The All New "Hey Gorgeous Events"

It's so gray outside today as we wait for some semblance of snow to happen in order to make our Christmas a white one.  I thought a big dose of sunshine would be most appropriate, and I have the perfect package to make this happen.  I say "package" because there is a whole bundle that includes a  new website, video, awesome blog and relaunch party that surrounds this one sparkly person.  Allow me to elaborate....

In January, at the beginning of this year, my mom and I had the pleasure of meeting Rhiannon of Hey Gorgeous Events at the Sage Wedding Pros workshop.  We instantly fell in love with her spunky personality and "love of all things pretty".  Since this Canadian gal now resides in Western Michigan, close to my beloved GVSU, we have had the joy of sharing a visit a couple of times.  So, when Rhi announced her big relaunch party for her new website, we knew we couldn't pass up a 3 hour drive to celebrate with her.

Rhi's brand was already beautiful to begin with, but now she has really stepped it up! Take a look at her site this instant, and love it....and then get back to reading here.

Of course, her party was a perfect match to the redesign with catered nibbles and sweets, beautiful florals, a canvas of her artistry to sign and to-go Starbucks cups filled with little samples of love.

The extra bonus to the party was the people there.  Rhi knows good peeps.  

I was so lucky to get to meet Amy Carroll of Amy Carroll Photography in person and discover that she is even sweeter than the original blog post I featured her in for Kelly and Matt's painting....here.  

A couple other names to drop and be sure to look for in 2013:

-Parsonage Events - Another mother daughter team that creates stunning florals and provides rentals for events to complete the perfect day.  I just loved Liz...so much that she bought a calendar!

-Red Heels Events - Michelle first caught my eye with the cute dress she was wearing with these pretty red shoes to compliment.  Upon receiving her business card, I saw that she was bringing her brand to life!  You have to visit her site to sneak a peak at her and how she brings every event full circle.

-Pixel and Hank - I love when you meet someone and realize that you do actual know each other already.  Daisy and I went to Grand Valley together, and though we were in different majors (Daisy in graphic design and I in illustration), we very much remembered each other.  How fantastic that we are both practicing some kind of art form linked to weddings as our careers!  She creates the most beautiful handmade accessories.

Not bad for a 3 hour evening and 200 mile trek to get there.  Mom and I loved every minute of it and are both so proud of Rhi.

Rhi, continue to inspire with all the pretty that surrounds us, your zest for life and personality that could spark a fire.  You inspire me to truly be myself...and to have fun!!!  You're climbing to the top lady!!

xoxo

Meet the Photographer: Argentina Leyva Photography

I played Santa today and dropped off Argentina and Jesse's completed painting at Argentina's photography studio.  It's always a thrill to be present when a client sees their painting for the first time.  Even better...the painting is a surprise for Argentina's husband!  She's going to have it framed and show him on Christmas!  Love...

The bonus of the day was getting a tour of Argentina's studio.  I had no idea that this hidden gem was so amazing and that she is now even renting it out for events.

I got to know Argentina a bit more, and thought you might like to know her and her services too!  She's a fantastic photographer with a real eye for making her clients feel so comfortable and natural.  Take a look...

1.  How long have you been in business? 10 years

2.  Toot your own horn....what’s your specialty? I started as a wedding photographer and switched to Boudoir 3 years ago. Now I do 5 to 6 weddings a year and about 200 Boudoir sessions a year.

3.  Who or what are your favorite subjects to photograph....your dream photo session? Women. I like to make women look their best in photographs. My dream session is an exotic destination wedding to photograph the bride in her wedding gown as well as a Boudoir session in an exotic resort suite.

4.  Craziest thing you’ve captured on camera? Every session has that one image that stands among all that I can’t believe I created.

5.  What do you like about working in the wedding industry? The reaction of brides and women when they see their images and how beautiful they look

6.  What is something you wish your clients knew about your job? It’s physically very demanding and I have to stay in shape to keep up with the physical activity, I’m 42 after all!

7.  When you are not working, what are you up to? Thinking on how I can become a better photographer and better service provider to my clients, I’m always working, it’s my hobby!

8.  Anything new and exciting coming up that we should know about? (either professionally or personally) I will be creating Boudoir images of all my staff and myself. We have to put ourselves in the shoes of our clients to better understand the needs and create a better experience. I’m also going to be partnering up with a large wedding studio in Chicago, FIG Productions, to shoot more weddings but they will be doing all the album design process.

Here are some images from Argentina's boudoir gallery:

A year or so ago I worked Mandy and Nick's wedding as their day of coordinator which is how I first met Argentina.  Here are a few shots from their special day:

Love them!!  Visit Argentina's site to view more of her work and also enter to win a free boudoir session.  I'm thinking a belated holiday gift or getting a head start on Valentine's Day! 

Thank you for sharing Argentina!  We can't wait to see YOUR boudoir session!

I heart NY...and Jersey City

This past weekend I was galavanting about New York and Jersey with one of my bestest friends.  Ok, so at age 31 we no longer galavant nor find a need to go out and live it up as we use to.  It also should be noted that this bestest friend of mine is 2 weeks away from giving birth to her first baby.  We more or less trudged around when we did get out and had to dodge rain drops.  All this being said, it was such a lovely trip.

Here we are dripping wet at the Columbus Circle Christmas Market and loving it.

It's an amazing thing to be around someone that is about to enter into a game-changing stage of life that neither of you can give advice about... yet are constantly vacillating over.  Instead, we sat while sipping perfect Nespressos and reflected on life as we know it and all the dreams and aspirations we have for things to come.  The holidays can do this to you too, so we went out and shopped the the holiday markets to feel that holiday spirit while sipping on hot cider this time.  Everything kept leading back to how gracious and thankful we are to have each other and the life that surrounds us....so much so that we were already reminiscing 6 hours after our parting.

The 911 Memorial will also put a few things into perspective.

This is deep, I know, but I can't help start to get in a refresh mode by reevaluating life, taking things a bit slower, prioritizing a bit wiser and working on thinking more positively.  Before I left, I was in an anxiety ridden state that left me disappointed that I hadn't blogged all week even though I finished my painting.  Post zen weekend, I'm ok with my blogging break and giving you this beauty of a painting to start your week out.  See, eventually things all just fall into place.