Thank you to the talents of:

Rev Ray Van Winkle
425-742-2001

Blue Ribbon Cooking/The Weyerhaeuser Estate
206-328-2442

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/77519015 w=500&h=281]

Sandy and Josh’s wedding at The Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle was perfect. We ran around the Seattle Pikes Place Market with their wedding party and had a great time dodging tourists and cars, seeing beautiful views and cruising by the gum wall. Here is there slideshow to perfectly tell the story of their big day.
Enjoy!

This series of photos turned out completely different than I expected but perfect as they are. Nori and Tyler and the greatest. We thought Tyler was shy and reserved but at his wedding we saw the witty, great dancer, multitude of expressive faces and all around outgoing happy guy he really is. He and Nori are perfect together. She’s always happy, sweet and totally goes along with his jokes.

Their wedding was at The Weyerhaeuser Estate in Tacoma overlooking the breathtaking view. The Weyerhaeuser Estate features a breathtaking 16,000 square foot brick mansion built in the turn of the century. It’s very grandiose and regal. I put them on these stairs and told her to walk to him while he has one arm out, palm up, reaching for her. I was picturing a very classic scene to match the grounds. I did get the photos I was looking for but then Tyler had the vision of Michelangelo…or maybe it was E.T. but either way we were all cracking up. Then Nori, never skipping a step, reached out to him with her finger and bam we captured a series of them being them which was perfect.

Dawn and Brandon Hildebrand at the Mariners Baseball Game

marinersgame

This is how we relax the day after a wedding. This weather this summer in Seattle was incredibly nice. This day was perfect. I read my FB posts and found out a friend was at the game. I tried really hard to get a photo of where we were so she could find us. To get the giant score board behind me as well as us in the photo was no easy task. I practically had to stand on my head to get it. Brandon was like, “seriously, what are you doing? Do you see there’s a game going on here?” It was one of those challenges that once you start you just can’t let it go until you get it right. 1f642
My long lost friend, Wendy Long, found me, yay! It was really great to see her again!
We kicked back, ate junk food, watched the pitchers warm up (amazing athletes!), cheered for our team…you know, the usual.
Thank you Mariners for my perfect summer day with my sweety. Go Team!

Ps. The Mariners stadium event coordinators are encouraging more people to book weddings at the Mariners Stadium! We shot several weddings there this summer and they were a LOT of fun! I highly recommend it. The staff is excellent!

Everyone loves before and afters. They’re a fascinating learning tool in this quick, intelligent society we live in.

I really like the before photo of Jennifer and Josh at Pickering Barn in Issaquah. Brandon liked it too but kept saying there was something else there…something else to it. I see that now and then in one of our photos but this time it was Brandon’s turn. He was inspired and as soon as he had a spare moment he went to work.

Here’s where it turns into one of those games in the back of People magazine where you try to figure out how many differences there are between photos. How many differences do you see?

This one has been shifted, cropped on the left and stretched a bit there too possibly, external speed light spot deleted, changes made in Photoshop to bring out the details especially in her beautiful flowing gown, vignetting, textures added (probably his own textures from photos we took) to give it that timeless painting feel and probably more but since this is Brandon’s creation we’ll let the rest be his secrets. 1f609

The sweet look in their eyes and the warm hug bringing their wedding day into evening is something we haven’t changed a bit and are blessed to have captured for two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

Hildebrand Photography is proud to announce that we are now offering Wedding Gift Registries.
Photography is very important to our clients. Giving them the gift of photography guarantees they will get something that’s very important to them that will last a lifetime as something very special from you.
Once a purchase is made we will send the happy couple a card noting the amount gifted from you to them. (see above photo)
No need to spend time and money gift wrapping. No more fears of paper cuts or old glue on envelopes like George Castanza on Seinfeld when his fiance fell ill from licking envelopes with bad glue because George insisted on buying old wedding envelopes…poor George.
We are here to help you achieve your dreams of amazing wedding photographs. Offering a gift registry is just another way for us to say, “we are here for you”.

