Wedding: Kate and Greg

A couple of Saturdays ago I spent another day with the fabulous, Kim Reed, photographing Kate and Greg's wedding. When I arrived, I was greeted by Kate who told me that she loves my work and was secretly hoping that I would be the one shooting with Kim. Um, I totally love her! She had me at "hello" ;)
Then, I went outside to check out where the ceremony and reception were and about fell over. Talk about beautiful! If I had to do it over I'm pretty sure this is how I'd do it. Smack dab in the middle of nature with wild flowers growing everywhere. The only cars for miles were the ones pulling into the drive for the wedding. There were literally cows mooing in the neighboring meadow. It immediately brought me back to being a kid on my grandparent's farm and I LOVED it!
Kate looked amazing in her Paloma Blanca gown and birdcage veil. (Of course, Kate's a knock-out and would have looked good in a burlap bag.) Let's not forget Greg, though, who wore a killer linen suit that he looked quite dapper in. These two are a totally hot couple and I wish them years of happiness!
Thanks so much for allowing me to be part of your day. I hope you guys had a ball on your honeymoon and made lots of "stupid stops" along the way!



See, did I say she was gorgeous?

The family dog decided he wanted in on the action.

I love the little ray of sunlight shining on her ring.

One of my favorites!

The very handsome groom.

This is where they got married.

I love these images.

It was such a beautiful day.


First kiss.
This shot of Kate's mom and dad walking back with their pooch just makes me smile.

Some of the details.


After the ceremony we headed down to the creek. These two were up for anything!


An old building we found along our walk.

Love the rays of sunlight on this one.

Definitely one of my favorites.

Walking to the reception.

My very favorite shot of the night.
There was a full moon.

Another sleepy head.

Cheers,

Two weddings and a funeral

I'm totally behind in posting but I do have good reasons. A good friend's father passed away unexpectedly last week so we had calling hours on Sunday. This also happened to be the day of my son's seventh birthday party. And I had not one but two weddings this weekend (Friday and Saturday). Both of these events were so fun and I can't wait to post the images for you to see. I also have the images from Kate and Greg's farm wedding that I shot with the fabulous, Kim Reed, to post. I'll be getting those up later today.

Until then,

Wedding: AnnaLe and Scott

Weddings shouldn't be about having the perfect day or the perfect dress. Weddings should be about having a day that is perfect for you. AnnaLe and Scott did just that. I've witnessed a lot of weddings but I'm not sure I've ever seen two people who smiled as much as these guys. I don't have a single image of them not smiling and that's saying quite a lot when you've got over 600 images from the day! It was obvious from the moment I met them how totally head-over-heels in love with each other they are.
Their day was lovely, the bridal party was awesome and their guests were super cool and fun to chat with. I had tons of fun! I wish you guys the best that life has to offer. May your lives continue to be filled with love and laughter!




All smiles at the altar.

All smiles on the dance floor. BTW...they learned the Fox Trot for their first dance.

I love this moment after the father/daughter dance.

Some of the details. (They had a photobooth and South Park cake toppers!)

The handsome groom.

The lovely bride.

I just LOVE AnnaLe's face as she's coming down the aisle.

The girls having a rest after standing in those fabulously, fushia footwear. :)

Did I mention that I LOVED their shoes?

Hopping off the trolley.

OK, I adored these little South Park cake toppers! SO cute.

Oh, I totally know how he feels. Just pooped!

Cheers,

Giveaway time!

In honor of the "grand opening" of Jaci Clark Photography I'm happy to announce our first ever giveaway. But before I do, I wanted to take a quick second to say thank you for all the lovely comments I've been receiving both publicly and privately. It feels really good to have so much support and encouragement from everyone!

And now, the fun part. For my first giveaway I decided to put all the names of people who left those nice comment about my new site or blog into a bag. With the help of my lovely albeit reluctant assistants (I asked them to stop watching cartoons to help me), we pulled out a name and got ourselves a winner!
And the winner is....

Congratulations Joan! You won a gift certificate to one of my favorite online jewelry stores, Shy Siren. They make the most beautiful, hand-crafted pieces. They have styles perfect for any occasion including that "something blue" you brides might be looking for. I especially love their Vintage Chic pieces so be sure to have a look-see at those too. And if you sign up for their newsletter you get a 15% off coupon. Awesome! Joan, you need to send me your email to receive your gift. Congrats again.

Be sure and stay tuned for the next giveaway. I think I'll do a contest. Funniest self portrait maybe? Or maybe you have a better idea for a contest? If so, leave me a comment and tell me about it.


Cheers,

Notice anything different?

