such a favorite day of mine.  loads of light, love and pretty pretty details :)  xoxo, -melanie-

if you are ever in doubt as to whether you should kiss a pretty girl, always give her the benefit of the doubt. [ thomas carlyle ]

notes:

planning: always planned

catering: saul good

location: broadway christian church, talon winery

layers of crinoline are so soft & dreamy.  xo, -melanie-

we’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant.

you can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s

going to get on by itself. you’ve got to keep watering it. you’ve got to really look after it.

[ john lennon ]

wedding notes:

ceremony and reception location: Stone Creek Farm

florist: Crist Creona Designs

caterer: Dupree Catering

cake: Martine’s Pasteries

dress: Jim Hjelm

shoes: Giuseppe Zanotti

hope you’re having the best best spring!

wedding notes:

location: Henry Clay in Louisville, KY

florist: Magnolia of Louisville, KY – 502.585.4602

caterer: The Silver Spoon of Henry Clay in Louisville, KY

cake: Desserts by Helen of Louisville, KY

ceremony music: Commonwealth Musicians

reception music: Endless Summer Band

from sarah at classic bride:  “Megan and Jesse’s wedding made my heart skip a beat and took my breath away all at the same time! The darling couple wed on August 1, 2010, at the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Inn at Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina – one of my all-time favorite venues. Together, they incorporated vintage and classically Southern details to create a most beautiful event.

I don’t think you could squeeze another ounce of charm into this Southern venue if you tried – Can you get over how deliciously cute that little chapel is? I am loving every single detail.”

thank you, thank you, classic bride!

having a beautiful monday and sending wishes for the same to you!  warmly, -melanie-

time, indeed,

is a sacred gift, and each day is

a little life.

[ sir john lubbock ]

happy spring to you (just a handful of days early)…and thank you to my sweet husband for taking me on a roadtrip to the place we married for our anniversary :)  warmly, -melanie-

wedding notes:
location: Keenebarn and Entertainment Center

catering: Turf Catering

floral design: Patrick Howard of PG Howard Florists – 859.266.1615‎

cake design: Debra McKnight – 859.421.1532

shoes: Stuart Weitzman (yes, those hot pink ones!)

photography: melanie mauer

yay, more wedding posts!  kristen & kyle (as well as their respective families) are a-m-a-z-i-n-g!  this day was a dream and i feel fortunate that years down the road as they look at their images, they’ll have the imprint of affection i have for them as a couple in each one.  warmly, -melanie-

wedding notes:
reception location & catering: Spindletop Hall

cake: The Sugar Forest

florist: Martha’s Vineyard – 859.885.6069‎

i’d love to share some weddings from 2009 that we’ve yet to post…first up, sweet ashley & hunt.  i met ashley a few days before her wedding for a bridal session (so incredibly wonderful to have all that time with a beautiful bride – on a wedding day, our time is fairly limited) and was instantly smitten with the grace and manner with which she walks through life.  warmly, -melanie-

p.s. i adore the light in the top right image.

wedding notes:

wedding planner: Alicia DeBoor of Great Expectations

location & catering: Spindletop Hall

cake: Tinker’s Cake Shop

hair and makeup: Marriott Spa

the most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.

[ morrow schwartz ]

i fell in love with emily (who couldn’t – she’s sweet as pie!) months ago and so I was excited to see who she had fallen in love with and picked to be beside forever.  enter chad…sincere, kind & incredibly funny :)

thank you, emily & chad for pausing life for a moment to be photographed!  -m-

my whole heart for my whole life.
[saying used inside rings in france]

* the perfect engagement treat for an ice-cream loving couple

* with a toddler in the house, we should stock up on these! so cute!

* i picked up some books to read during our holiday time off and think they would be so lovely with these on the pages.  (sweet patterned page corners)

* cute month-by-month signs for bebe

gina, lance and their family were wonderful – we did this session for a couple reasons.  first, to create an image for an announcement and also to create images of their new blended family for their home. i love that now, as they share lives, the images on their wall will reflect this new beautiful family of theirs.  here’s a peek at their beautiful announcement.

it’s not nearly done but i’m already feeling like i’ve had one of the best years imaginable.  thank you, thank you, thank you…next week marks my 10th year in business.  it means more than i can express to have been present when you say ‘i do’, as you’ve welcomed babies into your home and to see them grow.  i appreciate that i’m involved with recording your visual history and i really do feel that it’s so much better to have consistency in that if at all possible.  moves happen but if circumstances allow, i think the loveliest option is to utilize one photographer so that the voice amongst the images in your home all ‘play’ well together – they have a similar feeling and voice to them.  yesterday, the most darling mother mentioned her young daughter and the fact that i would be there to photograph the wedding and my heart jumped – it’s never an assumption i make that i’ll get to share life beside you, just a deep deep hope.  you make life rich – merci.

among those whom i like or admire, i can find no common denominator,
but among those whom i love, i can: all of them make me laugh.
[ w.h. auden ]

neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius.
love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.
[ mozart ]

wedding notes ~
flowers: Suzanne Bauer
makeup: Ana Crane Simpson
planner: Great Expectations, Alicia DeBoor
cake: Martine’s
shoes: Kate Spade
ceremony:Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church, Lexington, KY
reception: Headley-Whitney Museum, Lexington, KY (contact: ivey henton)

your ceremony will be recorded as one of my most favored memories :)  -m-

one of the things my life has taught me is how important it is to try to say “i love you”
in ways that can be preserved, looked at, and read when you are alone or when there is adversity
or when circumstances bring separation. in any case…saying “i love you” is one of the “secrets”
of the happy marriage that ronnie and i have shared. ronnie’s letters move me to this day.
they are his gift to me across the years, and throughtout the decades of love.
[nancy reagan]

