Kimberly & John Bocciardi June 14, 2008

Kimberly & John traveled from North Carolina to get married in sunny Orlando Florida. Destination wedding are tricky to plan since you cannot meet your photographer, and the several phone conversations we had

along with the fact that Jennifer, the coordinator from the Doubletree Castle Hotel where they were to marry (http://www.doubletreecastle.com/) had me on her preferred vendor's list, and I came highly recommended made Kimberly feel comfortable enough to have me capture her special day.

And she didn't regret it! After the Bocciardi on line gallery was posted this is the email I received from Kimberly:

Hi Rinat,The pictures look spectacular! There are so many good ones to choose from, it's going to be difficult to decide...Kimberly

The pics are ready!!! Trash the Dress (TTD) June 22, 2008

After wrapping up the Saturday wedding took a 4 hour “power nap” and got up in time to drive out to Cocoa Beach Florida for a sunrise Trash the Dress shoot.

Kristen is one of my past brides and also a professional model. She heard I was promoting the new Trash the Dress trend, and thought it sounded like so much fun she wanted to do it. She brought Ivy to do her hair and makeup, but that quickly evolved into the girlfriend’s version of trash the dress. Oh man was this a fun shoot.

We started with strolling down the beach and getting over the mental block of dress getting ruined as the dress’s bottom edges were getting muddy. Than Kristen started kicking the waves, splashing water around and it was a short time before she was completely submerged under water in this beautiful wedding gown having the time of her life!

As the day evolved I was coming up with new ways to trash the dress. Brought some water guns and the girls were having oh so much fun shooting each other, and the watercolor paints I brought became very useful at the “finger painting girl’s fight” as they were creatively re-designing the dress while kicking and screaming and completely letting loose.

Ever tried getting on a surf board with a wedding dress on? As Kristen was saying: “I wonder how much a wedding dress weighs under water?” it was so fully to watch them trying not to fall off of it.
Yes the dresses were definitely trashed at the end of the day. I also had two very happy girls who just had the time of their lives and created some of the best, most unique memories for them.
Just a thought: if you’re reluctant to ruin your own very precious wedding gown, but still want to do this fun shoot, you can always purchase a lower cost gown just for this purpose. Beth from Formally yours in Eustis, Florida http://www.formallyyoursbridal.net/ can hook you up. She has the most beautiful dresses, and many times she has some that are still just gorgeous only last year’s models as a special offer.

Bruce from Treasured Moments Video Productions http://www.tmvp.info/ was there to capture the "behind the scenes" of the shoot so check out a quick sneak peak at http://www.vimeo.com/1221356

You can also view the full on line TTD image gallery at www.halonwp.com

- click on "on line galleries"

- click on "portraits"

- click on Trash the Dress"

Kristen & Justin Nolte June 21, 2008

Had the pleasure of photographing Kristen & Justin Nolte’s wedding at the Lake Side inn, in the cynic mount Dora, Florida this past Saturday. What a cute couple. Since they decide to have their wedding at the Lake Side Inn, a historical location in the romantic mount Dora, they wanted their wedding to reminisce on the “old Florida” feel, and resulted to express this theme using wardrobe. The bridesmaids all wore these great 40’s looking hats, and the groomsmen used suspenders as their fashion statement. This was inspiring and I could envision and create periodic images for them to reflect the wedding look and feel they were going for. I used more traditional posing and lighting techniques, and used post production to pull it all together and define a period look for them. It was so much fun! Just love it when I get to draw on my creativity and create a unique product. Betty from Lake Side In said while watching the shoot unfold she cannot wait to see these pictures and use some for the Lake Side Inn advertising and marketing purposes (Lakeside in site is http://www.lakeside-inn.com/)

The ceremony was performed on the lakeside, and the nice lake breeze kept everyone cool on this hot June Florida day. The 5 months pregnant bride came floating down the aisle with a smile stretched from ear to ear. She is so cute, she was saying before the ceremony as she realized she was sucking her belly in: “what am I doing? I’m so used to sucking it in when wearing a nice dress, but I forget I am pregnant and can just let it all hang out! I love getting married pregnant!” did I mention already she is just so cute?

The ceremony was one of the most touching ones I’ve heard in my photography career, the sunset was sensational, as were the sunset pictures, and the reception oh so much fun. Particularly when the best man finished his speech by saying:”and now is the time for all the girls who have a key to Justin’s place to hand it back”…and every woman in the room got up and handed him a key…as did all the guys when the best man asked for the keys to Kristen’s place. “The party is over!” he said. Funny guy.

And besides great images, nothing is more satisfying to me than the bride giving me a great big hug at the end of the night, and practically everyone thanking me on my way out for doing an awesome job. Another day to be thankful for. How thankful I am that I do what I love for a living.

August 15th 2008 - got an email from Kristen today:

Hey Rinat--
I just wanted to let you know how thrilled we are with the wedding pictures. You did a spectacular job! Thanks again! Kristi