Yep, it's my new blog! Isn't it great?! I wanted something totally different that was fun and unique and I'm pretty sure that's what I got. Don't you just love the little camera gal? She's my favorite. I wanted a way to show great, big images so we moved all the stuff cluttering up the sidebar to the bottom and expanded the area for posts to accommodate a larger photo. Of course when I say "we" what I really mean is not me but my designer. A HUGE thanks goes out to Courtney over at Judith Shakes Designs who, in spite of my million and one questions, tons of e-mails, and numerous changes, was able to produce this kick ass blog design and still call me "hon." She was so fantastic to work with, and I highly recommend her.

More big news, you say. You want more? OK, how's this...my new website is finally live! Jaci Clark Photography has a new home. I pushed the "go live" button a few days ago and the guys over at Creative Motion Design made it happen in the blink of an eye. Again, I wanted way to show great, big images on a site that was clean and easy to navigate and that's just what I found with CMD. Thank you to Steven for your many phone calls to answer my many questions. Your customer services rocks! I can hardly believe that it's all coming together. I've been working on this new site since May and am thrilled to finally be able to show it off.

Lastly, I need to say "thanks" to my hubby for helping me with my SEO, DSN and all those other computer/internet acronyms that zoom over my head leaving me clueless. If you could use some help on that kind of stuff, he's your guy! Thanks to my kiddos as well for putting up with me these last few months.

So, in honor of the "grand opening" I've got some really cool things planned for all you dedicated blog readers out there including some fun giveaways and a totally rockin' contest where you could win wedding coverage from yours truly! Spread the word, tell all your friends and stay tuned for details. Oh and be sure to leave me a comment 'cuz you never know when I might pull a name and give a prize!

Cheers,

Wedding: Ashley and Michael

Ashley and Michael got married last Saturday at Bath UCC. This church had HUGE windows (great for natural light photography) and an amazing pipe organ! These guys were one of the most well prepared couples I've ever seen. They left themselves plenty of extra time before the ceremony which came in quite handy when she realized they'd left her veil and dad's tux at home. They had sewing kits, steamers and super glue. The guys brought Trivial Pursuit and a ball to toss around in case they got bored. LOL! They were ready for whatever the day would bring. Leaving so much extra time really helped everyone to stay stress-free.

The weather held up nicely and blue skies filled the air all afternoon. The ceremony was lovely and contained some wonderful readings from family and friends. The reception was held at the beautiful Martin University Center at Akron U. Ashley and Michael did an Anniversary dance. For those who don't know what this is, they invite all the married couples out onto the dance floor and start eliminating couples by saying, "If you're married 5 years or less, please leave the floor." This goes on until there's one couple left. In this case it was Ashley's grandparents who were married almost 54 years! AWESOME! I'm always so moved and inspired by couples like this!

Ashley and Michael, wishing you as many happy years together as your grandparents have!



I love this shot of Ashley!

Being laced up by mom and sister.

I adore this image of Ashley and her mom.

The boys with that FAB pipe organ.

Petal toss.

Happy, married shadows :)

Ashley and Michael.

He was always kissing her hand. What a guy!

Ashley's grandma getting an early taste of the cake.

Their details.

Ashley and her maid of honor.

First dance.

Ashley and her sister dancing with their grandma.

Ashley's grandma telling everyone that you need a lot of patience to be married for 54 years.


Cheers,

Funny neighbors, Italian Fest and Picnics

I had a weekend off a few Saturdays ago and stuffed it full of family time. We went to the Mt. Carmel Italian Festival for some socializing and good food. I had a sausage sandwich with peppers and onions (extra onions please). B tried a meatball sandwich for the first time and loved it. (That boy could live on meatballs!)
We also drove up to Akron for Grandma's work picnic. The kiddos were especially excited as there was a jumping castle, games, face painting, and balloon artists. The lady doing the face painting was incredible to watch. She was so fast and added so many details. The balloon artists were AMAZING! I've never seen anything like what they were doing. Far more advanced than the balloon poodles of my day!
Here's some photos from our weekend but first I just had to share this picture of my neighbor. It's been kind of rainy here lately so trying to get the lawn mowed is a challenge. But that didn't stop my neighbor who was determined to get his grass cut. LOL!

R eating her favorite food at the Italian Fest.

B's first attempt at a meatball sandwich.

Self portrait of me and B.

Let the face painting begin.



R's beautiful butterfly.

Tyler playing volleyball.

R in the jumping castle (or bounce around as she likes to call it)

R's flower balloon bracelet.

The truth is out there!

The sunglasses were too cute.

Although I question the placement of the elephant for this photo, it is quite amazing.

A fish on a fishing pole. Too cool!

This giraffe hat was awesome!

Goofy and Chicken Little.

Sea turtle.

The lady who made this snake poured salt in the "rattle" so it made the noise.

B's tiger.


I just LOVE his expression seeing his face for the first time!

GRRRR! They're great!


Cheers,