Jillian & Matthew | Intimate Seattle Wedding

When my friend Jillian asked me to photograph her wedding in Seattle, it was a no-brainer. Of course I would do it!  I love to travel, I love Seattle, and I LOVE Jillian.  Matt and Jill could not be a better match!  Both have fun loving personalities which really shined through when planning their intimate afternoon wedding on November 1, 2014, which is celebrated as Day of the Dead in Mexican culture.  With a theme to match the date, brightly colored decorations, and their closest family and friends in attendance, they said their vows and celebrated with their friends in the hip Capitol Hill venue of Sole Repair.

Since they walked together, along with their children, from the hotel where the got ready to the wedding venue, a first look was in order!

 

With no time between the ceremony and the celebration with their guests, we got in family photos and some of just the two of them on the way to the ceremony.  Did I mention they have four children?

Sole Repair was a fun, laid back atmosphere, perfect for their afternoon ceremony and small reception.  Many of the decorations were handmade by Jillian herself and their kids, along with nieces and nephews were right at home with all of the special touches just for them.

With their children walking them down the aisle, serving as witnesses, and participating in the ceremony, it was a joining together of two souls as well as the official binding together of their beautiful family.

 

Making it official by signing the marriage certificate and sealing it with their first kiss as husband and wife!

Thank you so much Jillian and Matthew for allowing Suzy (my fabulous second shooter and friend, Suzanne Hunt) and I to be part of your day!

A Year in Review | Northeast Ohio Newborn Photographer

Spring Family Mini-Sessions | Mentor, OH Photographer

I was going through some of my mini-sessions to post a sneak peek and I was finding it impossible to choose just one.  So impossible in fact, that it drove me to write a blog post!  And if you look over my blog, you know that the session must have been incredible since I VERY RARELY blog.

The session below was held at Garfield Park in Mentor.  I hear so many people say, what is so special about Garfield Park as a photography backdrop.  And the truth is, a photographer looks at things differently than those who aren't photographers. We can see amazing light when others just throw on some sunglasses.  We can frame a perfect shot where others see a bunch or trees or buildings or flowers with mounds of dirt on either side.  It doesn't take the perfect location to come out of a session with gorgeous images.  I've had clients follow me to a location which ended up being a spot on the side of the road.  I'm sure they were wondering what they had gotten themselves into until they were shown their completed gallery and all thoughts of a gravely road side stop had completely been forgotten.

I've photographed this family a few times now and they are the greatest clients.  Such a wonderful family and so photogenic.

I have been thinking of offering video collages of the images I've taken from a session.  The one below is from a client who purchased the baby plan and shows a whole year of growth.  It definitely needs some tweaking but what do you think?  Wouldn't it be great to pull out the video and watch it someday?

Hazel Mae Boutique | Vendor of the Week

I'm so excited about this week's Vendor of the Week.  Hazel Mae Boutique is one of my absolute favorite boutiques for beautiful headbands, hats, and newborn prop crowns.  I've used her headbands and hats in numerous photo sessions and she has made me custom items with short notice.  So not only does she sell beautiful quality items, her customer service it fantastic!

This adorable penguin hat was perfect for this little guy, whose parents are big fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

And the headbands.....just gorgeous!

She has something in every color you could want and even takes custom orders!

Here is a little bit about Hazel mae Boutique from the owner herself:

My name is Monica Price. I created Hazel Mae Boutique (March 2012) after giving birth to my sweet baby girl, Mya Hazel Price (7 months). She is my inspiration for every headband I make. I try to match most outfits out there by the color, so you can finish every outfit right!

I came up with the name Hazel Mae by combining my daughter’s middle name and my own middle name because they’re headbands for her, made by me! I have always been crafty (I get it from my mom!) so I decided after having a hard time finding any cute headbands that I could make them myself! So here I am. Mya now has way too many so I don’t know where to put them all.

I don’t just have the best little daughter one could ask for, but I have the best husband also! We have been married for almost 2 years (October 9th, 2010). Alan works full time, coaches Lacrosse and goes to school on Saturday all to make a better life for Mya and me, and so I can be the stay at home mom I have always wanted to be! He is my everything!

I hope you enjoy shopping at Hazel Mae Boutique, and hope you will tell all your friends about us!

Look for Hazel Mae Boutique's items to be featured on my Facebook page this week! From now through Saturday, she is offering fans of Faith Koscho Photography 25% off of their orders using the coupon code: KoschoFan

She is also giving away a $15 gift certificate to her shop to one lucky winner!  Enter below for a chance to win!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Vendor of the Week | Giveaway

My Vendor of the week this week includes multiple etsy.com stores all owned and operated by the same person. For adorable girls items, check out TwirlyGirlz and for super cute boy items take a look at NoisyBoyz. Sherry makes lots of adorable, and great quality handmade items for newborn, baby, toddler, and little boys and girls. I've been lucky enough to partner with her several different times for some incredible photo props!

