In this issue of “A Day in the Life of a Seattle Wedding Photographer” this is Pat, Kent and I having fun with the Emerald City Photo Booth. Pat and Kent of A Heavenly Ceremony are one of the best officiants in the Seattle area. Check them out at www.aheavenlyceremony.com They’re both very personable. It’s always fun to see them at these events.

Lake Washington Rowing Club by Prive Events, a classy venue with a fabulous water view off the deck, Open House put on by Prive Events and catered by Seasoned in Seattle Catering.

Vendors in attendance were:
The SweetSide, Emerald City Photo Booth, Foss Productions DJ, Pedersen’s Rentals, Bunny Bear Press, British Motor Coach, Seattle Farm Tables, Theo Chocolate, Metropolitan Market Floral and more!
Dixie of Seattle Met Bride and Groom magazine as well as Bill from Act 3 Catering were there too. Always great to see friends and meet new ones!

Emily and Matt’s wedding was incredible! Their winter theme was perfect all the way from the smallest detail of the evergreen boutineers to the several feet of snow that came just in time for their big day! There was a hot chocolate serving area, smores station over a big rock fireplace outside where you could watch the snow fall, glittery pine cones adorned the tables, scented candles as guest gifts and a big variety of cupcakes to choose from! It was a wonderful event where Emily and Matt really rolled out the red carpet for their guests. Their details perfectly matched the log cabin with cathedral ceilings and two huge stone fireplaces. It was cozy and fun and everyone was smiling from ear to ear from the first “I-do” until the last dance.

We are so blessed to have the greatest clients who feel like more than clients to us.  It’s special people like Emily and Matt who really warm out hearts not only with yummy hot chocolate but sweet hospitality.

The vendors were fabulous:

Event Coordinator Mountain Springs Lodge
[email protected]
Caterer Mountain springs lodge

Cake Artist Homefires Bakery

Gown Boutique The Wedding Bell
(253) 759-2513

Musician/DJ Leavenworth DJ

Venue Mountain Springs Lodge

Videography is something I wish every wedding would have.  When I’m photographing a wedding and during the vows people are crying and laughing and I am taken away with the words being exchanged that are so full of emotion I can barely breath.  I look around the room searching for a video camera and there isn’t one and I am heartbroken because I know these words will never be spoken in this exact way ever again.

There are certain elements of a typical wedding day that just can’t be captured any other way. Videography with good audio captures your vows.  It gets the toasts where your loved ones say funny things about your past, sweet things about your nature and loving things about your future together that will never again be repeated.  It captures your first dance as newlyweds as well the dances with the parents.

Hildebrand Productions captures all of these moments as well as any others throughout your day that you want for example, the getting ready, first look, hitting the town after the first look and before the ceremony for photos with your bridal party, walking down the aisle, the dancing in the reception.

Come visit us at the Tacoma Wedding Expo put on by Brides Club this weekend at the Tacoma Dome.  I will give you your very own copy of the first issue of Emerald City Bride magazine!

I’ll see you this weekend!

bonus: Our booth is exactly across from the snack bar!

Katie and Sam are so beautiful, in side and out. We had a great time on their engagement photo session.  They met at Virginia Tech University. She even wore their school colors in one of her outfits for the shoot. It’s fun hearing all of their experiences they’ve shared together. Their wedding will be on a golf course in Virginia.  We are very much looking forward to being a part of their wedding day. They’re the greatest!

Q. Like every snowflake and every photograph, we know that every couple is different and unique. So we want to treat you as such. When we photograph your wedding day the more we know about the real you as individuals and as a couple will help us capture who you truly are. What’s your story? How did you meet? How did the proposal go?

A. About Katie

Katie grew up in Southwest Virginia. She attended Virginia Tech to study Human Nutrition and Exercise and then studied Physical Therapy at Lynchburg College. She is currently practicing as a Doctor of Physical Therapy in an outpatient clinic in Kent, Washington. She treats a variety of orthopedic injuries and is currently pursuing a certification in manual therapy.
In her free time, Katie enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest with Sam, crafting, and trying new recipes. She is excited to be meeting new people and serving at her local church, Calvary Baptist, in Renton, Washington. She is excited to see where Christ is leading her, in faith, life and community.