The Wedding Stamp: Make a Fabulous Statement

Don’t you love getting mail? —Retrieving those little treasures from your mailbox, gushing over the beautiful stationery.
Your wedding invitation is the ultimate piece of mail, and as such deserves a lot of attention.  Those few pieces of stationery will set the tone for your wedding, long before the first guest arrives at the ceremony.  When guests receive your invitation in the mail, they should immediately feel aware of the formality of the day, while reflecting your own sensibilities.  It is a great compliment to hear, “It looked so like you!”

Your wedding invitation serves as announcement, but just as importantly, to build excitement and anticipation for the day to come.  I find that brides (and grooms) make careful choices regarding the stationery, but they often neglect another component of invitations that can make them truly extraordinary—the stamps.

While it may be convenient to purchase the wedding stamps sold by the post office each year, stamps which reflect the unique sensibilities of the couple can elevate any invitation to the next level.  Remember, many of your guests (even those who may surprise you!) will notice and appreciate the small details.

For my wedding, we were able to find beautiful $.10 stamps with pocket watches on  them.  I immediately fell in love with the lush green tones of the stamps, especially since my groom-to-be has collected pocket watches since childhood.  I was already in love with them, but the connections to us as a couple kept getting even better.  Since we were getting married on 08.04.07, we were amazed the hands of the watch were set on the eight and the four!  Actually, the stamps were released the year prior on August 4^th. They were PERFECT—and after many calls from family and friends who had received  invitations, I soon realized that my little stamps had made quite an impression!

You can find your own perfect stamps,too. Here are a few things to remember:

· Don’t be intimidated by small denominations of stamps.  It can afford you the chance to make a beautiful arrangement on your envelope.  With my invitations we tried a variety of arrangements, including a 1, 2, 3 stack like a wedding cake.

· Vintage stamps are always an option.  Search ebay for stamps sold by collectors.  The usps website will also have things to order, with most arriving withing a few days.

· Visit multiple post offices.  They have different inventory.  I traveled to all of the post offices in the Lexington area to get enough stamps for my invitations.  It can be a hassle, but believe me—totally worth it!  You’ll love those first oohhhs and awwws from family and friends receiving your invitations.

· Your stamps can be anything that you find beautiful or reflective of yourself or your groom.

· You can always mix and match stamps from a color palette.  Make a striking statement with a stamps series in one color.

Happy Stamp Hunting!

warmly, ~Katherine~

wedding notes
flowers: e. stephen hein
make-up:  tina howard (859) 312-1201 (oh tina, a photographer is lucky to have you there on the wedding day!)
hair: britten tate hair studio (britten, wonderful job!!)
dress: melissa sweet @ ruth's bridal
ceremony: first united methodist church
reception: lexington country club

i love how a tiny chapel can allow the guests to be so close – close enough to feel the abundance of love, see the look so clearly that a groom has when his bride walks in.  just remembering it feels like a dream :)  after the ceremony, they brought their guests back to the yummiest restaurant that i’m hopeful to go back to – they were so nice and invited me in to see their great kitchen where the food was being prepared and too-nice kerri sent me home with a dinner that i adored!!  oh, kerri -
i just figured out our “post-wedding, your photographer is having withdrawals from your sweetness, afternoon get-together”!! we can dine at the patron and *then* swing on your porch swing ;)

kerri & scott, thank you for welcoming me into your life for a beautiful day!  -m-

wedding notes:
bed & breakfast: inn at woodhaven
flowers: nanz and kraft
ceremony location: St. Meinrad, Indiana
reception location: the patron

they are so close to
their parents…they double-date, play golf together…and that closeness was
evident on their faces.  So touching…and
the reception was so filled with glamour! 
Great attention to the event design/lighting and they knocked it out of
the park.

I feel privileged to
have been there! oh, and the raspberry sorbet in chocolate cups was in honor of
their first date (cute!) – getting ice cream :)

planning: crème planning

floral design: crist
creona  (859) 252-6833

cake: sugar forest

church: broadway christian

reception location: lexington downtown hotel (formerly the radisson) contact: laura triplett (859) 281-3710

The
real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church or
synagogue. It's a choice you make — not just on your wedding day, but over and
over again — and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or
wife.  [barbara de angelis]

becca & sam, thank you for making my heart leap – for being so effortless and yourselves even with a camera around…and so gorgeous! 

so happy to be back from conference – it was a great experience!  so many inspiring speakers and talks with friends.  one little thing to pass along, the lovely elizabeth messina shared her new site kiss the groom, which quite frankly, i'm enamored with and thought you might like as well.  be sure to visit the kissing tree – i sent my version to jason.  have the sweetest day…oh, and if i might pass along another tip, i went to my first yoga class at barefoot works yesterday and it was great!  so if amidst your busyness, you find a spare hour from planning an incredible wedding, raising fabulous children and just living, i'm doing the yoga basics on thursday evenings and would love your great company.  -m-