Most recently this adorable set!

 

This adorable hat!

This hat and diaper cover set which I used at Christmas.  It also had optional leggies for girls!

And last but not least, this super cute bunny hat in newborn size that we are giving away this week!  To enter, just follow the steps below.  You have until Saturday, March 23rd at midnight to enter!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have I mentioned that I love photographing newborns?  Here a few sweet shots from the first month of the year.  I have lots of newborns already on the schedule for the first six months of the year and I love each and every session.  If you are interested in a newborn session, don't wait!  I hate to have to turn people away for newborn sessions because they waited until the baby was born to try to schedule but unfortunately it has to happen some time.  I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Turning ONE is so much FUN! | First Birthday cake Smash | Lake County Ohio Photographer

I've been a terrible blogger.  I admit it.  But I've been very busy spending time with adorable babies this year.  Some of whom were celebrating their first birthdays!  With their first tastes of CAKE!!

 I really love it when I ask parents if they want to include a cake smash with their first birthday portrait sessions.  Because what is cuter than a baby digging into cake?

 Maybe twins digging into cake?  Or one twin digging into cake and one totally freaked out about frosting touching him!

 Every baby is different.  Some dig right in!

 And some are quite skeptical and don't give it a try.

 Most babies, even if they don't taste it, will get their hands and feet into it!

 And three babies and a cake....adorable!

 I love when they are all smiles!

Or when mom and dad join in on the fun.  After all, when you give a baby a whole cake, there is bound to be a bit left over to share...maybe even with your photographer!  :)

Happiest baby on the Block | Chagrin Falls, OH Baby Photographer

This little girly girl was napping when I came to her house and despite being woken up from her little snooze, she was all smiles!

Having fun with mommy and daddy definitely brought a smile to her face.

She was making all kinds of cute faces actually.  I love to capture those and put them in a storyboard.  I know I never wanted to miss one cute expression so this way they are in a little collage so you can see them all at once!

And Baby Makes Three | Wickliffe, OH Newborn Photographer

This little guy was one of the easiest newborn sessions I've had.  He was such a wonderful little sleeper and didn't mind being posed a bit!  We got the cutest photos from his session.  Like this one...

Seriously adorable right?  And this one...

Could he be more perfect in every way?!   And I love this timeless photo of him.  I would stick this one on canvas for sure.  He's just gorgeous!

And of course, photos of the new mommy and daddy with their sweet little guy.  Radiating with love huh?

Sweet Baby Boy | Mentor, OH Newborn Photographer

I LOVE photographing newborns.  Getting to see and hold these teeny tiny babies, so fresh and new and just beautiful!  The sessions take a lot of time, sometimes up to four hours, but the results are gorgeous.  Everytime I 'm editing a newborn session I see these photos and think ART!  I would stick this photo of this sweet little baby on canvas and hang it in my home and its not even my baby!  :)

Like this sweet little guy...

Beautiful huh?  Or this one of his sister giving him a kiss where he has a tiny little smile.  So precious now but imagine how precious it will be they are all grown up and have been lifelong friends and can look back on that day when he was only a little over a week old and she loved him so much already.  ♥

And I love black and white but a pop of color is so beautiful too.  Such a sweet little man in his colorful tie on the red background.

And of course taking photos of the newborns is amazing but I love the photos of the newly expanded family.  In this case, baby makes 4!

Talk about Photogenic | Painesville Twp Children's Photographer

I've been way behind on my blogging but I had to get some pics of these beautiful kids up!

This was the first time I used this brick backdrop...yup, its not real brick...and I LOVE it!  Looks absolutely gorgeous with the hot pink and orange!

 They were stunning in purple too!  What great kids and what a great family!

Sweet Baby Girl | Chagrin Falls Newborn Photographer

I had the pleasure of photographing this sweet baby girl and her family recently.  Isn't she gorgeous against the gold rosette background?  So feminine without all of the pink!

As was her almost two year old sister, although she wasn't quite interested in being photographed that day. (What 2 yr old is really?)  Look at those lovely eyelashes.

I loved the teal and chocolate set-up so we tried not once, but twice to get a picture of this beautiful babe in this adorable hat.  The second time she was just sleepy enough to make herself comfortable.

And of course we got mom and dad in front of the camera too, with their beautiful baby girls.  (Two is still a baby right?  I have a two year old and he will always be my baby. ♥ )