Love Notes: The Pacific Weddings Blog

The New Pacific Weddings Movie Room

Grab your popcorn and spend a little time in our all new Movie Room at the Pacific Weddings website! Still in the beginning stages, the Movie Room will soon become the hub for all things wedding: the most romantic honeymoon spots, fabulous destination wedding sites, live film of couples tying the knot, and a fun look behind-the-scenes of Pacific Weddings' photo shoots. We also introduce Our Crowd, a special group of individuals on The List of Preferred Wedding Vendors. These are the people we trust to help you create the wedding of your dreams in Hawaii, California and the Pacific. If you would like to submit a video for consideration in the Movie Room, email us a link to your clip along with the location of the wedding to mywedding@pacificweddings.com. See you at the movies!  xo ~robyn

(photo by Visionari)

A Wedding at the Hawaii State Art Museum: Kristina and Mark

I was perusing the beautiful images of Hawaii photographer, Christie Pham's site and fell in love with the stylish details of Kristina and Mark's wedding at the art museum. Kristina had stumbled upon Christie's work over four years ago and tucked her card away until the day came to plan her own wedding. She also called upon Michelle Maeda of Flower Girls who created the delicate organically-inspired florals for the Honolulu wedding. Along with Christie, Michelle is on The List of PW Preferred Vendors and her site is wonderful resource for elegant ideas and beautiful reception décor. Thanks to Kristina and Mark as well as Christie and Michelle for sharing this fabulous unique wedding!

 

 

The bride selected a stylish green Vera Wang wedding gown and a vintage bird cage veil, and dressed her entourage of bridesmaids all in white--so of the moment!

 

 

 

For more Hawaii wedding photos of Kristina and Mark, click here.

Enter to Win the Photo Contest & Get Published in Pacific Weddings Magazine

It's time for another photo contest here at Love Notes so... Hit us with your best shot! (Pat Benatar ringing in your ears right now?) Our previous contests were a huge success, and we expect the same enthusiastic response this time—particularly since the winning image will appear in the upcoming Winter/Spring 2010 Edition of Pacific Weddings®. The image below is by photographer (and imaging genius:) Frank Amodo, who previously won our reader's hearts with his stunning work. View this Hawaii wedding which was featured in the current edition of Pacific Weddings®

The rules are simple:
Submit a photograph for a chance to have your image appear FULL PAGE in the upcoming Winter/Spring 2010 issue of Pacific Weddings! The winning photo will appear on The Last Word page facing the inside back cover of the magazine. It is a truly special page, carefully selected by the editor and dedicated with an inspirational scripture to our readers. Contest Deadline is September 15, 2009.

The Last Word is often the final image that our readers see before closing the book. And for those of you who flip from back to front, it can also be one of the first pages seen. This time we are looking for the most breathtaking image that you've captured at a wedding celebration this year. It can be any extraordinary shot that instantly conveys emotion. Email us your most breathtaking image today and you could be chosen for publication in the upcoming issue!

Here's how it works:
Email your photo(s) to contest@pacificweddings.com, then we will post our top five selections and let our readers vote!

•PLEASE DO NOT SEND HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES AT THIS TIME
•Send no more than 5 images per photographer or event.
•Photos should be 72 dpi and no larger than 8x10".  (High resolution images will be requested if your image is among the finalists. A photo release will also be required if your image is one of the five posted for voting.)

The Last Word Photo Contest Deadline is September 15, 2009, so hit us with your best shot!

The Original Tabloid Photographer

This post is for all the aspiring wedding photographers who follow Pacific Weddings®. Since 1946, photojournalist Jim Romano has chased stories for The Daily News, The New York Post and other papers. This beautiful portrayal was photographed by Todd Heisler and produced for the NYT by Sarah Kramer and Aexis Mainland for the series One in 8 Million. Click here to be inspired by Mr. Romano's legendary career. For more inspiring wedding photography, visit The List of Preferred Vendors.

Strike a Pose: Summer Wedding Gowns Unveiled

The summer/fall issue of Pacific Weddings will be on newsstands in a few days, and although I have said this many times before, I think this edition may be one of our best! This issue is filled with creative ideas and inspiration to plan a fabulous wedding. One of my favorite features is our amazing fashion shoot. We flew in gowns straight off the NYC runways just days after bridal market, and the designs this season are seriously breathtaking! I was entranced by Vera Wang's smoky pink layers and Oscar's stunning raw silk masterpiece. Makeup artist Jessica Waite worked her magic to create an avant garde look and Dan Sanchez styled our models' hair with a nod to Marie Antoinette. The Visionari team of photographers was there in full force to capture it all. I can't wait to share more images, but for now here is a brief behind-the-scenes look.

(Above) On location in Upcountry, Maui, Shaunna decides which gowns are perfect for each model.

 

A little playful gossip among the models

A Vera Wang gown with fabulous detailing at the bodice... stay tuned for the rest of the story.

Vogue Bridal Party

Did anyone get their hands on the June issue of Vogue? In "The Wedding Party" model Sasha Pivovarova's wedding to Igor Vishnyakov is recaptured in a photographer's studio. I've always loved the formality of a wedding party portrait, imperfectly staged with a mix of charming characters. [via fashion is spinach]

Gorgeous Wedding Bouquets

You may recall photographer Stephanie Williams from our Nostalgic Photo Contest last fall— her photos have an unmistakable vintage quality to them. As a wedding and portrait photographer based in Southern California, she's been able to document a nice mix of weddings in Orange County, L.A., and San Diego. I wanted to share her most recent work with you— she captured these beautiful bouquets by designer Kelly Parsley-Gordon of PlanIt OC, a floral and event boutique in Irvine, California. What a gorgeous use of color, texture and light...

    

Gift Idea: A Creative Wedding Album

A fellow wedding blogger and creative gal, Little Winter Bride wed last February and continues to regale us with romantic notes from her new married life in Italy. Sigh. Well, I noticed this very cool wedding gift she received from a thoughtful guest who created a book of the wedding via Album Digital. It is artsy minus the crafty and a refreshing find amid all those plain and simple album formats out there. Another great option is the Mac Photo Book because, really, does Apple ever get it wrong?!

The Engagement Photo Session

Originally, the engagement photo served one main purpose— appearing alongside the wedding announcement in a couple's local newspaper. In recent years, the engagement photo has reached new creative heights, gracing everything from save-the-date cards to wedding websites and reception décor. We spoke with Cassandra Dieterle and her husband, David, a photography team based on Oahu, to see just how important, creative and stylishly in-demand these photo sessions are to a couple. Check out their blog for more inspirational shots!

I will begin by saying that the engagement photo session is one of my favorite things to shoot— so much that we offer it free with any album package on Oahu (travel arrangements must be provided off-island/ out-of-state). We have had some really great times shooting the engagement sessions! We always love when couples aren't afraid to get wet, be a little daring or try something new. And with their risk comes ours too (besides the slips and falls that are inevitable while we attempt to walk, climb, run and look through a camera, I've been chased by a stud horse while standing on his toy barrel, stepped on a sea urchin while standing in water up to my chest with camera in hand, and of course it's inevitable to get dirty) but I LOVE it! Not just the photos but the whole process of it. It's almost as if each session is a new adventure (some couples aren't as "go get 'em!"), but we still have a great time with them too!

Last Day to Vote for Your Favorite Photo!

We are down to the wire and it has been an exciting contest! We will be closing the votes in our photo contest at midnight tonight (PST-Hawaii time), so you still have time to select your favorite image by commenting in the previous post below. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to cast your vote, and congratulations to our contest finalists—all the photos are truly stunning! Keep those votes coming!