The new blog & website

I know that the official launch day is set for September 1, but I can't wait any longer! Consider this your sneak preview of the brand new Andrea Jae Photography website and blog!

Click here to visit the new stuff.

I will no longer be posting on this blog, but it will remain live. From now on, I'll be posting here: www.andreajaephotography.com/blog.  Update your bookmarks and links!

Thank you all so much for your encouragement in this journey.  I am excited to be moving forward!

Big news

I realize I have been MIA this week, but I promise I have a good reason!  The past month or so I have been working very hard on my new logo, website and blog.  I'm dying to share all the fun details, but I'm not ready just yet.  Both the site and the blog will officially launch on September 1.  Friends, family and clients may get a sneak preview in a couple of days :)

Since I can't share those just yet, I figure I can at least announce one thing: my new logo and business name.  Ready?  Here it is:

That's right, friends. Andrea & Renata :: Photographers is now Andrea Jae Photography. I know what you're all thinking. Where's Renata?! Have no fear. Renata is still around! She is still coming to every wedding, every shoot and every meeting. We're even ADDING a team member. Emily is coming on board to design our albums and books, as well as second shoot.

I'd like to thank Drew for designing this awesome logo.  He is the bomb.

Are you excited?  I AM!

I won't be posting on this blog again until launch day. See you soon!

Dana & Chris :: Wedding

Do you want to see my dress? asked Dana. We were at her house for a meeting about wedding photography. Renata and I squealed YES! in excitement. Dana went on to show us her dress and the magazine spread with her bridesmaid dresses. A lot of oohing and aahing ensued. We knew immediately we wanted to shoot her wedding.

Dana and Chris met at work; they are both middle school teachers. They fell in love quickly and were engaged over spring break. They planned a wedding for the next summer, two months away.

Dana and Chris' wedding was simple, elegant and warm. They made it clear that their priority was their friends and family and it was evident. Among their family members and friends, Dana and Chris both invited students and they spent the reception catching up with all their guests.

You gotta love church nurseries.

This bridal party was so fun!

Dana busted out her inner supermodel, which we love! (FYI, her pictures are featured on the NEW website, which will launch on September 1!)

Chris and the guys.

The ringbearer was adorable. He was so serious about his job.

The infamous cross shot.

Dana and Chris allotted extra time for pictures and picked a gorgeous park as the location!

The reception was held on a boat at sunset. Doesn't get much better than this.

Dana and Chris, thanks for letting us in on your day! Hope you are loving your new home in VA. Good luck with your continued schooling!

Kaley & Nick :: Wedding

Please know, this is going to be a huge post. I cannot tell you enough how much I love, love, love, love, love Kaley & Nick. Kaley was my roommate in college and her and I were known for "keeping it real". I really attribute any down-to-earth-ness I might possess to Kaley. I was honored when she asked me to capture her wedding.

That said, this was one of my favorite weddings! Not only was the wedding beautiful, the bridal party fun and the day fantastic, but Kaley and Nick have been dating for quite a while and I felt that everyone was just extra happy for them. So extra happiness just floated around and infected everyone. Maria came to shoot this wedding with me and Renata and the three of us had a blast.

We started the day at Kaley's house, where we had a lot of fun with her and her bridesmaids. I loved Kaley's dress (SO her) and pink shoes!

Kaley was gorgeous - and so fun!

The flowers were done by English Rose Floral Design and they were absolutely beautiful!

Renata captured this image of the beautiful bridesmaids.

Nick and the guys.

Kaley and her matron of honor, Tara, have such a sweet friendship. Here they are goofing off and holding hands right before Kaley walked down the aisle.

Maria captured this detail during the ceremony.

Married!

Before the reception started, Kaley and Nick had allotted time for fun pictures of their bridal party and then them alone. We love that!

The reception was just lovely.

Breakin' it down.

Kaley and Nick, thanks for letting us be a part of your day. I'm not sure you realize how special it was to us. We are overflowing-ly happy for you (oh yes, we made up a word)!

Home!

I am finally home and eager to get back to work!  I have 3 weddings to finish and 4 to post.  I promise I will post a wedding tomorrow.

In other exciting news, I'm in the process of building my BRAND NEW WEBSITE!  I've been working on it for a couple of weeks now and I'm hoping to launch on September 1.  Get excited.  

Wedding post tomorrow!

Rocky Mountain High

*Please note: For the next week and a half, I will be posting snippets from my ongoing road trip. If you are visiting this blog for photography services, I will be checking my email frequently, so please feel free to email me. Also, you can view our portfolio easily by using the Categories tab in the menu. Thanks for stopping by!*

We're in the Rockies! I told Drew that I expected them to look like the Coors Light can...and they do! It's beautiful here, and apart from a little bit of altitude sickness and some last minute change of plans, we're having a great time. We stayed with Drew's uncle and aunt in Pueblo two nights ago, then spent last night in Eagle, which is a teeny town nestled right in the Rockies. We experienced a nice big hail storm in Pueblo and on the way to Eagle, it started snowing! There we were in our shorts and t-shirts, blasting the heat and marveling at the snow. And I'm not talking snow shower, I'm talking stick on the ground, icy, continuous snow. I couldn't believe it.

