Heidi Ryder Photography: The Blog » Southern California and Destination Wedding Photography

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about ways to keep my blog fresh, even when I don’t have shoots to share with you. I wanted to think of something that would be beneficial to my brides (and any that happened upon my blog) but I wasn’t sure what I could offer on a constant basis that would keep me and others interested.

But this weekend I was chatting with a friend and client about her upcoming wedding in June. Her venue is very beautiful and quaint and feels almost like a garden, and we were tossing around ideas of ways to make the wedding personal. This particular bride has a pet bird whom she adores and jokingly said something about incorporating bird cages somehow. I thought this was a brilliant idea and I knew she could easily find tons of beautiful and inspired ways to incorporate bird cages into her wedding. She almost laughed off the idea because she hasn’t been immersed in the world of weddings for years like I have. She didn’t think it would be possible. But I knew better. And then a light bulb literally went on over my head.

I realized that people like me are a wealth of information when it comes to wedding ideas because we have seen so much more than the average bride has. So, I’ve decided to start an ongoing section called “Wedding Inspiration Wednesdays” where I will pick a theme and then find several lovely things that a bride might pick to incorporate said theme into her wedding.

Now, between you and me, I am no wedding designer, nor do I claim to be. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun! Truth be told, I honestly believe it’s not the details that make a wedding, but I love to look at pretty things as much as the next gal, and chances are you do, too.

So, in honor of my friend, the first Wedding Inspiration Wednesday is all about bird cages. Most of these were found several days ago and I couldn’t find my source for a few of them, but I’ve listed links below for the ones I still had. If you recognize an un-sourced item from somewhere, please let me know.

Enjoy!

1. Birdcage Cake by Lark Cake Shop
2. Feathered Birdcage Veil by Unveiled Bridal Designs
3. Birdcage Ring Pillow by Llubav
4 and 5. Birdcage Flower Centerpieces by Mints Design
6. Birdcage Card Holder via Weddingbee

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Heather and Mike’s Long Beach engagement session took place in the Belmont Shores area of town, which was a new location for me. Heather lived in Long Beach when she and Mike first started dating, so many of their early dates happened on the very same street a majority of the session was held on. I fell in love with this part of Long Beach instantly and can’t wait to go back and try out some of the awesome restaurants and shop in all of the amazing stores we saw.

Heather and Mike are very cute together and shooting a session with them was so much fun because they hardly ever stopped laughing. Like, seriously, I had to tell them to stop a couple of times just to get a different look from them! I, for one, think that’s the makings of a good marriage so I think these two found the right match in each other. Thanks for a fun day, Heather and Mike! Looking forward to more laughs at your wedding at Tivoli Terrace in June!

Some people might consider this next shot a blooper since Mike’s sticking out his tongue, but I just love Heather’s laugh in this one!

So while on our shoot I learned that heather LOVES cupcakes (and who doesn’t, really?), and since she knew we’d be passing by a cupcake shop during the shoot she had already made Mike promise they could get cupcakes at some point. When I heard this I said, “Let’s go right now!” So, we headed to Frosted Cupcakery, which proved to be the perfect setting for some yummy photos.

It turned out the Mexican restaurant where Heather and Mike had their first date (though neither of them were sure it was actually a date at the time) was just a block away! I had them grab a table for a couple of shots.

Then Heather showed me this delightful little shop, Romance Etc., and it immediately became my favorite because not only was the storefront super charming, but the light was glorious, too.

For Christmas this year I received an Instax 210 camera, which is basically a Polaroid camera, but made by Fuji. It is awesome! I decided to break it out for this session and have a little fun.

Eventually we headed back to the beach, and I feel I should probably explain these next couple of photos. You see, Heather and Mike really love playing this game called The Kingdom of Loathing, or KoL for short. It’s really nerdy, and from what I’ve heard it’s super hilarious. Oh, and in the game, Mike had his character gift a ring to Heather’s character, and that’s how he proposed! This stick figure guy – who is wielding a martini and a sword, if you can’t tell – is like the game mascot.

And here is the lovely couple in matching KoL t-shirts! Hooray!

The sunset was stellar that evening, as it has been the past couple of weeks. We took full advantage.

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Every once in a while a client will ask me why they need an engagement session. My response is two-fold, but very simple:

1. Engagement sessions give us a chance to get to know each other. You get a chance to see how I work, and I get a chance to make you comfortable with my camera. That way, we are old friends by the wedding day and the portraits are a breeze to take – and fun, too!
2. There are so many things you can do with your engagement photos! You can make an album using the photos and leave plenty of white space for guests to sign on your wedding day, which beats the boring old guest book your mom and dad had at their wedding; you can use the photos to dress up and personalize a wedding website; you can pick your favorite photo(s) for your Save the Dates; and you can even use them for your wedding invitations. The possibilities really are endless!

When I first met with Emily and Free, I learned that Free was a graphic designer and they planned to use their engagement photos for their wedding invitations. I figured the result would be pretty neat, and I wasn’t disappointed when I received my very own copies in the mail.

It really warms my heart to see photos that I took being utilized in such an awesome way. It’s also nice to think that Emily and Free are really increasing the value of of their investment by utilizing it in such an important way – I’ve seen their wedding website, and the photos are very prominent there, too. So great!

I hope many more of my brides and grooms will be inspired by Free and Emily’s creativity. I cannot wait for their wedding at the end of this month!

Here’s a shot of the front of the invite, as well as the Save the Date card:

Invite upon first open:

The invite fully opened:

And here’s what the invite looks like from the back when it’s fully folded out:

Thanks to Free and Emily for allowing me to share this awesome invite with everyone!

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I was so excited when it worked out that my first shoot of 2010 was with the winners of my Giving Is Awesome giveaway. I think that means great things for 2010! When I emailed Alan on Christmas Eve to let him know he and his family were nominated and won, I was pleased to hear back that the whole family was game for a fun shoot at Paramount Ranch. I was so excited because it was my first time shooting there and Alan and Debbie were excited because they love Westerns and Alan had even visited the set of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman years ago, when it filmed on the ranch. Plus, their youngest, Willan, has a new cowboy hat that he’s currently obsessed with. Obviously, Paramount Ranch was the ideal place for this family shoot.

When we got the the ranch to meet up with the Armes’, some of the kids had fallen asleep on the drive over. Speaking from experience, getitng woken up in the middle of a nap is no fun at all, so I was preparing myself for a couple of grouchy kids, at least for the first few minutes. That couldn’t have been farther from the truth though – all four of them were smiley and happy and they blew me away with how smart and polite they were. It was obvious to me that this is a close and happy family and Alan and Debbie are great parents. I was excited to get started.

Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot. A big thank you to the Alan, Debbie, Brayden, Aubrey, Rethy and Willan for being such fun subjects. And also, thanks to their friend Natalie who nominated them!

There’s a beautiful old tree at the Ranch and I was very pleased to find that this family is a tree climbing family.

Clearly, the kids get it from their mom!

And here’s one of the two responsible for this lovely family.

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