it takes a special couple to hire you when you are living on a different continent for pretty much the whole ten months leading up to their wedding. maria and paul are just that! we had hopes of meeting up in person prior to the wedding day but my travels never really made it possible until the week of the wedding. but even with all this said, maria and paul were the most laid back couple, working together with my experience to nail down details for the day and prepare for the possibility of rain meeting us for the whole wedding day.
well, last friday came and went, and it certainly was a wedding to remember - these two know how to laugh and see the humor in everything. even with the unpredictable forecast, maria did such an amazing job of taking the day for exactly what it was, a wedding worth a full heart of celebration! and wouldn't you know it..but we caught a window of clearing and were able to have the ceremony on the lakeshore, under the cool clouds of an august afternoon..and it was beautiful!
paul & maria, we now know each other at a whole other level, haha..thanks for letting me tag along and for trusting me throughout the day. i wish you two all the best in your lives together!
blessings,
-npe
it is always exciting when you get the chance to shoot at a new location, especially when it is for such an awesome couple like mallory and brian. even with a bit longer commute to this past saturday's wedding, it was so worth it to document these two and their beautiful wedding celebration.
and you could totally tell that this wedding..well, it was all brian and mal! from the unique and super cool antler woven into the bridal bouquet, to the stunning backdrop of the northern michigan wilderness..it was a wonderful day*
thank you so much m&b for inviting me to come along and share in the celebration. it felt like we had known each other for years, and that is such a gift to me as I strived to capture all the details and beauty of your wedding. blessing to you two!
much love,
-npe
where to start with these two? giovanna and daniel were some of our first friends in oxford..introducing us to a true sunday pub experience, welcoming us into the community of our little church in the city, and befriending our children. daniel had grown up near san francisco, not far from where my parents currently live..and we immediately realized that we had a lot in common surrounding photography, sound engineering, and all the geeky details in between. granted, daniel is a biochemist with a phd working with dna sequencing in oxford...so there is quite a large gap on the intelligence spectrum between us, but that didn't seem to hinder the friendship, ha!
when d&g got engaged in paris, they talked about a wedding in italy and i was so very honored to be welcomed into that conversation with the possible privilege of documenting the day. with plans in place for the wedding to be back near giovanna's hometown, we worked to nail down details for the few days i would be in country..which we realized was no small task! giovanna took on a great deal of trust in me, having to rely on her own knowledge of traditional weddings in italy, with the perspective i was bringing along with daniel's vision for uniting two cultures on such a special day.
in the end, it was an incredible day - through and through! all the hard work and attention to detail, timelines, logistics, and possible roadblocks...daniel and giovanna truly settled in and lived in the moment, a hope and prayer i have for each of my clients. they bridged the cultural gap between america and italy with grace and it was such a delight to watch these two families become one. and i have to say, italian weddings are amazing! to watch giovanna's friends and family welcome daniel in with plenty of kisses and even language barriers in great abundance..it was incredible.
thank you giovanna & daniel...i know you put a great deal of trust in a person who was so far from the planning and details of the day, and i don't take that lightly. i was able to watch your wedding unfold in all the honesty and beauty that it was, recognizing that at the center of it all was your mutual and passionate love for Jesus, and His design of what marriage was made for. jana and i hope and pray to come visit you sooner rather than later, but in the meantime...all grace and peace to you two as you begin your married lives together. we love you dearly!
blessings,
-npe
i had the privilege of joining with kaleigh and dylan this past saturday, along with their joyous family and friends...to celebrate a wedding that was several years in the making. these two had been together for years and i could certainly feel the culminating excitement and love that broke through every moment last weekend. no amount of rain earlier in the day could derail the joys and anticipation that dylan and kaleigh had all day long.
the ceremony was inside at the family church which worked out perfectly as the rain decided to stop just after the ceremony was done and we had the freedom to hit the party bus and make any stops we wanted for photos. and talk about a fun wedding party - kaleigh and dylan, you certainly surrounded yourselves with wonderful friends who love and adore you!
thank you two so much for welcoming me in - i felt like one of the party and loved spending the day with you. i wish you two the very best and all God's blessings in your marriage. one wedding day down, 100 or more anniversaries to go!
all the best,
-npe
when you pair a sophisticated, hilarious, joyful girl from america...with an intelligent, thoughtful, authentic gentleman from switzerland...you get a couple that everybody wants to be friends with! and you know their party is going to be just that..a PARTY!
sometimes i don't have the chance to meet with couples in person before the wedding day...that was the case for katie and lukas...but their wedding just goes to show that even by means of skype and facetime, you can hit it off with clients and stand amazed at how lucky you were that they picked you to shoot their wedding. this was exactly my experience on saturday. so much fun, so much laughter, so many sharply dressed new friends. ahhhh, it was all great. and shooting on top of the jw is always a nice addition too.
k&l..thank you again for seeking me out all those months ago. thank you for putting your trust in me. thank you for being yourselves through and through..it was beautiful!