Here’s a sneak peek of Alyssa and Kyle’s wedding album that I’m creating the layout design for. I love reliving a wedding day through the creation of an album. The hardest part for sure is choosing the best photos to tell the story of their day, only enough to fit into the album instead of every photo we took that day.
Here are a few of my favorite pages so far. Once I create the first layout I send them to my client to get their input. They can choose to move the photos around, replace any, change any to black and white, whatever they choose. It’s their album. I may not always agree with their changes but in the end when I deliver their completed album to them and see the look in their eyes it’s all worth it. Delivering albums is one of the best parts of my job. It must be how flower deliver people feel. Giving such a touching gift to someone that’s so personal and brings about so many emotions is really fulfilling.
So, here I am creating a family heirloom with a client for them and their families and I couldn’t be more honored as an artist.

Hildebrand Photography wedding photography

I was obviously surprised that our expo cost so much. I knew we were investing quite a lot here and there but the grand total was amazing…not a huge surprise but still big. It’s such a mad, whirlwind while prepping for several weeks before an expo! It’s physically and mentally exhausting prepping as well as while you are there. As long as you gather your wits about you and rest the day before you can feel exhilirated during an expo. Think about the exact words you will say to get someone’s attention, to continue the conversation and to hopefully close a sale with them. Picture them being happy and impressed and you feeling an overwhelming sense of pride in your work. You’re shaking hands, showing them albums, laughter, money exchanges, big hugs and “It was so good to meet you” followed by “We can’t wait to do your engagement photos!”

You meet hundreds of people, hear all of their stories, plans, dreams, it’s really fantastic once you let the energy of the day sweep you up and as long as you stay focused on what your main goal is and how to attain it. It’s easy to get caught up in a social atmosphere and forget you’re there to work.

I xxx’d out the prices of albums because, although these are “sample” albums from the album companies they are still quite a large investment and not something the album companies would appreciate me sharing.

Of course, once you purchase most of these things they can be used again and again but…you will find that you will want to constantly change and improve and update your booth so that really doesn’t apply often. We have been tempted for a few years now to do a double (size) booth which is a lot of expensive real estate that must be filled with prints. My safety net on this idea is that if we print images that vendors can use and we go back to a single booth then we can gift those prints to those vendors for them to use in their stores or expo booths. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes. 1f609

Hello Lizzi,
Woah! We just now computed our expenses for the expo this weekend. I thought you’d be interested in seeing this. Luckily we had free babysitting and brought sack lunches.
Seattle Wedding Expo booth:
1,300 corner booth
35 taller wall
75 white carpet rental
350 20×30 prints 6
xxx finao album
xxx graphi album
100 furniture rental
30 parking
250 Minuteman printers
$100 price sheets
50 Michaels crafts flowers
30 Table cloth
100 dawns outfit
miscellaneous: business cards, notebooks, pens…
(520 bridge toll not included as this was in 2011 before the tolls started)
Gas 30
= $3,500 approximate total

Here’s a breakdown of each item in my list:

The taller wall increases your real estate space you can show more of your images.

The carpet is good because the old expo tiles are a strange pattern and quite cold. It’s a nice tactile comfort to have carpet. We do own a carpet for expos but the weight makes it awkward to transport.

Prints, we go through NW Fine Art & Print in Redmond. Matt is fabulous. We do not get the top quality like we would for clients! He prints, mounts and packages them up for us. You will need an easel for most of your prints.

Albums, as you know, albums take a long time to design, print, have created and ship. Be sure to leave at least a month for this!

Furniture rental: we don’t do this anymore. We thought it would be nice for potential clients to be too comfortable to leave and want to stay and look at our stuff longer. This did happen but it was a large space to take up for only 2 people to fit in. It wasn’t the best use of our space and it was expensive heavy to transport.

Pamphlets: I should have included the cost of designing our pamphlet but we lucked out and had a friend who was a student design ours. She did an amazing job! I would advertise for her in this post but she learned the skill for fun not profit, sorry.

