Really, i’m not a writer. It’s why i’m a photographer So when I started to write this post, I was just sitting here for an hour trying to figure out what to say about this AMAZING joining of souls. For this post, I am starting something different. Instead of trying to verbalize what I feel, I decided to let the images speak for themselves. I hope you feel the same way I do after looking at them.

But seriously, there aren’t many words to describe how awesome Lesley + Josh’s wedding was. Lots of laughter, joyful tears, gorgeous sunshine and drinks for the house.

Lesley + Josh, you have been a blast to work with from the word “go”. We enjoyed every second that we got to spend with you and we cannot wait to be a part of the many chapters of your life together.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to document your life and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your selfless service to our country.

{Our heartfelt thanks go out to:}

Ceremony: The Oldest House Garden, St. Augustine Florida

Reception: Shannon and the amazing team at The White Room, St. Augustine Florida

Makeup: Paulina Perez

Cake: Sweet Weddings

Florals: 57 Treasury

DJ: Bobby Spencer of ABC DJ’s

Photographers: Lauren + Michael Kinsey, Lauren Kinsey Photography

Accomodations: The Casa Monica Hotel, St. Augustine Florida

No, you’re not senile. Ya’ll heard it right.

After all the fun blog love we have had this week, Michael + I are just full of love right now and we have decided to offer A FREE WEDDING PACKAGE to one very lucky couple!

We have been so blessed over the past few years and we just want to take the opportunity to give something back and do something really nice for others. Your wedding day is your chance to shine, and we want to be a part of that with you.

{in order to qualify, there are a few details!}
- Tell us your story! [my favorite!]
- Include a photo of yourself + your fiance in your submission.
- The wedding must be taking place in 2010 or 2011
- The wedding may be anywhere in the whole wide world but you must be willing to cover our travel (after all, we still need a way to get there + a warm bed to sleep in after your kick booty wedding!)
- You must submit a wedding inspiration board with images of ideas that you are going to be incorporating into your wedding. It can be as elaborate as you like, and list out the colors of your wedding.

Pretty simple, huh? Yep.

Entries will be judged by both Michael + I, and we will be reading each and every one personally. We will be judging the contest based on your story, creativity of wedding concept and inspiration board submitted, and our availability on your wedding date (ex: 2010 is booking quickly, so if your date is already booked, we will notify you via email.)

We will be accepting submissions beginning today and until 12-15-09, announcing the big winner the week before Christmas (How’s THAT for a great Christmas present?! )

Ok so here’s the {fine print}:
- The wedding package will include 6 continuous hours of coverage, + a high res disc of images (YAY!) + a fun engagement session!
- Travel expenses will be determined based on the location of the wedding and will include flight and/or rental car, hotel, and meals.
- The contest only applies to submissions received beginning at noon today thru December 15, 2009. If you have already booked a wedding or inquired prior to 11-12-09, entries can not be considered in fairness.
- Entry will not be considered if all the above requirements for submissions are not sent in.

We cannot WAIT to start getting your submissions! BRING IT!

Email us through our website or call us today!

Psalm 139:14

I have been following this child since before she was born. Literally. Last Sunday, Michael + I were privileged to visit and photograph the growing Mallard brood! Blake + Kiley have been great friends of ours for awhile, and when we walked in the front door of their beautiful new home, I had to stop for a moment and take a breath. There, lining the walls of the front foyer, were all the photos that I had taken of Kiley when she was pregnant, and Evie when she was 10 days old.

Let me tell you, there is no greater joy or honor for me than being able to document important parts of people’s lives- not simply for being able to put your name on a piece of art; but to be able to connect with people on a personal level.

Let’s go back for a minute.

One of my favorite images from when Blake + Kiley were expecting:

And Evie at 10 days old (how TINY is she?!):

And here is Evie now at 1 year old!

Such a happy baby!!

Reminds me of “Finding Nemo”.

BUBBLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meet Calvin.

I love Calvin. Calvin has blue eyes.

Their pride and joy I love this one.

If this doesn’t melt your heart, I don’t know what would.

More bubbles and some yummy light.

And just to make your day…

Thanks ya’ll! We love ya and can’t wait for more!