blessings,
- npe
its not every day that you have a couple hire you two years out. i know i may not have been as excited as these two for this past saturday, but i can say that two years certainly does build up the anticipation...and their beautiful day did not disappoint!
i could sense their authenticity and kindness right away when we first met over coffee. its the type of meeting i leave, truly hoping that the couple hires me, simply and selfishly because i want to be their friends and see first-hand the impact they have on those around them. yes, they are that cool, haha! and what do you know, i was given that incredible gift!
katie & zach's wedding was about as perfect a michigan summer day as you could get. and it was wrapped up in love and affection, with a wedding party that adored these two, and family and friends that knew how to shower a bride and groom with love. from the incredible details that katie and her mom worked tirelessly on, to the tears zach shed as his bride walked down the aisle to him..it was moment after moment of beauty.
zach & katie, thank you for the honor of joining you on your wedding. thank you for your testimonies and for beginning your marriage on the foundation of the gospel. you two are an inspiration and encouragement to everyone around you. much love you two!
blessings,
-npe
i was standing with her at the end of the night. guests had made their way out to gather for the sparkler exit and her new husband was saying goodbye to grandpa in the corner. susie recalled, with deep gratitude in the tone of her voice, a conversation she remembered having with her mom...where the topic of taking mental pictures of special life events had been discussed.
'my mom told me how she remembered carrying me up to bed, and thinking of how heavy i was getting...and how this might be the last time i let her carry me because i was getting so big. she made sure to remember everything about that moment'
and there we stood, just about to run out through a flood of love and sparklers...and susie reminded herself to take a mental picture. justin joined us, and off we went, heading for the tunnel of sparks and a final few photos..
what a good reminder that was for me, standing there at the end of what was a wonderful day. we benefit greatly from the purposed practice of slowing down in the midst of life, and settling our senses enough to hold the moment in grateful appreciation. i didn't get the chance to meet susie or justin in person before their wedding day..but it didn't matter. these two graciously welcoming me into the beautiful mayhem of what a wedding day can be, breaking at the seams with moment after moment of laughter and love. and what a day it was!
thank you susie and justin, for the trust you placed in me, and for the incredible honor you gave me of helping to cement those fleeting moments into your memories forever. it was so much fun to be back to the states for such a celebration. i wish you both the very best. continue to cultivate a love between you two...serve one another with a selfless love, and never, ever, stop dating ;D
much love,
-npe
where to begin...amy and eric were the perfect way to cap off a weekend of shooting in michigan. i've had the privilege of calling eric a friend for a while now - we met at our church in grand rapids and have kept in touch since he moved out of the state. i met amy vicariously through her blog that eric told me about...which by the way, is super impressive. not only is she the sweetest, but she is a food stylist and recipe extraordinaire! meeting her in person was even better as everyone can see in an instant that these two are so perfect for one another.
from the stunning details of the ever impressive cheney place, to the honest and sincere letters these two wrote to one another...everything about last sunday was a joy. thank you e&a for inviting me in! it truly was my privilege to spend the day with you and yours, pray with you, document such jubilance, and cut a rung together under those disco balls. much love you two!
blessings,
- npe
this past weekend was pretty special for a few reasons. our family has been living in oxford, england for the past several months and our home in michigan has been feeling a long way away. when molly contacted me about possibly photographing her wedding, i was amazed at the providence of the situation as i had been discussing another wedding the same weekend back in michigan. although i unfortunately have had to miss some weddings back in the states while we have been gone , having these two weddings in the same weekend made it possible for me to return for a few days and pick back up the camera after an extended off season.
molly and trevor, along with their families and friends, made last saturday a truly wonderful day! the weather was perfect for a late may wedding and these two made the most of it...not to mention a guest list of more than 400 friends and family - talk about people loving on m&t!! trevor is in the military and has been living out west, so now that they are married, the couple is headed back out to las vegas. we will miss you two! thanks for inviting me in to celebrate with you!
many blessings*
- npe
these mountains know me. they tested me from a young age. they are etched into my memory...and continue to remind me of the wilds of my youth. and when i have the chance to return, i count it a privilege and joy!
i had that very privilege when thomas and alissa asked if i would join them in the snowy mountains of washington, and it was such a gift! alissa's family have been dear friends since I was young and the honor of shooting her wedding was something that i sincerely appreciated and enjoyed. i don't think leavenworth could have been more perfect...from the sun breaking through at seemingly orchestrated moments, to the base of snow that has been falling on the valley for the past month..i was wide-eyed at nearly every turn. it certainly didn't hurt that these two looked incredible amid the white wilds of the cascades.
t&a, thank you so very much for such a wonderful day. i replay the day over in my mind and still cannot believe how fortunate we were to have such stunning beauty surround the beauty of promising your lives to each other. may God richly bless you two in the years to come, through the difficult and the encouraging, the joys and sorrows. much love to you too!
all the best,
-npe
