Italy Wedding Photographer | Giordano & Georgia | Tuscany Engagement

Credits:

Jose Villa & Gene Higa - Workshop leaders

Hair & Makeup - Mar from Team Hair and Makeup

Stylist - Matthew Johns

Other posts about my trip to Italy last fall:

La Vita Bella | Our trip to Italy - Part One

La Vita Bella | Our trip to Italy - Part Two

Omar & Valentina | Tuscany

Giordano & Georgia | Tuscany

Miscellaneous Monday

Is anyone else as upset as I am that the government actually spent 2-3 million dollars on a Super Bowl commercial for the census?  Seriously!  I just don't think there is any argument that could make this a logical move.  Even if we weren't deeply in debt.

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Some of our favorite Super Bowl commercials are the E-trade ones with the talking babies.  Hubby discovered last week that you can send an email to someone and tell the baby what to say in it:  Check it out here. 

(Yes, that means I have been getting talking baby emails.)

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I discovered a fantastic new iPhone app.  Card Bank.  It stores all of your store membership cards so you can open up your wallet to holding better things - like money.  :0)   I highly recommend it.  

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I'm one of those weird people that gets excited about the snow.  We are supposed to get a foot and a half tonight and tomorrow and I am thrilled!  This means there will be a nice fresh coat for the wedding I'm shooting this weekend.  Perfect!

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One of my brides is Miss French Fries on Wedding Bee ( a blog I have been reading daily since I was a bride myself).  She wrote a great response to a post she saw on The Practical Wedding Blog.  I really think it is worth three minutes of your day, especially if you are in the wedding industry, to read both.  They both are about how the wedding culture is structured so that the man has no say in the wedding, the woman is seen as baggage, his life is ending with marriage, but hers is just beginning, and on and on.   It really is pretty interesting that we have chosen to act this way as a culture.  I know that when Hubby and I were planning our wedding, I always tried to keep him involved in the decisions, but I definately felt like it was my job to do the planning.  But one thing I did feel strongly about was that it was his day too, not just mine.  I wondered aloud many times over the years why wedding and baby showers are attended just by the woman.  Aren't they both getting married? Aren't they both becoming parents?  Anyway, some food for thought.

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While checking out The Practical Wedding Blog, I had the most fantastic small world moment.  She blogged about this little "experimental animation save the date"  that her friend had sent her.  My ears perked up because almost no one outside of those of us who have a degree in experimental animation (which truly is just a handful of people) use that term. 

Sure enough, I recognized the style immediately - it is my old classmate, Josh.  Apparently, he is engaged (clearly we have lost touch).  Congrats Josh and Eliina!  And, what an awesome, personal save the date!

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I have extra "trade-show only" passes available for WPPI.  If anyone wants one, shoot me an email!

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Have a great week!

Finding Inspiration | Wedding Decor

I love finding inspiration in unusual places.  Whenever someone looks at an object in a new, clever way, I get a little giggly.  This blog series is about just those types of ideas.

One of my favorite sources of inspiration is the store Anthropologie.  As a former visual merchandiser (read: mannequin stylist) I have great appreciation for the creativity that oozes from their every display and window. Their designers have the best medium and the most amazing freedom to really make some unique statements. Whenever I'm feeling a little blech, a stroll through Anthropologie does the trick. 

Recently, I discovered that the store has a Flickr stream....ahhh, heaven!  

Their new Spring displays made me think;  "ooo. How clever!"  and then a second later, "How awesome would this be for a wedding!?!"

People, they made this incredible floral chandelier out of discarded plastic water bottles!  How cool is that? Recycling, beauty and major impact.  For the right wedding it would be a wonderful project and so cool.  I could see the concept applied to smaller hanging balls (like pomanders) with a light inside, larger chandeliers with dripping flowers,  garlands strung across distances, or bunches draped from the walls.   Really, as long as you give a little air space between the viewer and the flowers - I'll bet they fool everyone!

(all images from Anthropologie's Flicker Stream and their newsletter)

So brides, gather up your friends and family, buy them some pizza and start cutting out flowers!  As someone who did just that and made three dendrobium orchid chandeliers for her own wedding - I know you can do this!

Italy Wedding Photographer | Omar & Georgia | Tuscany

Credits:

Jose Villa & Gene Higa - Workshop leaders

Hair & Makeup - Mar from Team Hair and Makeup

Stylist - Matthew Johns

Gowns - Olia Zavozina

Other posts about my trip to Italy last fall:

La Vita Bella | Our trip to Italy - Part One

La Vita Bella | Our trip to Italy - Part Two

Omar & Valentina | Tuscany

Tune in Next week for an engagement session in Italy!

It's ALIVE!!!

Somewhere along the way from the day we started m three studio until a little over a year ago, things got sloppy.  You see, in a former life I was a graphic designer, and so among the many other hats I was wearing as a new entrepeneur, I decided I could also be my own designer.  A little over a year ago, I realized I couldn't, and shouldn't.  I am too close to my company to fully develop its branding and execute on it.  I had tried.  Oh, how I had tried.  But ultimately, anything I could do for myself, took a backseat to what I wanted to do for my clients.  

We started this process last February by meeting with Tim Holmes and Erik Svendsen of Red Door Creative LAduring the WPPI convention.  Red Door had created the branding for a lot of photographers I admire, and so I thought they could get us pointed in the right direction.  I sent them everything I had and a big folder of everything I wanted to be, and they came back and gave me the proverbial kick in the butt.  They helped us see what was and wasn't working about my current branding, and they lit a fire under me to get some help, and get moving on making my brand equal my product. 

So, I started looking around, and then one day one of my clients sent me their wedding invitation.  It was cute, fun, fresh and modern.  As I held it in my hands, admiring the printing and the design, I remembered that the groom was a designer.   Who better to help re-brand my company than one of my own clients! Luckily, he agreed, and that is how Jeff Jasinowski became the guy who would clean up and shape up m three studio. 

What Jeff Jasinowski, Hubby and I decided was that m three studio needed to be clean and sophisticated, with a wink of fun and touch of vintage.  Jeff landed on this logo, and the first time I saw it on one of my images, I fell in love. Good-bye confusing triplet of M's (you served me well) ,  hello new sweetness:

But branding is more than a logo, and that is why it has taken me a year to get to the point where we are ready to cut the ribbon and launch the new and improved m three studio.  We have two pieces to unveil to you today.  I had a fantastic little video made to show you just what it is like to be a m three studio client:

M3 Studio from I Do Films on Vimeo.

The video was made by the incomparable I DO FILMS in chicago.  They shoot Super 8, which is something I knew I wanted.  And their style is so similar to mine.  We make a great team, and we have been collaborating ever since.  A big thank you to Lori and Matt for the incredible work they did on helping with not only this video, but with other projects and the new website. 

New website?  Yes, finally!  You might have noticed that the old one was getting out-dated and a little neglected.  The biggest reason was because it was such a pain to work with, but also because I have been putting my energy into creating an all new one.  And today, FINALLY, I get to share it with you!  

CHECK OUT THE NEW m three studio WEBSITE!

I'd love to hear what you think about the video and the website - please take some time to explore, poke around and enjoy.  I have many new things coming soon, including a new blog design.  So, stay tuned!

Many thanks to all of the friends who helped test out the site, and of course to Hubby, Ringo and to Jeff for all of his amazing work on my new look.