HOME OF PRETTY

ban.do was created by Jen and Jamie - two stylists from LA who are inspired by color, wild about cupcakes (hence their motto "dress like a cupcake should feel") and enjoy laughing until soda comes out their noses. With a bio like that, how can you not love these two?!

Their pieces have been featured on many a celebrity head (Taylor Swift is a big fan!) and in countless magazines (Glamour, The Oprah Magazine, People, US, In Touch, InStyle Weddings, and Martha Stewart Weddings to name just a few).

Recently launched, Black Label is their couture collection. With a nod to hollywood glamour and a wink at many current trends, these pieces are all either one of a kind or limited edition.

The ban.do line is where it all began. While not one of a kind, these vintage inspired pieces are spectacular.

Heart by ban.do is an amazingly affordable line in which you'll find every piece priced at $50 or less.

And of course there's the line Viva is all over - ban.do for the bride. Choosing which head pieces to feature on our blog from this collection was a painful process. They're all so fabulous! But alas, we finally narrowed it down to a few favourites. Be sure to check out the link above to view the rest. You won't be dissapointed!

PS. Yes ladies, they ship to Canada! We would never be so cruel as to tempt you with these beautiful images otherwise.

As Jen & Jamie would say - They are guaranteed to make you feel special and pretty and they're still cheaper than plastic surgery. Feel pretty. Wear ban.do

A woohoo weekend...

This past weekend was the Joel Grimes seminar and it was a game changer.

There will be a lot more to follow, a video interview, a behind the scenes video covering the two days, and images from the attendees, but for now I am going to leave you with these four images, kindly supplied by Trent Hobbs.

It is important to note that the last image of Bethany has not been edited in any way, it is straight out of the camera and is a great example of how incredible the lighting techniques are that Joel taught us over the weekend.

(a lot) More to come...

More on DIY LED lighting...

I have a couple more links to share with you to "enhance" our post of a few days ago on DIY LED lighting.

Here is a post from Judith on Photojojo showing her LED keychain lighting setup, shots she did along with comments and sample shots from her readers.

You will find a handful of articles here posted on DIY Photography from an introduction to LED lighting to Painting with LED's, all well worth your time.

It would be very cool to see the images you do using this lighting method so please feel free to post them on our Flickr group and share them with the rest of us (I double dog dare you!).

If you need a refresher or missed the original post you can find it here, or you can go directly to our YouTube channel just to watch the video.

Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me again until next week, we are busy getting ready for the two day Joel Grimes workshop being held at our studio this coming weekend.

THEY'RE NOT FRESH, BUT I LOVE THEM ANYWAY!

I love fresh flowers! Not only do I think they look beautiful in the hands of a bride as she walks down the aisle; hanging from shepherds hooks at the ceremony site; as centerpieces on the table at dinner; and throughout the venue as decor - they also look great on the corner of my desk as I work on checklists and timelines for the day of. Fresh flowers make me happy!

The flowers below make me happy too. Granted they're not fresh, but they are just so original and absolutely stunning it's hard not to love them.

Made of balsa wood, that's right - wood, this bouquet seems quite life like until you take a closer look. Check out Krislyn to see their fabulous corsages and head pieces made of wood as well.

These bouquets were created by Amanda Heer of Fantasy Floral - Home Of The Brooch Bouquets. Each bouquet is made up of several brooches in different sizes, styles and colours giving you a very vintage look.

And these handcrafted beauties are made entirely of pieces of silk, linen, cotton, and upholstery fabric by Milkpod Studio. Milkpod also makes corsages, boutonieres, centerpieces, pomanders, and really sweet hair clips out of fabirc too.

Martha Stewart weddings...

If you've been following this blog for very long, you may remember posts from a wedding last September that involved some crazy weather.

I had traveled to Long Beach Island on the Jersey Shore to shoot a wedding with Stacey Kane (I'm known as her "boy Friday") and we ran into the most outrageous weather - heavy rains, gale force winds, along with astronomical high tides that led to some serious flooding (you can read the originals posts here and here).

Luckily the weather broke just in time for the ceremony to be held on the beach and all went perfectly.

A few days ago Stacey emailed me to let me know that the wedding is being featured on Martha Stewart Weddings!

How cool is that... ;)

Here are a couple screen shots, if you click on either they will open up larger in a new window, or you can just head over to Martha Stewart and see the entire post.

We are heading back to Long Beach Island for another wedding next month, I hope the weather is just a bit better.

WIN YOUR WEDDING FILM!!

Viva la wedding doesn't usually blog about each and every wedding related contest out there but when we heard that { First Kiss Films } was giving brides and grooms-to-be a chance to win their wedding day film, we had to spread the news!

Shot entirely on the beautiful and timeless medium of 8mm and 16mm stock, in either colour and/or black and white, { First Kiss Films } uses traditional cinematic techniques to capture the emotion of your day. Not only will your film allow you to be transported back to your wedding day time and again but it makes for a truly unique heirloom that you and your family will cherish for generations to come.

About the lovely Bridget:

{ First Kiss Films } was born when Bridget Farr the artist fell in love, got married, and became Bridget Redmond the artist and wedding cinematographer. Now Bridget is applying her 15 years of film making and photography experience to capture the beauty of once-in-a-lifetime moments. A graduate of both Film Studies and the Photographic Arts, her numerous award-winning films have been screened at international film festivals and events on all five major continents. Her photography has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world and on numerous touring exhibits including Oprah's "Live Your Best Life" Tour.

Head on over to the { First Kiss Films } blog for details and contest rules. You have until 5pm (EST) Friday April 30 2010 to enter with the winner being announced Tuesday May 4 2010. Good luck!!

Just one more week to go...

Until I'll plunk my ample butt in a chair to absorb everything Joel Grimes has to offer.

Joel will spend two days (April 1th & 18th) teaching his workshop "Taking your creative vision to the next level" at our new studio here in Biddeford Maine.

I'm also excited about the chance to meet with and share information, techniques, and business ideas with other like minded photographers.

For complete workshop details and to reserve your seat visit the workshop page here, and please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

See ya there!