About Sam

Sam grew up in Northern Virginia, outside Washington DC. He attended Virginia Tech where he studied Aerospace Engineering. He is currently working for Boeing where he designs the new 737MAX.
In his free time Sam enjoys, hiking with Katie, reading, listening to Jazz, and sketching new aircraft designs. (which he will one day build in the garage if Katie will let him).

How we met

Sam and Katie met in the fall of 2007 while dancing to the Hokie Pokie at Virginia Tech. Sam quotes “I saw this curly-haired girl from afar and had to go say hello.” Sam and Katie were both members of the Marching Virginians where they played in the clarinet section and cheered on the Hokies from the best seats in Lane Stadium.

How we got engaged

When Sam first asked Katie out on a date, they were in Miami, Florida attending the Orange Bowl with Virginia Tech. Sam asked Katie to be his girlfriend on the beach. One year later they celebrated their anniversary in Miami on a return trip to the Orange Bowl. To commemorate their time, they took some jars of sand from the beach (a special idea from Sam’s mom).
On March 2, 2013, Sam insisted that Katie should go on a jog with him in the local park. Sam had the jar of sand hidden in his jacket. In Coulon Park overlooking Lake Washington, Sam got down on one knee with the sand (bringing the beach to Katie) and asked Katie to spend forever with him. She said Yes!
A side note: the top the the jar of sand was stuck and Katie thought at the time her ring was stuck in the sand too. Haha! Good thing Sam had the ring hidden in his other pocket!

Introducing Missy and Michael aka M&M.  It’s so cute that their initials is the same a yummy, fun, happy candy. They are the sweetest, most fun-loving couple. They met at the bar he works at and it’s been true love ever since! I’ve never photographed a tortoise before but we are total animal lovers so it just added to the fun of the day to have their sweet pets there.  Their dog was a love and the turtle, well, I think he was a tough guy with attitude, he was cool. Their jersey shirts have their wedding date numbers on the backs of them…so clever.  Their wedding is at the Trinity Tree Farm which is a newer venue that I cannot wait to see. Their wedding is going to be so beautiful. We can’t wait!

This is our time of year to regroup and be productive behind the scenes and boy have we been! We created a promo video starring us, created Emerald City Bride magazine, have been teaching lighting as well as 101 classes with photoshop classes coming up soon. There’s never a dull moment here at Hildebrand Photography.  So, this issue of our magazine is full of advice for brides, bridesmaids, moms and grooms and everyone else involved in the planning process on how to plan their wedding day. We talk about the pros and cons (are there any?) of “The First Look”, two of our favorite venues are featured, why we love engagement sessions and you will too! as well as Destination Weddings…we are happy to fly the friendly skies for you! It’s sure to be a helpful, informative issue full of of all the must know details of wedding fun.

We have been published! Modern Jewish Wedding blog featured Jennifer and Josh’s Pickering Barn wedding in Issaquah. What a gorgeous wedding theirs was full of heartfelt vows, toasts and lots of fun dancing. Truly a day to be remembered!

http://www.themodernjewishwedding.com/washington-state-modern-jewish-wedding-from-hildebrand-photography/

Go check out the full publication here:

Thank you to the vendors involved in making their day so special!

Pickering Barn
Twelve Baskets Catering

2 More reasons why we love what we do…and they are Alicia and Kevin. They are the greatest! Their wedding was full of laughter, dancing, hugging, kids breakdancing, disco lights, tear jerking first dances…everyone was so happy for them and their sweet family. And the icing on the cake was well, the wedding cake! Bright green and adorned with white daisies it was delicious!
Here’s a sweet note from them to us that I wanted to share. We have the greatest job ever!

Hey guys-

Things have finally slowed down for us a bit so i wanted to drop you a line and let you know that we were sooo impressed with the day of wedding slideshow, I think it was my favorite part, and also we have had multiple family/friends giving praise for our photographers. Everyone really liked you both! Thanks for everything, especially that beautiful frame with picture… It is adorning our living room 1f642

-Alicia and Kevin

Hildebrand Photography’s Most Esteemed Vendors

The weddings that run the smoothest are those with professional/experienced wedding vendors.  If anything should go wrong we all work like a smooth running machine and fix it before anyone even knows something was awry.  It’s a beautiful thing.