Lauren + Mike

]]> http://laurenkinsey.com/blog/growing-up-evie/feed/ 3 http://laurenkinsey.com/blog/bah-hum-pug/ http://laurenkinsey.com/blog/bah-hum-pug/#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:16:37 +0000 Lauren http://sweetmagnoliaphoto.com/blog/?p=792 Bailey’s thoughts exactly when she realized that she was going to have to actually leave the comfort of the air conditioned car to run up and down city streets and be assaulted by giant pink bubbles.

Saturday was a gorgeous day and was perfect weather for Sarah+Paul’s loveshoot. The fabulous duo Cassie + Andrew Olimb came to hang out and spend the weekend with us (stay tuned for their loveshoot!) and we had so much fun running around downtown Quincy with Sarah + Paul, getting lost in some sketchy parts of town (ok not so much- at one point I was thinking we were going to have to board up the windows of the car!) rolling down hills, and getting our “mexi-stache” on.

Ok I HAD to post this one. Poor Bailey, she was terrified. But, I nearly fell over laughing whenI ran across this one while making the picks for this blog.

Hello, favorite.

Funny story: We were trying to find a swingset. You would think that this would be easy, right? Well, after 30 minutes of searching, we decided to stop and ask someone where we could find one. We got the directions and went on our merry way. When we arrived, it was a day care with miniature swings and slides.

Um… no.

So we finally found someone who directed us to a local elementary school!

Ladies and gentlemen- I give you… the mexistaches!

Keep scrolling to feel like a kid again.

Ms. Cassie being stealth.

Where’s Waldo? Hehe.

Sarah + Paul (+ Bailey too!), we adore you guys. Thank you so much for hanging out with us! I hope we get to do it more often!

Sunday Michael + I had the extreme privilege to photograph the growing Mallard family. Well, I did most of the photographing, Michael was on “bubble duty” (more on this later! )
For now, enjoy the sneak peek!

FAVORITE!

I know you are all wondering what is up with the title of this post, but that story will be in the whole post coming up in the next week!

First up is our amazing new friends Cassie + Andrew of Olimb Photography, who came to hang out with us this weekend. Cassie + Andrew are fabulous, hysterical people who share the same love the Lord and we are just so grateful to have found another couple that Michael + I relate to so well. We adore you guys and can’t wait for our upcoming shenanigans!

While Cassie + Andrew were here, we tag teamed it up for Sarah + Paul’s loveshoot. Sarah and I work together and I am so glad to have found such an awesome friend as Sarah. Sarah + Paul are [thisclose] to being engaged and I know that sometime in the near future Sarah is going to be waving a big ‘ole diamond ring around!

They kept us laughing the whole time- this shoot was SO much fun and I can’t wait to show you the whole post!

Today I received a lovely email from my friend Erinn Ryan over at the “Behind the Knot” blog. Erinn is a fabulous writer, is sweet as pie- ridiculously cute! – and her blog is one of THE go to resources for brides-to-be. I highly recommend that all of our clients and potential clients check out Erinn’s blog! You will be addicted. There’s no stopping it!

Go getcha some of that scrumptious eye candy!

Thanks Erinn for your feature!

We love ya! XOXO

Lauren + Michael

You will love it. For brides who will be considering doing it after they watch, DO IT! Your wedding is a celebration!

It all started at Florida State University. Home of the best football team ever (go noles!!!). But i’m biased.

Elizabeth + Richard have been together since college, and Michael + I connected with this incredibly sweet couple through Elizabeth’s wonderful mother, Karen, who is like our number 1 fan and cheerleader.

What can we say about this wedding? So full of love of each other, family and friends; and genuine joyfulness. We love you guys.

Get ready people. Go get’cha a big drink and some cookies (mmm… cookies sounds good right now. I digress. )cause this is going to be a long one. There were seriously so many images from this wedding that we loved, we couldn’t narrow it down to less than 50.

Location, location, location!

Elizabeth’s BEAUTIFUL dress.

Elizabeth’s sister in law, Kristen, did her makeup and seriously, she did such a great job. I told Kristen she should be a makeup artist! Hey Kristen! Want me to refer you to some brides who want some seriously awesome makeup done?

Elizabeth said “I can still do the splits!” so of course, most of my brides know i’m all “BRING IT!”

…and she did.

Kristen was so cute signing the frame for Elizabeth + Richard. She would think of what she wanted to say and start to write, and then back away, get a little emotional, and then try to start again.

Did I mention that there were TONS of details, everywhere I looked? Elizabeth described it as “foo-foo”. So I am so lovingly calling this the Foo Foo board.

