop!

Here are some of my favorite shots from the day, although let me tell you, it was hard narrowing it down... you have no idea!!







Sophia's godparents were the ones to hold her throughout the ceremony. Her parents Tom and Angela made sure to get the whole thing on video though!









Angela kept hiding behind Tom so Sophia wouldn't see her and start crying––it was so cute!

























I love her hand in the cheerios! They definitely helped to distract her... ;)





















This is one of my favorite pictures because her face is just so pitiful, how can you not go "AWWWWWW" and want to hug her??









Mom finally gets to hold her!!































I'm going to just post one of my favorites from the mini-family-portrait session since there were so many (this is my favorite partly because I love sister shots! Reminds me of me and my sisters!):



After we were finished at the church, we headed over to Thanasi's Greek Restaurant for the BEST luncheon EVER...







Another absolute favorite of mine... Sophia and her grandpa:



I could post so many more but I'll end this post here! The last thing I need is my blog crashing because of photo overload! ;)

Sending out another huge thank you to Tom and Angela and all of the wonderful people I met that day for your hospitality and for allowing me to be a part of such a special event! I am blessed!!

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