A couple of months ago, we had a client who really wanted to hire us and had every intention of doing so until she fell on hard times and could no longer afford us ... or the wedding she had originally envisioned.  She was determined though, to have her wedding and despite current circumstances, still make it a day to remember!  Her determination to overcome the disappointments she faced made a strong impression on us and in turn, we offered our services to her at no cost.  Over and over, she told us that we helped make her dreams come true and that she was forever thankful.  In fact, it was us who felt thankful.  She reminded us of how truly fortunate we are to be doing something we love for a living and it felt wonderful to give back!  We were privileged to be given the opportunity!  We will be posting her wedding in an upcoming blog (and no, the photo above is not from that wedding ... it was a very unique event and we don't want to spoil it.)

For this reason we will be making this an annual event.  We are giving away a wedding in 2011 to the couple who presents the most compelling story to us.  Please let us know what your story is.  We are excited to offer this opportunity to a very special and deserving couple and hope if you come across this posting and have a story, you will be willing to share it with us.  The rules are simple.

1.  The wedding must take place in 2011 and we must not already be booked.

2.  The wedding can take place anywhere, Arizona or otherwise.  If the wedding takes place outside of Arizona, travel fees must be covered by the couple.

3.  Please provide us with as much information as possible about your wedding (location, venue, date, special wedding day events, etc.) and at least one photo of yourselves for posting on our blog in the event you win.  You must already have the wedding date and venue firmly established.

4.  Tell us your story and be as open an honest as you can with it.

5.  This giveaway applies to new inquiries only.

Email us at sierrablancophoto@yahoo.com .  We will be choosing a winner at the end of October.  The winner will be provided with up to 8 hours wedding day coverage by Sierra Blanco Photography, a DVD of edited, high-resolution digital images with print rights and a private, on-line slideshow of your event. 

We adore traveling and when we get the opportunity to mix a beautiful wedding with an exotic location, well ... it really doesn't get any better than that for us!  Over the past few years we have been steadily building our destination wedding business and have been blessed with many unique opportunities that have in turn allowed us to see many wonderful places we wouldn't have otherwise seen.  What we have found in working in this segment of the wedding business is that all too often, couples settle for a resort photographer or something along those lines and ultimately end up with a beautiful wedding in an exotic location, but with no really stunning images to show for it.  For 2011, we have decided to do a destination wedding photography giveaway.  The only costs to the winner will be that of travel.  The rules are simple.

1.  The wedding must take place in 2011 and we must not already be booked.

2.  No place is too exotic or too far.  Locations in the continental US are welcomed as well.  Sorry, but weddings in Arizona will not be considered for this giveaway.

3.  Please provide us with as much information as possible about your wedding (location, venue, date, special wedding day events, etc.) and at least one photo of yourselves for posting on our blog in the event you win.  You must already have the wedding date and location firmly established.

4.  Tell us the story behind why you chose a destination wedding for yourselves.

5.  This giveaway applies to new inquiries only.

Email us at sierrablancophoto@yahoo.com .  We will be choosing a winner at the end of October.  The winner will be provided with up to 8 hours wedding day coverage by Sierra Blanco Photography, a Trash-the Dress session on location the day after the wedding, a DVD of edited, high-resolution digital images with print rights and a private, on-line slideshow of your event.

First, let me begin by saying ... I'm still here :-)!  I have had a lot of people asking questions lately wondering why I'm not blogging anymore.  The main reson is that life got extremely crazy starting this past spring and, though I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm not quite there yet.  Some big things happened for us at the beginning of the summer (no, not a baby) and I will be letting you in on that sometime very soon.  I do have a LOT, LOT, LOT of postings to catch up on very soon and I can't wait to share them.  We have had a lot of beautiful weddings and shoots (some near and some far away), so stay tuned ... I promise there will be plenty to see over the next couple of months!!

Until then, I did want to share this photo.  The wedding took place last spring (one of many that haven't been posted yet) and a photo from it won 9th place in the "Full Frame Black & White" category in the Quarter 1, 2010 WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association) Competition.  As always, I am honored to be recognized among such a talented group of photographers!  Thanks to Sue and Billy for trusting me to capture such special moments as this one that occurred during their "first meeting"!

The last half of the day revolved around the Christian ceremony and wedding reception.  All in all, the day lasted 15 1/2 hours.  It was certainly tiring, but well worth every minute!  This was an amazing Indian wedding that we will not soon forget.  Prachie and Aaron are both amazing and accomplished people and it was a joy getting to know them over the course of those three days.  Equally wonderful were Prachie's parents and sister, who graciously invited us into there home and treated us like guests the entire time!  Thank you all so much and we hope you love the photographs!

I also want to give a special thanks to my wonderful second shooter, Melissa Dunstan, for her wonderful work, friendship and for sticking out for 12 hours of the wedding day :-) ... thank you so much Melissa!!

Another great shot by Melissa!

Aaron is a very talented musician, as are his friends that you have seen in the photos above.  He wrote a song for Prachie and played it on the piano ... it was breathtaking!

Melissa and I getting a little silly after 15 hours :-).

 

 

Prachie and Aaron's wedding took place on the third day of festivities at the spectacular JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix.  This venue is amazing ... and huge!  It contains several venues spread across the expansive resort grounds.  The first part of the day was dedicated to the Hindu Ceremony.  Prachie's dress was stunning and all the details and colors were mesmerizing!  Prachie's mother is from Nepal and so aside from the Indian customs there were also some Nepali customs infused into the wedding as well.  I just loved all the pagentry, beauty and meaning that is implied in every aspect of the hindu ceremony!