While I was drooling over details…

Michael was hanging out with the guys.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was writing a love note to Richard. It was very sweet and so touching.

These ties are kind of tight… or is it nerves?

Isn’t Elizabeth gorgeous?

So here’s another example of why I love shooting with Michael. We sync up our cameras so we can see who was taking what shot and when. So while Michael was hanging out with the guys, the girls were doing a toast before heading down to the ceremony. Guess what? The guys were too. At the exact same time. 1 room away.
Cheers!

Here comes the bride! Love this moment when Elizabeth’s mom gets choked up as Elizabeth’s brother Andrew walks her down the aisle.

The porch overlooking the St. Lucie.

Yay! We’re married!

Afterwards, we got ice cream for the whole bridal party, which was awesome because it was like, 100 degrees in the shade?

Best. bridal. party. EVER.

Then it was off for some lovey-dovey time!

Love these next few. Usually, we only get a few minutes to hang out with the bride and groom and we try to get some fun and romantic shots during that time. I think we did it!

A sweet first dance.

On to the party! And boy, these people got DOWN!

See what I mean?

Elizabeth + her sorority sisters Kendra + Darcy did their rendition of “Piano Man” by Billy Joel. Complete with harmonicas.

We ♥’d everything about this wedding and getting to hang out with such a cool couple/bridal party that was down for anything. Thank you Elizabeth + Richard for allowing us to be a part of your wedding and your lives. We love you guys and hope you are having a fabulous time in Costa Rica!

Ingredients:

Bride and Groom: Elizabeth + Richard
Dress: Casa Blanca from I Do! I Do! Boutique, Athens Georgia
Photographers: Lauren + Michael Kinsey, Lauren Kinsey Photography
Coordinators: Teresa and Babette at Harbour Ridge Yacht and Country Club
Venue: Harbour Ridge Yacht and Country Club, Port St. Lucie, Florida- www.harbourridge.com
Florist: Kelly at A Goode Florist
DJ: Roy from Kenny Mondo Productions
Videographer: Molly Brown of Cinematique Films
Reverend: Rev. Brian Irving

Matt + Carly + Dan + Rachelle + Michael + I (ok try and follow THAT! ) all go to church together and we are all in the young married couples Sunday School class. We have really enjoyed getting to know Matt + Carly and everyone in our church, and Michael + I look forward to a long friendship with these two!

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to photograph them, and we are so glad we did! Carly told me that she and Matt had not had any pictures of them done since they got married and Michael + I jumped at the chance.

Let’s start off with some favorites, shall we? I couldn’t decide which one I liked best, or in color or black and white, so I posted them both. Why you say? Because I can.

Reason #53476487637 I love shooting with my husband. Here is an example of his shot that was taken at almost the exact same time I was taking the above shots. He ROCKED OUT on this one!!

I love how Matt + Carly have such an ease about them. I love how they just love each other and can laugh at silly little things.

Another [Lauren] favorite! I love this in black and white, and you can’t tell by this photo; but Matt has the BLUEEEEST eyes EVER! Maybe that’s one of the reasons Carly fell in love with him… Care to “insert comment here” Carly?

We found this AWESOME wall and most of you know about my love affair with murals. If not, keep reading. You will

My shot…

and Michael’s take… love it!

hehe.

After we found this wall, I had remembered seeing this really cool lightbulb on the side of a building! You know we had to hit it up.
One of my favorite images ever taken!

Where we were hanging out, there were some wild dandelions growing, and pretty soon, it was all out war!

My shot.

Michael’s shot Story below.

When Carly was blowing her dandelion at Matt, and she ended up blowing it REALLY hard into Matt’s face, so Matt decided that he was going to get Carly back. Well, needless to say, I was NOT going to miss this, I knew it was going to be an epic in dandelion blowing history.

Oh this is tremendous.

Matt, don’t hate me.(I have to put that little disclaimer. You’ll see why )

Love this series.

Are you ready?

Look at the last image closely, see how hard he blew? Look at Carly’s hair! This cracked me UP while editing!

A [Michael] favorite.

Remember rolling down hills when you were a kid? Yep, we did it. Love this.

Another mine vs. his shot! I love both.

I think we’re getting a bit competitive for the best shots.

We love ya’ll both! Thanks so much Matt + Carly for hanging out with us and being such great fun to work with! You make our jobs easy!

…and remember, kids. Not reading our blog daily is