The professionals listed below are hand chosen by us.  We respect them.

So, interview them, hire them and be happy that you did…you can thank us later. 1f609

VENUES:

Salish Lodge www.salishlodge.com  425.888.2556

Skansonia Ferry http://www.skansonia.com/ 206.545.9109

Willows Lodge www.willowslodge.com  425.424.3900

Trinity Tree Farm trinitytreefarm.com/ 425.391.8733

 The Loft at Russell’s, www.russelllowell.com/  425.486.4072

De Lille Cellars, www.delillecellars.com 425.489.0544

Bear Creek Golf and Country Club, http://www.bearcreekcc.com/ 425.883.4770

EVENT RENTALS:

Grand Event Rentals www.grandeventrentalswa.com  425.462.7368

HAIR & MAKU-UP SALONS:

Winslow Salon, Helen, www.winslowsalon.com  425.629.3686

Salon Maison www.salonmaison.net  425.223.3278

Kathy Evans Beauty Studio http://kathyevansbeautystudio.com/ 425.822.0600

VIDEOGRAPHERS:

Hildebrand Productions,  www.hildebrandphoto.com  206.399.4987

FLORISTS:

Seattle Floral Design, Lana, www.seattlefloraldesign.com 206.414.8446

CATERERS:

Act 3 Catering www.act3catering.com , Bill Riordan, 425.251.9102

Gallucci’s Catering, www.galluccis.com , Adrielle 253.572.6828

LIMOS:

Viva Limousine http://elitelimos.com/main.htm 206.542.5733

 FAVORITE DJ:

Event Source NW, Troy, www.eventsourcenw.com/weddings.html  425.896.8118

Sounds Unlimited www.asoundsunlimited.com 206.364.4000

LIVE MUSIC:

O’Shields Studio, Vocalist, Kerstin, [email protected]  206.852.1914

Alex Ho, Cellist, [email protected]

Noteworthy Productions, Jeff and Rhiannon pianists www.noteworthyproductions.com  206.724.2782

OFFICIANT:

Patricia and Kent www.aheavenlyceremony.com  206.789.9788

Rev. Eric Warn, www.ericwarn.com , 253.222.3742

Event Source NW, Troy, www.eventsourcenw.com/weddings.html , 425.896.8118

Seattle Wedding Officiants, Elaine Way www.seattleweddingofficiants.com/  206.406.7919

COORDINATORS:

Wendy of Simplee Wendy   www.simpleewendy.com  253.332.4883

It’s Your Day Event and Expressions   www.itsyourdayevents.com  425.908.7092

Love Blooms Event Design, www.lovebloomseventdesign.weebly.com    425.681.2249

New Creations , www.newcreationsweddings.com  206.491.0608

 Pink Orchid Events, www.pinkorchidevents.com   425.998.8039

PHOTO BOOTHS:

Hildebrand Productions,  www.hildebrandphoto.com  206.399.4987

brides-for-a-cause http://bridesforacause.com/dress-dash-confirmed-january-18-seattle/

We are proud to be sponsors at the Brides for a Cause Dress Dash event put on by Movin 92.5 radio station!
It’s going to be a crazy, fun event, we can’t wait! Join us tomorrow at the Cedarbrook Hotel in SeaTac 7:00am -11:00am…bright and early. It’ll definitely be worth it to be surrounded by rack loads of beautiful dresses where you’re sure to find your dream dress at a price that will blow your mind! Check out the link for more info.

See you there!

With so much color, beauty, festivities and happy people we were definitely trigger happy taking all sorts of photos like crazy. We had so much fun and were treated like family…an amazing night for sure!

I’ve been thinking…I know, “ut oh”. We capture incredible images all day long of every emotion at a wedding. Crying parents, happy dancers, proud uncles and silly bridesmaids but we don’t post them online. We reserve our online photos solely for our fine art photos. Plus, I secretly love black and white but only if it’s done well.
So, here’s to trying something new. The beginning of more emotions and more black and white. They might be a tad blurry but that shows motion, maybe grainy but texture is nice…reminiscent to film, not completely perfect but definitely emotional and real. These photos are captured as they were happening, real life. What do you think? I can’t get enough and am ready to blog many more!