But on to some pictures. Our stay in Ouray was extremely relaxing. We stayed at a little place called the Ouray Chalet Inn (fyi, Ouray and Chalet rhyme). Ouray is known as the "Switzerland of America", so it was decked out Swiss-like.

Drew with the large clock in front of the Chalet.

One of the coolest things to see in Ouray is Box Canyon. It's literally a super powerful waterfall in a cave.

We also drove up to see Yankee Boy Basin, a beautiful view. The drive to get there is unpaved, mountain road. They suggest that you take a four-wheel drive vehicle up. We totally rocked our rental Hyundai Sonata up that thing.

On the way to Pueblo, we stopped in several places, including the Black Canyon of the Gunnison...

...a beautiful lake...

...and the Royal Gorge! It costs an arm and a leg to get on the actual bridge, so we just admired from a distance.

After our stay in Pueblo, things started going downhill a little. We stopped at Garden of the Gods, but it rained.

The plan was to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park today, but when we woke up, we found out the park was closed due to weather (snow!). So instead, we are hanging out in the gorgeous town of Vail, the rich man's ski heaven. We took a gondola ride up a mountain...

...and stopped for the breath taking view from the top.

At the top of the mountain, it started to snow again! Proof...

Oh yeah, we're both wearing flip-flops. Always good.

Right now we are chilling in the cute town. I'm typing from within the Starbucks you see in this picture. (P.S. I am dying with all of the awesome engagement photo spots in this town!)

We're having a fabulous time! We'll be spending the weekend with more of Drew's family, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to blog. Have a great weekend!

Update from the road

*Please note: For the next week and a half, I will be posting snippets from my ongoing road trip. If you are visiting this blog for photography services, I will be checking my email frequently, so please feel free to email me. Also, you can view our portfolio easily by using the Categories tab in the menu. Thanks for stopping by!*

We've spent the past 2 days in the awesome town of Ouray, CO. I can't believe people live here! It's a small town situated between mountains, literally. You can hike up one and see the entire town. I think the theme of this whole trip for me has been amazement. I'm seeing things I've never seen in my entire life - small towns included! Drew's been keeping up with documenting our trip with my pictures here, but I thought I'd post a few highlights.

In true wedding photographer style, I freaked out when I saw this wedding venue at our hotel in Scottsdale, AZ. Maybe it doesn't look like much here, but those circle structures have lights that I'm sure would look amaaazing at night. Anyone in Scottsdale want to hire me to shoot there? :)

This shot was an accident, but I think it's pretty cool.

We saw the sunset and sunrise at the Grand Canyon. Both beautiful, but sunrise was better. See for yourself.

Sunset...

...vs. sunrise.

We had a little cliff all to ourselves.

We also hiked the Bright Angel Trail into the canyon. Between the high altitude, steep ascent and my lack of exercise, this hike kicked my butt! I was proud of myself for finishing though.

This is a watchtower over the east rim of the Grand Canyon. So cool.

Monument Valley...

Forrest Gump anyone?

In four states at once...

And my first time in Colorado, Drew's favorite state!

More to come tomorrow!

Blue steel?

*Please note: For the next week and a half, I will be posting snippets from my ongoing road trip. If you are visiting this blog for photography services, I will be checking my email frequently, so please feel free to email me. Also, you can view our portfolio easily by using the Categories tab in the menu. Thanks for stopping by!*

Drew randomly captured this shot at our hotel in Scottsdale.  I kind of think it looks like a movie poster.  Maybe some kind of underrated ninja movie?  :)

I'll be posting more images from our trip tomorrow.  We're chilling in Ouray, CO tonight and I'm hooked on the Olympics.  Drew's been posting detail about the past few days, including my images.  Check it out here.  More to come later!

One year at the Grand Canyon

*Please note: For the next week and a half, I will be posting snippets from my ongoing road trip. If you are visiting this blog for photography services, I will be checking my email frequently, so please feel free to email me. Also, you can view our portfolio easily by using the Categories tab in the menu.  Thanks for stopping by!*

Okay, so we're not spending an entire year at the Grand Canyon.  BUT we are spending our first wedding anniversary at the beautiful canyon!  

Drew and I have had a fantastic day celebrating our anniversary.  We'll be writing more about it on our family blog tomorrow.  My highlight has definitely been the Grand Canyon.  This is my very first visit.  I freaked a little.  It was just that awesome.  Here I am, enjoying our perfect view.