Price sheets: make sure these slip into the flyers. You will change your prices before your flyers and don’t want to have to throw them out due to pricing changes. We use to have prices on one side and descriptions of what we offer on the other but decided that was too much clutter so now just pricing, single sided with our contact info on it for sure!

The flowers look good on my mantle now. No more shows for them.

The table cloth is wrinkle resistant. We bring a water bottle to “iron” them at the show. They’re black with a nylon type quality to them for a nice drape and durability. There are 4 because the tall, round bar table uses 2. Be sure to bring a ribbon to tie the bar tablecloth to give it a tailored look and to not trip over it.

My outfit: I do heels, nice jeans, colorful shirt and of course, complete hair and make up. You want to look your best! Bring comfy shoes for walking the long distance to and from your car before and after the show each day.

Assistant: If Brandon has a photography gig that day then I’ll hire an assistant for the day. I also pay for their lunch and parking. I make sure to tell them to talk about our art, show them albums and get their contact info. I am always careful to choose someone who is happy and professional. Both qualities are very important in representing our brand.

Misc: Bring a sign in sheet, calendar, pens, your square for your smart phone, water, mints, coffee, business cards.

So, that should cover it! The lower your packages, the more clients you should get at the expos but the more you charge then it only takes a few to break even then start making money. Either way you are golden. Sometimes, many times you don’t get booking at the show but rather days after the show so don’t worry. Your hard work will pay off! Good luck and know that most shows are in September and January after all of the Christmas proposals so get ready!

We met Ann in Tacoma and instantly liked her. We flew to Tennessee for Ann and Cody’s wedding. Their wedding was so much fun. They said, “I do” ran hand in hand to his Harley. She jumped on and threw her bouquet to the crowd gathered around. His best man caught the bouquet…he was very determined! 1f609 They sped down the long driveway and off into the distance with her white dress flitting in the wind. We captured incredible photos of them driving back past the house. Ann was beaming with joy! The bike was polished to perfection, the skies were dramatic and Ann and Cody were the happiest people on the planet. What a wild ride!

Yay!!!
We are so grateful to have been nominated for King 5’s “Best of Western Washington” for best Seattle Wedding Photographer again. Thank you to everyone who nominated and voted for us! Please continue the voting. We would love to get 1st place this year!

http://best.king5.com/hildebrand-photography/biz/515364

Brandon never ceases to amaze me with his talented ability to transform what is an already amazing photo into a work of art to be cherished by the family for generations to come. This is a photo of two of our favorite people, Cathleen and Michael. They are so beautiful, inside and out, and I’m proud to show off their wedding day and all the happy memories that day brings to us…and to them, of course. 1f609

Danielle and Tom are the nicest couple who immediately treated us like family. Everyone was so friendly. The guys were very photogenic. I easily got a great photo of each in one shot but they were like, “Are you sure? What about this pose? Did you get my good side?” I should hand out cards for modeling agencies because these guys were really working the camera! After their photos the guys warmed up before the wedding with a round of basketball. The girls finished getting ready then traveled to St.Margaret’s in Seattle in a stylish limo. Danielle looked stunning. I’m pretty sure Tom was a bit speechless when he saw her. She lit up the church courtyard with her radiance.
The reception was over the top amazing! It was held at her parent’s private residence (sorry to those who would love to get married there). There were so many beautiful details my camera almost exploded! Danielle’s mom made the table cloths by hand for those ultra long tables and even hung their initial “S” at the end of each table. The details were very well thought out. Everything looked amazing and everyone had such an incredible time. It was truly an event to be celebrated and remembered.

Special thanks to the vendors who made their day so special.

Event Coordinator: Starry Eyed Events
(425)-269-6302
[email protected]

Caterer: Susan Magan Catering
(425) 814-6151

Cake Artist: NY Cupcakes
(425) 283-5445

Officiant: St. Margarets Church

Gown Boutique: A Princess Bridal

Musician/DJ: Sounds Unlimited
425-381-5536
[email protected]