A Year in Review: 2011

Posted in Engagements,Weddings

So. It’s New Year’s Eve Eve today. Anyone else feel like this year went by faster than when The Roadrunner flies by Wiley Coyote? Or something along those lines anyway. But, seeing as there are only two more days this year, that means it’s time for a little review! I did my first review last year with the intent of being able to look back and see how much I’ve progressed this year. Essentially, I wanted to grade myself. (Yes, I was the child who wanted to see my parents put every gold star I ever got on the fridge.)

But as I was going through the photos this year, I realized something. As much as I do want to continually see myself progress and never stop trying to be better, this review is more than just a way to gauge myself. Oh, so much more. This is a memory book of all the couples who allowed me into a special part of their lives, and trusted me to document it. It is an album of the wonderful people I got to hang out with, the new friends I’ve made, and the memories made with old ones. If you ask me, that’s way better than even the biggest gold star.

Here are some of my favorite couple photos from 2011:

Bring on 2012 :)

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Janey - December 30, 2011 - 12:34 pm

Beautiful, as always! :)

heather nan - January 2, 2012 - 9:16 am

Love that first b & w, and a little partial to the last two ;) Beautiful work Carissa!

Mary Marantz - January 2, 2012 - 10:47 am

that last one?? GORGEOUS!!

xoxo
M:)

Park City Anytime: The Esekes

Posted in Anytime

Meet the beautiful Eseke Family! I have a lot of love in my heart for these special people. I could go into quite a bit of detail about how wonderful they are and how kind they’ve been to me, but I will just say this… They are some of the most caring and generous people I’ve ever met, and I am a better person for knowing them. So of course I was thrilled to take some family photos for them :) Despite the bitter cold, they totally rocked it out. And I think they had me laughing more than I made them laugh. (Which is pretty rare. I mean, I’m kind of hilarious.) Enjoy a few of my favorites of this awesome family!!

The fab four :)

These next two crack me up.

Haha.

David and Heidi are such a great example of love. 

Heidi, you are so gorgeous!!

And of course David has to be provide a little entertainment on the side. Haha.

Brother sister love :)

So Twilightesque. Which means I love it, of course.

And yes, David making us all laugh again. Haha.

I’ll finish with this shot.

Thanks for braving the cold you guys!! Love you all :)

 

Merry Christmas!

Posted in Personal

Last year, I tried to make a killer Christmas video to send out to family and friends. To save paper. And to look cool. (I think I accomplished two of those.) So when it came time to start thinking about Christmas cards this year, my mind went straight back to last year’s video….

Yep, I did it again. Because I’m nothing if not competitive. So of course I had to one up myself and make a better video. Did I succeed? Well, it’s definitely longer… But I’ll let you be the judge.

May your holidays be full of laughter, filled with yummy cookies, and overflowing with love. And a few presents, too :)

Merry Christmas from the Uribes!!

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Gary - December 25, 2011 - 11:58 am

I loved the video. Makes me feel like I’m there! Merry Christmas.

Handmade Albums

Posted in Photography

One of my absolute favorite things to do is look at old photos. I love being transported to another time, another place… And there is something so wonderful about holding a photograph in your hand, the texture of the paper and the richness of the print. I’m all about the tangible product and not just looking at things on a screen. (Which is probably why I’m not a huge fan of Kindles. But that’s a whole other can of worms.)

I got to look at a lot of old photographs of my Grandma and Grandpa last weekend. Their wedding pictures were my favorite. They only have a couple from their small wedding, but those few pictures are treasures. Yet another reminder for me of just how important wedding photos are, not only to the bride and groom, but to their families and generations to come. Which is why I am SO excited to share the albums I will be offering in my 2012 collections. I searched for a long time to find the perfect album… One that is beautifully crafted, yet sturdy and able to stand the test of time. One that represents my brand and the weddings I photograph. One that provides a gorgeous display and can be made as individual as my brides are.

I found it in Ginkgo Albums. Their breathtaking albums are each handmade with a lovely fabric cover and bound by beautiful satin ribbon. The pages are actually archival mat board, and every single photo is matted into the page, rather than pictures printed onto a paper page. This means it will last long after the grandkids and even great grandkids get to look at it. Plus it’s the prettiest album I could imagine for a wedding. Which, if you ask me, is never a bad thing :)

I recently received my first sample album from them so I thought I’d share in the prettiness! They have a variety of colors to choose for the fabric and ribbon, but I went with gray and purple, obviously. The albums also come with a matching case for extra protection and safe storage…

The album itself has ribbon binding and an optional ribbon on front to tie the book shut. (Which was a no brainer for me. Who doesn’t want more bows?)

The mat pages are strong and thick.

This album also lends itself to my design preference: simple and clean with plenty of white space.

So there you have it! Beautiful handcrafted albums to showcase your wedding. Hope you love them as much as I do :)

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Ashantai Yungai - December 23, 2011 - 1:24 pm

Those are lovely! Seems like your clients will love this!
Oh yeah… I’m the same way about tangible products! =)

Jess - December 23, 2011 - 8:07 pm

Oh wow! These are so perfect for you! I LOVE them!

Sleep Drunk and Eggnog Milkshakes

Posted in Personal

Soooo you know how I said last week that I’d still be blogging while I was out of town? Well yeah. Clearly THAT didn’t happen. It ended up being really busy, and such short, precious time with family, that I didn’t even have time to blog the posts I had planned. But don’t worry, I’ll save them for later :) And thanks again for all your prayers and support. Everything went as smoothly as it could have and I’m grateful for the time my family had together.

Anyhow, I have some advice for you those of you traveling during this holiday season. It’s one simple word. SLEEP. Allow me to explain… The short notice of what happened meant some last minute planning to travel to Chicago. In the hectic-ness of trying to get everything done before I left on Tuesday morning, I stayed up quite late and only a got a few hours of sleep. About 3, to be exact. As it turns out, I don’t do well with only a few hours of sleep. (Actually, I already knew that I don’t do well with little sleep. But this was bad. Real bad. Haha.)

Here are a few things you might do when traveling on only 3 hours of sleep…

1. You might think that the bow made by shoelaces on a pair of boots in a magazine is a brilliant new idea, and not something that people have been doing since the dawn of shoelaces. (I was legitimately amazed for several minutes at how cute of an idea it was to tie a bow with shoelaces. It wasn’t until my mom started laughing hysterically that I realized I was an idiot.)

2. You might have a panic attack thinking your phone fell out of your purse, and start running back to the plane in a frenzy, only to realize that your phone has been in your hand the entire time. (Awkward moment of realization when everyone is staring at you. Very awkward.)

3. You might think that it’s your lucky day at baggage claim and all of your bags are coming out first, instead of realizing that you stopped to go to the bathroom and buy a salad, so your bags are actually the only ones left. (Yes, I actually remarked out loud how that has never happened to me before and how cool it was that our bags were first. Embarrassing.)

4. You might be told that you look drunk while you are out to ice cream with your family later that night. (And sadly, this is not the first time lack of sleep has caused people to think I’m drunk. It’s not a pretty sight.)

So next time you have to travel with little sleep, beware of the tricks your brain can play. And on a completely unrelated note, if you’re ever in the Naperville Illinois, be sure to stop in and get some ice cream at Oberweis Dairy. You won’t regret it. I got this pretty little (and by little I mean massive) cup of eggnog milkshake and it was deeeeelish.

Happy Wednesday!