I'm loving life and certainly having the time of my life.  Drew's knocked out in the bed next to me; he is exhausted from our travels.  I'm off to watch the Olympics.  :)  Have a great week!

Road trip 2008!

*Please note: For the next week and a half, I will be posting snippets from my ongoing road trip.  If you are visiting this blog for photography services, I will be checking my email frequently, so please feel free to email me.  Also, you can view our portfolio easily by using the Categories tab in the menu.*

It's official!  Drew and I are on vacation, our first road trip ever!  We flew into Phoenix early this morning and as I type, Drew is watching the Olympics while I blog in our phat hotel room.  We'll be visiting the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Pike's Peak among many other places.  For the next ten days, we'll be on the open road!

I will have limited email access, but will do my best to get back to inquiries ASAP!  I do have a couple of weddings to post as well, so they may be scattered in between road trip posts.  We will be archiving our journey on our family blog, and I am going to be posting a picture a day from our travels on this blog.

Two great things about day 1: a sweeeet hotel deal from hotwire.com and eating at a Jack in the Box for the first time!  (Sidenote: The Jack in the Box character is CREEPY!)

The only picture I've taken so far is Drew and I in our room.  

It should be noted that my handsome husband planned this entire trip single handedly.

Again, feel free to follow along in more detail on our family blog.  More to come tomorrow!

Friendly faces

At two of our "crazy wedding week" weddings, I saw two college friends, who both happened to be working the wedding!  It was such a nice surprise.  It's so great working with Renata so that there's always a friendly face, and it's even greater when friendly faces appear out of the blue!

I saw Sheena at Don and Mary's wedding. She was assisting her dad with videotaping the wedding.

Then, at Dana and Chris' wedding, I saw Carlie, who was catering!

Seriously, it was so great to see them both. And I'm very serious about how great it is to see a friendly face. The next time you are at a wedding where I am, please come say hello! Who knows, you might end up with a super flattering picture on the blog. :)

Self-help to the max

Yesterday, as I was going through Kaley and Nick's wedding pictures (which are SO good and will be blogged soon!), I came across this gem of an image from their wedding that I had forgotten about.

I think it's really funny that this book is in the same category as a book about teenage girls.  We females can be a little feisty sometimes, huh?  :)

If someone has read this book, please tell me what it is about.  Thank you!

Mary & Don :: Wedding

Is it raining?, Mary asked us as we walked into the bridal suite.  We didn't want to disappoint her, but it was drizzling.  T-minus 30 minutes to the ceremony and a decision needed to be made about whether the ceremony would be outside as planned or moved inside.  The string quartet made the decision: there was no chance the ceremony could be outside with even a small possibility of rain wetting their instruments.

It didn't matter.  Nothing, not even a little rain and last minute change of plans, could have made this wedding anything but perfect.  Held at the lovely Savage Mill Manor House, Don and Mary's celebration was just that - perfect.  Attended by their family and closest friends, with lovely details and happiness overflowing, the wedding was fabulous.

Mary was just gorgeous.

Don was handsome and happy.

Everything was beautiful! Renata went crazy shooting details.

In the foyer, alongside a few of their engagement pictures, Don and Mary had set up their parents' wedding pictures. It was such a nice touch.

The ceremony was simple, personal and moving.

After the ceremony was over, the rain stopped long enough for us to get a few shots at the outdoor site.

This wedding was FULL of joy, joy, joy. There is not a picture where Don and Mary aren't smiling. The reception was so fun and involved everyone.

On a side note, this wedding had some of the cutest children I've ever seen! Mary and Don wanted pictures of their family, and these kids made it very easy. The first one is a baby who LOVED the camera. The second is the sweetest little baby.  The third is the flower girl seeing herself in her dress for the first time. She was so pleased with herself!

Don and Mary, we were so blessed to be at your wedding. Thank you so much for your giving hearts and the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the love you share. We loved being guests at your celebration. We hope you enjoy your pictures!

The cutest kid in the world

Sorry I have been MIA lately!  Drew and I attended a conference from Wednesday-Saturday this past week with our church.  It was an awesome conference, but took up our entire week!  I'm back now. :)

This week is proving to be a busy one as well.  I'm helping out with a children's musical camp at our church Tuesday-Thursday and I'm singing in one of my dear friend, Tia's, wedding on Friday.  THEN, Drew and I are leaving for our long-awaited summer/anniversary vacation!  More on that later in the week.

Today, I'm watching Hayden, Renata's son.  It's fun!  I'm currently enjoying Little Einsteins and counting down the time to his next diaper change.  He's seriously the cutest kid ever.

Well, off to find out how the Little Einsteins find Rocket's friend, Little Whale.  Have a great Monday!